SEO Basics Every Small Business Should Get Right

Search engine optimisation can sound mysterious, and that makes it easy to sell. In practice, most small businesses benefit most from doing a few simple things properly and keeping them up over time.

Write for the questions people actually ask

Think about what a customer would type just before they need you. They rarely search for your company slogan. They search for the service, the problem and often the place. Give each main service its own page, and use the plain words your customers use.

Get the page basics right

• Page titles: say what the page offers, in about the length that search results can display.
• Meta descriptions: a short, honest summary that makes someone want to click.
• Headings: one main heading per page, with clear subheadings below it.
• Image descriptions: short alt text that says what the image shows.

Make the site fast and mobile friendly

Search engines pay attention to the experience visitors get, and so do your customers. Compress large images, remove things you do not need, and check your pages on an actual phone. If a page is slow or hard to tap through, people leave, whatever its ranking.

If you serve a local area, say so

Set up and complete your Google Business Profile, keep your name, address and phone number consistent wherever they appear online, and mention the areas you serve on your site. Encourage happy customers to leave honest reviews, and reply to the ones you receive.

Publish things worth reading

Helpful articles that answer real customer questions give people a reason to visit and to link to you. One useful article written with care does more than a stream of thin posts written only to fill a calendar.

Be wary of anyone who guarantees a top ranking. No one outside the search engines controls their results, and shortcuts can leave you worse off.

Measure, then adjust

Google Search Console is free and shows which searches lead people to your site. Review it every month or so, improve the pages that are close to doing well, and give changes time to work, since search results rarely shift overnight.

If you would like a second pair of eyes on your site, our SEO service begins with a review of what is holding it back.