This guide breaks down SEO for small businesses into 9 simple things you can do to make your website show up
Let’s start at the beginning:
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimisation.”
Which sounds like something you need a computer science degree to understand.
And honestly? That’s exactly what the SEO industry wants you to think.
Because if it sounds complicated and mysterious, you’ll either:
– pay someone £500/month to “handle it”
– or panic that you’re doing everything wrong
Here’s what nobody tells you upfront:
Basic SEO is just… writing clearly and being helpful.
That’s it.
No secret algorithm hacks, or magic keyword formulas. And no need to sacrifice a goat under a full moon while chanting “backlinks.”
Once upon a time I went on a 3 day course on SEO. Yes it can get quite deep but truly if you put into place the key points in this post you will have done most of the heavy lifting and you will see results.
So as a small business do you need to care about SEO?
Yes.
Do you need to become an SEO expert?
Absolutely not.
Let me explain.
What SEO actually is (in normal human language)
SEO is just making sure Google can:
- Find your website
- Understand what it’s about
- Show it to people searching for what you offer
That’s the whole game.
Everything else is detail.
Think of Google like a very organized, slightly robotic librarian.
Your job is to make your website easy to catalogue.
Clear title? ✅
Obvious topic? ✅
Helpful content? ✅
Congratulations. You’ve done 80% of SEO.
The rest is just fine-tuning
Here’s how to know if SEO matters for your business:
You need SEO if:
✅ People might search for what you offer (e.g., “plumber in Bristol,” “wedding photographer Manchester”)
✅ You want customers to find you without paying for ads forever
✅ You run a blog, sell products online, or offer local services
You don’t really need SEO if:
❌ All your business comes from referrals or repeat clients
❌ You’re a niche B2B company where everyone already knows your name
❌ You literally never want new customers from Google (weird flex, but okay)
If you’re in the first group?
Keep reading.
The 7 simple things you can do to make SEO work for you (these actually matter, ignore everything else)
Forget the 47-step “ultimate SEO checklist.” Here’s what moves the needle for small businesses:
1. Use words people actually search for
❌ Don’t say: “We provide innovative solutions for residential aquatic thermal management systems”
✅ Say: “We fix broken boilers in Leeds”
Google isn’t impressed by jargon. It’s looking for matches between what people type and what you offer.
Think: “What words would someone type into Google to find me?”
Quick test: Open an incognito window. Type what you think people search for.
If your site doesn’t show up… that’s your homework.
Want to see what people are actually searching?
Tools like Ubersuggest or SEMrush (both have free versions) let you peek at search volumes and find easy wins.
[Try Ubersuggest free →]
2. Don’t think in hashtags
Most people think SEO is about cramming keywords into every sentence.
Like Instagram hashtags, but for Google.
❌ Don’t say: “Looking for a plumber? We’re a plumbing company offering plumbing services for all your plumbing needs in the plumbing area of London plumbing.” (This would make Google want to take a shower.)
✅ Say: “Emergency plumber near me” or “Boiler repair cost”
Remember Google isn’t impressed with how many times you use a keyword or say “plumber”.
It’s looking for helpful content, structured well with human words that match what humans actually use to search
Quick test: Does your content read like a keyword robot? If it does in any way, change it, be human.
3. Write content that actually helps people
Google’s entire business model is: show people useful stuff so they keep using Google.
So if your content is genuinely helpful, Google will eventually notice.
Blog posts, guides, FAQs, case studies — all good.
Quick test: Ask yourself if all the information on your pages is necessary and informative? Is it easy to read and well structured? Are you tempting people to stay on your site or click away again in disgust?
Spoiler: Google will register, and not in a good way, if your audience click onto your site and click off again as if you’ve thrown them a hot potato.
❌ Don’t write in a flowery overcomplicated style.
❌ Don’t make information hide to find.
✅ Do make your site easy to understand and use.
✅ Use internal links on your site (link pages to each other). It helps Google sort, understand and rank you.
4. Use proper heading formatting, it actually matters and is very overlooked
While we’re on the subject of structure, an easy-peasy win is to use heading formats correctly. Google literally uses heading tags (H1, H2, H3) to understand page structure.
So many people just make text look bigger with bold or font size, without actually using heading formatting.
To a human, it looks fine
To Google, it’s just a wall of text with no structure.
❌ Don’t: Write all your content in ‘paragraph’ mode and format headings manually
✅ Do: use ‘Heading 2” format style to your headings
5. Fix your page titles (this is a game-changer)
Every page on your site has a title — and most people never change it from the default.
Big mistake.
Why does it matter? Well let’s start with looking at what even is a page title?
The page title (also called the <title> tag or SEO title) is the text that appears:
– In Google search results (it’s the blue clickable link)
– In your browser tab — the text at the very top of your browser
– When you share a link on social media (usually)
It’s not the big heading you see on the actual page (that’s your H1).
It lives in the behind-the-scenes code of your website — but every website builder (WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Squarespace) lets you edit it easily without touching code.
Why page titles matter for SEO
Google uses your page title as one of the biggest signals for what your page is about.
Think of it like the spine of a book in a library.
❌ Mistake 1: A common mistake that kills your SEO is leaving the page titles as the default from whatever the website builder generated.
So you end up with titles like:
“Home”
“About”
“Services”
“Untitled Page”
Why this is bad:
Google sees “Home” and has no idea what your business does.
Neither does the person searching.
❌ Mistake 2: Making the title the same on every page
This is even worse: using your business name as title on every single page.
Homepage: “ABC Plumbing”
Services page: “ABC Plumbing”
Contact page: “ABC Plumbing”
Why this is bad:
Google can’t differentiate your pages. Neither can searchers.
You’re wasting valuable “label space” by just repeating your name.
❌ Mistake 3: Making it too clever or vague
“Welcome to Our World” “Your Journey Starts Here” “Making Magic Happen”
Cool on a poster. Useless for Google.
Why this is bad:
Nobody searches for “your journey starts here.”
What to do instead (the easy fix)
✅ Make your page title clear, specific, and match what people search for.
The formula I’d use for most small business pages:
[Main keyword] | [Location or key benefit] | [Business name]
Examples:
“Carpet Cleaning London | Same-Day Service | CleanCo”
“Gluten-Free Bakery Brighton | Fresh Daily | The Kind Kitchen”
“Tax Accountant for Freelancers | UK-Wide | Numbers Made Easy”
Keep it under 60 characters if possible (otherwise Google cuts it off with “…”).
6 – Add Image Alt text
When you upload an image, Google can’t see pictures.
It only reads text.
So alt text is basically:
“Hey Google, this image shows X”
That’s it. No wizardry.
What to write (don’t overthink)
Rule:
👉 describe the image like you’re explaining it to someone on the phone
Bad:
❌ image1
❌ SEO photo
❌ keywords stuffed nonsense
Good:
✅ “person typing on laptop researching SEO at desk”
✅ “alarm clock on wooden table representing time and patience”
✅ “clean white keyboard and pen on office desk workspace”
Natural. Literal. Done.
7 – Add a meta description
You know the little bit of text under the blue link when you search on Google?
That short paragraph that makes you think:
“Yep, that looks useful”
or
“Nope, not clicking that”
That’s your meta description.
And weirdly?
Almost nobody writes them.
Which means most small business sites show up in Google looking like this:
“Welcome to our homepage. We are passionate about delivering excellence and innovation…”
Cool. No one cares. Moving on.
What a meta description actually does (in normal human language)
It doesn’t magically boost your rankings. It does something better:
👉 It convinces humans to click.
Think of it like the blurb on the back of a book.
Google shows your page.
The description sells the click.
More clicks = more visitors = more customers.
So yeah… worth 30 seconds of effort.
8 – Get your Google Business Profile sorted (if you’re local)
If you run a local business — café, salon, plumber, physio, whatever — this is huge.
Google Business Profile is free.
It makes you show up in maps and local searches.
And most small businesses either:
don’t have one or set it up once in 2019 and forgot about it
✅ Do this:
Claim your profile (business.google.com)
Add your address, hours, photos
Get a few reviews from happy customers
Update it occasionally
That alone puts you ahead of half your competitors.
9 – Make your site not annoying
Google cares about user experience now. Which is a fancy way of saying: don’t make people want to throw their phone.
That means:
- Loads in under 3 seconds (not 10)
- Works on mobile (because everyone’s on their phone)
- Doesn’t assault visitors with popups immediately
- Has actual useful content, not just “Book Now!” buttons
If your site feels like a 2009 MySpace page or a sketchy ad-riddled blog, fix that first.
SEO tips won’t save a frustrating site. If your site takes 10 seconds to load, people leave. Google notices.
Cheap hosting is often the culprit. If you’re on a £2/month mystery host, it might be time to upgrade.
Bluehost, SiteGround or Hostinger will fix most speed issues without breaking the bank.
Things you can safely ignore (for now)
The internet will tell you that you must do 700 things or Google will banish you to page 47.
Here’s what you can skip when you’re starting out:
❌ Obsessing over “domain authority”
It’s not even a real Google metric. It’s made up by SEO tools.
❌ Keyword density percentages
Nobody cares if “dentist” appears exactly 2.3% of the time. Just write naturally.
❌ Buying backlinks
Shady. Expensive. Often useless.
❌ Meta keywords
Google hasn’t used these since like 2009.
❌ Worrying about the “algorithm update” every five minutes
If you’re writing helpful content and not being spammy, you’re fine.
Ignore the noise.
SEO takes time.
Like, a lot.
Here’s what nobody wants to tell you:
SEO is slow.
Like, “watching-paint-dry-while-bread-rises” slow.
You won’t rank #1 in a week. Or probably even a month.
Google needs time to:
– find your site
– trust your site
– decide you’re legit
For most small businesses, you’ll start seeing results in 3–6 months.
Sometimes sooner if you’re in a quiet niche. Sometimes longer if you’re in a crowded space.
This is why people give up too early.
They write three blog posts, check Google a week later, see nothing, and go: “SEO doesn’t work!”
It does. It just requires patience.
And honestly? That’s kind of good news.
Because it means your competitors probably won’t bother either.
Do you need to hire an SEO expert?
Short answer: Probably not yet.
Longer answer: If you’re just starting out, do the basics yourself:
✅ Clear page titles
✅ Helpful content
✅ Google Business Profile
✅ Fast, mobile-friendly site
✅ That’ll get you 80% of the way there.
If you’re already doing all that and you’re ready to scale hard, then sure — hire someone who knows what they’re doing.
But don’t hire an “SEO agency” when you haven’t even written your first blog post.
It’s like hiring a personal trainer before you own a pair of trainers.
Do those things consistently for six months and you’ll see results.
Ignore it completely and… well, you’re leaving free customers on the table.
Quick recap (because you probably skimmed)
✅ Use words people actually search for
✅ Make page titles clear and specific
✅ Write helpful content (not keyword soup)
✅ Claim your Google Business Profile
✅ Make your site fast and mobile-friendly
✅ Be patient (3–6 months minimum)
✅ Ignore 90% of “advanced SEO tactics” for now
That’s it.
SEO = Stressed? Exhausted? Overwhelmed?
Not anymore. Go Forth and Rank
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