A simplified guide to SEO for small businesses

SEO is a digital tactic that can deliver significant benefits for small businesses willing to invest consistent time and effort. By focusing on website optimisation, helpful content, local engagement, and continuous improvement, small businesses can build a solid foundation for online growth. 

Read our practical guide below to discover small business SEO tips and tools.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of enhancing a website’s visibility in search engine results pages, such as Google or Bing. By using a combination of technical and creative strategies, such as keyword research, content optimisation, and improving site structure, SEO helps websites attract more organic (unpaid) traffic from people searching for relevant products, services, or information online.

Why is SEO important for small businesses?

In today’s digital landscape, SEO is vital for small businesses aiming to attract new customers and compete in their industry. Effective SEO helps your website appear higher in search results, increasing visibility and driving more relevant traffic to your site. By following practical SEO strategies tailored to small businesses, you can maximise your online reach and build a lasting digital presence. SEO efforts can also drive sustainable growth, increase customer engagement, and ultimately lead to higher sales and long-term success.

Small business SEO strategies

Website optimisation

A well-optimised website is one of the first priorities of SEO. Google’s SEO Starter Guide advises to organise your website so that visitors, and search engines, can easily navigate and find the information they are searching for, with clear calls to action and accessible contact information. Use internal links to connect related content to help users discover more information whilst staying on your site and to signal to search engines which pages are most important. A well-structured site not only improves SEO but can also enhance the overall user experience.

Keyword research

Conduct keyword research to understand what your customers are searching for. Use free tools, such as Google Keyword Planner, to find relevant keywords or phrases related to your product/service and potential local variations. Identify phrases that your customers use to attract visitors to your site, ensuring to pay attention to search intent, for example: are users searching for informational or transactional content? Target keywords that match your business goals by including them in content that addresses your customer needs directly.

Helpful content

Content creation is essential for gaining value for your website and engaging users. Produce blog posts, guides, FAQs, and case studies that answer your audience’s questions, and solves their problems, to help establish you as an expert and build trust. An article from the Federation of Small Businesses shares how quality content must be informative and useful, easy to read, and unique, to signal to search engines that your site is valuable. Make sure to update your content frequently to keep it relevant, and target localised intent where possible.

Optimised video and images

Images and videos can benefit your website, both functionally and aesthetically, but they must be optimised for speed and SEO. Where applicable, compress images and videos to reduce the time a page takes to load. Adding descriptive alt text to images, and captions and transcripts to videos, helps search engines to understand what image your site is displaying, and is also essential for accessibility. For more advice on improving your website’s accessibility, read our dedicated guide.

Link building

Building up high-quality backlinks is a powerful way to boost your site’s authority. The Chartered Institute of Marketing define backlinks as links on other websites that point users to your site. To increase your chances of securing backlinks, you can reach out to any local or industry websites to ask if they are willing to include a link to your site, such as through guest posts or directory listings. Links from websites with a high Domain Authority will improve your SEO by signalling to search engines that your website is trustworthy and authoritative.

Local SEO

If you are a small business who would like to target customers locally, it can be beneficial to optimise your business for local search. Create and optimise a Google My Business profile for your business, with business information, images, and regular updates. You can improve your local SEO presence by listing on local directories or community sites, always including the same name, address, and contact details. Reviews from positive customer transactions and interactions can also help to improve local search rankings.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on ensuring that search engines can access and crawl your site. Technical SEO tools, such as Screaming Frog, can run basic tests on your website to help you find and fix any broken links, error pages, or slow-loading pages. You can also use an SEO tool to create an XML sitemap which you can submit to search engines to help them index your pages – this means that Google can view every page and present relevant results to searchers. Ensure your page title, description, and URL are clear and appealing to help drive high a click-through-rate on search engine results pages.

Mobile optimisation

According to Statista, mobile devices accounted for 63% of global website traffic, emphasising the importance of ensuring your site looks and works well on all screen sizes. You can optimise your website for mobile by using responsive design, which means that your website will be able to adapt to fit to any device or screen size, catering to the majority of people browsing. Make sure to test your site on various devices to identify if any navigation needs to be simplified or if any file sizes need to be minimised - this will help to improve your SEO and will prevent you from losing any potential customers to poor usability.

Social media

Promoting your website on your social media profiles is an ideal way to drive traffic to your site and boost your brand’s visibility. Choose a suitable social media platform for your business, such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, and make sure to consistently post and engage with your audience. You can post business updates, any promotions, or helpful content to help drive followers to your website. For more guidance on how to use social media for your small business, visit our dedicated article.

Performance tracking

Monitoring your SEO progress will help you to see the benefits of SEO in real time. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, explained in further detail in the SEO tools section below, are able to track key performance indicators, such as organic traffic and conversion rates. This data can then be used to inform you of where your SEO efforts are working and where additional SEO tactics may be required. Regularly reviewing your strategy, and making adjustments where necessary, can help you to stay ahead of changes in search engine algorithms and user behaviour.

SEO tools

If you are a small business owner looking to boost your online presence, here are a range of affordable and effective SEO tools designed to help you get started:

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that helps you to measure your site’s Search traffic and performance, fix issues, and help your site succeed in Google Search results. The tools and reports help business owners to analyse their site’s impressions, clicks, and position on Google Search, in addition to reviewing sitemaps and individual URLs.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics offers a free tool, known as GA4, which collects data from websites to better understand the customer journey. The platform enables business owners to track the performance of their website and includes privacy controls, such as cookieless measurement, in addition to direct integrations with media platforms to help drive actions on your website.

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free resource to help businesses find the right keywords to use to get their website in front of the right users. This platform includes a keyword generator tool to find related keyword ideas and to help you utilise quality keywords on your website, instead of focusing on a higher quantity of keywords.

Moz

Moz has a selection of free SEO tools available for link building and analysis, keyword research, webpage performance, and local listing audits. For example, the keyword research tool allows businesses to access keyword metrics like keyword volume, Keyword Difficulty, and top keyword suggestions. For additional tools, Moz offers a Starter plan for $49/month.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools gives website owners access to website analytics, technical audit, and SEO metrics. These free tools can provide insights about your website’s traffic, scan your website for common technical and on-page SEO issues, and shows which pages and keywords bring in the most organic traffic. Paid plans are also available starting from £99/month.

Semrush

Semrush offers a free account which allows users to access keyword research, competitor research, site audit, position tracking, backlink analytics, and SEO tips to optimise your website. Simply provide an email address and a password to set up a free account – for access to more SEO tools, Semrush offers a 7-day free trial to explore a Semrush toolkit.

SE ranking

SE ranking has a range of free SEO tools available to analyse domains, improve content, and check tech SEO. Their core tools allow you to check how your website ranks in Google’s organic and paid search, analyse any website’s organic and paid traffic, identify keywords attracting visitors, get essential SEO metrics for keywords and receive relevant suggestions to expand your keyword list.

Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog are the creators of the SEO Spider tool, which is a website crawler that helps to improve onsite SEO by auditing for common SEO issues. The free version of the tool allows you to download and crawl 500 URLs, or a paid SEO Spider license allows limitless downloads and access to advanced features for £199 a year, for larger businesses.

SEOSpace

SEOSpace is the Squarespace SEO tool designed to help websites get found on Google and other search engines. If you have a Squarespace web page, the tool offers a free SEO audit and score to provide you with a list of high-impact features to improve on the web page you entered and a score that indicates how much work you need to do to improve your SEO and rank higher.

Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile is free to create for your storefront or service area, and aims to turn people who find you on Google Search and Maps into new customers. The profile allows you to highlight essential information, easily connect with customers, and show what you offer, including products and services, to help boost your presence in search results.

Answer The Public

Answer The Public is a platform created by popular marketer Neil Patel to provide users with search insights direct from the minds of the customer, helping you to target the right terms whilst creating content for your website. You can register for free to access 3 daily searches, or an Individual plan allows you 100 searches a day for £11/month.

Google Trends

Google Trends is a free tool from Google that lets you measure Google search interest in any keyword over time. This tool can be used to identify trending topics and ideas for content to include on your website, which is helpful for creating marketing strategies based around real-time search data.

FAQs

How long does SEO take to work?

SEO is a long-term strategy, and the time it takes to see results can vary depending on factors such as competition and your optimisation efforts. Patience and consistency are key as SEO is an ongoing process rather than a simple task – you should see results build over time if you continue to optimise and monitor your SEO.

Can I do SEO myself for my small business?

Yes, small businesses can manage SEO themselves, especially with the online resources and tools available today. By learning the basics of SEO, such as optimising website content, using relevant keywords, and building links, small businesses can improve their search visibility without requiring an agency. However, as SEO requires a consistent effort, businesses should be prepared to invest time regularly and keep up with best practices. For more advanced SEO strategies, seeking expert advice may be beneficial.

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Please note: This article provides guidance for information purposes only. It should not be relied upon wholly when making or taking important business decisions – always seek the services of an appropriately qualified professional. The views expressed by websites referenced to are limited to those of the websites, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Markel Direct. Markel Direct is not affiliated with any of the brands, companies or websites mentioned in this article.