Small business SEO: what it is and how to do it yourself

Start with the two free Google accounts that everything else depends on. Your Google Business Profile is what appears in Google Maps and the map results for searches like "electrician near me". Claim it, pick the category that matches your main service, add your service area (you can hide your home address if you work from home), opening hours, phone number, website and real photos of your work.

Google Search Console shows which searches your website already appears for, how often people click, and which pages Google cannot index. Add your site, verify it, and submit your sitemap. It takes a few weeks to collect useful data, so set it up first.

Small businesses rarely win the one-word search ("plumber", "accountant"). Those belong to directories and national brands. You win the specific ones: the service plus the place, or the problem in the customer's own words. "Boiler service Harrogate" and "leaking tap repair" are searches a small firm can own.

Three free sources give you those words: Google's autocomplete as you type, the "People also ask" questions on the results page, and the Queries report in Search Console once it has data. Write down 10 to 20 phrases that match jobs you want more of.

One page that lists everything you do can't rank for all of it. Give each main service its own page that says what you do, where you do it, roughly what it costs or how you price it, and how to get in touch. Photos of real jobs beat stock photos.

Each page needs a unique title tag (the blue link text in Google, about 60 characters) that uses the phrase from step 2, a single clear heading, and a short meta description that tells the searcher why to click. This is often the quickest win: pages that appear in Search Console with lots of impressions and no clicks usually need a better title.

Many people who search for a local service do it on their phone. Open your site on yours: can you read it without zooming, and can you tap the phone number? Then run your pages through Google's free PageSpeed Insights. A common cause of a slow small-business site is oversized photos, which are usually quick to fix.

Check the padlock too. Every page should load over HTTPS, and any broken links (pages that return "not found") should be fixed or pointed at the right page.

Reviews on your Google Business Profile help you in the map results and help people choose you. Ask every happy customer, make it easy with the review link from your profile, and reply to every review, good or bad.

Your business name, address and phone number should read exactly the same on your website, your Business Profile and the directories you are listed on (Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yell, and the trade or industry directories your customers use). Mismatched details make it harder for Google to be sure they are all you.

Once a month, open Search Console's Performance report. Look for searches where you get impressions but few clicks (improve that page's title), pages that have dropped, and new searches you had not thought of (they may deserve their own page). Change one thing, note the date, and look again next month.

Be patient. SEO usually takes months, not weeks, and positions move around from week to week. Judge the trend over three months, not one day's position.