SEO Basics for Small Businesses: Where to Start

Start with how your customers search

Before touching your website, write down the questions a customer would type into Google before buying from you. Those phrases — not your internal product names — are your keywords.

Group them by intent: people researching a problem, people comparing options, and people ready to buy. Each group needs a different kind of page.

Get the on-page basics right

Every important page should target one clear topic and make that obvious to both visitors and search engines.

• A unique, descriptive title and meta description for each page
• One H1 that says what the page is about, followed by logical sub-headings
• Fast loading on mobile — most of your visitors are on a phone
• Descriptive image alt text and clean, readable URLs

Don't skip local visibility

If you serve a specific area, a complete and active Google Business Profile often brings results faster than anything else. Keep your name, address and phone number consistent everywhere, and ask happy customers for honest reviews.

Measure what matters

Rankings are a vanity metric on their own. Track enquiries, calls and form submissions that come from organic search. SEO is a slow channel — judge it over months, not days.