Guides
SEO guides: straight answers, no jargon.
The questions business owners ask us most, answered properly: what it costs, how long it takes, how the map works and what you can do yourself. No sign-up, nothing held back.
- 29 guides, written for owners rather than marketers
- Figures from named sources, never invented
- A free self-check to see where you stand
Free · human-reviewed
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Send your website and what you want to know. A person will look and answer.
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Twelve questions, two minutes. See how findable your business is.
Costs, timescales and choosing help
Before you spend anything.
What SEO costs, how long it takes, whether it is worth it, and how to choose someone to do it.
How much does SEO cost in the UK?
Published UK guides put monthly SEO at about £400 to £1,500 with a freelancer and £1,200 to £4,000 with an agency (Startups.co.uk); Expert Market gives £1,000 as an average retainer.
Read the guideHow long does SEO take?
Fixes to things that are plainly broken, a blocked page, a wrong category on your Google profile, can show results within days or weeks.
Read the guideIs SEO worth it for a small business?
SEO is worth it when people already search for what you sell and a new customer is worth more than it costs to win one.
Read the guideCan I do SEO myself?
The foundations of local SEO are free and well within reach of a business owner.
Read the guideWhat does an SEO agency do?
The work comes down to five things: research, fixing, building, earning and measuring.
Read the guideHow to choose an SEO agency
Ask who will do the work, what they will do first and how they will report.
Read the guideSEO vs Google Ads
Google Ads brings visitors as soon as you switch it on, and stops as soon as you stop paying.
Read the guideThe 80/20 rule in SEO
The 80/20 rule is the observation that a small share of the work produces most of the result. In local SEO it holds unusually well.
Read the guideHow to choose a web designer
Decide what the website is for before you speak to anyone. A site that must bring enquiries is a different purchase from one that must exist.
Read the guideSEO glossary
Search terms: what the results page is made of and how Google builds it.
Read the guideLocal search and Google Business Profile
Being found near you.
How the map works, how to get onto it and how to stay there.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is about appearing when someone nearby searches for a business like yours, especially in the map results.
Read the guideHow to rank on Google Maps
Map rankings depend on relevance, distance and prominence. You control the first and the third.
Read the guideGoogle Business Profile: set-up guide
A Google Business Profile is free and is what puts you on Google Maps.
Read the guideGoogle Business Profile suspended?
Do not create a new profile. It is the commonest mistake and makes reinstatement harder.
Read the guideLocal SEO checklist
Start with the Google Business Profile: it is where most local customers see you first.
Read the guideLocal SEO for multiple locations
Each staffed location needs its own Google Business Profile and its own page on your website.
Read the guideHow to check your Google ranking
Your own search is personalised and located. It tells you where you rank for you, today, from where you are standing.
Read the guideSEO for service-area businesses
A service-area business is one that travels to customers rather than serving them at its premises. Google lets it have a profile without showing an address.
Read the guideReviews and reputation
Being the one they trust.
Getting more reviews, answering the difficult ones and staying inside the rules.
Websites and technical
A website that can be found.
New sites, redesigns, platforms and what to do when a site does not appear.
Why is my website not on Google?
First find out whether Google has the site at all: search for site: followed by your address.
Read the guideWebsite redesign SEO checklist
Rankings are lost when page addresses change without redirects, or when content that ranked is removed.
Read the guideSEO for a new website
Decide what each page is for before it is written.
Read the guideShopify vs WooCommerce
Shopify is a hosted service: a monthly fee, and the technical upkeep is done for you.
Read the guideHow much does a website cost in the UK?
A do-it-yourself website builder costs from about £2 to £259 a month, according to Startups.co.uk.
Read the guideHow to write a service page
One page per service. A single “services” page cannot rank for ten different searches or answer ten different customers.
Read the guideWhy your website gets no enquiries
First tell the two problems apart: not enough of the right visitors, or the right visitors not acting. Search Console and your analytics show which.
Read the guideAI search
What is changing.
How AI answers choose which businesses to mention.
York
Search in this city.
Local knowledge, written down.
Start with the search moment
Prefer an answer about your own business?
Guides can only be general. Send your website and a person will look at your situation and tell you where the clearest opportunities are.
- 01You send the website and what you want search to do.
- 02A person inspects how you appear today, no automated score.
- 03You get the clearest opportunities, and an honest view on whether we are the right team.
Thank you, that is with us.
A person will read it and reply during office hours. (Mon–Sat · 09:30–18:00)
Need us sooner? Call +44 7435 755127.