Is SEO worth it for a small business?

When SEO is worth it

• People search for what you sell. Trades, professional services, restaurants, shops, clinics: if customers type it into Google, being found matters.
• A customer is worth a meaningful amount. One new client for a solicitor or one new boiler installation can pay for months of work.
• You plan to be in business for years. SEO builds an asset that keeps working; advertising stops the day you stop paying.
• Your competitors are weak online. In many towns the basics are enough to stand out.

When it is not

An agency is not supposed to say this, but there are cases where SEO is the wrong tool.

• Nobody searches for it. A genuinely new product has to create demand before search can capture it.
• You need customers this week. SEO takes months. Advertising or direct outreach is faster.
• A customer is worth very little. If each sale makes a few pounds and does not repeat, the sums rarely work.
• You are already at capacity. More enquiries you cannot serve are a cost, not a benefit.

Working out the sums

You do not need a forecast, just three honest numbers: what a new customer is worth to you, how many more a month would make a difference, and what the work would cost.

An illustration, not a prediction. Suppose a new customer is worth £300 to you and the work costs £600 a month. It pays for itself at two extra customers a month. If that sounds achievable in your market, it is worth exploring; if you would need twenty, it probably is not.

The part nobody can promise is how many customers the work will bring. What can be done is to look at how many people search, how you appear now and who you are up against, which is what a proper review is for.

Has AI made SEO pointless?

No, but it has changed the shape of it. For questions, “how do I bleed a radiator”, search engines now often answer directly, and fewer people click through. For buying and local searches, “emergency plumber near me”, people still need to choose a business, and they still choose from a map, a list or a recommendation.

AI assistants that recommend businesses draw on what is published about them: websites, profiles, reviews, directories. A business that is clearly described, consistently listed and well reviewed is better placed in both worlds. Our guide to AI search and local business covers it.

What to do before you spend anything

• Claim and complete your Google Business Profile.
• Make sure your name, address and phone number are identical everywhere.
• Ask every happy customer for a review.
• Check each thing you sell has its own page.
• Set up Google Search Console to see what you already appear for.

If those are done and you still are not being found, that is the point at which paid help earns its fee. Our guide to doing SEO yourself goes through each step.