Getting Found on Google: A Beginner's Guide to SEO

When someone in your area needs what you sell, they search Google. If your competitors appear and you do not, the job, the booking or the sale quietly goes to them. That, in one sentence, is why SEO matters. The rest of this guide explains what it actually involves, without the jargon.

What SEO actually is

Search engine optimisation is the work of making your website the most useful, trustworthy answer to the searches your customers type. Google's unpaid results cannot be bought. You earn your position, and once earned it keeps working for you without a cost per click.

That last part is the whole appeal. A page that ranks well can bring enquiries every week for years. I still get work from pages I wrote a long time ago and have barely touched since.

Why it beats interruption marketing

Someone searching "emergency electrician Croydon" at 9pm has a problem right now. You are not interrupting their evening with an advert they never asked for; you are turning up at the exact moment they want you. No other channel gives you that timing, which is why search traffic converts so well.

Local SEO: the fastest win for most businesses

If you serve a town, city or region, the map pack (the block of three businesses with a map that appears for local searches) is prime territory. Getting into it depends less on your website and more on your Google Business Profile: how complete it is, how many genuine reviews you have, and whether your name, address and phone number are consistent around the web.

I have seen a tradesman go from invisible to first in the map pack in a couple of months with nothing more exotic than a properly filled-out profile, weekly photos and a habit of asking happy customers for a review. No agency retainer required.

The three parts of SEO, in plain terms

1. On-page: what your pages say

Every important page needs a descriptive title, clear headings and content that actually answers the search. One page per service is the rule most small sites break. If you offer boiler repair, bathroom fitting and general plumbing, that is three pages, not one "Services" page trying to do everything at once.

2. Technical: whether Google can read your site

Your site needs to load quickly on a phone, use HTTPS, and not hide its content behind broken menus or scripts. Most modern sites pass these checks; old ones often fail badly. A free tool like PageSpeed Insights will tell you in thirty seconds where you stand.

3. Off-page: what the rest of the web says about you

Reviews, mentions and links from other trusted sites all tell Google you are a real business people vouch for. This is the slowest part to build and the easiest to get wrong. Never buy links; genuine ones from suppliers, trade bodies and local press are worth more than a thousand spammy ones.

Finding the words your customers actually use

Before writing anything, spend an hour finding out what people really type. Start typing your service into Google and note the autocomplete suggestions. Scroll to "People also ask". Look at what headings your top-ranking competitors use. You are looking for the difference between what you call your work and what customers call it. A firm might say "domestic electrical installation"; the customer types "electrician near me" or "cost to rewire a house".

Your first five jobs, in order

• Write a proper title for every page. "Home" tells Google nothing. "Boiler Repair in Reading | Smith Heating" tells it everything.
• Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Every field, real photos, correct opening hours.
• Build a page for each main service. A few hundred honest, specific words each, with prices if you can.
• Ask for reviews, every time. A short text with a direct link after each completed job works far better than hoping.
• Check your speed on a phone. If your site takes more than about three seconds, find out why before spending on anything else.

How long, and how much?

Here is the honest answer nobody likes: three to six months before the movement feels meaningful, longer for a new domain in a competitive market. SEO compounds, which means slow at first and increasingly powerful later. Anyone guaranteeing "page one in two weeks" is either bluffing or using shortcuts that can get your site penalised.

On cost, UK freelancers and smaller agencies typically charge a few hundred pounds a month for local SEO. What matters more than the number is knowing what work is being done for it. Ask for the list. If you cannot get one, walk away.

When to bring in help

Do the basics yourself if you have the time; they are genuinely doable. Get help when you are in a competitive market, when technical problems are beyond you, or when your time is worth more on the tools than in a keyword spreadsheet. If you want a straight answer on where your site stands, my SEO service page explains how I work, and the first conversation costs nothing.