Frequently asked questions

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It is the work of improving your presence online so that Google shows your business higher in its results when people search for what you offer.

Local SEO is SEO for businesses that serve customers in a particular area. The aim is to appear in the map results: the three businesses Google shows on a map when someone searches for a service near them.

Google ranks these on three things: your Google Business Profile, your website, and listings of your business on other sites. It also takes into account how close you are to the person searching.

It is your business listing on Google Maps and in the map results. It shows your categories, services, reviews, photos, hours and location. It is free, and it is the most important factor in where you appear for local searches.

Top 3 for your agreed search terms within one week. After that, the monthly work keeps you there and extends your rankings to more searches.

Google's results keep changing, and your competitors keep working on their own ranking. The monthly work keeps you in the top 3.

Rankings also build over time. Each month adds content, links and improvements that make your position more secure.

We start with your main search term, usually your trade and your town. We agree it with you at the start.

The full services list on your profile and the pages on your site then help you appear for many related searches as well.

Google takes into account how close a business is to the person searching. We can rank you across the area around your location, but a town some distance from your address is much harder to win against businesses based there.

If you need customers in a town further away, a location there or paid ads is usually the better option.

Paid ads appear at the top of Google because you pay for each click. When you stop paying, they disappear.

SEO improves where you appear in the map results and the normal results below the ads. You do not pay per click, and positions are kept by the ongoing work rather than by spending.

No. Sites can be fixed and improved as they are. If something about your current site makes ranking impractical, the audit will say so and explain why.

Access to your website, Google Business Profile and a short conversation about your services and customers. We handle the rest.

Two things help. Ask your customers for Google reviews regularly, because a steady flow of reviews matters. And send us photos of your work each week so we can add them to your profile.

Some listing sites also ask the business owner to confirm details by email or phone. We send those to you a few at a time.

Negligible. Most of the work involves changes to page titles, content, links and technical settings. Nothing will be changed about how your site looks or what it says about your business.

Yes. We do not use fake reviews, keyword-stuffed business names or fake listings. These can get a profile suspended, and a suspended profile does not appear at all.

Where fake listings are taking places from real businesses in your area, we report them to Google.

Every Friday you get a short update on the work done that week. Each month you get a ranking map showing your position across your area, compared with where you started.

Yes. The work is focused on Google, but part of it lists you on Bing Places and Apple Maps, and other search engines look for the same things.