SEO services for UK small businesses that bring enquiries from Google

Google takes time to trust a new page: it has to find it, read it and see that people stay. That clock only starts once the page is live, and there's no paying to speed it up.

Meanwhile the businesses already at the top collect the visits, the jobs and the reviews that keep them there. To see where you stand today, ask for the free SEO audit.

A UK search for a trade or a clinic usually shows the map, then the big directories (Checkatrade, Yell, TrustATrader, MyBuilder) and only then the local firms. We can't move the directories, but we can make sure your name, address and phone read the same on them as on your site and your profile, because Google compares them.

Two details that change the plan here. Area pages are built around the places people type, which in the UK is usually the town or the district (“Headingley”, “Clifton”), not the postcode. And since UK law asks for consent before analytics cookies (ICO guidance on cookies), part of your visitors won't show up in analytics; we measure progress mainly with Search Console, which doesn't need cookies on your site.

Google crawls your site, stores the pages it finds useful and, when someone searches, ranks the ones that answer best. Search engine optimisation means helping it at each of those three moments, and it comes down to four things, often called the pillars of SEO. It's common for a site to get one or two right and forget the rest: great copy on a site that takes forever to load, or a lightning-fast site with three pages that answer nothing. If you suspect something's off under the hood, an SEO audit finds it and ranks it by what it costs you.

The riskiest moment is changing websites. If old addresses disappear without pointing anywhere, Google loses what it learned from them. That's why every redesign we do includes a website migration that keeps what already brings you visits: we keep the domain and every old address points to its new page.

In the UK you can hire SEO in three ways: a freelance consultant, a small agency or a large one with account managers. A consultant often leaves you a list of recommendations someone else has to carry out; an agency usually makes the changes too. How they work matters more than the label.

A freelancer gives you direct contact with whoever does the work, limited by one person's diary. We're two SEO specialists, Òscar Bordetas and Carles Encinas, and between us we cover searches, copy, website, Google listing and tracking, at a fee published on this site.

Whoever you choose, ask to see what they'd do for your business before you pay (we send that free in the audit), walk away from anyone guaranteeing position one and check the website, domain and Google accounts stay in your name. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO is worth five minutes.

A plumber in Stockport or an accountant in Reading doesn't need the SEO of a national retailer. You usually have a handful of services, a clear patch and rivals you could name. That works in your favour: a few well-built pages and a solid Business Profile leave plenty of ground to win.

Most of your customers search nearby, and for those searches Google shows a map with three businesses first. That's why website SEO and local SEO go together in almost every small business project. Online shops are a different job, covered in ecommerce SEO.

A monthly fee we quote after the free audit, because it depends on how many services and towns there are to work on and how strong the local competition is. It covers the groundwork (keyword research, the pages you're missing, your Business Profile and the fixes to your site) and then each month's work: new pages, reviews, local mentions and enquiry tracking. No set-up fee and no minimum term; you can stop with 30 days' notice.

The first invoice only comes once the groundwork is live and you've checked it. If you also need a new website, that's quoted separately and paid when it's finished. To compare quotes, read how much SEO costs in the UK; all our prices are on our pricing page.