What Is SEO and Is It Worth Paying For?

If you run a small business, you’ve probably had emails telling you your SEO is “broken” and offering to fix it for £300 a month. They use phrases like “critical ranking deficiencies” and “search visibility optimisation protocol.” It’s designed to scare you into paying.

Most business owners I talk to don’t actually know what SEO means. It’s one of those terms that gets thrown around constantly, but nobody explains it properly. It’s become this vaguely threatening thing you feel you should be doing, without understanding what it involves or whether it’s worth the money.

Let me try to explain it without the jargon.

SEO in plain English

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. That’s it. It’s the process of making your website more likely to appear when someone searches for something relevant on Google.

When you type “joiner Gloucester” into Google, the results that appear aren’t random. Google has looked at every website it knows about, decided which ones are most relevant and trustworthy for that search, and ranked them accordingly. SEO is the work you do to convince Google that your site deserves to be near the top of that list.

That’s genuinely all it is. Everything else is detail.

The two types of SEO (that people never separate)

This is where things get confusing, because “SEO” actually covers two quite different things. And the companies emailing my joiner friend were deliberately blurring the line between them.

Technical SEO

This is the stuff that should be built into your website from the start. It includes things like:

• Making sure Google can actually find and read all your pages
• Your site loading quickly on mobile
• Pages having proper titles and descriptions that tell Google what they’re about
• Your site being secure (HTTPS)
• Images being properly sized and labelled
• Your site working well on phones and tablets

Technical SEO isn’t an ongoing service. It’s a one-off job. If your website is built properly, most of this is already done. If it isn’t, it needs fixing once, and then it’s sorted.

When I build a site for someone, all of this is included as standard. It’s not an extra. It’s just how websites should be built. Charging separately for “technical SEO” on a new website is like a builder charging extra for making sure the walls are straight.

Ongoing SEO (content and authority)

This is the other half, and this is where it gets more complicated. Ongoing SEO is about:

• Creating content that targets the searches your potential customers are making
• Getting other reputable websites to link to yours (which Google treats as a vote of confidence)
• Keeping your Google Business Profile active and up to date
• Building your website’s reputation over time so Google trusts it more

This is the part that can genuinely be worth paying for. But it’s also the part where most of the snake oil gets sold.

What realistic results look like

Here’s where I need to be straight with you, because a lot of SEO companies won’t be.

If you’re a small local business, you’re not going to rank on page one for “plumber” nationally. That’s not how it works. The businesses on page one for broad national terms have been building their online presence for years and have massive budgets.

What you can realistically achieve:

Local search visibility. “Plumber Bristol,” “joiner near me,” “wedding florist Bath.” These are the searches that actually matter for local businesses, and they’re much more achievable. Google actively tries to show local results for service-based searches. A well-built website with good content and an active Google Business Profile can get you ranking for these terms within a few months.

Specific service searches. “Boiler replacement cost Bristol” or “kitchen fitting Bath.” These longer, more specific searches have less competition and higher intent. Someone searching for this is actively looking to buy. A single well-written page targeting this kind of search can bring in steady enquiries for years.

Your own business name. This sounds obvious, but I’ve seen businesses that don’t even show up when you Google their exact name. That should be a given, and fixing it is usually straightforward.

If an SEO company promises you “page one for 50 keywords in 30 days,” that’s a red flag. Real SEO takes time. Months, not weeks. And honest providers will tell you that upfront.

What you can do yourself (for free)

Before you pay anyone a penny for SEO, there are things you can do right now that will make a genuine difference.

Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. I’ve written a full guide on how to do this. It’s free, takes about twenty minutes, and it’s probably the single most impactful thing a local business can do for their online visibility.

Make sure your website says what you do and where. This sounds ridiculously basic, but I’ve looked at business websites that never mention the city they’re in. Google can’t rank you for “electrician Bristol” if the word Bristol doesn’t appear anywhere on your site. Go through each page and make sure your location and services are clearly mentioned.

Write a page for each service you offer. Don’t lump everything onto one page. If you do kitchens, bathrooms, and extensions, have a separate page for each. Each page is a chance to appear for a different search. I covered this in detail in my post about what to put on your business website.

Get some Google reviews. Reviews affect local rankings. Ask happy customers to leave one. Most people are willing, they just need to be asked. Even five or ten genuine reviews can make a noticeable difference.

Make sure your site works on mobile. Pull your website up on your phone right now. Is it easy to read? Can you tap the phone number to call? Is the contact form easy to fill in? More than half of all web searches happen on mobile. If your site is awkward to use on a phone, you’re losing people.

Check your page speed. Go to pagespeed.insights.web.dev and type in your website address. It’ll give you a score and tell you what’s slowing things down. If you’re scoring under 50 on mobile, there are problems worth fixing. I wrote a whole post about why websites are slow and how to fix it if you want the full breakdown.

When it’s worth paying someone

If you’ve done the basics above and you want to push further, that’s when professional SEO starts making sense. Specifically:

If you’re in a competitive local market. Some industries and locations are more competitive than others. If you’re one of forty plumbers in Bristol, the free basics might not be enough to get you visible. A professional can do keyword research, competitor analysis, and content planning that you probably don’t have time for.

If you need content written. Regular blog posts, service pages, location pages. This kind of content is what builds your search presence over time. But it takes skill to write content that’s genuinely useful and also targets the right searches. Most business owners either don’t have the time or don’t enjoy writing, and that’s fine.

If something technical is wrong and you can’t fix it. Slow loading times, pages that aren’t being indexed, duplicate content issues. These are technical problems that need technical solutions. A good developer (or SEO specialist with technical skills) can diagnose and fix these.

If you’ve been penalised or your rankings have dropped. Sometimes rankings fall off a cliff. There’s usually a reason, and it’s usually fixable. But diagnosing it requires access to tools and experience that most business owners don’t have.

My SEO service covers the technical side as part of the build, and I can help with ongoing content too. But I’ll always tell you if I think you can handle it yourself.

What to look out for

The SEO industry has a reputation problem. Too many companies sell monthly retainers to small businesses that don’t need them, provide vague reports full of graphs, and never actually deliver measurable results.

Red flags:

• Guaranteed rankings. Nobody can guarantee a specific position on Google. Google’s algorithm is their own, and it changes constantly.
• Long contracts. If an SEO company needs a 12-month lock-in to prove their value, that’s a problem. Good SEO shows results within three to six months.
• Vague reporting. “We optimised 47 pages and built 12 backlinks” means nothing if your phone isn’t ringing more than it was before. Ask them: what searches are we targeting, and are we appearing for them?
• Unsolicited emails about your “broken” SEO. Like the ones my joiner received. Legitimate SEO professionals don’t cold-email businesses telling them their SEO is broken. That’s a sales tactic.

What I’d recommend

If you’re a small local business, here’s my honest take on the order of priority:

Get a properly built website first. One that’s fast, mobile-friendly, has good content, and is technically sound. That handles 80% of your SEO needs right there.

Set up your Google Business Profile. Keep it updated, ask for reviews, post occasionally.

If you’ve done both of those and you want more, then consider paying for ongoing SEO. Content creation, link building, local citations. But go in with realistic expectations and make sure you can track actual results.

And if someone emails you saying your SEO is critically broken? Delete it.

If you’re not sure whether your website’s SEO is in decent shape, or you’ve been paying for SEO and you’re not sure what you’re getting, I’m happy to take a look. No charge, no jargon. Get in touch and I’ll give you an honest assessment.