· 9 min read

The small business SEO checklist we actually use

No secrets, no tricks — the same list we work through on every audit, in the order we work through it.

There is no hidden technique in SEO that agencies keep to themselves. There is a list of things that need to be right, and most sites have several of them wrong. This is the list we work through, in order, on every audit we run.

Technical: can Google read the site at all

None of the rest matters if this part is broken.

  • Indexing. Search site:yourdomain.co.uk in Google. If pages are missing, or pages you never wanted are there, something is wrong.
  • robots.txt. Check it is not blocking anything important. We have seen entire sites hidden by a line left over from a staging server.
  • One version of the site. http, https, with and without www should all end up in the same place via permanent redirects.
  • Canonical tags. Every page should declare its own preferred URL.
  • Speed. Run PageSpeed Insights on the mobile tab. Oversized images are the most common single cause.
  • Mobile usability. Text readable without zooming, buttons big enough to tap, nothing overflowing sideways.
  • Broken links and redirect chains. Fix 404s, and point redirects straight to their destination rather than through two or three hops.
  • XML sitemap. It should list real, indexable pages only — not tag archives and old drafts.
  • Search Console. If you have not set it up, do that today. It is free and it tells you what Google actually thinks of your site.

On-page: does each page say what it is

  • Unique title on every page, roughly 50–60 characters, naming the service and the location. Duplicated titles across pages are extremely common and easy to fix.
  • Meta description that reads like an advert, not a summary. It does not affect ranking directly, but it affects whether anyone clicks.
  • One H1 per page that matches what the page is about.
  • Logical headings below it, used for structure rather than for making text bigger.
  • Descriptive URLs — /emergency-plumber-harrow, not /page-id-47.
  • Alt text on images, describing the image plainly.
  • Internal links between related pages, with anchor text that says where it goes. “Click here” tells Google nothing.
  • Structured data for your business, services and FAQs.

Local: does Google know where you are

  • Google Business Profile claimed, verified, and completely filled in — categories, services, hours, description, photos.
  • Name, address and phone identical everywhere they appear online.
  • Address in the site footer as real text.
  • Reviews being asked for consistently, and every review replied to.
  • Local directory listings on the sites that matter for your trade.
  • Genuine area pages — a few real ones, not a dozen with the town name swapped.

Content: is there a reason to rank

Once the mechanics are right, ranking comes down to whether your pages deserve to.

  • A separate page for each service. One “Services” page listing eight things will not rank for any of them.
  • Enough depth to be useful. Not a word count target — but a page that answers what it costs, how long it takes, what is included and what happens next will beat two thin paragraphs every time.
  • Answer real questions. The questions customers ask you on the phone are the questions they type into Google first.
  • Keep it current. Prices, opening hours and service areas that are out of date cost you trust and enquiries.

Then measure, honestly

Track rankings for the terms that actually bring enquiries, not vanity terms nobody searches. Track enquiries, not just traffic. And give it time — three to six months before judging organic work is fair, though local map-pack changes usually show sooner.

Where to start if you only have a weekend

Do these four things, in this order: set up Search Console, complete your Google Business Profile properly, fix your page titles so each one names a service and a town, and compress your images. That is not the whole job, but it is the part with the best return per hour, and it will put you ahead of most of your competitors.