SEO for an SME business

But even if they did, they’d likely face the same issues as many other small businesses:

1. They don’t have much technical expertise: SEO isn’t that complicated, but “being good at computers”—as my Nana would say—is a definite requirement if you’re doing this yourself.
2. They don’t have the budget: Knowing what needs doing is only half the battle. Hiring marketing staff to do the work is the other more expensive half.

Everything above sound familiar?

This article focuses on simple, low-cost and quick wins, many of which need only be done once to have a positive lasting effect. I’ll also talk about outsourcing some of this stuff, so you have more time to focus on the crucial business activities that put money in your pocket.

Still, I’m going to assume that you already have the absolute basics covered in that:

• You have a website.
• You’ve already installed Google Analytics, Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, etc.
• You’ve claimed or created your Google My Business listing (if relevant).
• You get some traffic—not necessarily from search engines.
• You’re a local business with only a few locations or are in a service-based industry.

First things first—we need to cover a few more basics.

Let’s begin by making sure that Google has your website indexed.

Being indexed simply means that Google is aware of your website. It doesn’t necessarily mean you rank for anything worthwhile, but it does mean there’s a chance of your site popping up when people search for relevant queries.

Not indexed = no chance of ever ranking for anything.

Luckily, there are two easy ways to check whether your site is indexed.

The first is with Google Search Console.