A guide to DIY SEO for small businesses (including the best — free! — SEO tool)

A 7-step checklist you can accomplish in one weekend. Heck, even checking off one will help.

I first learned SEO when I was working for a tiny media platform startup — a small business, really, given that it was just me and the CEO.

As a professional writer, I initially balked at the idea of writing for Google and not for people. But then, I realized that people are the ones typing things into Google. I started thinking of SEO as a strategy for understanding what people Google when they’re in need. And when I came to that realization, I got really into it.

Still, SEO is heady, and if you’re running a small business, you’re probably already wiped out. You’re also probably on a budget, so the idea of paying someone to do your marketing seems like a far-off dream.

If that sounds like you, this DIY SEO guide for small businesses is for you.

It’s based directly on the advice I’ve given to family and friends running small businesses in all sorts of industries.

These tips helped a local sign painter turn up in search results for “mural painting Los Angeles,” an esthetician attract new clients in her city, and a pilates instructor opening her own studio for the first time turn up in search results above the established chains in her area (she’s amazing and deserves it).

These techniques have also worked for much bigger “small” businesses, like a multi-million dollar men’s and women’s store with an e-commerce shop, and growing tech startups.

Give it a go, and let me know if it helps. My inbox is always open.

1. You must set up the best SEO tool for small businesses: Google Search Console.

I've found that many of my clients don’t have Google Search Console (GSC) set up when we first start working together, and it’s the first thing I have them do because it’s so helpful and also free. If you own your site, claim ownership of your GSC now. (BTW, you should also set up Google Analytics on your site, even if there’s tracking through your website host — Google’s tools are free, robust, and useful, so why not?)

Here are just a few things that GSC will show you:

Through GSC, you can see what pages on your site are trending in search, so you can catch onto what people are discovering. GSC will also help you see patterns in impressions and clicks over time.

Google Search Console also tells you what search terms people are using to find you.

Once you’ve verified ownership of your site and have access to GSC, there are a ton of ways to really dig in, if that’s your thing (this is a great guide for that).

But if you’re overwhelmed by the idea of SEO, that’s ok, too. Once you’ve got everything set up, you’ll immediately benefit from the automated email updates GSC sends you. If anything major changes on your site, whether that’s a drop in rankings for a keyword or a spike in visitors, Google will email you to let you know.

Again, for free.

Now that’s an SEO tool every small business needs.

2. Make sure every page on your site does the minimum best practices for SEO.

Every page needs a page title & metadescription. Depending on whether you’re on Squarespace, Wordpress or Wix, where you edit that info will vary, so try Googling either “adding metadescriptions [insert name of your site provider]” or “SEO best practices for [insert name of your site provider.]” to find out how to edit yours.

For Squarespace (my personal favorite platform for almost all my small business clients), there’s a handy Squarespace SEO checklist and — brand new upon writing this! — a built-in AI tool that can help quickly fix any issues for you, like missing alt text for images (which is an important SEO and also accessibility thing! But an annoying and time-consuming one! Such a smart way to use AI).

My handy little SEO panel. All Squarespace sites have it under Website > SEO.

3. Get your local SEO on lock.

I promise you, it’s not hard, and it will help so much.

If you don’t have one already, create a Google Business Profile. Fill it out as much as you can, even if you’re not a brick-and-mortar small business, and make sure your website is linked there.

Tip: In general, the more you interlink all your various web presences (IG, LinkedIn, Google Business, your website), the better.

It’s a good idea to also create a Contact Us page on your site that includes where you’re located. If you have an About page (you should — people want to know the people behind the small businesses they support!), make sure to include a line about where you’re located, there, too.

The more specific you are, the more likely you are to capture people searching for your services or products in your area. For example, rather than “we’re a small bookstore in Los Angeles,” try something like “We’re a small bookstore in the Highland Park neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, located on the edge of Eagle Rock, Cypress Park, and South Pasadena.”

I did all the above for Nunc’s local SEO, and I recently landed a new client who found me through ChatGPT by searching “best copywriters Los Angeles.” How flattering is that? Thanks, DIY SEO, and thanks, AI.*

*There’s another article to write about the relationship between SEO and AI, which is where I’m currently nerding out in my own work — but that’s for another day.

My business profile in the top right corner when you search Nunc Studio. Notice there’s almost nothing there. I work with clients all over the world, often from my couch, so there’s no need to include much. But it still helps me reach people who are searching for help locally in Los Angeles, and why wouldn’t I want to work with small businesses in my area?

4. Create an FAQ page (with the help of AI).

I’m a professional writer, and I hate AI writing. But I still believe there’s a place for AI in content and marketing work and absolutely in SEO work, especially when you’re a small business owner with fewer hours in the day than you need.

FAQ pages are amazing for capturing people searching for whatever product or service you offer. But often my clients aren’t exactly sure what people might be searching for.

There are premium SEO tools out there that marketing & content professionals like me use to answer that question, but you can also get a pretty good idea with the help of some clever AI prompts.

How to Prompt AI to Write an SEO-Optimized FAQ Page (Beginner Edition)

1. Head to your AI tool of choice (ChatGPT works great), and give the tool as much information as possible about your business: what you do, where you’re located, who your ideal customer is, and even who your direct competitors are.

2. If you already have a site full of copy written in your brand voice, include a link and tell AI to use that copy as inspiration for the voice and tone of the FAQs. Then, use this prompt:
   
   "Write an SEO-friendly FAQ page for my website targeting [target audience] in my brand’s voice and tone."

3. Now, here’s where the human touch needs to come back in. Do not just C&P those FAQs into your site.
   
   You know your business better than anyone and way better than AI. So read the damn questions and answers.
   
   If something isn’t quite right, tell your tool to edit it based on your feedback. Rinse and repeat until you’re happy with the results. Or edit the FAQs yourself, which should feel manageable, considering you didn’t have to write the first draft.
   

4. This process also has an added bonus: you’re essentially using the FAQs page to force yourself to figure out how to answer some of the questions you probably haven’t fully thought through before. Use it to inform your future elevator pitches and find the holes in how you sell your small business, so you can seal them up.

5. You probably don’t need a blog, but you do need thoughtful content on all your site pages.

I write articles for my site because I love writing, and because I want to show (not tell) clients what I can do for them in terms of content development and marketing support.

You are not me. Creating and maintaining a blog, especially for SEO purposes, requires a lot of time and energy.

But if you have a website, the content on every page of that website should be useful, easy to scan, and written like you’re speaking to human beings who need your business. That means:

• There should be logical headings and subheadings.

• Paragraphs don’t need to be more than 2-3 sentences — avoid the dreaded wall of text!

• Use bulleted lists when you can. They’re amazing for scanning quickly.

• Skip the business jargon. Write like your brand would talk.

TLDR: Write like you speak, keep it to the point, and keep the focus on your customer and what they need. Because you care. And if that sounds like too syrupy sweet of a reason, think of it this way instead: focusing on what you need from them will just make you sound needy and self-involved. Not cute.

And, on that note:

6. Do *not* DIY a list of SEO keywords and awkwardly shove them in all over your site.

The technical term is “keyword stuffing,” and it will do more harm than good, trust me. Google will actually penalize you for bogging down the internet with crappy content that’s clearly not there to help anyone except for yourself.

I’ve worked with so many clients who needed my help cleaning up their content after they did an amateur-ish job and felt the consequences. It’s easier to start from best practices than to try to unwind a tangled web of writing using bad practices.

The most important thing is to help people who need and/or want you to find you faster.

Trust your gut and talk to your people like you want to help them solve their problems (in marketing speak: pain points), and you’re going to naturally hit a lot of your target keywords.

I loved this Reddit comment on the thread: Is SEO worth it for small businesses? (Here are my thoughts on this question.) Use it as a roadmap as you move through the process of DIYing your SEO and (one fine day) hiring an expert to help you take it to the next level. It’s really simple but solid advice.

7. Set it, but don’t forget it.

One of the biggest misconceptions my clients have about SEO is that once it’s done, it’s just running in the background. Well it is, to a degree, and that’s why we love organic traffic. People find you without you paying for them to find you via ads.

But SEO also needs to be tended like a garden (isn’t that sweet?). And that’s true whether you’re an SEO expert or DIYing your SEO as a small business. So, going with an extended garden metaphor here:

• Tend: Set a monthly or quarterly event in your calendar to check in on your Google Search Console and Analytics. Write down 1-3 things you can try to improve before the next time you check in.

• Water & Fertilize: Your site needs support. See if you can make any pages easier for your customers to navigate. If you notice a page is ranking for a search result you want on GSC, but in the 4-15 spots, try editing the page to naturally include the keyword a couple more times to gain more traction. A page in the 1-3 spots gets exponentially more clicks.

• Weed & Prune: Delete or archive pages that are no longer relevant. One of the biggest boons to SEO is forgetting pages and leaving them to die a slow, lonely death on your site. Your customers don’t need to see a product page for something that sold out last year, and Google knows that. Prioritize keeping your site accurate and relevant to your customers, and you won’t go wrong.

That’s it. A handy 7-step checklist.

Good luck with your DIY journey, and I hope this was helpful.

And if you’re in desperate need of an ear or an extra pair of eyes, you can book an hour with me to chat more about SEO or whatever else your small business needs.