SEO, explained without the sales pitch
Guides written to be genuinely useful whether you hire us or do the work yourself. No gated downloads, no fluff.
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AI content and SEO: does Google penalize it?
What Google's policies say, why unedited AI writing underperforms, and how to use the tools well.
All guides
SEO basics
- SEO audit checklist: 25 things to check on your site The 25 checks we run on every site, in the order that finds problems fastest.
- Internal linking for SEO: the most underused ranking lever How links between your own pages lift rankings, and a system to do it right.
- How long does SEO take to work? A month-by-month timeline for small businesses, plus the factors that speed it up or slow it down.
- On-page SEO checklist: how to optimize a page properly Titles, headings, intent, links, images, schema: the full per-page routine.
- Google Search Console for beginners: the five reports that matter The five free reports worth checking monthly, and what to do with each.
Local SEO
- How to remove fake Google reviews (and what Google will not remove) Which reviews Google removes, how to report and appeal properly, and what to do when the review stays.
- Google Business Profile suspended: how to get it reinstated Why suspensions happen, what not to do in the first hour, and how to prepare an appeal that works.
- Apple Maps and Bing Places: the local listings most businesses skip Two free listings, an hour each, and why keeping them identical to Google matters.
- Google Business Profile posts: what to post and whether it helps What posts do and do not do for a local listing, with a five-minute routine for writing them.
- Local Services Ads explained: the Google Verified badge and what it costs you Pay-per-lead ads at the top of Google: how they rank, what verification takes, and how they fit with SEO.
- Google Business Profile optimization checklist Every setting, category, and habit that moves you up the local map pack, in the order to do them.
- SEO for service area businesses: ranking where you work, not where you sit How travel-to-customer businesses rank across every town they serve.
- Local citations: what they are and how to build them Why consistent business listings still matter, and how to fix yours.
- Do Google reviews help SEO? What actually matters How reviews really influence local rankings, and a clean system for earning them.
- What is local SEO? A plain-English guide The map pack, the factors that matter, and your first five moves.
Technical SEO
- Core Web Vitals, explained for business owners What the three metrics measure, how much they matter, and the usual fixes.
- Website redesign SEO checklist: keep your rankings intact Redesigns kill more rankings than algorithm updates. Protect yours with this list.
- Duplicate content on small sites: real problem or SEO myth? No penalty exists, yet duplication still costs rankings. Where it hides and the fix.
SEO strategy
- AI search and small business SEO: what actually changed What AI Overviews and AI Mode changed for local businesses, five things worth doing, and the add-ons to skip.
- SEO pricing: what small businesses actually pay in 2026 Freelancer vs agency vs in-house, what each really costs in 2026, and how to tell value from a markup.
- How to get backlinks as a small business (without buying them) Nine honest link-earning tactics that work at small-business scale, and the traps to skip.
- Google algorithm update recovery: what to do when traffic drops Confirm it was the update, find what it targeted, and recover methodically.
- SEO vs Google Ads: where should a small business spend first? One compounds, one is a tap you rent. How to split your budget by situation.
- DIY SEO: what to do yourself and when to get help The tasks you can genuinely do yourself, the ones to buy, and a 4-hour routine.
- How to choose an SEO agency: questions that expose the bad ones The questions that expose weak agencies, and what a fair engagement looks like.
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