Guides
Learn how getting found actually works.
36 plain-English guides on websites, Google Business Profile, Google and Meta ads, SEO, AI search and tracking. Written for owners, not marketers.
Websites
What a small business website should cost in 2026
Website quotes can be all over the place for what sounds like the same job. Here is what actually moves the price, what keeps costing money after launch, and the questions that separate a fair quote from a bad one.
WebsitesHow to write a service page that gets calls
A good service page answers the questions a customer has before they pick up the phone, in the order they have them. This is the structure that works for most local businesses, section by section.
WebsitesWhy your ads should not send people to your homepage
Every ad click costs money, and your homepage is built to serve everyone at once. A page built for the exact thing the person clicked on usually does a better job of turning that click into a call.
WebsitesWhy a page for each service in each city can bring more calls
People search for a job in a place. A page built for exactly that search gives Google something to show and gives the customer a reason to call. Done carelessly, the same idea produces pages Google ignores.
WebsitesWhy a slow website costs you calls, and how to fix it
Customers on a phone will not wait long for your page to appear. Here is how to check your site's speed the way Google sees it, and the usual causes, most of which are easier to fix than owners expect.
WebsitesThe pages and parts every local business website needs
A local business website has one job: get the right people to call, book or fill out a form. These are the pages and parts that do that work, and the ones owners most often leave out.
Google Business Profile
How to pick your Google Business Profile categories
Of everything on your Google Business Profile, the primary category does the most to decide which searches you show up for. Here is how to choose it, when to add more, and the mistakes that hold profiles back.
Google Business ProfileWhat to post on your Google Business Profile, and how often
Posts and photos are the parts of your Google Business Profile that show whether anyone is minding it. Here is what is worth posting, which photos customers actually look at, and a schedule a busy owner can keep.
Google Business ProfileHow to set up a Google Business Profile the right way
Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees, before your website. Setting it up correctly from the start saves you from suspensions, duplicate listings and months of showing up for the wrong searches.
Google Business ProfileHow to get more Google reviews without breaking Google's rules
Plenty of happy customers never leave a review because nobody asked them at the right moment. A simple, steady habit of asking fixes that. Here is how to build it, and the shortcuts that cost businesses their reviews.
Google Business ProfileHow to answer a bad Google review without making it worse
A bad review stings, and the urge is to fire back. The reply you write will be read by every future customer who sees it, so it is worth getting right. Here is how to answer, what to avoid, and when to report it.
Google Business ProfileWhy your business is not showing up on Google Maps
If customers say they cannot find you on Google Maps, the cause is usually one of a handful of fixable problems. Work through them in this order, from the most basic to the hardest to change.
Google Ads
Google Ads for small business owners: how it actually works
Google Ads is an auction that runs every time someone searches. Once you understand the handful of settings that decide who sees your ad and what you pay, the rest gets much easier to judge.
Google AdsHow much to spend on Google Ads, and how to decide
Nobody can honestly hand you a Google Ads budget without knowing your trade, your town and what a customer is worth to you. You can work it out yourself, though, and this is the method.
Google AdsLocal Services Ads or regular Google Ads: which one you need
Both can put your business at the top of Google, but they work differently, bill differently and suit different businesses. Here is how to tell which one fits yours.
Google AdsNegative keywords: the setting that stops wasted ad spend
Every Google Ads account pays for some searches it never wanted. Negative keywords are how you stop paying for them, and keeping the list current is one of the plainest, most useful jobs in ad management.
Google AdsSeven reasons Google Ads are not bringing in customers
When the ad spend goes out and the phone stays quiet, the cause is usually something specific you can find inside the account. Here are seven to check, roughly in the order worth checking them.
Meta Ads
Facebook and Instagram ads for local businesses
Facebook and Instagram ads do not wait for anyone to search. They put your business in front of people nearby while they scroll, which makes them strong at some jobs and weak at others.
Meta AdsGoogle Ads or Facebook Ads: where your money works harder
The choice comes down to whether your customers search for what you do or need to be shown it first. Many businesses lean clearly one way, and some need both in the right order.
Meta AdsFacebook and Instagram ads that get local customers to act
On Facebook and Instagram the ad does most of the work, including much of the job of finding the right people. Here is what tends to make a local ad stop the scroll and turn into a call.
Meta AdsRetargeting: showing ads to people who already visited
Plenty of people visit your website and leave without calling. Retargeting shows your ads to them again on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other sites, so your name is still in front of them when they are ready.
SEO
What a local business should write about on its blog
A local business blog isn't a diary or a news feed. It's a set of plain answers to the questions your customers ask before they book. Here is how to find those topics and write them well.
SEOHow long SEO takes, honestly
Anyone who gives you a precise date for SEO results is guessing. Here is what decides the pace, what usually moves first, and how to tell whether it's working while you wait.
SEOHow to choose an SEO company, and the red flags
Hiring for SEO is hard because the work is mostly invisible and results take months. These are the questions to ask, the answers to expect, and the warning signs that should end the call.
SEOThe local SEO checklist we use for every business
Local SEO is a list of unglamorous jobs done properly and then kept up. Here is the list we work through, in the order we do it, and why each item is on it.
SEONAP consistency: why matching business details matter to Google
NAP stands for name, address and phone. When those details match everywhere your business is listed, Google and customers can trust them. When they don't, both get confused.
SEOSEO or Google Ads: which to start with
SEO and Google Ads both put you in front of people searching for what you do. They differ in speed, in cost, and in what you're left with when you stop. Here is how to decide where to start.
AI Search
AI search and SEO: what changes and what stays the same
People now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity the questions they used to type into Google, and Google answers some questions itself. The foundations of being found haven't moved. A few habits need to.
AI SearchWhat Google's AI Overviews mean for local businesses
AI Overviews put a written answer at the top of some Google searches, with links to the sources behind it. For a local business they change some things and leave the basics exactly where they were.
AI SearchHow to get your business mentioned in ChatGPT answers
No one can make ChatGPT recommend your business, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something. What you can do is make your business easy to find, understand and trust, which is what these tools look for.
AI SearchWhat llms.txt is, and whether your site needs one
llms.txt is a short text file some websites now publish for AI tools. It's a proposal, not a standard every AI company has agreed to read, so it's worth understanding before anyone charges you for one.
Tracking
Call tracking explained for business owners
If the phone is how customers reach you, call tracking is how you find out which marketing made it ring. Here is how it works, what it tells you and what to watch for when you set it up.
TrackingHow to read a Google Ads report in five minutes
You do not need to understand every column in Google Ads. You need five checks, done in order, that tell you whether the money is turning into customers.
TrackingThe five marketing numbers a business owner should watch
Clicks, likes and impressions are easy to report and hard to bank. These five numbers tell you whether your marketing is bringing in customers, and what each one is costing you.
TrackingHow to set a marketing budget for a small business
There's no single right amount to spend on marketing. There is a sensible way to work out yours, based on what you earn, what a customer is worth, and what has to be paid for first.
TrackingHow to know which calls came from your website
A tap on your phone number is not the same as a call, and a desktop visitor dialing by hand leaves no trace at all. Here is how to set up website call tracking that tells you what actually happened.
Find out what it would take to fill your schedule.
Book a free consultation on Google Meet. We will look at your website, your Google listing and who you are up against in your area, then tell you plainly what we would do and what it costs.
