Your Small Business SEO Questions Answered

Are you a small business owner looking to get more sales leads and inquiries or boost revenue?

Are you feeling lost in the world of SEO? Do you have questions but don’t know where to turn? Have you tried SEO in the past and failed?

Understanding SEO can be a relief, and we’re here to guide you through it. Are you frustrated with SEO and everything else related to Internet marketing? Have you tried to use an SEO company in the past and were upset with their performance, customer service and constant lies about rankings and time frames?

SEO Sydney Experts came about because we wanted to help all small businesses have a chance online and to be competitive, perhaps even competing with the more prominent players. There are just too many pitfalls and rip-off merchants regarding SEO. We want to fight back, be on your side, and give you the best chance of competing online against the big boys.

Let’s face it. If you are a small business, you are going to need SEO. There is no escaping this; it should now be considered the first step in marketing your business. Google is it, and it’s going to remain this way for many years to come. The benefits of SEO for small businesses are immense, from increased online visibility to higher sales leads and inquiries.

For many business owners, the world of SEO can be daunting. But with the right knowledge, you can take control of your online presence and drive business growth.

If you find yourself at a dead-end and are putting your hands up in complete frustration, then we are here to help you sort out your SEO dramas with the following  FAQ, which should be able to answer a few troubling questions.

What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the process of improving your website’s authority and trust in the eyes of Google. This is done by combining your website with a backlinking campaign and ensuring your website is entirely Google-compliant. Backlinking, a key part of any SEO strategy, is the process of getting other websites to link to your website.

Why does my small business need SEO?

This is a great question I get asked about all the time. In short, the digital age is here, and there is no denying that the last place of small business advertising, the Yellow Pages, is completely and utterly dead. The internet has essentially killed this off in the last 10 years, and small businesses need an alternative place to find customers. This is where SEO comes in, providing a crucial avenue for small businesses to reach potential customers.

So, where is this new avenue of advertising? The answer is the search engines and, in particular, Google. Australian consumers flock to Google for any search query, and if your small business is not there, you should shut up your shop. It’s as simple as that. No matter the type or size of the business, if your website is not coming up within the first couple of pages of Google, then your potential customer will not buy from you. And where will they be going? To the person who is ranking!

SEO is all about this, and if you are a small business smart enough to understand the full and massive potential SEO can bring to your business, you are heading in the right direction.

This is why your business needs SEO and why you need to think about this now.

How much does small business SEO cost?

Unfortunately, Google does not discriminate between businesses. It doesn’t mean you are a new business, and the fact remains that if you are to be competitive online, you need to have a very realistic SEO budget, especially if you have a new website that Google has not even indexed.

Small budgets and small prices for your internet and SEO marketing just don’t exist unless you’re targeting a very specific keyword, like ‘best coffee in Sydney ‘, or are trying to rank in a local area where there’s little or no competition, like a small suburb or town.  If that’s the case, then a smaller budget is all that’s needed.

Rules for budgeting for SEO

• The newer the website, the less trust; therefore, a larger budget is needed to establish this trust
• Competitive niches require loads more work and will require lots more backlinks, which means that you have to have more funds set aside
• If you have a new website and want to rank in a highly competitive market, you’d better have a sizeable monthly budget.

Skimping on your SEO budget and looking for the cheapest provider will only end up with issues. Think about it for a moment. If you go with a company that is prepared to do your SEO for a couple of hundred dollars, what will they do?

They will cut corners and buy spammy, ineffective links that will only harm your website. Google will pick up on these spammy practices, and you will get in trouble. That is 100% guaranteed!

Spend extra with a company that will do the right thing for you.

What small businesses should be doing SEO?

In short, all businesses that are looking to get new customers. Most of them have tried other types of marketing, such as direct mail, email marketing (EDM), and letterbox drops, which have not worked out and need to capitalise on the tremendous benefits that only search engine optimisation can bring. Magazines and newspaper ads just don’t have the marketing power they used to have. Google has swallowed the whole market. Hence the need for SEO.

This includes all types of small businesses, such as accountants, lawyers, restaurants, caterers, tradespeople, retailers, child care centres, any new startup, home help, eCommerce websites, doctors, engineers, and hire companies; basically, any business in Sydney, Melbourne, or throughout Australia that has a website and needs to drive customers to it.

However, there are some businesses that do not need SEO, and these are companies that are not looking to attract new clients or customers. They are established companies that have a few select clients they work for and are not looking for any other business. They are happy with the status quo and are perhaps looking to retire or close the company. However, overall, the majority of small business owners will need to look at SEO.

How long does SEO take?

SEO is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It may take time, especially for new websites, but the long-term benefits are worth the wait. Patience and a long-term perspective are key for small business owners who want to increase their rankings.

To establish a brand online and secure rankings, patience and an understanding of the SEO process are going to be fundamental elements. Quick, overly fast results are common, but they are short-lived. What rises fast will surely come down just as fast. Slow and steady is the mantra, and it wins every time.

The way to rank a website is to constantly add and refine content and ensure it’s relevant to your customers. Once your website has enough trust, the content should rank.

I have a new website, and it’s not doing well on Google; what’s going wrong?

Google wants a good user experience for customers, and if your website is hard to navigate, slow to load, and offers nothing unique for the visitor, Google won’t rank it. Make it compelling, interesting, fun, and informative, and then it will start to rank. Quickly listen to this and see what the head of Google’s spam team, Matt Cutts, says about what Google is looking for.

How much input do I have to give during the SEO process?

You can have as much or as little involvement as you like. Ideally, there should be some participation from you, but any SEO company worthwhile will do the majority of the work.

However, there are some things that a small company should do: content marketing or blogging. If you can maintain this publishing of content on a weekly/monthly basis, this will help with your overall SEO campaign as you keep the website fresh, which is what the search engines want. Whilst it is only 1 component of the puzzle that makes up SEO, content marketing or blogging adds depth to your website and lends more credibility to your brand.

Companies like ours are happy to help you add content, but realistically, you know your business better than anyone, so if you need to add words or pages, it’s best you do it yourself.

Can I stop my SEO at any time, and what will happen to the rankings if I do?

SEO is a continual process. Once you start the process, you have to commit to it. Google is forever refining and changing its search algorithm; SEO teams must be on top of this. The battle is only half won when you land on the top of Google. The other half to be fought is staying there. Keeping a continuous SEO campaign by sending ranking signals to Google will ensure you remain in a solid online position.

In short, SEO is a continual process that you need to keep paying for, month after month. If you stop, eventually, your position will start to slide. This is inevitable.

This doesn’t sound ideal, but if it brings in the business and the return on your investment is positive, then you should have no problems paying for this service. It’s much cheaper than TV, radio, or print ads.

Also, starting and stopping your SEO linking is not a good idea. It helps your competition. Stopping the SEO is one thing, but realising that your rankings are dropping and then deciding to speed up the SEO and make up for lost time may seem inorganic and may just trigger a ‘flag warning’. These are the kinds of tactics you want to avoid. As stated previously, the best approach is to keep a consistent and methodical approach to your internet marketing.

What’s so special about SEO Sydney Experts? You all sound the same.

This is one of the most common questions I have to answer over the phone. Many people duped or ripped off by previous SEO companies are cautious about trying another company. Or they have done the ring around and heard the same answers. It’s hard to differentiate one company from the other.

What makes us different is our ability to rank websites. If you are reading this blog, then that’s proof enough. Or even better, look at our rankings for the keywords’ SEO Sydney’—as of 23rd January 2025, we are ranking # 6 and expect this to improve. I have been able to rank our main site in the most competitive niche, which goes to show you that we know what we are doing.

Plus, we are very open and honest about SEO. I ask that you spend 10 minutes speaking with me, Steven, on 02 9360 8514. After this little chat, you will understand what I mean. I will tell you everything there is to know about SEO and what other companies are afraid to tell or hide from you.