Affordable SEO for small business - Easy SEO plan for Australian Small Business

Aussie Small business owners are strategic with how they spend their hard-earned cash. "Affordable" and "SEO" isn't often terms that go hand in hand.

This post will cover some key questions, methods, and finally, a simple SEO plan for small businesses to contemplate and build off. You’ll need a laptop or PC to complete this.

Affordable SEO plan for small business

There are several tools you will need. At a minimum, set them up, so you can begin to view the data, which forms the backbone of all SEO plans. 

TOOLS

Keywords Everywhere (paid)

This tool is a Google Chrome / Firefox extension, providing search volume, cost per click (Google Ads) and competition. It costs a one-time fee of around $10AUD. When you use Google to search for a term, it gives information on that term. It also provides suggestions that help identify SEO opportunities.

Google My Business (free)

Every location-based business has a Google My Business profile. If you haven’t claimed your businesses, click into it and select “manage this listing.” You’ll need to use a Gmail account to claim this. 

Once claimed, you can identify how customers are finding your business. Navigate to “insights”, for the example below; you can locate queries people are using that find your business. These are some terms you should use throughout your content on your website and social channels. 

Google Search Console (free)

If it’s not integrated with your small business domain name OR you don’t have access to it, you miss out on an important digital asset that can fuel business decisions. A short sample of how search console can be used for SEO: 

Google Trends (free)

Google trends is a valuable and affordable SEO tool to assess the new and emerging trends relating to your business and its services /products. 

Affordable SEO for small business strategy!

Step 1: Identify key ranking terms. I will write another post that digs into my three layer technique, but for now, think about the three services/products your small business is most recognised for. If you’re new to running the business, what do you think are the three things your business will be best at?  

Running with the above electrician, I end up with:

• Electrician
• Event electrician
• Commercial electrician
  

Step 2: Google the terms you came up with in step 1. Use a free tool like Wordtracker to assess the volume and competition of the terms.

NOTE: be sure to change location to Australia once you’ve searched your first term.

EXPERT: Use “Keywords Everywhere”, which costs $10 for a relatively sizable amount of searches (i.e. more than you’ll need).

Step 3: Localise

Affordable SEO is about identifying search terms you have opportunities to rank for. Because most small businesses are location-based, identifying localised terms will assist you to rank for your more relevant demographics (locals!). If your small business sells to Australia / the world, look at your sales data to find where you’re selling most data. 

As you can see with the above proof, “Noosa electrician” is more specific than “Sunshine Coast electrician” and “electrician” alone. 

Because Paul Dwyer Electrical only services Noosa for domestic services, it was a no brainer to focus on “Noosa electrician” as the number one affordable SEO term. 

When it came to “event electrician”, it made more sense to utilise “Sunshine Coast event electrician”. The project size of these events is sufficient for Paul’s team to travel throughout Sunshine Coast. Finally, “commercial electrician Sunshine Coast”.

Step 4: Google, Google and more Google

Google the primary terms and find the questions people are asking. Look at Google Autocomplete & Google recommendations at the bottom of the screen.

Step 5: Build website pages for these terms

Build website pages out for the key services you offer. Incorporate the language you found in earlier steps, answer questions and be topical. 

Use the terms in your pages URL. I.e. sparkelectrician.com.au/lighting-installation-questions over sparkelectrician.com.au/questions. 

Affordable SEO? The proof is in the rankings

Is SEO worth it for small business? 

100%! SEO can save small business thousands of dollars a year, every year. With good SEO, your business appears in the search rankings organically. This means you aren’t shovelling over fists of cash to US-based companies (*cough* Google, Facebook). I’m going to show you how to do affordable SEO for your small business in 5 steps. But first, the following will attack a few questions small business owners often wonder when it comes to SEO.

Which SEO company is best for small business?

Many SEO companies provide real value for small business. One being Local Business Accelerator. The truth of that matter is, SEO isn’t a single service. It incorporates website, account consistency, images, content, video and strategy. Each of these areas has infinite amounts of depth to drill into. 

Many small business owners find cheap solutions from overseas firms. But these solutions are often against Google's best practices. The key is to find an SEO company that wants the best for you, not just today but into the future. Organic SEO is time-consuming, and to rank above cashed-up competitors requires special attention to detail. 

How do I start SEO?

The first thing is a domain name (i.e. localbusinessaccelerator.com.au) which provides you with the ability to run a website. This is necessary to start SEO. With a website, you own a piece of the internet where you can tell Google and other search engines what your business offers. You can educate your customers and provide a place for those customers to dig deeper into a topic your business solves.

TIP: If you can get your brand and key service into the domain name, it makes ranking for the term ALOT easier. For example, you’re an electrician business called “Spark”. The domain name of sparkelectrician.com.au is far better than spark.com.au. But be cautious not to have a domain with too many characters like sparkelectriciansunshinecoasthinterland.com.au

What does SEO cost in 2021

The cost of SEO in 2021 is from $99 per month to $20,000+ per month for Australian small businesses. Techniques and strategies are becoming more efficient, combined with remote working conditions, pricing is coming right down. The $99 per month SEO cost is for a minimal annual strategy. The $20,000pm pricing is for a $10,000+ product / service in a capital city. 

‍