What is SEO? Getting your small business found online

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It’s how you make your website easier to find in all types of search engines.

When someone searches for a product or service you offer, SEO helps your site appear higher in the results.

Good SEO means:

• More visibility of your pages in search results
• More potential traffic to your site
• More potential customers

It’s not about tricking search engines. It’s about making your content useful and relevant. This will help it naturally rank higher and show up organically for your products and services wherever people are searching

Key SEO terms

Understanding these terms will help you make better decisions as you work on your SEO:

• SERP: Search engine results page
• Rank: Your organic position on the SERPs, below paid ads and AI overviews
• Keyword: A word or phrase people search for
• Optimisation: Making your site more useful and relevant
• Backlink: A link to your site from another website

 Quick wins for small businesses

1. Do keyword research

Find out what your customers are searching for. Use your own search habits as a guide. What would you type into Google to find your business? Use autocomplete features in Google and YouTube to find related search queries and other questions users asked to shape your own FAQs. Try putting some related searches in too. The broader your research, the better your optimisation will be.

Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition from other sites targeting them. Use sites and tools like:

• https://answerthepublic.com
• https://trends.google.com
• https://moz.com/explorer  

As with most tools, there are free and paid-for versions. But there’s a lot you can learn for free. So it’s only worth paying for SEO services if you’re confident you know how to make the most of them.

2. Use keywords in the right places

Good places to include your target keywords and search terms include:

• Page titles
• Headings
• First paragraph
• Image alt text (mainly used for accessibility, but handy for keywords too)

Avoid ‘keyword stuffing,’ where you cram too many keywords into your text. This can actually have a negative effect in your search rankings.

Focus on one topic per page. And make sure your keywords match the intent of your audience. Are they looking to buy, learn or compare?

It's important to understand what people want to see behind a particular keyword. This is called ‘keyword intent’. For example, you may want to know if your customers want more information or to complete a transaction. Once you do, you can tailor each page of your website to the actions they want to take.

A quick Google search of the keywords you want to write for will help you with this. The pages in the top three results will give you a better understanding of what users are searching for. Take note of their structure and gaps you can cover with your own content. That way you’ll create more compelling content worthy of competing in the SERPs.

3. Improve your website structure

A well-structured site helps both users and search engines navigate your content.

• Make sure every page has a clear purpose
• Link between related pages
• Use short, clear URLs
• Add a sitemap to help search engines crawl your site

4. Add FAQs

Frequently asked questions help provide visitors with answers and improve your chances of being featured in AI summaries (more on that later).

They also help reduce customer service queries and build trust. So use real customer questions. And keep your answers short and clear.

5. Get backlinks

Ask local news sites, blogs or partners to link to your site. Focus on quality, not quantity. Buying links can seem easier but it can cause your website more harm than good if they’re spammy and lacking in context and relevance to your website.

To secure good backlinks, you can also:

• Write guest posts
• Join local directories
• Collaborate with other small businesses

Backlinks from trusted sources act as endorsements for your site.

More SEO tips

Local SEO for small businesses

If you have a physical business, as in a retail property customers can walk into, use local SEO to help you show up in searches from people nearby who are ready to buy.

• Make sure you’re listed with Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Maps
• Add your name, address and phone number
• Provide opening, closing, holiday hours and photos
• Ask happy customers to leave reviews and respond to them

• Avoid using generic and location-based keywords like "Hairdresser in Navan" and "Best coffee shop Meath" in your store name. This could result in suspension or removal of your profile

You should also:

• Create dedicated pages for your location and locations you want to appear for
• Include directions or a map on your contact page
• Add events and share social updates

Keep your content fresh

Fresh content shows search engines your site is active and trustworthy. So set a reminder to review your content every few months.

• Update old pages regularly and remove outdated information
• Add new blog posts or product pages
• Share seasonal offers
• Post how-to guides
• Answer new customer questions

How search is changing with AI

Search engines now use artificial intelligence (AI) to answer questions directly. This means:

• People often get answers without even clicking a link to visit a site
• AI tools summarise content from trusted websites

To stay visible:

• Write clear, helpful content
• Use structured data (like FAQs and schema markup)
• Keep your site accurate and up to date

This is called generative engine optimisation (GEO). If you’re doing everything right with your SEO, you’ll be relevant here too.

AI-powered search tools like Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT are changing how people find information. Your content needs to be:

• Human first
• Easy to summarise
• Factually accurate
• Clearly structured

If your content is well-written and trustworthy, AI tools are more likely to feature it in their answers.

Make your content AI-friendly

To appear in AI-powered search tools:

• Use clear headings and short paragraphs
• Write in a Q&A format where possible
• Add schema markup (especially FAQ Page and Local Business)
• Cover topics in depth, not just surface-level

Also:

• Use plain language
• Avoid jargon
• Include sources or references where relevant

AI tools favour content that’s easy to understand and easy to quote.

What is schema markup?

Schema markup is code you add to your site to help search engines understand your content. It can improve how your site appears in search results.

Key takeaways

• Good SEO helps your small business appear in search results without paying for ads
• AI is changing how people search, so your content needs to be clear, accurate and structured
• Focus on keyword research, good site structure and helpful content to improve your visibility
• Keep your website fresh and up to date to show search engines you're active
• Start small and build over time. Consistency is more important than perfection