The Complete Guide to SEO for Small Businesses (2025) – Exploding Topics
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In my work as a consultant, I talk to many small business owners who feel overwhelmed by the idea of tackling website SEO improvements. The reasons for this overwhelm are myriad, but usually boil down to two key things:
If you identify with either of those statements, you’re in the right spot. This guide is for small business owners who want to improve their SEO in a manageable, maintainable way.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving a website’s position in search results. This can involve a few different steps including:
Today, this process also includes improving how your website appears in AI-generated search results like ChatGPT conversations and Google’s AI Overview or AI Mode. When you do SEO for AI tools, it’s called generative engine optimization (GEO).
Get a complete view of your competitors to anticipate trends and lead your market
SEO is important for small businesses because it’s a good way to improve traffic to your business, either online or on foot if you have a brick-and-mortar store.
The companies that appear at the top of search results (or around you on a map) get there through optimization. If you want to appear when your customers search for information, then you need to focus on SEO too.
Tip: Check out our free SEO checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything when working on your website optimization!
While SEO is a type of digital marketing, it’s not a form of paid advertising. (Advertising is marketing, but not all marketing is advertising).
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a complementary type of digital marketing that does involve paying for ad space in search engine results.
Search engine advertising requires a slightly different strategy than SEO, so we aren’t covering PPC in this guide.
You don’t have to pay for ads to improve your SEO, but that doesn’t mean the process is entirely free, either.
There can be several costs associated with SEO, including:
Luckily, there’s a big range of SEO strategies and tasks—from simple implementations you can do yourself to more complex, technical activities that might require the help of an expert.
You can decide how much you want to do yourself and what your budget is for additional help or tools.
There are several terms that you’ll want to familiarize yourself with before diving into more resources and learning about SEO.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves several processes that change how computers (including Google’s search engine crawlers) read and understand your website. Regular technical SEO maintenance can improve the way your site loads for human users, too.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to actions that you take on your own website pages. This can include writing content, updating images, creating funnels, and more.
Tip: Download our free content audit template to keep track of each page as you review and optimize your site.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is the process of improving how your brand appears on other websites, such as through local listings and citations, backlinks, and more.
Keywords
Keywords are the terms that people type into search engines to find information. These can range from one word (“shoes”) to entire sentences (“Hey ChatGPT, I need new running shoes, what should I buy?)
Use trending keywords to create content your audience craves.
Keyword Volume
Keyword volume refers to the number of people that searched for a particular keyword. This is usually expressed as a total per month and can be global or the amount for a specific country.
Keyword Difficulty
Keyword difficulty is a measure of how hard it will be for you to rank highly for a given term. Difficulty is scored on a scale of zero to 100%, with 100% being the hardest due to lots of other companies focusing on that keyword, too.
Search Intent
Search intent refers to the why behind someone’s keyword. It’s a descriptor of what a searcher wants to find or get out of a search result. The most common types of search intent are:
SERP
SERP stands for search engine results page, i.e. what you see when you Google a keyword.
Meta Title and Description
Meta titles and descriptions are what appear on a SERP and tell you the name of a website and what the listed page is about.
The best SEO strategy for a small business depends on the type of business that you operate. Many people think that a small business always needs a local SEO strategy, but that’s not true.
Take me as an example — I run a small business that’s entirely online and service-based. For me, it makes more sense to spend my time creating blog posts that answer my customer’s questions vs. optimizing map listings for an office location that people can’t access.
If you don’t already have a website for your business, start here. A website that you own is a must for SEO and GEO. It’s important that your site:
If your budget for digital marketing is limited, prioritize having a dedicated website for your business above all else.
Tip: Putting blog and resource content on your site can help you rank in both traditional and AI search, no matter how large your company is. Check out our list of strategies to rank in ChatGPT search to improve your rank!
When you have a website for your business, you can set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics — two free and useful tools for understanding how people find you online.
Google Search Console shows you what keywords people type in when they find your site in search results. You can also do things like:
Google Analytics is a useful tool for analyzing how people arrive on your site, whether it’s through search results, a link on another site, through social media, or something else. And once someone lands on your site, you can see information about:
Tip: While Google does walk you through the process of creating both a Google Search Console account and a Google Analytics account, I like Semrush’s detailed guides to the process:
Google Business Profiles are a useful tool for businesses that:
(Online-only businesses can skip this step, but it doesn’t hurt to set up a profile either way.)
Like Google Search Console and Analytics, Google Business Profiles are free. You can claim your profile by visiting the Google Business Profile management portal and entering your business name.
Once claimed, you’ll be able to add photos, contact information, hours of operation, and more to your profile. Your customers can leave reviews that will be visible in Google search results, too.
Having control over your Google Business Profile is important, as it lets you:
When you have your website and online profiles squared away, it’s time to begin the process of actively optimizing your website and its content.
To do this, you’ll need a reliable SEO tool. I like to use Semrush as an all-in-one SEO platform for:
While I do recommend purchasing a paid Semrush plan due to the incredibly broad array of features it provides, you can absolutely do essential small business SEO tasks with the free plan.
A free Semrush account will allow you to:
Now for the tricky part of the process: conducting keyword and competitor research.
I like to start by researching my top competitors to see what keywords they’re ranking for and how well they’re represented across Google and AI search. Here’s how I do it:
Once I’ve got my keywords selected and grouped, I can begin creating content around the terms and tracking my progress.
Tip: If a full SEO tool isn’t in your budget or feels overwhelming, you can get started with our suite of free SEO tools for keyword research, rank tracking, competitor analysis, and more.
Estimate the potential traffic impact of updating your content
Monthly search volume for your target keyword
When was this content last significantly updated?
If you want your website to rank for specific keywords, you need to use them on your website—both on landing pages (like “Home” and “About”) as well as in blog posts that provide useful information to your audience.
You can track how well your efforts are paying off by setting up a series of SEO reports. When using Semrush, I like to get the following reports delivered on a weekly basis:
If you simply don’t have the time or inclination to DIY your SEO, that’s okay. You can always hire an SEO consultant to help. In fact, I recommend hiring an expert any time you:
AI apps like ChatGPT aren’t built for SEO, so you might not get accurate information about keywords and competitors out of a standard chat. You need a purpose-built SEO tool.
Semrush is my choice for an all-in-one SEO platform. You can try the full suite of tools out for two weeks, for free, using our exclusive Semrush promo code. And if you want to stick with the free version, be sure to pair it with the Exploding Topics library of free SEO tools, too—we’re adding more on a regular basis!
Use real-time topic data to create content that resonates and brings results.
Exploding Topics is owned by Semrush. Our mission is to provide accurate data and expert insights on emerging trends. Unless otherwise noted, this page’s content was written by either an employee or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.
Use real-time topic data to create content that resonates and brings results.
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Written By
Emily Gertenbach
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Emily is a freelance content writer at Exploding Topics. A former news correspondent, she has over 15 years' experience creati… Read more
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