TL;DR (For the Overwhelmed Business Owner)

If you’re tired of posting on Instagram every day, guessing what Google wants, and hoping customers magically show up — here’s the truth:

SEO is the most reliable way to get found without hustling 24/7.
And you don’t need to be a tech expert to do it.

In this guide, I’ll break down the exact strategies I used to help real small businesses — including a beloved LA gift shop — increase traffic and online sales by over 50% in one quarter.

➡️ Want a personalized plan for your business? Book a discovery call

How to Improve SEO for Small Business

Updated December 2025

Running a small business today feels like spinning 12 plates at once — marketing, email, customer service, inventory, taxes, and oh yeah, actually doing the thing you’re great at.

For years, I was in the same boat.
I spent almost two decades in Hollywood as a trailer editor, running my own one-person agency. To grow my business, I thought the answer was:

• • cold outreach

• • endless social media

• • trying to “be everywhere”

All noise.
All draining.
And somehow… not attracting the type of clients I wanted.

Everything changed the moment I shifted my focus from finding clients to getting found.

That shift is what ultimately led me to SEO — and the impact was immediate.
Website traffic climbed. Higher-quality leads started reaching out. Word-of-mouth improved. Revenue became predictable for the first time.

Today, I help small businesses do the same through simple, powerful SEO strategies that don’t require dancing on TikTok or posting three times a day.

Let’s break it down.

1. Start With the Foundation: What Do Customers Search Before They Buy?

Strip SEO down to its core, and it’s about one thing:

Being visible when customers are already searching for what you sell.

Small business SEO usually starts with three types of searches:

A. “I need something NOW” searches (high intent)

Examples:

• • “LA gift shop”

• • “American-made rum”

• • “pool resurfacing Los Angeles”

These are money keywords.
Ranking for even one of them can change your business.

B. “Help me learn before I buy” searches (medium intent)

Examples:

• • “Best gifts for vintage obsessed friends”

• • “What are sprouted nuts?”

• • “How to choose a pool resurfacing company”

This is where blog content, FAQs, and “depth pages” shine.

C. “Local trust signals” (Google Business Profile)

Reviews. Photos. Updated hours.
If you run a physical business and your Google listing isn’t optimized, you’re leaving money on the table. Period.

2. How to Find the Right Keywords for Your Small Business (The Process I Use)

Before you write a single blog post or optimize a product page, you need to know what your customers are actually searching for.

Here’s my exact keyword research process:

Step 1: Brainstorm Your Core Services + Location

Start with the obvious combinations. If you’re a pool company in Los Angeles, you want to rank for:

• • pool resurfacing Los Angeles

• • pool remodel Los Angeles

• • pool company Los Angeles

For Smart Swim Pool Construction, these became our foundation keywords — high-intent searches from people ready to hire.

Step 2: Use Free and Paid Tools to Validate

With dozens of keyword research tools available at different price points and feature sets, it’s worth taking time to compare available tools based on your specific budget, business needs and experience level before committing to one.

I rotate between several tools depending on budget and depth needed:

• • AnswerThePublic.com (free) — Shows you questions people are actually asking

• • Google’s “People Also Ask” — Gold mine for content ideas

• • Ahrefs or SEMrush (paid) — Shows search volume, competition level, and keyword variations

The goal? Find keywords with decent search volume but LOW competition. These are your quick wins.

Step 3: Go for Easy Wins First, Set Long-Term Goals for Harder Ones

Most small businesses make the mistake of chasing high-competition keywords immediately.

Instead:

• • Target 3-5 low-competition keywords you can realistically rank for in 3-6 months

• • Build content depth around those

• • Set 1-2 “dream keywords” as 12-month goals

Step 4: Get Granular with Location-Based Keywords

Once you’re ranking for your main service + city, expand into neighborhoods.

For Smart Swim, after we owned “pool remodel Los Angeles,” we built individual service area pages for:

• • pool remodel Beverly Hills

• • pool remodel Encino

• • pool resurfacing Pacific Palisades

This strategy captures more localized searchers who often convert at higher rates because they’re searching hyper-locally.

Real Example:

When I started working with Pygmy Hippo Shoppe, they weren’t ranking for ANY gift-related searches in LA. We identified:

• • “unique gifts Los Angeles” (medium competition, high intent)

• • “vintage gifts LA” (lower competition)

• • “quirky gift shop” (national but lower competition)

Within four months, they hit page one for “unique gifts Los Angeles.”

3. Case Study: How Pygmy Hippo Shoppe Increased Traffic + Sales by 50% in One Quarter

Pygmy Hippo Shoppe — a quirky, beloved gift shop in Los Angeles — came to me overwhelmed.
They were:

• • relying almost entirely on Instagram

• • drowning in Shopify tasks

• • unsure why website traffic wasn’t converting

• • feeling stuck despite having a passionate customer base

Here’s what we did:

Step 1: Fixed technical SEO issues

Alt text, product descriptions, site speed, and structure.

Step 2: Built real topical authority

We expanded the website into a content library that helps Google understand:
“This shop is THE place for unique, vintage-inspired gifts.”

Step 3: Optimized for local and map-pack rankings

They now rank at the top for:

• • “unique gifts Los Angeles”

• • rising in visibility for “LA gift shop”

Step 4: Added Pinterest as a long-term traffic engine

Pinterest impressions exploded to over 10,000 in the first week.

Step 5: Implemented automated email flows through Shopify + Client Magnet CRM

• • Thank-you emails

• • Review requests

• • Abandoned cart flows

• • Repeat-customer rewards

Pygmy Hippo Results:
✔️ 50% increase in traffic
✔️ 50% increase in online sales
✔️ Record-breaking sales days — even surpassing Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

But Here’s What Really Changed the Business:

Traffic and sales increases are great. But the metric that matters most for long-term sustainability? Returning customer rate.

When Pygmy Hippo came to me, their returning customer rate had dropped to just 8.9% – meaning 91% of customers bought once and never came back.

After implementing our SEO + automation systems, their returning customer rate climbed to 22.76%!  A 169% increase.

 

Why does this matter? Because:

• Higher returning customer rates = predictable revenue
• It’s 5x cheaper to retain a customer than acquire a new one
• Returning customers spend 67% more than new customers
• It signals that you’re attracting the RIGHT audience, not just random traffic

This is what happens when you combine:

• SEO that attracts your ideal customers
• Automated review requests that build trust
• Email flows that keep customers engaged
• A seamless shopping experience

SEO isn’t just about getting found – it’s about getting found by people who become loyal customers.

Read our full case study!

4. The Technical SEO Checklist Every Small Business Needs

Technical SEO sounds intimidating, but it’s really just a checklist of fundamentals that help Google understand and trust your site.

Here’s what I audit on every client website:

✅ Page Structure

• • H1 tag: One per page, includes your target keyword naturally

• • H2 tags: Break up content, include keyword variations

• • H3+ tags: Used for subsections as needed

✅ Alt Text on Every Image

This is the most commonly skipped step! It matters.

Alt text helps:

• • Visually impaired users understand your content

• • Google understand what your images show

• • Your site rank in Google Image search

Example for a gift shop:

• • Bad alt text: “IMG_1234.jpg”

• • Good alt text: “vintage enamel pin collection at Los Angeles gift shop”

✅ Internal Linking

Every page should link to:

• • Related product pages

• • Your FAQ page

• • High-performing blog posts

• • Service pages

This helps Google understand your site structure and keeps visitors engaged longer.

✅ Meta Titles and Descriptions

Every single page and product needs:

• • A unique meta title (55-60 characters)

• • A compelling meta description (150-160 characters)

• • Your target keyword included naturally

These show up in search results and directly impact click-through rates.

✅ Schema Markup (For Local Businesses)

If you have a physical location, you need schema to tell Google:

• • Your business hours

• • Contact information

• • Address

• • Services offered

We implemented schema for both Pygmy Hippo Shoppe and Smart Swim Pool Construction because they serve customers at physical locations in Los Angeles. This helps them show up in local map pack results.

✅ Mobile Optimization

Over 60% of searches happen on mobile. If your site doesn’t load fast and look good on phones, you’re losing rankings and customers.

Test your site at: PageSpeed Insights (free Google tool)

✅ Site Speed

Slow sites kill conversions and rankings.

Target: Under 3 seconds load time.

Quick wins:

• • Compress images

• • Use lazy loading

• • Minimize plugins (if on WordPress)

• • Use a quality hosting provider

5. How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile (Step-by-Step)

If you serve customers locally, your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is your most powerful free tool.

Most small businesses set it up once and forget about it. That’s a massive mistake.

Here’s how to optimize it properly:

Step 1: Complete Every Single Field

Fill out:

• • Business name

• • Address (if you have a storefront)

• • Phone number

• • Website URL

• • Business hours (and keep them updated)

• • Business category (choose the most specific option)

• • Service areas (if you serve customers at their location)

• • Attributes (women-owned, LGBTQ+ friendly, wheelchair accessible, etc.)

Step 2: Upload High-Quality Photos

Google loves fresh images. Upload:

• • Exterior storefront shots

• • Interior photos

• • Team photos

• • Product photos

• • Before/after photos (for service businesses)

Update photos at least once a month.

Step 3: Automate Your Review Requests

This is where most businesses drop the ball.

Reviews are ranking gold — and you need a system to get them consistently.

Here’s what we do for clients:

• • Set up an automated email sequence through Shopify or CRM

• • 3-5 days after purchase or service completion, send a thank-you email

• • Include a direct link to leave a Google review

• • Make it easy (one click, pre-filled if possible)

For Pygmy Hippo Shoppe, we automated review requests through their Shopify store. Within two months, reviews went from sporadic to consistent monthly additions.

For The Tax Shack, we set up post-tax filing review requests that trigger automatically. Hundreds of customers served, hundreds of opportunities for 5 star reviews with 0 manual work hours.

More reviews = higher local rankings = more visibility.

Step 4: Post Regular Updates

Google Business Profile has a “Posts” feature most businesses ignore.

Post weekly:

• • New products or services

• • Special offers

• • Events

• • Behind-the-scenes content

• • Blog post links

These posts show up in your Google listing and signal activity to Google’s algorithm.

Step 5: Respond to Every Review (Good and Bad)

Engagement matters. Respond to:

• • Positive reviews with genuine thanks

• • Negative reviews professionally and promptly

This shows Google (and future customers) that you care.

6. Stop Relying Only on Instagram (The Biggest SEO Mistake I See)

Instagram is amazing for brand awareness, but it is not a reliable growth engine.

Here’s why small businesses get stuck:

• • Posts only last 24–48 hours

• • Algorithm changes kill momentum

• • You’re renting an audience, not owning it

• • There’s no search depth

• • It doesn’t build long-term visibility

Google (and AI tools like ChatGPT) reward depth and expertise, not fleeting content.

Your website must include:

• • layered, rich product descriptions

• • helpful category pages

• • an FAQ that answers real buyer questions

• • “pillar pages” that establish authority

• • ideally, a blog that builds a resource library

• • internal linking that ties everything together

This is how you build E-E-A-T:
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust.

If your website isn’t growing every month, you probably don’t have enough depth.

7. Pinterest + YouTube Shorts Are Secret SEO Weapons

Here’s a truth no one tells small business owners:

Pinterest acts like a search engine, not a social media platform.

Pins can rank for YEARS.
Your Instagram post? Two days at best.

For Pygmy Hippo, Pinterest is becoming a passive, compounding traffic driver that supports SEO rankings.

And YouTube Shorts? Huge win.

Short-form video continues to outperform static images everywhere — TikTok, Instagram, Facebook — and Google’s algorithm loves video engagement.

I wrote a full guide breaking down why

If you hate posting constantly, start with video clips and Pinterest.
You’ll get more reach with less effort.

8. The 6-Month SEO Roadmap That Works for Almost Every Small Business

Most businesses make the mistake of expecting SEO results in a few weeks.

But six months is where the magic happens — especially for small business websites.
Here’s the process I use across all clients:

Month 1–2: Fix the Foundation (Technical + Visibility)

• • Speed improvements

• • Mobile optimization

• • Fix broken links and indexing issues

• • Build your keyword map

• • Rewrite product descriptions

• • Build or fix your Google Business Profile

• • Start automating review requests

Month 3–4: Build Your Content Library

This is the part that most small businesses skip — but it’s what leads to massive jumps later.

We add:

• • blog posts

• • pillar pages

• • category content

• • a real FAQ

• • internal linking

• • Pinterest boards

• • short-form video for social + YouTube

This is the stage where AI visibility also improves, which means better traffic from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews.

Month 5–6: Authority + Momentum

Here’s where results accelerate.

Real examples from clients:

• • Sprouted Nut Company: 188% increase in traffic

• • Pygmy Hippo Shoppe: 50% traffic and sales increase, 169% returning customer increase

• • Local service businesses: top of map pack + review-driven conversion boosts

At this stage, we also implement Client Magnet CRM automations to help owners stay organized and stress-free:

• • automated review request systems

• • lead funnels that run 24/7

• • email nurturing

• • follow-up sequences

• • download funnels (like www.mytaxshack.com/ebook)

• • abandoned cart recovery

• • returning customer sequences

When your website and CRM work together, you stop chasing customers — and customers start coming to you.

9. Systems Win. Hustle Doesn’t.

Here’s the part small business owners rarely hear:

SEO is not about working harder — it’s about letting systems work for you.

When you:

• • build a strong website

• • get reviews consistently

• • publish helpful content

• • create automated follow-ups

• • grow your visibility over time

Your business becomes a magnet — attracting the right customers without you needing to be everywhere at once.

That’s why I created Client Magnet CRM:
To give small business owners a simple, organized, high-level marketing engine that supports SEO, conversions, and customer retention without adding extra work.

Most small business SEO services overcomplicate things — but systems like automated reviews, lead funnels, and content depth do the heavy lifting for you.

If you’re overwhelmed, that’s a sign you need systems — not more effort.

Ready to Get Found? Let’s Build Your SEO Growth Plan.

If your business is ready to stop guessing and start growing, I’d love to help.

➡️ Book a discovery call here:
https://clientmagnetcrm.com/contact/

We’ll talk through where you are now, where you want to go, and what’s possible in the next six months.

You don’t need to hustle harder.
You just need to get found.