Bare Minimum SEO Services for Small Business

Good SEO starts with choosing the right content management system (CMS). If you don't have any development resources, you need to use one of the well-known no-code CMSs to build your website. These tools are user-friendly, have basic SEO features, and are broadly supported. Here are the CMSs I would recommend:

• Squarespace
• Wix
• WordPress
• Shopify - for ecommerce sites

All of these CMSs have a library of prebuilt templates to choose from. You can simply pick a template and automatically apply it to your site. When choosing a template, go for clean, simple, and easy to read. Don't try to win a design award.

Because you're a scrappy, resourceful entrepreneur, there are a few SEO tasks that you can take care of yourself. Here are the DIY SEO tasks for you:

• Add at least 500 words of content on the homepage and primary product/service pages. It's better if you can get closer to 1,000, but that's not always realistic. If you don't like to write, use chatGPT to help, but read the content before you publish it.
• Create a Google My Business Profile, and be thorough when you're creating your profile. Add everything you can - your hours, images, product categories, and whatever else makes sense. 

These are the items someone with SEO expertise needs to take care of.

• Light keyword research
• Keywords in title tags
• Lightly sprinkle your keywords into your content
• Google Analytics configured for basic tracking

If you have a brochure website with 5 to 10 pages on it, a good SEO can easily knock all of these out in 5 hours. Maybe less. You can hire a good SEO for $75 to $100 per hour. 

New businesses don't need to pay a monthly fee for SEO services. The majority of the time, small monthly SEO packages are a waste of money. 

Once you have your SEO essentials taken care of, there are some ongoing tasks you'll need to keep up with to improve your SEO performance. 

• Get customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile
• When it makes sense, ask other websites to link to your website. For example, this page on the Olathe Chamber of Commerce website links to a bunch of financial planners. Those links are helping their SEO performance.
• Add your business to websites like YellowPages.com, G2, or ClearlyRated. Your listing on these websites can help your SEO performance.
• Get your business added to local and industry directories.
• Taking advantage of public relations opportunities helps your SEO. Some press articles will include links to your website.

You can hire someone to do some of the tasks above, but that doesn't require a monthly retainer. We believe that small and new businesses should only pay for individual SEO projects.

If you follow this guide, have a good product or service, and make your customers happy, you'll see your SEO performance steadily improve.