SEO for small businesses: what works, what it costs, where to start

Where a small business can actually rank

Page one is not reserved for big brands. In our study, at least one small business appeared on page one for about 70% of searches. Service businesses do best: B2B services 36% of page-one places, local services 31%. Retail is hardest at 12%, because product searches fill up with marketplaces and national chains.

Two things follow. First, compete where businesses like yours already rank, and check the live first page rather than a keyword difficulty score, which in our data predicted almost nothing. Second, expect directories and platforms to be your main competition, not a bigger rival: together they took almost 40% of page-one places.

What SEO costs a small business

There are three realistic ways to get the work done. Doing it yourself costs nothing but time: roughly two to four hours per article once research, writing and publishing are counted. A freelance SEO writer typically charges €50–100 per article, and you still do the keyword research and publishing. An SEO agency retainer is usually €1,500–4,000 a month, often with a minimum term.

BoltSEO automates the writing part: it finds keywords you can realistically rank for, writes articles in your brand voice, links them to your existing pages and publishes them to WordPress, Shopify or Ghost. The free plan covers three articles a month; Growth is €49 a month for twenty (excl. VAT).

Where to start

Fix the basics first: a clear title and description on your key pages, one main heading per page, a fast mobile site and a Google Business Profile if you serve a local area. Then publish steadily on the questions your customers ask before they buy, starting with the topics where small businesses already reach page one.