You do not need to pay for SEO

Before you spend money on SEO tools or consultants, do these twelve things. They are free. They are effective. Most websites have not done them. If you complete this list, you will be ahead of the majority of small business sites on the internet.

We have broken it into four phases. Do them in order. The technical fixes come first because they unlock everything else.

Phase 1 — Technical (do these first)

1. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. Go to search.google.com/search-console, verify your site, and submit your sitemap URL. It is usually yoursite.com/sitemap-index.xml. Takes five minutes. Until you do this, Google is discovering your pages by accident.

2. Fix your broken links. Every broken link on your site wastes crawl budget and signals neglect. Crawl your own site with a free tool — Screaming Frog’s free tier handles up to 500 URLs. Or if you want something built for indie sites specifically, ZensInk ships a free broken link checker and sitemap auditor as part of its open-source SEO toolkit. Either way, export the 404s and broken external links, then fix or remove each one. This is unglamorous work and it pays off.

3. Add structured data. JSON-LD is a small block of code that tells Google exactly what your site is — a local business, an organization, an article, a product. At minimum, add Organization and WebSite schema to your homepage, and LocalBusiness if you have a physical location. Google’s Rich Results Test will tell you if you did it right. This is how you earn those enhanced listings in search results — star ratings, breadcrumbs, FAQ accordions.

4. Give every page a unique title and meta description. This is the lowest-effort, highest-return item on the list. Each page needs a descriptive title under 60 characters and a meta description under 160 characters. The title is what shows up as the blue link in Google. The description is the text under it. If you write nothing, Google guesses — badly. Write them yourself. Make them specific to the page, not generic across the site.

Phase 2 — Keyword and content (do these second)

5. Find out what people actually search for. You do not need a paid keyword tool. Open an incognito window, go to Google, and start typing phrases related to your business. The autocomplete suggestions are real searches ranked by volume. Write them down. Then scroll to the bottom of the results page and read the “Related searches” list. Then read every question in the “People also ask” box. That is a complete keyword map of your industry, for free, in ten minutes.

6. Write for humans, not for a 2012 version of the algorithm. Google understands natural language. It understands synonyms. It understands when a page answers a question well. Write clearly, answer questions directly, and do not stuff keywords. The old tactic of repeating “plumber Austin plumber Austin cheap plumber Austin” fifty times does not just read badly now — it actively hurts you.

A notebook page mapping keyword ideas from Google autocomplete and related searches

7. Create cornerstone content. Pick one topic that matters to your business and write the definitive guide to it. Aim for 2,000-plus words. Cover it thoroughly, answer the obvious questions, and link out to your more specific articles from within it. This page becomes the anchor that ranks for broad terms in your niche. Every smaller article you write points back to it, and it points out to them. Google reads that structure as expertise.

8. Update your old content. Google weights freshness for many queries. If you have a blog post from two years ago, update the date, add new information, fix anything that has gone stale, and republish. A refreshed post often jumps in rankings within weeks. This is the single fastest SEO win for a site that already has content.

Phase 3 — Links (the long game)

9. List your business everywhere it belongs. Google Business Profile first — this is non-negotiable for any local business. Then Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, industry-specific directories, and your local chamber of commerce. Each legitimate listing is a backlink from an authoritative domain, and Google Business Profile alone can drive a huge share of local traffic. Keep your name, address, and phone number identical across every listing. Inconsistencies confuse Google’s local algorithm.

10. Write for other sites. Guest posts, expert quotes in journalist articles (HARO and similar services connect you to reporters), podcast appearances, interviews. Each one can earn a backlink from a relevant, authoritative site. One good link from a respected publication in your industry is worth more than fifty links from low-quality directories. Quality beats quantity every time, and Google is increasingly good at telling the difference.

Phase 4 — Ongoing (do these forever)

11. Monitor your rankings in Search Console. Check Google Search Console weekly. The Performance report tells you which queries bring you traffic, which pages get impressions, and where you rank on average. Watch for pages that are climbing — they are close to a breakthrough and a small push (a content update, a new internal link) can push them onto page one. Watch for pages that are falling — something changed, and you want to catch it early.

12. Be patient. SEO takes three to six months to show results for a new site, and six to twelve months to really compound. The work you do in July pays off in October. The work you skip in July means you start from zero in October. Most businesses quit SEO right before it starts working, because the first two months show no results and nobody told them that was normal. It is normal. Keep going.

A few things to skip

While we are at it, here is what not to waste your time on.

The order matters

If you only have an afternoon, do items 1, 4, and 5. Submitting your sitemap, fixing your titles, and learning what people actually search for will move the needle more than anything else on this list, and you can do all three before dinner.

If you have a weekend, add 2, 3, and 8. Fixing broken links, adding structured data, and refreshing your best old post are all high-return for the effort.

Everything else is the steady work that compounds over months. Do a little each week. In six months you will not recognize your traffic numbers.

Want the technical foundation done for you so you can focus on content? See our pricing or get in touch.