What is SEO? Explained simply for your business

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What is SEO and why does it matter for a small business?

SEO means your website shows up as high as possible on Google when a possible customer searches for what you sell. Google describes it as the work of helping search engines understand your content and helping people find your site.

For a small business, that means customers who find you at the exact moment they are looking for what you offer, without you paying for each visit.

These appearances are called "organic", because you don't pay Google for them. Google says it does not accept money to include a site in its results or to move it higher. Ads are something else: they appear separately and are labelled as ads.

How does SEO work?

SEO works like this: Google reads your site, and you help it understand what each page is about and who it is worth showing to. Google has a program, called Googlebot, that goes through websites automatically, reads them and adds them to an index. When someone searches for something, Google picks from that index the pages it considers the best fit. The choice depends on hundreds of factors, including where the person is, their language and the device they search from.

I like to think of Googlebot as Google's apprentices, who pass through your site from time to time and note what each page is about. If a page talks about ten things at once, they won't know what to recommend it for. If it is clear, you have made their job easier.

Two things give you an idea of what this work means:

• Your customers' words. If you sell a crystal glass, the page has to talk about a "crystal glass", in the words a customer would type into Google, not in yours.
• What people see before they visit your site. When you search for "crystal glasses", you click the result that says clearly what it is and why it is worth it. That text can be worked on, for each page separately.

The rest comes down to how the site is built, who recommends you and how well everything works. None of these is enough on its own: results come when they are worked on together, page by page, and followed over time.

One of our results

For Bohemia Crystal, an online shop for crystal and porcelain, we optimised over 1,700 products. The shop is now recommended by ChatGPT.

See what's included in Let's SEO & GEO.

SEO or Google Ads: which should you choose?

SEO builds a presence that stays, while Google Ads brings visitors for as long as you pay. They work best together, each with its own role.

I have seen businesses that ended up depending on ads. While they pay, they have visitors. The day they stop, they disappear, because their site does not show up naturally. Google says clearly that advertising with them has no effect on organic results, and that a paused campaign no longer shows ads.

I like a challenge, so we treat the cause first: why your site does not show up naturally. We suggest ads on top of that foundation, when there is a holiday or a moment when people buy anyway, and depending on the type of site. A crystal shop, for example, can start a targeted campaign for its holiday collection before Christmas. I wrote separately about SEO or Google Ads: which should you choose?, and we handle campaigns at Let's Ads.

How long does SEO take to show results?

SEO needs a few months to show results, depending on where you start and how much work is done. After every change, Google needs time to come back to the page and place it again in the results. Google's guide says some changes show within a few hours and others within a few months, and it recommends waiting a few weeks before judging the effect.

In our experience, a site on the second page can reach the first in three to six months. The further you are from the first page, the more work there is. The closer you are, the more you get from less.

I wrote about this in detail in How long does SEO take to show results?

SEO is not done once. It is followed month after month: what worked, what did not, how many impressions and clicks each page had. Then new pages and articles are added for other things your customers search for.

Does SEO still matter now that people ask ChatGPT?

Yes, SEO still matters. More and more people ask ChatGPT or read Google's AI answer instead of opening ten websites, and good SEO helps you there too: Google says that optimising for AI search is, from their point of view, still SEO.

On top of that foundation comes GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), the work of being cited in the answers of AI assistants. The term comes from a university study in which, in a lab test, visibility in AI answers grew by up to 40%. Together, SEO and GEO strengthen each other.

Two things to remember. ChatGPT has to be allowed to read your site, otherwise you do not appear in its answers. And nobody can guarantee that you will be cited, you can only raise your chances. I wrote about this in detail in What is GEO and how do you get into ChatGPT's answers?

Can anyone guarantee the number 1 spot on Google?

No. Nobody can guarantee the number 1 spot on Google. Google says so itself, and advises you to be careful with anyone who promises it.

SEO is careful, detailed work. When it is rushed, it shows, and you are the one who pays for it. Watch out for three things:

• Two or three words placed on a page and nothing more. SEO done seriously starts from the customer: what they search for and what would convince them to click.
• Titles and descriptions all made by the same rule. Every page needs its own.
• Articles made with AI and published in bulk, with nobody checking them. I know a company that lost around 20 positions after publishing this way. Google treats pages generated in large numbers, with no value for the reader, as abuse, however they are created. The problem is not AI, it is text that nobody checks.

We cannot promise you the first page in a month either. We can promise monthly, measured work and the numbers on the table: positions, clicks, impressions. In our experience, growth shows in three to six months.

Where do you start?

Start with a free 30-minute call, from which you leave with a plan and three quick wins you can do yourself. If you want us to handle it, Let's SEO & GEO has three packages:

• Let's check it. For when you don't know why you are not showing up on Google. A full SEO and GEO audit, in 4 to 7 working days, with a clear list of what to fix first.
• Let's set it up. For when you want to climb to the first page. The whole site optimised, page by page, with the first improvements live in 1 to 2 weeks.
• Let's take care of it. For when you want to stay on top. New content every month, a monthly check of how you appear in ChatGPT and AI, and a short report: what changed and what comes next.

Frequently asked questions

What does SEO mean in marketing?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In marketing, it is the part that brings visitors from Google without paid ads: your site appears when people search for what you offer.

Can I do SEO myself?

Yes. You can do the basics yourself, and Google has a free guide for beginners. Good SEO, though, takes time and a structure followed month after month, and a business owner already has the team, the suppliers and the company's plans to carry. That is why many choose to leave this work to people who do it every day.

What is the difference between SEO and Google Ads?

With Google Ads you pay for every click and you appear for as long as you pay. With SEO you work on the site so that you appear naturally, and what you earned stays after you stop.

What does GEO mean?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It is the work that gets a business cited in the answers of AI assistants, such as ChatGPT or Google's AI answers. It starts from SEO done well.

How much does SEO cost?

It depends on where you start and how much work there is, which is why we do not publish a price list. After the free call you receive a written offer, with what we do, how much it costs and when it is ready.