A beautiful website that nobody can find won't grow your business. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is how you earn a place in Google's results — and the basics matter more than any clever trick.
Get the technical basics right first
Before chasing rankings, make sure search engines can actually read your site. That means fast load times, a layout that works on mobile, a secure (HTTPS) connection, and a clear page structure with one main heading per page. Google rewards sites that are easy for both people and machines to understand.
Use the words your customers use
Think about what someone would actually type into Google to find a business like yours — then use those words naturally in your page titles, headings and copy. "Mortgage broker in Brunswick" will serve you far better than a clever tagline nobody searches for. Write for people first, but be specific about what you do and where.
Claim your Google Business Profile
For any business with local customers, a Google Business Profile is the single highest-impact thing you can do. It's free, it puts you on Google Maps, and it shows your hours, reviews and contact details right in the search results.
- Fill in every field — categories, services, hours and photos.
- Keep your name, address and phone identical everywhere online.
- Ask happy customers for reviews, and reply to them.
Earn trust over time
SEO isn't a one-off switch — it's a reputation you build. Fresh, genuinely useful content (like this article), links from other reputable sites, and a steady stream of reviews all tell Google you're the real deal. Results compound over months, not days, so the sooner you start the better.
The best SEO strategy is to be genuinely the most helpful answer to your customer's question.
Where we come in
We build every site to be search-ready from day one, submit it to Google on launch, set up Analytics and your Business Profile, and keep optimising as part of ongoing support — so your visibility grows instead of fading after launch.
Christopher Swinnerton
Director, Swinn Digital