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