Search engine optimisation explained in plain English — what it involves, what genuinely makes a difference, and what you can realistically do without specialist help.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It refers to the process of improving a website so that it appears higher in search engine results — primarily Google — when people search for terms related to your business.
When someone searches for "plumber in Cardiff" or "wedding photographer Birmingham," Google works through its index of billions of web pages and presents what it believes are the most relevant, trustworthy results. SEO is the work of making Google consider your website one of those results.
It sounds straightforward, but the reality is that Google uses hundreds of factors when deciding where to rank a page, and those factors change regularly. The industry around SEO is vast — and unfortunately, it attracts no shortage of people selling services that deliver very little.
Google's fundamental job is to return relevant results. If someone searches for "accountant in Leeds" and your website is a Leeds-based accountancy practice, your content needs to make that clear — explicitly, not just implied. Your page titles, headings, and body text should describe what you do and where you do it in plain, natural language. This is not about repeating keywords artificially — it is about making sure your content clearly answers the questions people are actually asking.
Google gives more weight to websites it considers authoritative and trustworthy. Authority is largely built through other websites linking to yours — each link acts as a vote of confidence. A mention and link from a respected local news site, a trade association, or a well-regarded directory carries more weight than dozens of links from low-quality sources. Building genuine authority takes time and cannot be faked sustainably.
Google can only rank pages it can find and read. A website that loads slowly, is not mobile-friendly, has broken links, or lacks basic technical foundations will be penalised regardless of how good its content is. Technical SEO covers all the behind-the-scenes factors — page speed, correct use of headings, descriptive page titles and meta descriptions, SSL certificates, structured data, and a functioning sitemap among them.
Google monitors signals that indicate whether visitors find what they are looking for. If people click on your site from search results and immediately go back to Google, that tells Google your page was not useful — and your rankings will suffer. A well-structured, easy to navigate site with clear, useful content keeps visitors engaged and sends positive signals.
A significant amount of basic SEO is within reach of any business owner who is willing to invest some time.
The single most effective SEO activity for most small businesses is completing a Google Business Profile accurately and keeping it updated. It is free, takes less than an hour to set up, and has an immediate impact on local search visibility.
Some aspects of SEO genuinely benefit from specialist expertise — particularly the technical foundations and anything involving the structure of the website itself.
These are not things that need to be addressed every week — much of it is one-time work done properly when the website is built. A good web designer will handle the technical foundations as a matter of course.
The SEO industry has a significant problem with poor practice and outright fraud. If you receive unsolicited emails or calls promising to get you to page one of Google, guaranteed results, or dramatic improvements within weeks — be very sceptical. No reputable SEO professional makes guarantees about Google rankings, because nobody outside Google controls them.
Warning: Some aggressive SEO tactics — buying large volumes of cheap links, keyword stuffing, or duplicating content — can result in a Google penalty that pushes your site down rather than up. Always ask how results are achieved, not just what results are promised.
Genuine SEO is slow, methodical work. A well-built website with good content, properly set up from the start, will build rankings naturally over time. That is a more sustainable and more honest approach than chasing shortcuts that may work briefly before causing lasting damage.
