SEO for Small Business: Quick Wins in 30 Days

A practical 30-day SEO plan for small businesses: week-by-week actions, simple metrics, and early results without heavy tooling.

Goals & metrics

• Indexability: more pages “Valid” in Google Search Console.
• Impressions/clicks for branded & long-tail queries (GSC).
• CTR improvements via better Titles/Descriptions.
• Core Web Vitals: LCP ≤ 2.5s, CLS ≤ 0.1, INP ≤ 200ms.
• Local signals: consistent NAP citations & real reviews.
• First quality links from local/niche websites.

Tooling

• Google Search Console & GA4 (events configured).
• Google Business Profile for local SEO.
• Keyword planner/alternative + a sheet for mapping.
• PageSpeed Insights & CWV reports.
• Tech basics: sitemap, robots.txt, canonicals, 404/301.

Week 1 — Indexing & tech baseline

1. GSC: verify property, submit sitemap.xml.
2. robots.txt: don’t block important sections; reference sitemap.
3. Canonicals: single URL version (no mixed http/https or www).
4. Redirects: 301 old to current; reduce 404s.
5. Title/H1 hygiene; unique meta for key pages.
6. Contact page with full NAP + Organization/LocalBusiness schema.
7. BreadcrumbList schema & visible breadcrumbs.

Week 2 — Speed & Core Web Vitals

• Images: AVIF/WebP, correct sizing, lazy-loading (<Image> in Next.js).
• Fonts: font-display: swap; preload primary font; limit variants.
• Critical CSS; avoid render-blocking scripts.
• JS: defer/async, code-split, remove unused libs.
• Caching headers for static assets.
• Re-check LCP/CLS/INP with PSI & field data.

Week 3 — Content & intent

Cover essential intents: who you are, services, pricing, proof, contact.

• Collect 30–60 low/mid keywords (city/niche modifiers).
• Map: homepage, services, pricing, cases/portfolio, contacts, 2–4 blog posts.
• Templates: H1 → intro → benefits → FAQ (FAQPage schema) → CTA.
• Microcopy with specifics (numbers/timelines/process).
• Internal links between posts ↔ services ↔ cases (natural anchors).
• Article/BlogPosting schema for posts; Organization/LocalBusiness site-wide.

Week 4 — Local SEO & first links

• Google Business Profile: complete categories, description, services, photos, hours.
• Consistent NAP across site and directories.
• Citations: add to 10–20 local/niche directories.
• Reviews: 3–5 real ones mentioning service/city; reply as brand.
• Partner links: associations, suppliers, events (simple outreach).
• PR note: short helpful piece for local media/communities linking to your guide.

Daily 15-minute habits

• Check GSC coverage & issues.
• Respond to GBP reviews/questions.
• Micro-tune meta for CTR.
• Add internal links when publishing.
• Keep a cadence: 1 new piece every 7–10 days.

Mini checklist: meta & structure

• Single H1; logical H2/H3.
• Title ≤ ~60–65, Description ≤ ~150–160, with value & topic.
• Alt attributes meaningful (no keyword stuffing).
• Breadcrumbs + clear navigation.
• Clean, human-readable URLs.

30-day report & 90-day plan

1. Before/after snapshot: impressions/clicks, CTR, rankings, CWV.
2. Winners/laggards by page; where headlines lifted CTR.
3. 90-day roadmap: expand keywords, new landing pages, regular publishing, link building.

Wrap-up

In one month you can set the foundation: indexing, speed, essential content, local signals, and first links. Not a silver bullet — but a reliable base for steady growth over the next 90 days.