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Starting SEO for
Small Businesses

Launching a small business in WA? Here’s how to start SEO for small businesses in WA—without a giant budget or a full-time specialist. Small business SEO can seem like a maze of acronyms and shifting “best practices,” but what you really need is a solid SEO foundation, clear priorities, and the discipline to execute consistently.

This guide expands your original post into a step-by-step playbook tailored for brand-new SMB websites. It’s practical, ordered by impact, and designed to help you avoid common time-wasters. Work through it in order; you’ll compound gains as you go.

TL;DR: Your first 90 days

1. Start with a clean technical base

A beautiful site that loads slowly or confuses crawlers won’t rank well. Fix technical friction first so that every piece of content you publish can perform.

Must-do technical checks

Quick win: Fix 404s and redirect chains. Keep a tidy 301 map if you’ve migrated from a previous site.

2. Lock down your brand signals (NAP consistency)

For local SEO, Google leans heavily on consistent Name, Address, Phone across the web.

3) Master your keyword strategy (without stuffing)

You’ll rank for what you write about – so choose topics that match buyer intent in your service areas.

Three buckets of keywords for WA SMBs

1. Core service + location

“emergency plumber perth”, “tax accountant fremantle”, “solar installer bunbury”

2. Problem-based & how-to

“hot water system leaking”, “basin won’t drain”, “BAS lodgement dates WA”

3. Commercial comparison

“ducted vs split system perth”, “best accounting software for tradies”

How to prioritise

Tip: Aim one primary keyword per page, plus 3–5 closely related phrases you naturally include in headings and body copy.

4. Build a sensible site structure

A clean, shallow structure helps users and crawlers.

/ (Home)
/services/ (overview hub)
/services/plumbing/ (service pillar)
/services/plumbing/emergency/
/services/plumbing/hot-water/
/locations/ (location hub)
/locations/perth/
/locations/fremantle/
/blog/
/contact/

5. On-page optimisation that actually moves the needle

For each key page:

6. Google Business Profile (GBP): local visibility rocket fuel

Your GBP is often the first thing a local customer sees—sometimes before your website.

Setup & optimisation checklist

Reviews: your compounding advantage

7. Content that earns attention (and links)

A blog isn’t about publishing for the sake of it. It’s about answering the exact questions your customers ask before they’re ready to call.

A 12-week content plan (example for a Perth electrician)

1. Emergency electrician vs. booking next-day: when to call

2. Safety switch keeps tripping – 5 quick checks before you ring us

3. Average cost to install downlights in Perth (with examples)

4. Landlord electrical safety checklist (WA)

5. Renovating? Electrical plan template you can copy

6. Solar vs. non-solar homes: wiring considerations in Perth

7. New pool? What to know about electrical compliance

8. Home EV charger: options, installation steps, and rebates

9. How to read your switchboard (photo guide)

10. Strata guides: common electrical issues and who pays

11. Small business energy-saving tips (retail & offices)

12. Case study: shop fit-out in Fremantle – timeline, costs, lessons

Format tips: 

8. Structured data (schema) for rich results

Adding schema helps search engines understand your content and can unlock rich snippets.

High-value types for SMBs

Example: LocalBusiness + Service + FAQ (JSON-LD)

html

<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “LocalBusiness”,
“name”: “Your Business Name”,
“url”: “https://www.yourdomain.com/”,
“image”: “https://www.yourdomain.com/images/brand.jpg”,
“telephone”: “+61 8 1234 5678”,
“address”: {
“@type”: “PostalAddress”,
“streetAddress”: “123 Example St”,
“addressLocality”: “Perth”,
“addressRegion”: “WA”,
“postalCode”: “6000”,
“addressCountry”: “AU”
},
“areaServed”: [“Perth”, “Fremantle”, “Joondalup”, “Rockingham”],
“openingHours”: “Mo-Fr 08:00-17:00”,
“sameAs”: [
“https://www.facebook.com/yourbusiness”,
“https://www.instagram.com/yourbusiness”
],
“makesOffer”: {
“@type”: “Offer”,
“itemOffered”: {
“@type”: “Service”,
“name”: “Emergency Plumbing”,
“areaServed”: “Perth”
}
}
}
</script>

<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Do you offer same-day service in Perth?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Yes, we provide same-day callouts across the Perth metro area.”
}
},{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What suburbs do you cover?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Perth CBD, Fremantle, Joondalup, Rockingham, and surrounding suburbs.”
}
}]
}

9. Reviews & reputation as a growth engine

You mentioned discounts for reviews; tread carefully –  incentivised reviews can breach platform guidelines if not handled transparently. Safer options:

Build a simple SOP:

1. Technician marks job as complete in your CRM.

2. Automation sends a thank-you SMS/email with the review link.

3. If no response, one reminder in 5 days.

4. Team responds to new reviews daily.

Repurpose snippets in proposals, landing pages, and Google Posts.

10. Local citations & directories (WA-friendly)

Create/claim consistent listings on:

Keep a spreadsheet with login, URL, status, and last updated date. Update if your hours or phone change.

11. Ethical link earning for new sites

You don’t need to “build links” aggressively. Earn a handful of relevant, safe links:

Avoid buying links or spammy directories. Quality beats quantity.

12. Analytics & measurement (so you know what’s working)

Create a monthly snapshot:

13. E-E-A-T for trust (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

New businesses must prove they’re real and reliable.

14. Common pitfalls to avoid

Practical fixes to boost rankings (fast wins)

Jargon Buster (short & clear)

Final Thoughts

SEO is not a one-and-done task; it’s a system. Nail your technical baseline, publish helpful content that answers local questions, keep your Google Business Profile alive, and ask for reviews every time. If you do those consistently, you’ll see rankings, calls, and quote requests rise – often sooner than you think.

If you’d like, I can convert this into a ready-to-publish page with your branding, internal links to your existing URLs, and tailored examples for your exact services/suburbs.

Howto begin SEO for new image Computing Australia Group

FAQ

Expect early movement in 6–12 weeks and steadier lead growth around months 3–6. Competitive niches/locations can take longer.

Yes – GBP drives a big share of local (“near me”) calls. Complete every field, add photos weekly, post updates, and reply to all reviews.

Start with 1× service hub, 1–3 core service pages, 1× locations hub, 1–2 priority location pages, Contact, and About (with credentials & ABN).

Prioritise service + location (e.g., “electrician perth”), add problem-based queries (e.g., “safety switch tripping”), map one primary keyword per page.

Track calls/forms/bookings in GA4, monitor queries & CTR in Search Console, and review monthly which pages gain impressions but need better titles/internal links.