Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the work of helping the right people find your site in search results without paying for ads. For a small business it comes down to a few things done well: a site search engines can read, pages that answer real questions, and a reputation other sites vouch for. This guide covers the terms you will hear, what matters now, and how to check that nobody is harming your site.
How search works
Google finds pages through links and sitemaps, reads them, decides whether to store them in its index, and then ranks the stored pages for each search. Most problems fall at one of these steps. A page blocked from crawling, marked noindex or buried with no links to it cannot rank, however good it is.
The terms you will hear
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Organic results | The unpaid listings in search results. Ads are marked as sponsored. |
| Crawling | Search engine software visiting your pages to read them. |
| Indexing | Storing a page so it can appear in results. A crawled page is not always indexed. |
| Keyword | The words people type into a search. Write for the question behind them. |
| Title link | The clickable headline in a result, usually taken from your page's title tag. |
| Meta description | A short summary you write for a page. Google often uses it as the snippet under the title. |
| Backlink | A link from another site to yours. Links from relevant, trusted sites help. |
| Anchor text | The clickable words of a link. They tell search engines what the linked page is about. |
| Canonical URL | The main version of a page when several addresses show the same content. |
| XML sitemap | A file that lists the pages you want search engines to find. |
| robots.txt | A file that tells crawlers which parts of a site not to crawl. It does not keep a page out of results. |
| noindex | A tag that keeps a page out of search results. |
| Structured data | Code that describes a page, such as a product, a recipe or a business, so it can show richer results. |
| Impressions, clicks and CTR | How often you appeared, how often people clicked, and clicks divided by impressions. |
What matters now
- Content written for people. Google's guidance asks whether a page was made to help someone or to attract search traffic. Answer the questions your customers really ask, show your own experience, and say who wrote it.
- Clear titles and headings. Each page needs a unique title that says what it offers and a heading structure that matches.
- A site that works on phones. Google indexes the mobile version of your site, so that is the version that counts.
- Speed and stability. Core Web Vitals are part of page experience. Our guide to website speed tools and fixes covers them.
- Local presence. If you serve customers in a place, keep your Google Business Profile complete and your name, address and phone number the same everywhere.
- Earned links. Links from local partners, suppliers, press and associations help. Bought links break Google's spam policies.
- AI features. Google says the usual SEO practices also apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, and no special files or markup are needed to appear in them.
Negative SEO, and how to check for it
Negative SEO means someone trying to harm your rankings on purpose, for example by pointing thousands of spammy links at your site, copying your content, or posting fake reviews. Google says its systems are good at ignoring spammy links, so link attacks rarely work. The bigger real risks are a hacked site filling up with spam pages, and copies of your pages appearing elsewhere.
Google Search Console is free, and it is the place to check. Verify your site there if you have not already.
- Manual actions. If this report shows an issue, a Google reviewer has found a problem. Fix it and send a reconsideration request.
- Security issues. Hacked content shows here. Clean the site first; our WordPress security guide has the steps.
- Links. Look for a sudden wave of links from unrelated or foreign-language sites with odd anchor text.
- Performance. A sharp drop in clicks can point to a problem. Compare it with Google's published ranking updates before you assume an attack.
- Pages. Indexed URLs you never created, often in other languages or selling pills or gambling, are a strong sign of a hack.
- Removals. Check that nobody has asked Google to hide your pages.
The disavow links tool still exists in Search Console, but Google recommends it only if you have a large number of spammy links that caused, or are likely to cause, a manual action. For most sites, the right response to junk links is to do nothing.
If someone copies your content, report it to the site's host or to Google under copyright law. If you see fake reviews on your Business Profile, report them through the profile.
Common questions
- How long does SEO take?
- Small technical fixes can show within weeks. Content and links usually take months to build up.
- Do I need to pay for SEO tools?
- Not to start. Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and Google Business Profile are free and cover the basics.
- Should I disavow links I do not like?
- Usually not. Google already ignores most spammy links. Use the disavow tool only in the cases Google describes.
- Does posting often help?
- Useful pages help. Many thin pages written only to rank can hurt the way Google sees the whole site.
SEO rewards steady, honest work on a site that is easy to use. If you want help with a technical check, better page titles or a content plan, a professional on Internetivo can do it. See how your first project works.