If you own a small business, you’ve probably gotten the pitch. An email, a cold call, maybe a slick presentation from a guy in a polo shirt: “Your website isn’t ranking on Google. We can fix that. It’ll cost you $500 a month.”
Here’s what they don’t tell you: most of what they’re selling either doesn’t work anymore, never worked in the first place, or is something you can do yourself in an afternoon.
The SEO Gold Rush Is Over
There was a time — roughly 2008 to 2018 — when SEO specialists could genuinely move the needle for businesses. Google’s algorithm was simpler, and if you knew the right tricks (keyword stuffing, backlink farming, meta tag optimization), you could game your way to the top of search results.
That era is over.
Google has spent billions of dollars and over a decade making their algorithm resistant to exactly these kinds of tricks. They use machine learning to understand what a page is actually about, not just what keywords are crammed into it. They can identify paid backlink schemes. They penalize sites that try to game the system.
And now, with AI-generated overviews appearing at the top of many search results, the entire landscape has shifted again. Google is increasingly answering questions directly on the results page, which means even a number-one ranking doesn’t guarantee clicks the way it used to.
What the “SEO Expert” Is Actually Doing
Most SEO services for small businesses follow the same playbook:
They run an audit tool. These are widely available for free — Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and dozens of others will tell you the same things. Broken links, missing meta descriptions, slow load times. The SEO company just puts it in a nice PDF with their logo on it.
They tweak your meta tags. Title tags and meta descriptions matter, but they’re not magic. Writing a clear, accurate description of what your page is about takes five minutes, not a monthly retainer.
They write blog posts stuffed with keywords. You’ve seen these — the ones that read like they were written by a robot and say nothing useful. “Looking for the best plumber in Helena MT? Our Helena MT plumbing services are the best plumbing services in Helena MT.” Google’s algorithm is smart enough to see through this now, and your human visitors certainly are.
They send you a monthly report. Lots of graphs, lots of jargon — “domain authority,” “keyword density,” “SERP features.” Most of these metrics are invented by SEO tool companies, not Google. They measure activity, not results.
What Actually Gets You Found
The unglamorous truth is that ranking well on Google in 2025 comes down to a handful of things, none of which require a monthly retainer:
A fast, well-built website. Google measures your site’s loading speed and stability. A site that loads in under two seconds on a phone has a real advantage over one that takes five. This is a technical problem, not a marketing one.
Accurate, complete business information. Your name, address, phone number, and hours should be consistent everywhere — your website, your Google Business Profile, and any directory listings. This is the foundation of local search.
Your Google Business Profile. For local businesses, this is the single most important thing you can do. Claim it, fill it out completely, add photos, respond to reviews, and post updates occasionally. It’s free, and it’s what powers the map results that appear at the top of local searches.
Genuine, useful content. Write about what you know. Answer the questions your customers actually ask you. If you’re a roofer, write about how to tell if your roof needs replacing. If you run a bakery, share what goes into your sourdough process. Real expertise beats keyword-stuffed filler every time.
Reviews from real customers. Google trusts businesses that real people vouch for. Ask your happy customers to leave a Google review. It matters more than any backlink scheme.
The AI Factor
Google’s AI Overviews — those generated summaries that appear above traditional search results — are changing the game further. For many informational queries, users get their answer without clicking any result at all.
This makes two things more important than ever. First, your Google Business Profile, because local business results still appear prominently and get clicks. Second, genuinely authoritative content that AI models recognize as trustworthy and might cite or reference.
What it makes less important: the old SEO playbook of chasing keyword rankings. If Google is answering the question directly, being result number one doesn’t matter as much as it used to.
When to Actually Hire Help
There are legitimate specialists who can help with technical aspects of web presence — site architecture, page speed optimization, structured data markup. These are real technical skills.
The difference between a good web developer and an “SEO expert” is that the developer builds these things into your site correctly from the start. You pay once for a well-built foundation, not monthly for someone to fiddle with meta tags.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need an SEO guru. You need a fast website, a complete Google Business Profile, and the willingness to ask your customers for reviews. Everything else is either free, a one-time setup task, or snake oil.
Save your $500 a month. Spend it on a website that’s actually built right.