Let’s talk about SEO.

It’s something that comes up again and again when I chat with people about building websites.

When people start shopping around for a website, they’ll sometimes get quoted $7,000 or more because that price includes “SEO” and they’re told it will guarantee them a spot on the first page of Google.

Watch the video and listen to the podcast from October 17 2025:

So, I end up talking about SEO a lot because I don’t automatically include it as part of my website packages. I don’t believe every business needs a full-blown SEO strategy and here’s why.

In my world, there are two main types of businesses I work with:

1. Local businesses – like massage therapists, cafés, or counsellors who work face-to-face in their community.
2. Online businesses – people who work across Australia (or even globally).

If you’re a local business, then yes, a bit of SEO is absolutely worthwhile. For example, if I had a massage therapy business in Bega, I’d want to show up when someone searches for “Bega massage.” That means I’d use that keyword in my page title, headings, image labels, and metadata, the little snippets of code Google reads behind the scenes.

You can’t just spam your page with “Bega massage” over and over (Google’s will actually note that and remove points from your score), but you can use those key phrases naturally and intentionally throughout your site.

Now, for online businesses it’s trickier. If you’re a mindfulness teacher or a wellness coach, for example, you’re competing with huge names who have massive marketing teams and budgets. It’s hard to outrank those big players no matter how good your content is.

That’s why I often tell my clients not to stress too much about SEO in that traditional sense. Most of the women I work with are running solo businesses from home; they don’t have $10,000 a month to throw at SEO.

There are also entire businesses built around SEO, directories, listings, and aggregators that dominate the front page. You’ll often see them ahead of genuine local businesses, which makes it even harder to compete.

But here’s the good news: if your business is real, if your content is natural and authentic, and if you’ve taken a few basic steps people will find you.

For instance, I helped a friend build a site for New Ground Counselling here in Bega. When I search “Bega counsellor,” her site appears on the front page, and we haven’t even done any formal SEO yet. What helped?
She’s on Google My Business, and her website clearly says what she offers and where she’s based.

So before diving into SEO, I’d say: think about whether you actually need it. Talk to someone who isn’t trying to sell you a package someone who’ll give you honest advice. (I’m happy to chat about it!)

And if you do want to improve your SEO a little, here are a few simple, effective things you can do:

• Use page titles that match what you want to be found for.
• Make sure your main heading (H1) includes your key term — for example, “Bega Counselling.”
• Mention that key phrase naturally a few more times in your text.
• Label your images with relevant descriptions and alt text.

That’s it. You don’t need to overcomplicate it. Just be clear about what your clients are actually typing into Google — and write your website with those words in mind.