Plenty of small businesses run without paid advertising, especially early on. They rely on a mix of free channels that build on each other: a business listing, a website that answers real questions, reviews from real customers, and the people who already know their work. None of these is instant, and none comes with a promise, but together they create steady ways for people to find you.
This guide covers the basics, in roughly the order to set them up, and what your website does in each.
Start with your Google Business Profile, if you qualify
A Google Business Profile is the listing that can appear in Maps and local search results. It is free, but not every business is eligible. Google’s guidelines generally require that you meet customers in person, either at a location they visit or by traveling to them, during stated hours. Online-only businesses, and addresses such as virtual offices, usually do not qualify. Read Google’s current eligibility guidelines before you create one.
If you serve customers at their location, such as a cleaner or a mobile mechanic, you can set up a service-area profile and hide your home address. Fill in categories, hours, services and photos carefully, and link the profile to your website.
Profile basics to get right
- ✓Correct primary category — the one that best describes your main service
- ✓Hours that match reality — and match your website exactly
- ✓Service area or address — whichever fits how you meet customers
- ✓Real photos — your work, your team, your storefront
- ✓Website link — to the most relevant page, not always the home page
Build pages that answer real questions
Your website is where people go after they find you, and it is what gives search engines something to show for specific questions. A page for each main service, written around the questions customers ask before hiring you, does more than a single page listing everything. Include what the service involves, who it suits, the areas you cover and how to get started.
Think about the exact phrases customers use. Someone may search for a mobile dog groomer for anxious dogs, not just dog grooming. If you handle that well, a short section on it gives people a reason to choose you.
Review habits that hold up
- ✓Ask everyone — the same request after every finished job
- ✓Make it easy — a direct link by text or on a receipt
- ✓Never pay or reward — no discounts or gifts for reviews
- ✓Reply to all — short, polite and specific
Reviews, the proper way
Reviews matter to the people reading them, so collect them honestly. Ask every customer, not only the happy ones, using a short link to your profile. Do not offer discounts or gifts in exchange, do not write reviews for yourself, and do not filter who gets asked based on how you think they will rate you. Each review platform has its own rules, and breaking them can get reviews removed.
Reply to reviews calmly and briefly, including the critical ones. A thoughtful reply to a complaint often reassures future customers more than a dozen five-word compliments.
Referrals and local partners
Word of mouth is still a channel you can tend. Tell past customers you welcome referrals, and make it easy to pass your name on with a clean website address and a short description. Build relationships with businesses that serve the same customers without competing, such as a realtor and a house cleaner, or a florist and an event venue. A mention on a partner’s site or a local association directory can send real visitors and helps search engines connect you with your area.
Our guide to local SEO covers the search side, and new website, no traffic explains why the first months are quiet.
What to expect, honestly
- ✓Organic channels take time — expect months of steady work, not days
- ✓We do not promise leads or rankings — we build the pages, listings and habits that help
- ✓Profile eligibility is decided by Google — not every business qualifies for a listing
One example of what your site could look like
This is one sample we designed. Yours is built around your business, your photos and your words, and we have more examples if you want to compare directions.
What it costs
Websites are priced one-time by size, plus Website Care at $30/month for hosting, HTTPS, backups, weekly checks and A/B testing. Every package includes a consultation, mobile-friendly design, copy we write for you, a contact form, essential search setup and 10 revision rounds. Monthly SEO is an optional add-on when you are ready for it.
Optional add-ons, billed separately
The prices above are for your website. These two are separate monthly products you can add now or later. Neither is part of the website price.
Monthly SEO, from $50/month: new pages published on your site every month. See Monthly SEO →
Business Spotlight, from $30/month: articles about your business, labeled as paid, published on The Company Chronicle. See Business Spotlight →
How it works
1. Consultation
We learn your services, customers and goals, in English or Spanish.
2. We write and design
We draft the words and build the site around your business.
3. 10 revision rounds
You review and request changes until it is right.
4. Launch and care
We launch, then Website Care keeps it hosted, backed up, checked weekly and A/B tested.
Keep reading
Local SEO · New website, no traffic · Reviews on your website · Pages every small business site needs
