We were told we need to do SEO — what is it and is it actually necessary?

Love how agencies peddle fear to literally anyone who launches a new website using the exact same playbook. That whole 'you'll stay invisible' pitch is just code for 'you won't get rich unless you buy our package.' If you pay $1,000 every month for 20 orders, you're handing a middleman $50 per order for nothing. Get your local presence and maps sorted out first.

We do carpentry in New Jersey. Our first year, we paid an agency $800 a month, and most of the calls we got were completely irrelevant inquiries from out of state. We canceled the contract, sorted out our Google Maps listing, and uploaded photos of the cabinets we installed. Now we get 25–30 local leads a month and don't pay a single dime out of pocket for SEO.

The only thing you need to do today is verify your map profile. And have whoever built your site put direct descriptions of your work like 'Chicago Custom Upholstery' in the title tags. That doesn't require a monthly subscription, it's a one-time, one-hour task.

Did the agencies pitching you show any actual examples of other local tradespeople they've ranked within Chicago? Or did they just speak in broad, vague terms? Usually, if local competition is super low nobody puts in ongoing monthly hours anyway, and your money just goes down the drain.

agencies seem to think every website owner is a national brand lol. get on maps, ask happy customers to drop u a quick 5-star review, and you're good. the rest is pure money grab at your stage.

If your site runs on WordPress, you can dial in page titles, meta descriptions, and local schema markup in half a day using free plugins. Adding 'LocalBusiness' structured data is plenty for Google bots to figure out your physical location.

I completely get where you're coming from, they're no different than ad salespeople knocking on your door the second you open a new storefront. I mean keep your budget in your pocket and focus on your clients. As people who love your work refer you to others, your search rankings will naturally climb anyway.

edit: typed from phone, sorry for typos.

Ive been dealing with this for a long time. like if you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

I'd say don't rush. Internal linking is the cheapest and most neglected task.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

I have a question. When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles.

This approach has a cost, which isn't discussed. When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

this is exactly what we experienced. honestly if it's your first time start small; scaling comes later.

that's all, sorry if I went on too long.

Exactly, and not many people know this. Merge instead of deleting; deleted content doesn't come back.

Good luck with that.

Absolutely. If I were to add anything: Mistakes made on the what is SEO side are usually reversible but expensive.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

This thread is archived.

I'll try it.

let me share what happened to me; it might be useful. start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once.

i'm also curious if anyonne does it differently.

I have a question, don't want to go off-topic though. The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.