Marketing guides for UK small businesses
Straight answers on getting found, getting chosen and getting the enquiry, written for owners who'd rather be running their business. No jargon, no invented numbers, sources linked.
Choosing a marketing agency
The Best Marketing Agency for a London Small Business: How to Choose in 2026
How a London small business can pick the right marketing agency in 2026: the criteria that matter, a scoring table, a shortlist process and red flags.
Best Marketing Company for Tradespeople in the UK: What to Look For
How UK tradespeople can choose a marketing company: the trade-specific checks that matter, from call handling and Google profiles to lead platforms.
Best Marketing Agency for Plumbers and Heating Engineers: A Buyer's Guide
How plumbers and heating engineers can choose a marketing agency: emergency calls, boiler season, Gas Safe trust signals and after-hours enquiries.
Best Marketing Agency for Electricians: How to Pick One That Gets You Jobs
How electricians can choose a marketing agency: trust signals like NICEIC and NAPIT, domestic vs commercial work, EV charger and rewire pages, and red flags.
Best Marketing Agency for Roofers: What Good Help Looks Like
How roofers can choose a marketing agency: storm-season demand, photo proof, beating rogue-trader worries, service areas and honest reviews.
Best Marketing Agency for Estate Agents in London: How to Choose
How London estate agents can choose a marketing agency: vendor leads, listing video from real photos, valuation follow-up, portals and the rules.
Best Marketing Agency for Restaurants and Takeaways in London
How London restaurants and takeaways can choose a marketing agency: Google Maps, menus, bookings, Reels, delivery apps versus direct orders, and reviews.
15 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Marketing Agency
The 15 questions UK small business owners should ask a marketing agency before signing, with what a good answer and a weak answer sound like.
Marketing Agency Red Flags: 12 Warning Signs Before You Sign
Twelve warning signs that a marketing agency is wrong for your small business, from guarantees and lock-ins to owning your accounts and vague reports.
Marketing Agency vs Freelancer vs Doing It Yourself: Which Suits Your Business?
Agency, freelancer or doing your own marketing? A plain comparison of cost, time, skills and risk for UK small businesses, and when each one is right.
Marketing Agency Contracts: 10 Clauses to Check Before You Sign
The 10 clauses UK small businesses should read in a marketing agency contract: term, notice, auto-renewal, ownership of your site and accounts, and exit fees.
Who Should Own Your Website, Domain and Google Business Profile?
Your business should own its website, domain, Google Business Profile and ad accounts. Owner vs manager access explained, and how to check today.
Costs
How Much Does Digital Marketing Cost in the UK? 2026 Guide for Small Businesses
What UK small businesses pay for digital marketing in 2026: retainers, one-off projects, pay per lead, software and ad spend, and how to set a budget.
How Much Does a Small Business Website Cost in the UK?
DIY builders, monthly website subscriptions and custom builds compared for UK small businesses, with the hidden costs: domain, hosting, edits and ownership.
How Much Does SEO Cost in the UK? 2026 Prices for Small Businesses
What UK small businesses pay for SEO in 2026, what you get at each level of spend, and how to tell a fair quote from a bad one.
Google Ads Management Costs in the UK: Fees, Ad Spend and What's Fair
How UK agencies charge for Google Ads management, how ad spend and budgets really work, how a local trade can start small, and who should own the account.
AI search
How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity
How AI assistants find and recommend local businesses, what they read, and the practical steps a UK small business can take to be one of the names they give.
AI Search Visibility Checklist for Local Businesses (2026)
A practical checklist to help ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot find your local business: crawler access, consistent details, reviews, pages and schema.
Does ChatGPT Recommend Your Business? How to Test It in 15 Minutes
A step-by-step test to see if ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot recommend your business: prompts by town and service, a log sheet and what to fix next.
Are You Blocking AI Search? A Small Business Guide to robots.txt and AI Crawlers
Which AI crawlers feed ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini, which only collect training data, and how to check your robots.txt in five minutes.
Google AI Overviews: What They Mean for Local Businesses
What Google AI Overviews and AI Mode are, how they pick sources, why your Business Profile still matters, and what a UK local business should change.
Schema Markup for Small Businesses: The Only Types You Need
Which schema markup a UK small business actually needs (LocalBusiness, Organization, FAQ), Google's rules on review stars, and how to test it for free.
Local SEO and reviews
Local SEO for Small Businesses: How to Get Found by Customers Near You
A plain-English local SEO guide for UK small businesses: Google Business Profile, service pages, citations, reviews and links, in the order that matters.
Google Business Profile Checklist: 20 Things to Fix Today
A 20-point Google Business Profile checklist for UK small businesses, checked against Google's own help pages, covering categories, hours, photos and reviews.
How to Get More Google Reviews (Without Breaking the Rules)
How UK small businesses can get more Google reviews: when to ask, message templates, review links and QR codes, plus Google rules and the UK fake review ban.
How to Reply to a Bad Google Review: Templates for Small Businesses
Calm reply templates for bad Google reviews, what never to say, how to keep customer data out of replies, and when Google will actually remove a review.
Local Citations in the UK: Name, Address and Phone Consistency Explained
What local citations are, which UK listings matter most, how to audit your name, address and phone details in an hour, and what service-area trades should do.
Location Pages for Trades: How to Rank in Every Town You Cover Without Spamming
How tradespeople can build useful town pages that help customers and stay clear of Google's doorway page rules, with a checklist and worked example.
Websites
What a Small Business Website Needs in 2026 (and What It Doesn't)
The must-haves for a UK small business website in 2026: enquiry routes, trust signals, speed and legal basics, plus the features you can safely skip.
Website Launch Checklist: 25 Checks Before Your New Site Goes Live
A 25-point website launch checklist for UK small businesses: forms, redirects, Search Console, cookies, legal pages, speed and mobile, from Google and ICO.
How to Write a Homepage That Gets Calls: Plain-English Tips for Local Businesses
A plain-English formula for the top of your homepage, a before and after rewrite for a local trade, and the words to cut so more visitors pick up the phone.
Is Your Website Too Slow? Simple Speed Fixes for Small Businesses
How to test your website speed with Google's free tools, what the Core Web Vitals scores mean, and the simple fixes that make the biggest difference.
Getting more enquiries
Contact Forms That Actually Get Filled In: 10 Fixes
Ten practical fixes for small business contact forms: fewer fields, mobile-friendly inputs, clear confirmations, reliable delivery and spam control.
Missed Calls Are Costing You Jobs: How to Stop Losing Enquiries
Work out what missed calls cost your business using your own numbers, then fix the gap with better voicemail, text-back, call diverts or an answering service.
The 9pm Test: What Happens When a Customer Contacts You After Hours?
A simple self-test: contact your own business at 9pm by phone, form, WhatsApp, email and Facebook, see what a customer gets, and fix the gaps this week.
Checkatrade, Bark or Your Own Website? How to Work Out Your Real Cost per Job
A neutral worksheet for tradespeople: how to work out what each lead platform or your own website really costs per booked job, using your own numbers.
Ads
Google Ads for Tradespeople: A Beginner's Guide That Won't Waste Your Budget
How UK tradespeople can set up a Google Ads search campaign that targets the right area, shows a call button, blocks wasted searches and tracks real calls.
Google Local Services Ads in the UK: How They Work and Who They Suit
Are Google Local Services Ads available in the UK? Which trades qualify, how verification and pay-per-lead charging work, and who they suit best.
12 Google Ads Mistakes Small Businesses Make (and How to Fix Them)
The Google Ads settings and habits that waste small business budgets, from broad match without negatives to missing call tracking, with a fix for each.
Facebook and Instagram Ads for Local Businesses: A Practical Starter Guide
How local businesses can run Facebook and Instagram ads: picking the right objective, setting a local area, creative that gets noticed, and lead forms.
Rules and compliance
Can I Text or Email My Customers? PECR Marketing Rules for UK Small Businesses
When a UK small business can send marketing texts and emails: consent, the soft opt-in, sole traders vs companies, and calls and the TPS, from ICO guidance.
UK Advertising Rules for Small Businesses: The CAP Code in Plain English
The UK advertising rules small businesses trip over: misleading claims, proof, prices and VAT, testimonials, guarantees and the free ASA Copy Advice service.
Can You Call Your Business 'The Best' in an Ad? UK Rules on Claims Explained
When UK ads can say best, No.1, leading or guaranteed: puffery vs objective claims under the CAP Code, reviews as claims, and safer wording you can copy.
Email Marketing for UK Small Businesses: A Simple, Legal Way to Start
How a UK small business can start email marketing legally: building a list with consent, what to send, how often, tools, unsubscribes and what to measure.
Planning
The Small Business Marketing Funnel: From Stranger to Booked Job
A plain-English marketing funnel for local businesses: the six stages from first search to repeat customer, examples for trades, and what to measure.
Branding for Small Businesses: What You Actually Need Before You Spend on Marketing
The branding a UK small business needs before spending on marketing: name, logo, colours, tone, vans and uniforms, consistent profiles, and when to rebrand.
Online Presence Audit: A 30-Minute Checklist for Small Business Owners
A 30-minute online presence audit for UK small businesses: search yourself, Maps, AI assistants, your site on a phone, forms, reviews and socials, scored.
25 Quick Wins to Improve Your Online Presence This Month
25 mostly free quick wins for UK small businesses, grouped into 10-minute, one-hour and one-afternoon jobs, covering Google, your website, reviews and social.
Our ads, explained
What Should a Tradesperson's Van Say? Copy It Onto Your Website
Your van lettering already says what you do, where and why to trust you. Here is how to copy those three lines onto your homepage and Google listing.
How to Use Photos of Your Work to Get More Jobs
Turn the job photos already in your camera roll into proof customers trust: which to pick, how to check them, and where to put them online.
Stock Photos on a Trades Website: Why Customers Don't Trust Them
Why the smiling handshake photo on a tradesperson's homepage costs trust, what Google's photo guidance says, and what to put in its place this week.
Why Customers Say 'We Went With Someone Else' and How to Find Out Why
A lost quote usually ends with a polite text and no reason. Here is how to ask, what to check on your own website and listing, and how to win the next one.
What Does a Homepage Mark-Up Cover? The Checks We Run on a Trade Website
What we check when we mark up a tradesperson's homepage, in the order a customer sees it, with the kind of notes you would get back and what to fix first.
Why Customers Pick the Tradesperson Whose Website Shows Photos and a Price
How a recommendation turns into a website comparison, why photos and a starting price win it, and how to show a price honestly when every job differs.
How Do Customers Choose Between Tradespeople in Google Search Results?
What a customer sees in a local Google result, which signals decide the tap, and how Google says it ranks relevance, distance and prominence.
Four Google Business Profile Problems That Lose Jobs and How to Fix Them
Stock photos, wrong hours, an old newest review and a vague services list. How each one costs a tradesperson enquiries, and the cheap fix for each.
How Often Should a Tradesperson Post on Social Media?
A realistic posting rhythm for a busy tradesperson, what a stale profile tells customers, and how to keep it going without losing your evenings.
Minimum Terms and Profile Ownership: Two Things to Check Before You Hire a Marketing Agency
Two clauses decide how easy it is to leave a marketing agency: the minimum term and who owns your Google profile and website. What to ask and what to expect.
Wrong Opening Hours on Google? How to Fix Them and Stop Losing Calls
Wrong hours on a Google listing send customers to a rival. How to set regular and special hours, show emergency cover honestly and keep them current.
How Customers Compare Two Tradespeople's Websites Side by Side
Customers open two sites in two tabs and compare them quickly. The seven things they check, what a winning page shows first, and how to test your own.
A Marketing MOT: What to Check on Your Website, Google Profile and Ads Each Year
A yearly marketing MOT for a small business: what to check on your website, Google profile, reviews and ads, and what a pass looks like in plain English.
What Should a Tradesperson Post on Facebook and Instagram?
Real finished jobs beat quote graphics. Six post types a tradesperson can use, a caption formula and what to leave out so Facebook and Instagram bring work.
Why Your Town Needs to Be Written on Your Website (Local SEO for Trades)
Without your town in plain text on your website, Google and customers cannot match you to local searches. Where to put it and how not to overdo it.
How Long Should a Tradesperson's Quote Be? Why Two Pages Get Ignored
A quote that runs to two pages of small print often goes unread. What to put on page one, what can live on a separate sheet and how to make it easy to accept.
How to Ask a Customer for a Google Review: A Text You Can Copy
When to ask, what to say and what the rules allow: a short review request you can copy, how to share your Google link and why you must never offer a freebie.
Google Business Profile Chat Was Switched Off: What to Change on Your Website and Listing
Google removed Business Profile chat and call history on 31 July 2024. What it means for your website, van and listing, and what to offer customers instead.
Is Your Phone Number Tappable on Mobile? How to Check and Fix It
If your website's phone number cannot be tapped to call, customers type it or leave. A thirty-second test and how to turn the number into a call button.
How Many Fields Should a Contact Form Have? Why Nine Is Too Many
A contact form for a trade business needs far fewer fields than most have. The three that matter, what to cut and how to test the form each month.
Shared Leads: What to Do When Three Other Firms Get the Same Enquiry
Pay-per-lead enquiries often go to several firms at once. How that changes the maths for a tradesperson, and how to build enquiries that are only yours.
What Should a Monthly Marketing Report Include? A One-Page Template
A one-page monthly marketing report for a small business: what was done, what it cost, what came in and what is next, with the Google figures worth tracking.
Do You Need a New Website, or Just Three Fixes? How to Decide
Before you pay for a rebuild, check whether three fixes would do: the first line, real job photos and a price. Signs you need a new site, and how to decide.
Before You Boost a Post or Run Ads: Four Things to Fix First
Ads send people to your website, and if the page does not convert them you pay to lose them. Four checks to run before you boost a post or start ads.
What Does a Two-Week Marketing Fix Include? An Itemised Look
An itemised look at a two-week marketing fix for a small business: homepage, Google listing, finished ads and a one-page report, with no minimum term.
The Read-It-Out-Loud Test: Is Your Homepage Putting Customers Off?
Read your homepage aloud and record it. If it sounds like nothing a person would say, customers feel the same. A two-minute test with a rewrite guide.
Free Website and Google Listing Review: What We Check and What You Get
What happens when you ask for our free website and Google listing review: what we need, what we check, the one-page result and what happens afterwards.
How a Two-Week Marketing Sprint Works, Day by Day
A two-week marketing sprint laid out day by day: the first read, the homepage rewrite, the Google listing, three ads and the report, and what we need.
What Makes a Customer Choose Your Business Online? Photos, a Price and Being Easy to Find
Three overlapping tests decide who gets the job: real photos, a price from and being easy to find. How to score yourself on each and fix the weakest.
What Matters Most on a Tradesperson's Website? A Ranked List
A tier list of what a tradesperson's website needs, from real job photos at the top to motivational graphics at the bottom, and why each sits where it does.
What Goes in a Quote Customers Say Yes To? A Template for Tradespeople
A one-page quote template for tradespeople: the ingredients customers want, a three-step method to send it and a wording example you can copy and adapt.
A Ten-Minute Google Listing Fix: Real Job Photos In, Stock Photos Out
Three steps on your phone: open your Google listing, add photos of jobs finished this month and remove stock ones. What Google asks of photos.
Can the ASA Check Your Ad Before It Runs? Copy Advice Explained
The ASA's Copy Advice service lets advertisers check non-broadcast ads before they run. Who can use it, what it costs, how long it takes and how to prepare.
Paying a Marketing Agency and Can't See What They Do? What to Ask For
If you pay a marketing agency every month and cannot tell what it does, ask for one page: what was done, what it cost and what came in. Questions to ask.
What Does Marketing for a Local Business Actually Include? Five Things
Local business marketing, in plain English: real job photos, a price on the page, reviews you asked for, a clear homepage and ads that look like you.
Three Things That Changed on Google Business Profile: Chat, Fake Reviews and Agency Access
Chat removed, fake reviews banned and manager access being enough for an agency: three Google Business Profile facts every UK owner should know, with sources.
What Should the First Line of Your Homepage Say? A Formula for Local Businesses
Replace 'Welcome to our website' with what you do and where. A first-line formula for local businesses, with examples for five trades and a quick test.
Social media
Social Media for Tradespeople: What to Post (and What's a Waste of Time)
What plumbers, electricians and builders should post on social media, which platforms are worth it, and a 30-minute weekly routine you can keep up.
Instagram Reels for Local Businesses: Ideas That Bring In Customers
Reel ideas that bring local customers through the door: hooks for the first second, formats, filming on a phone, captions, music rules and how often to post.