Most small business owners don’t fail at SEO.

They get confused, overwhelmed, or quietly ripped off.

Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of SEO F**king What, which is part two of a two parter, I’m letting you know what a good SEO person looks like in terms of their offers.

What SEO really costs in the UK, how long it takes to work, and how to spot legitimate professionals from cowboys.

No jargon.

No “it depends” nonsense.

No magical promises.

In this episode, I cover:

1. What proper SEO services should include (and what’s usually a waste of money)
2. How good SEOs explain their work without hiding behind acronyms
3. Why rankings don’t pay your mortgage, but revenue does
4. Realistic SEO pricing for small businesses and ecommerce sites
5. Honest timelines for technical fixes, content, and results
6. How to avoid dependency and find SEO help you can actually trust

If you’re about to hire an SEO, already paying one, or wondering why results don’t match the promises, this episode could save you a lot of money and frustration.

If you haven’t listened to part one yet, go back and start there first.

And if this helps, please share it with someone who’s about to sign an SEO contract.

Timestamped summary

00:00 "Good SEO: Clarity Over Jargon"

04:03 "SEO That Drives Real Results"

08:42 "SEO Timelines Simplified"

12:18 "SEO: Consistent, Methodical Work"

This episode is all about helping you identify a decent SEO person from a scammer. But you'll have even better results from your SEO by having me in your corner, and I offer supervision and set up of these kinds of arrangements as a service - https://nikki-pilkington.com/seo-training-and-development-uk/

Want to check out more episodes? https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/

Last week I showed you how to spot the SEO wankers.

This week I'm showing you what the good ones look like and

exactly how much you should be paying. No more. It

depends. Bollocks.

This is SEO fucking what? I'm Nicky, and welcome to Part

two of how not to Get Ripped off by SEO Experts. If you

haven't listened to part one yet, go back and do that first.

Seriously, in part one, I covered the red flags that should have you

running for the door, the questions that make dodgy SEO squirm, and

the services that are usually a waste of your money. It's important

groundwork for what we're covering today. And again, I said this last week,

but it bears repeating. The reason I'm loud and sweary on this

podcast is because I care if being louder than the Hustle Bros

gets more small business owners to pay attention and stop getting fleeced. I'm going

to keep doing it, but my mum reckons I swear too much. So I've dialed

it back a bit just for these two episodes. Too many people need to hear

this stuff, and I don't want the language to put anyone off sharing it. Today,

I'm going to show you what good SEO looks like, what you should be paying,

how long it takes, and how to find legitimate help.

Let's go. Right, let's start with

what good SEO service actually looks like. Because if you've only ever dealt with

the cowboys, you might not know what to expect from a professional.

First of all, clear jargon free explanations.

Professional SEOs explain complex concepts in plain

English. They don't hide behind technical nonsense to make themselves

sound clever or to confuse you into thinking their work is more

complicated than it is. An SEO has so many

acronyms. E E A T Y M Y L

D A P A We love an acronym, but a good SEO

will explain what these mean and why they matter in terms you

actually understand. If someone's explanation sounds like

Alphabet soup and they won't clarify, that's a bad sign.

They're either hiding their incompetence or

creating dependency so you can't function without them.

Neither of those things are acceptable. Secondly,

transparent reporting on actual business metrics.

Good reporting doesn't just show rankings or traffic.

It connects SEO work to business outcomes. Because

rankings don't pay, your mortgage, revenue does. Effective

SEO reports should include revenue or leads generated from

organic search, comparison of traffic quality, not just

quantity, dates on specific work completed and its impact,

and clear next steps. The report should

be more than just an automated list of rankings or a generic tool

export. It should show you exactly what work was done,

what impact it had, if possible, and what's coming next

in language that you understand. If you're getting reports full of

numbers that don't mean anything to you and your SEO can't explain them,

that's a problem. Thirdly, education,

not dependency. This is a big one. The

best SEO professionals teach you as they work. They want you

to understand the basics so you can make informed decisions and and

maintain improvements. Be very wary of SEOs who

treat their work as mysterious and incomprehensible. They're

often creating dependency to keep you paying indefinitely.

A good SEO partner wants to improve your understanding,

not keep you in the dark. When I work with clients,

I try to explain everything. Why I'm making changes,

what I expect to happen, how they can help. Because an

informed client is a better client. Anyone

who treats SEO like a magic trick only they can perform

is taking the piss. Fourthly, focus on

revenue, not just rankings. Rankings don't pay the bills.

Genuine SEO experts focus on keywords and strategies that drive

actual business results. That means targeting

transactional keywords that attract buyers, not browsers,

optimizing conversion paths from organic landing pages,

improving site experience to encourage the sales process,

tracking and enhancing return on investment. If your

SEO only talks about getting you to number one without discussing what happens

afterwards, they're missing the point.

Now let's talk about the services that actually deliver value for small

businesses. The stuff worth paying for. Technical

SEO Audits with Specific Recommendations A

proper technical audit examines your website's foundation and

identifies issues holding back performance. It should

cover crawlability and indexation. Can Google find all your

pages? Site speed? Is your site fast enough?

Mobile usability? Does it work properly on phones? And

crucially, it should include a prioritized list of fixes,

what to do first, and why. The difference between a

valuable audit and a waste of money is practical.

Prioritized recommendations you can implement, not just a

list of problems dumped in your lap. And next we have a content

strategy based on actual search data.

Effective content strategy starts with research into what your

potential customers are searching for. Look for SEOs who

are going to conduct keyword research specific to your business

and location, who are going to analyze search

intent. Create content plans that address the full customer

journey. Then look for content strategy that is based

on actual search data. Effective content

strategy starts with research into what your potential

customers are searching for. Look for SEOs who

undertake research specifically specific to your business and location.

Okay, business coach in Bournemouth. Let's get your

SEO Singing Analyze search intent.

Create content plans that address the full customer journey and

recommend improvements to existing content, not just endless new

blog posts. Quality content strategy connects search

trends to your business offerings. It's not about blogging for the sake of it.

Also look at local SEO. IT if you're a geographically

focused business, if you serve specific areas, local

SEO provides some of the highest returns. That

includes Google Business Profile Optimization, local

citation building review strategies and local

schema implementation. Be very wary of

local SEO services that only focus on Google Business

Profile. Effective local strategy needs multiple

approaches. Working together together and then look at conversion

improvements. The best traffic in the world is no use if it

doesn't convert. Good SEOs. Address, landing page

optimization, call to action placement, form

simplification, site speed. The overall journey from landing

page to inquiry. These improvements convert more of your existing

traffic into customers, often providing faster returns than

pure ranking work. So that's what good SEO looks like. But the big

questions still remain. How much should you pay? How long

does it take? And how do you find someone legitimate?

I'm covering all of that right after this.

Let's get into the nitty gritty. This is the stuff that everyone's scared to talk

about. How much does SEO cost in the uk? And I'm going to

give you numbers here because I'm sick of people saying it depends on and

leaving you none the wiser. It does depend,

but these are reasonable guidelines for a local service

business. Expect to pay between 500 and

£1,500amonth. For a small e commerce

site with maybe under 100 products,

you're probably going to be paying between 1,000 to

2,500 pounds a month. For regional businesses

competing across multiple areas, let's say one to three

thousand pounds a month. A one time technical audit

could cost anything from 500 to 3,000 pounds

depending on the size of your site. Good quality content

creation, you're looking at £300 plus apiece.

Anyone charging significantly less could be cutting corners.

If someone quotes you 15 grand a month for a small B2B services

website, they better have a very good explanation for where that money's

going. Wait. How fucking much?

Oops, sorry, Nicky's mum. I just couldn't believe that

quote. And again, how long does SEO really take?

I'm going to give you timelines, not waffle. Technical

improvements should take two to four weeks to implement,

couple of months at the max to see impact. A lot of technical

improvements such as site speed, you'll see impact within a

week. Local SEO probably two to three

months for significant improvements, though, there might be some quick wins.

A decent content strategy should take three to six months for new

content to gain traction. Good proper link building,

you're probably looking at 6 to 12 months to see real impact. And

if you're in a competitive market, you've got six or 12 months to

wait before you're going to see good, significant movement from

SEO. There are always quick wins. Your SEO should tell

you about the quick wins, but you have to bear in mind that

SEO is a long game and be extremely wary

of anyone promising major results in less than two to

three months. Unless you're in a very low competition niche.

SEO takes time. There's no way around that.

And finally, how do you find legitimate help?

I'm going to give you my advice for sorting the professionals from the

pretenders. And my first piece of advice is look for

educators, not gatekeepers. The best SEO

professionals share their knowledge freely. They publish helpful

content, they offer free resources that provide value, and they

explain concepts clearly. They want you to understand what

they're doing. If someone treats SEO like a mysterious black

box, only they can understand. They're probably hiding their lack of

expertise. Check their own SEO presence.

Would you hire a personal trainer who's never seen the inside of a gym? Of

course not. And the same applies here. A legitimate

SEO's website should demonstrate that they understand the basics.

Does it load quickly on mobile? Is it properly structured? Do they

rank for relevant terms? If they can't sort their own SEO, they

certainly can't sort yours. Maybe start with a smaller project.

Don't dive into a 12 month contract without testing the waters.

Commission a specific project with clear deliverables. A technical

audit, a one to one session, a content review. See how they

work, communicate and deliver before you commit long term.

And trust your gut. Your business instinct has gotten you this far.

If someone's promises sound like fantasy, they probably are.

If you feel pressure to sign, immediately walk away.

If explanations are constantly vague, that's a red flag.

One more thing before I wrap up. I really want you to listen to

this. SEO needs ongoing maintenance and

improvement because your competitors are constantly

optimizing. That company down the road might look quiet, but

they could be cranking out content while you're standing still. Google

updates constantly. What worked last year might be less effective

today. User behaviors evolve. The way people

search changes. Different devices, different questions,

different expectations. New opportunities emerge.

Your industry isn't static. New services, new

problems, new questions arise all the time. And like a garden,

SEO needs regular tending, not just initial

planting. Budget for ongoing work, not just a one

time push. And this is the most important thing I want you to take

away. SEO isn't magic, it's methodical

work. It involves understanding how search engines function,

identifying technical issues, creating content that serves

user needs, building authority through quality references

and measuring and adapting based on results. Anyone

claiming otherwise is trying to separate you from your money without delivering

value and now you know better. So that's it for

this two parter. If you found this useful, do me a

favor. Share it with someone who's about to

just has or might be about to hire an SEO.

It could save them a lot of money and months of frustration.

Make sure you're following SEO fucking what in your podcast app so you

don't miss next week's episode. And if you want straight talking

SEO help without the bollocks, you know where to find me.

Nikki pilkington.com until next

time. Get found, make money, stop getting ripped

off.