Mistakes Small Businesses Make When Hiring an SEO Consultant
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Let’s be honest: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) sounds like the magic wand every small business needs. You’ve poured your heart into building your brand, your products are brilliant, your Instagram is looking gorgeous, so why on earth can’t anyone find you on Google?
Here’s the thing. SEO isn’t a spell you cast once and forget about. It’s an ongoing strategy, and when you’re already juggling sales, social media, product shots, and a never-ending to-do list, it’s incredibly tempting to hand it over to someone who promises to “sort it.” But like choosing a builder for your dream home, picking the right SEO consultant for your small business takes a little more than a quick scroll through Instagram and a persuasive pitch.
We work with a brilliant range of creative businesses here at Onwards and Up, from jewellery makers and illustrators to sustainable fashion brands and lifestyle labels. The same patterns come up again and again when things haven’t gone to plan with SEO. So whether you’re thinking of bringing in outside help for the first time, or you’re already paying monthly fees and wondering what you’re actually getting, this one’s for you.
Why Do Small Businesses Fall Into the SEO Trap?
Most small business owners are wearing every hat imaginable, designer, marketer, customer service team, accountant, all before lunch. So when someone confident walks in promising to handle your SEO, it feels like a lifeline.
The good news is that with the right groundwork, you can avoid the most common pitfalls and actually see results. Here are the mistakes we see most often, and how to sidestep them.
Mistake #1: Handing Over the Reins Without a Plan
The most common blunder? Letting your SEO consultant run wild without any real direction. SEO isn’t just about pushing keywords onto your homepage and waiting for the sales to roll in. If you don’t know what you want your site to rank for, or who your ideal customer is, how is your consultant supposed to know?
This is something that comes up time and time again in our business mentoring sessions. Getting clear on your audience, your core offer, and the story you want to tell isn’t just useful for SEO, it’s the foundation everything else builds on.
How to avoid it: Before your SEO consultant touches a single page, write them a proper brief. What are you selling? Who are you selling it to? What do you want to be known for? Don’t just say “make me number one on Google”, give them specifics about your brand, your values, and the kind of customers you want to attract. The better the brief, the better the results.
Mistake #2: Ignoring the Basics — Meta What?
You’d be amazed how many small business websites are missing the fundamentals: meta titles, meta descriptions, and alt tags for images. These aren’t optional extras, they’re essential for getting found online. If your homepage title is still just your business name (or worse, literally “Home”), it’s time for an intervention.
Every page on your website needs a unique title and description that tells Google, and your customers exactly what’s there. And every product image should be properly named and described, not left as IMG_4872.jpg.
How to avoid it: Ask your SEO consultant to walk you through the keywords being targeted for each page, and make sure every page has been properly optimised. If they can’t explain it in plain English, that’s a red flag. A website SEO report is a really useful starting point if you want an honest picture of what’s missing before you bring anyone in.
It’s also worth reading our guide to writing creative blog post outlines that drive traffic, good content and good SEO basics go hand in hand.
It’s also worth reading: our guide to writing creative blog post outlines that drive traffic, good content and good SEO basics go hand in hand.
Mistake #3: Paying for Maintenance With No Accountability
Monthly maintenance fees are all well and good, but what exactly are you getting for your money? If you’re handing over a regular payment while your site sits on page 12 of Google with no explanation, it’s time for a frank conversation.
Good SEO does take time, and results rarely happen overnight. But you should be seeing some movement, and your SEO consultant should be able to tell you exactly what they’ve done and why.
How to avoid it: Ask for regular, clear reports: what’s been improved, what’s next, and how your rankings are shifting. Tangible progress doesn’t always mean jumping ten places overnight. It might be that your page speed has improved, your metadata is now complete, or your site structure has been cleaned up. These things matter. But if your SEO consultant goes quiet or becomes vague when you ask questions, that’s worth taking seriously.
SEO Project: Illicia London is a great example of a brand that went through a proper SEO and website improvement process, and the results spoke for themselves.
Mistake #4: Missing the Mobile Mark
It’s genuinely surprising how many business websites look beautiful on a desktop and turn into a chaotic mess on a phone. With the vast majority of customers now browsing and buying on mobile, your site needs to work just as well on the small screen, and Google’s mobile-first indexing means your mobile performance directly affects your rankings.
How to avoid it: Grab your phone and check your own website right now. Is the layout clean? Can you read the text without zooming? Are buttons easy to tap? If anything looks off, raise it with your SEO consultant straight away. Site speed matters here, too. Nobody waits for a slow site.
For a deeper dive into this, our free mobile SEO guide covers the key things to check and fix. It’s a bit of a classic and still very relevant.
Learn AI: If you want to see how AI is changing the game when it comes to search rankings, the replay of our free How to Use AI to Boost Search Rankings & Increase Sales workshop is well worth a watch.
Mistake #5: Forgetting the Human Touch
No Contact page? No returns policy? No delivery information? If you want customers to trust you with their hard-earned money, you need to make it easy for them to reach you and feel safe buying from you. Google looks at these trust signals too, when evaluating your site’s credibility.
How to avoid it: Think about what you would want to know before spending £150 on a new necklace or a designer bag from a brand you haven’t bought from before, and make sure it’s all there. A clear contact page, transparent, simple delivery information, and a returns policy aren’t just good practice; they convert browsers into buyers.
Mistake #6: Clunky Navigation and Confusing Shop Layouts
If your visitors need a map and compass to find your products, they’ll give up before they reach the checkout. Too many menus, hidden collections, and missing filters turn shopping into a chore. Therefore, a frustrated customer is a lost sale.
How to avoid it: Streamline your navigation. Group products sensibly, use drop-downs where helpful, and make sure every page is only a couple of clicks away from your homepage. Your site architecture matters to SEO as much as it matters to your customer experience. Both Google and your shoppers need to be able to find things easily.
Also worth reading: our post on direct-to-consumer selling for UK small businesses, understanding how customers actually want to shop from you is key to getting this right.
Also worth reading: our post on direct-to-consumer selling for UK small businesses, understanding how customers actually want to shop from you is key to getting this right
Mistake #7: Getting Stuck With the Wrong Platform
WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, it can feel like a minefield. But if your site is clunky to manage, or you need a developer every time you want to swap a product photo, it might be time to reconsider whether your platform is working for you or against you.
How to avoid it: Choose a platform that suits your technical comfort zone and your growth ambitions. Shopify tends to be a popular choice for e-commerce brands because it’s designed for selling and doesn’t require technical expertise to update day-to-day. If you’re on WordPress, make sure you’re using the right plugins (updating regularly) and a well-optimised theme.
And wherever you’re building, your images matter more than most people realise, both for customer experience and for SEO. Our guide to taking perfect images for your website, social media, and PR is a useful read if you want to make sure your visuals are working as hard as your copy.
The Bottom Line: Stay Curious, Stay In Control
There’s no shame in needing help with SEO. It is a complex, ever-shifting field and a knowledgeable SEO consultant can genuinely make a real difference to your visibility and sales. But don’t let yourself be dazzled by buzzwords or left in the dark about what’s happening on your behalf.
Ask questions. Request evidence of progress. Insist on clarity. And never stop learning about your own business and the people you’re trying to reach.
Because at the end of the day, the best person to champion your brand is you. A great SEO consultant is a brilliant sidekick, but you’re the one steering the ship.
Want to understand where your website currently stands? Take a look at what a website SEO report covers.