What The F**king Good SEO People Look Like

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

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

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

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depends. Bollocks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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First of all, clear jargon free explanations.

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Professional SEOs explain complex concepts in plain

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

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

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complicated than it is. An SEO has so many

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acronyms. E E A T Y M Y L

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

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

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actually understand. If someone's explanation sounds like

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

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They're either hiding their incompetence or

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creating dependency so you can't function without them.

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Neither of those things are acceptable. Secondly,

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transparent reporting on actual business metrics.

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Good reporting doesn't just show rankings or traffic.

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It connects SEO work to business outcomes. Because

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

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SEO reports should include revenue or leads generated from

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organic search, comparison of traffic quality, not just

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quantity, dates on specific work completed and its impact,

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and clear next steps. The report should

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

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

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

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

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

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that's a problem. Thirdly, education,

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not dependency. This is a big one. The

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

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

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maintain improvements. Be very wary of SEOs who

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treat their work as mysterious and incomprehensible. They're

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often creating dependency to keep you paying indefinitely.

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A good SEO partner wants to improve your understanding,

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

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

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

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informed client is a better client. Anyone

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who treats SEO like a magic trick only they can perform

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is taking the piss. Fourthly, focus on

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

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Genuine SEO experts focus on keywords and strategies that drive

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actual business results. That means targeting

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transactional keywords that attract buyers, not browsers,

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optimizing conversion paths from organic landing pages,

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improving site experience to encourage the sales process,

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tracking and enhancing return on investment. If your

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

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afterwards, they're missing the point.

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

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businesses. The stuff worth paying for. Technical

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SEO Audits with Specific Recommendations A

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proper technical audit examines your website's foundation and

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identifies issues holding back performance. It should

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cover crawlability and indexation. Can Google find all your

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pages? Site speed? Is your site fast enough?

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Mobile usability? Does it work properly on phones? And

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crucially, it should include a prioritized list of fixes,

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

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valuable audit and a waste of money is practical.

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Prioritized recommendations you can implement, not just a

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

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strategy based on actual search data.

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Effective content strategy starts with research into what your

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potential customers are searching for. Look for SEOs who

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are going to conduct keyword research specific to your business

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and location, who are going to analyze search

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intent. Create content plans that address the full customer

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journey. Then look for content strategy that is based

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on actual search data. Effective content

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strategy starts with research into what your potential

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customers are searching for. Look for SEOs who

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undertake research specifically specific to your business and location.

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

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SEO Singing Analyze search intent.

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Create content plans that address the full customer journey and

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recommend improvements to existing content, not just endless new

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blog posts. Quality content strategy connects search

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

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

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focused business, if you serve specific areas, local

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SEO provides some of the highest returns. That

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includes Google Business Profile Optimization, local

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citation building review strategies and local

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schema implementation. Be very wary of

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local SEO services that only focus on Google Business

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Profile. Effective local strategy needs multiple

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approaches. Working together together and then look at conversion

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

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

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optimization, call to action placement, form

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simplification, site speed. The overall journey from landing

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page to inquiry. These improvements convert more of your existing

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traffic into customers, often providing faster returns than

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

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

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

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I'm covering all of that right after this.

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

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

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

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leaving you none the wiser. It does depend,

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but these are reasonable guidelines for a local service

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business. Expect to pay between 500 and

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£1,500amonth. For a small e commerce

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site with maybe under 100 products,

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

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2,500 pounds a month. For regional businesses

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

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thousand pounds a month. A one time technical audit

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could cost anything from 500 to 3,000 pounds

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depending on the size of your site. Good quality content

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

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Anyone charging significantly less could be cutting corners.

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

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

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going. Wait. How fucking much?

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

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

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

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improvements should take two to four weeks to implement,

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

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

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week. Local SEO probably two to three

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

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

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content to gain traction. Good proper link building,

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

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

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

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

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

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SEO is a long game and be extremely wary

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of anyone promising major results in less than two to

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

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

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And finally, how do you find legitimate help?

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

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pretenders. And my first piece of advice is look for

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educators, not gatekeepers. The best SEO

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professionals share their knowledge freely. They publish helpful

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

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explain concepts clearly. They want you to understand what

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

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

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expertise. Check their own SEO presence.

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

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course not. And the same applies here. A legitimate

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

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

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

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

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

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Commission a specific project with clear deliverables. A technical

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

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work, communicate and deliver before you commit long term.

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

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

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If you feel pressure to sign, immediately walk away.

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

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

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this. SEO needs ongoing maintenance and

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improvement because your competitors are constantly

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

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

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updates constantly. What worked last year might be less effective

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today. User behaviors evolve. The way people

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search changes. Different devices, different questions,

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different expectations. New opportunities emerge.

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Your industry isn't static. New services, new

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

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SEO needs regular tending, not just initial

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planting. Budget for ongoing work, not just a one

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

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

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work. It involves understanding how search engines function,

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identifying technical issues, creating content that serves

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user needs, building authority through quality references

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and measuring and adapting based on results. Anyone

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

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

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

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favor. Share it with someone who's about to

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just has or might be about to hire an SEO.

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

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

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

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

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Nikki pilkington.com until next

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time. Get found, make money, stop getting ripped

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off.