Small business marketing FAQs
Direct answers to the questions we hear most often from small and local business owners — no fluff, no "it depends" without an actual number attached where we can give one.
There's no universal number, but a common starting range is 5-10% of revenue for an established business, more for a newer one trying to build volume. The more useful question is what a single new customer is worth to you, and working backward from there to a realistic cost per lead.
If you need customers soon, start with paid ads — they produce results in days, not months. Start or add SEO alongside once ads are stable, since it takes longer to build but keeps paying without an ongoing per-click cost.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is about getting your content pulled directly into AI Overviews and featured snippets instead of just ranking on a results page. It's increasingly relevant as more searches are answered directly by AI rather than through a list of links, so yes — it's worth addressing now rather than later.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is about being recommended when someone asks an AI tool like ChatGPT or Gemini for a business like yours, rather than searching Google directly. It relies heavily on structured data and consistent, accurate business information across the web.
Yes. For local searches, the Google Maps three-pack often gets more clicks than the website results below it, and it's frequently the first thing a potential customer checks before ever visiting your site.
Check whether you have working conversion tracking — most accounts we take over don't. Without it, you're guessing which channels and campaigns are actually producing calls and bookings versus just spending money.
It depends on your time and the complexity of what you need. A single channel — like basic social posting — is manageable in-house. Running ads, SEO, a website, and follow-up automation as one coordinated system is usually where outside help pays for itself.
Paid ads: about 30 days once tracking is in place. SEO and AEO/GEO: 2-4 months, since search engines and AI models take time to re-evaluate and re-index a site.
Usually Google Ads and Google Business Profile together, since they capture people actively searching for the service right now — the highest-intent audience available for most local businesses.
Yes, especially for local and 'near me' searches, where a bigger national competitor often has less relevance to a specific city or neighborhood than a well-optimized local business.
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