Resources
We write the things we wish more local business owners had read before their last agency call. No hype, no jargon. Just what works and why.
8 min read
Local SEO is the work that gets your business shown when someone nearby searches for what you do. What it covers, the three places you can show up, how long it takes, and whether you need it.
7 min read
Most ranking drops are not penalties and half of them are not even real. How to tell a bad data day from a genuine slide, the usual causes, and what to check in what order.
6 min read
Trade businesses describe their work in trade language, then wonder why the phone is quiet. How to find the words your customers actually search, and where to put them on your site.
6 min read
An old phone number on a directory you forgot exists can quietly cost you calls and rankings. Where the wrong listings hide, why they matter to Google, and how to clean them up in an afternoon.
7 min read
Your replies are read by every future customer who checks you out, not just the person who left the review. What to write back to the good ones, the quiet ones, and the one that made your blood boil.
8 min read
A competitor half your age is above you in Google. It’s not luck and it’s not a trick. Here’s the checklist of what they almost certainly did, and how to take the spot back.
5 min read
The nine photos every local business should have on its Google Business Profile, why they beat a lot of paid advertising, and how to take them on a phone this week.
7 min read
People are asking AI who to hire instead of searching Google. Here’s what decides which local businesses get named, and what you can actually do about it.
7 min read
Which one should a local service business run first? The honest answer, the one exception, and why running both badly is worse than running one well.
6 min read
Most local businesses quote, send it, and wait. The work you think you lost is usually just sitting there unclaimed. Here’s the follow-up system and the exact words to send.
6 min read
Seven questions that separate a marketing agency worth paying from one that will take your money and send you a report. Ask them before you sign anything.
9 min read
Real price ranges for a New Zealand small business website in 2026, what you get at each level, what the hidden costs are, and how to tell if you’re being overcharged.
6 min read
Why your business ranks well close to home and vanishes a few suburbs away, and what you can honestly do about it without faking an address.
8 min read
Most local businesses have a handful of reviews and no system for getting more. Here’s how to ask without cringing, what to say, and what to do about the bad ones.
7 min read
The business that replies first wins the job about half the time, regardless of price, reviews or reputation. Here’s the five-minute rule and how to actually run it.
5 min read
Most local business owners can’t say what they pay to win one new customer. Not because they’re not smart. Because nobody’s ever added it up. Here’s how to.
8 min read
Why local service businesses are seeing traffic fall while their Google rankings hold steady, and the diagnostic that explains where their customers actually went.
7 min read
When ads make sense, when they don’t, and the structure that keeps the spend honest. Written for owners, not marketers.
8 min read
Your Google Business Profile is not a side note. For service businesses, it is the strategy. Here’s exactly how to optimise it.
5 min read
The six actual ranking factors that decide whether your business shows up in local search. Almost nobody gets all six right.
7 min read
Five very fixable mistakes that keep local service businesses invisible on Google, and the simple fixes that change everything.