(03) The guide9 ideas, one plan
Grow. How to get found
Found is the start. Here is the whole plan for going further.
Start here
Your first 30 days
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Week 1
Claim Google Business Profile and Bing Places. Make your name, address and phone match everywhere.
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Week 2
Set up a way to ask for reviews. Send the first ten requests.
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Week 3
Write the ten questions customers ask most. Put the answers on your site.
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Week 4
Make your press list and send your first pitch. Check Search Console.
Get written about where your customers read.
Mentions on trusted sites build authority with search engines, and AI assistants lean on third party sources when they decide who to cite. Trade titles and local news are a good start.
- 1 List ten places your customers read: trade titles, local news, newsletters.
- 2 Read the last three months of each. Note who writes about your subject.
- 3 Send one short pitch with a fact they can use, not a brochure.
- 4 Keep a press page on your site with your facts, logo and contact.
- 5 Save every mention, with the date and a link.
Watch out
Link to articles from your site rather than copying them out. The text belongs to the publisher.
Exposure Ninja: What digital PR is, and why it helps ↗
Pitch a story, not a service.
A first, a number, an award, or an expert comment on the news of the day gives a journalist a reason to write. Make it easy: your facts, your photo and a phone number that gets answered.
- 1 Find the story: a first, a number, an award, or a local human angle.
- 2 Write it in three lines. Who, what, and why it matters now.
- 3 Name one person who can talk, with a phone number that is answered.
- 4 Send it to the person who covers the subject, not the general inbox.
- 5 Follow up once. Then move on.
Watch out
If you pay for coverage, make sure it is clear to readers that it is an advert.
Pick two channels and show up on them.
Profiles that match your site's name and details help search engines and assistants confirm who you are. Link them from your site.
- 1 Pick two networks where your customers already are.
- 2 Use the same name, logo and short description on both.
- 3 Post proof: finished jobs, real numbers, real people.
- 4 Link your profiles from your website footer.
- 5 Reply to every comment and message.
Watch out
Get permission before showing customers or staff.
Give your site something new to say.
A news or updates page, with your press mentions pulled in, keeps the site fresh and gives people a reason to come back.
- 1 Add a news or updates page. One post a month is enough.
- 2 Show your press mentions: headline, publication, date and a link.
- 3 Date everything. Take down what is out of date.
- 4 Share each post once on your social profiles.
Watch out
Show a headline and link to the original. Do not paste whole articles.
Ask every happy customer, the same day.
Fresh reviews on a steady rhythm beat a one off burst. Replying to every one shows you are paying attention.
- 1 Send a direct review link by email or text the same day.
- 2 Ask every customer, not only the happy ones.
- 3 Reply to every review, kindly and briefly.
- 4 Never pay or reward people for reviews.
- 5 Show your reviews as they are. Do not pick only the best.
Watch out
UK law bans fake reviews, and incentivised reviews that hide the incentive. If you publish reviews you must take reasonable steps to make sure they are genuine.
Competition and Markets Authority: Fake reviews guidance, April 2025 ↗
Claim Google Business Profile and Bing Places.
Consistent details are how search and AI tools tell you are the same business wherever you appear.
- 1 Claim your Google Business Profile and your Bing Places listing.
- 2 Choose the right main category, then add the others that fit.
- 3 Add opening hours, photos and your phone number.
- 4 Use the exact same name, address and phone number everywhere.
- 5 Find duplicate listings and merge or remove them.
Watch out
Google can suspend profiles that break its rules, such as a made up address or a name stuffed with keywords.
Write the questions your customers ask.
Clear, self contained answers are the passages search and AI tools lift. Put each question in a heading and answer it in the first line.
- 1 Write down the questions customers ask on calls and by email.
- 2 Give each one its own heading.
- 3 Answer in the first sentence, then add the detail.
- 4 Collect the best into an FAQ section and keep it current.
Answer Engine Land: How to get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI ↗
Build a list people chose to join.
People who ask to hear from you are the easiest to reach again. A short monthly note keeps you in mind between jobs.
- 1 Add a clear sign up line to your site and your replies.
- 2 Say what they will get and how often.
- 3 Send something useful: a tip, a finished job, a seasonal reminder.
- 4 Put an unsubscribe link in every email and honour it straight away.
- 5 Keep a record of who agreed, and when.
Watch out
Marketing emails and texts are covered by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Get clear consent before you send, and read the ICO guidance.
Information Commissioner's Office: Guide to PECR ↗
Check once a month.
A small, regular look beats a big occasional one. Note what appears and what is missing, then fix one thing.
- 1 Open Google Search Console once a month.
- 2 Note which searches show your site and which pages get clicks.
- 3 Search your own name and two key phrases in Google, Bing and an AI assistant.
- 4 Write down what appears and what is missing.
- 5 Fix one thing. Check again next month.
Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide ↗
The rules
UK rules to know
Reviews
Fake reviews and hidden incentivised reviews are banned. If you publish reviews, take reasonable steps to check they are genuine.
Cookies and marketing
The rules apply to every organisation with a UK website, whatever its size. Analytics and advertising cookies need opt in consent. Marketing emails need clear consent.
Show who you are
A limited company shows its name, number, registered office and where it is registered on its website. Online services also give a name, an address and an email for direct contact.
Every month
The checklist
- Check Search Console: searches, pages and clicks
- Search your name and two key phrases in Google, Bing and an AI assistant
- Ask this month's customers for reviews, and reply to new ones
- Post one update on your site and share it
- Add any press or news mentions to your press page
- Check your listings still show the right phone number and hours
- Send one useful email to your list
- Fix one thing from your notes
Want a hand?
Ask. We can talk through which of these fits you.