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Glossary · SEO basics

SEO

Also called search engine optimization

Reviewed 31 Oct 2026 By Madiha Fatima 3 min read Check it yourself: yes, free

3 min
Definition

SEO is the work of making a website easier for search engines to find, understand and recommend, so that more of the right people arrive without you paying for each click. It covers the technical health of the site, the words on its pages and the links and mentions it earns elsewhere.

It is not a trick and it is not a switch. Search engines reward the site that answers a question best and is easiest to trust, so most SEO work is ordinary: fixing what is broken, writing what customers actually search for and earning a mention from people who matter in your area or trade.

Short version: be the easiest site to find, read and trust.
Why it matters for your business

Every search is a customer
who has not chosen yet.

Someone who types 'emergency dentist near me' or 'divorce lawyer fees' has a need and no supplier. Paid ads can put you in front of them, but the moment you stop paying the ads stop. SEO is the slower route to the same person, and once a page ranks it keeps bringing enquiries month after month at no cost per click.

That is also why SEO gets sold badly. Because results take months, a proposal can promise a lot and bill for a long time before anyone can tell whether it worked. Ask what the first ninety days contain, which searches are being targeted and how progress will be shown in Search Console, not in a tool you have never heard of.

For a small business the work splits into three parts that you can ask about separately: on-page SEO, technical health and links. If a quote covers only one of them, the price is for a third of the job.

Example

A dental clinic that ranks
for the wrong thing.

What the owner sees

A clinic in a mid-sized town has a tidy website, a page per treatment and a blog nobody reads. Visits are flat. The owner is told the site 'needs SEO' and gets three quotes that look nothing alike.

What the work actually is

The homepage title tag reads 'Home'. The implants page and the 'tooth replacement' blog post target the same search. The clinic is not listed on Google Maps for two of the towns it serves. None of this is mysterious. The SEO job here is a corrected title on every page, one page per treatment instead of two, a complete Google Business Profile and a handful of local mentions. Twelve weeks later the clinic shows up for 'dentist' plus each town name, which is where the new patients were all along.

How to check it on your site

Four checks that show where you stand.

Tick each one as you go. 0 of 4 checked on your site.

  1. Search for yourself by service and town

    Type what a customer would type, such as 'family dentist' plus your town, in a private browser window. If you are not on the first page, you have the gap SEO exists to close. If you appear only when someone types your business name, you are being found by people who already know you.

  2. Open Search Console

    Google Search Console is free and takes ten minutes to set up. The Performance report lists every search that showed your site. A healthy site shows dozens of searches that describe what you do. A struggling one shows mostly its own name.

  3. Check how many pages Google holds

    Search site:yourdomain.com. The count should be close to the number of pages you know you have. Far fewer means pages are not indexed. Far more means duplicates or junk, which is a technical job before anything else.

  4. Read the proposal for the three parts

    Any SEO quote should name work on the pages, work on the technical side and work on links or mentions. If one of the three is missing or is a vague line like 'ongoing optimisation', ask what it contains before you compare prices.

Related terms

Usually in the same sentence.

Read next

Where this shows up in practice.

Pricing & transparency What SEO costs a small business

Where the money goes in a monthly SEO fee and what a fair one buys.

 SEO How long SEO takes

The honest timeline, month by month, so you know when to expect results and when to worry.

 Service SEO & AI search

Technical fixes, pages and links in one rolling service, with the price list published.
Related service

SEO for small businesses is the rolling SEO service: technical health first, then the pages, then the links and mentions. Prices are on the price list, not on a call.

See the SEO service
Reviewed by Madiha Fatima, founder of 99creatix

Every entry in this glossary is written and checked by the person who runs the agency, reviewed at least once a quarter and dated. Last reviewed 31 October 2026.

Spotted an error or a term we are missing? Tell us and it is fixed within the week.

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