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Ayesha here, bringing you exciting tips and tricks in 2026!

SEO for Creative Business Owners: A Free Beginner’s Guide

Let’s be honest. SEO feels like one of those things that everyone talks about. Nobody actually explains them in detail. It’s either buried behind a $997 course, drowning in jargon that makes your eyes glaze over. OR explained by some tech bro on YouTube who assumes you already know what “canonical URLs” are.

Flips headscarf. Not here. Lemme explain.

This is the guide I wish I had when I started building websites for creative business owners. No jargon walls, no paywalls, no mansplaining. The stuff that actually matters.

I’ve pulled from Google’s own SEO Starter Guide, Ahrefs, Yoast, and LearningSEO.io. So you don’t have to tab through 47 browser windows. Everything’s linked so you can go deeper whenever you’re ready.

Hold my bubble tea ☕—this one’s a big read. But I promise it’s worth it.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

  • What SEO actually is (demystified, finally)
  • How to set up Google Search Console (your new best friend)
  • Site structure—why it matters and how to fix yours
  • Keywords—how to find the right ones without losing your mind
  • On-page SEO—titles, meta descriptions, headings, and content
  • Image SEO—file names, alt text, compression (the works)
  • Technical basics—mobile, HTTPS, page speed, sitemaps
  • Internal and external links—what they do and how to use them
  • Free tools and resources to keep learning

Plus, there’s a full checklist at the end. You can tick things off as you go. This guide is a curated list of free SEO tools and courses that won’t cost you a cent.

What Even Is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It helps search engines (like Google) find and understand your site. Then it recommends you to people searching for your offer.

That’s it. That’s the whole concept.

Type “wedding photographer Auckland” or “Showit website designer” into Google. The search results that come up aren’t random. Google’s algorithm scans billions of pages. Then it decides which ones best match what the searcher needs. SEO is how you help Google understand that your page is the one worth showing.

It’s not a hack. It’s not a trick. As Google’s own guide puts it: “SEO is about working on improving your site’s presence in Search.” It focuses on user experience, crawlability, and discoverable content.

Why Should Creative Business Owners Care?

Because your dream clients are Googling things right now. “Best brand photographer in Wellington.” “How to choose a wedding florist.” “Website designer for coaches.” If your site doesn’t show up—or shows up on page 7—you’re invisible to the people looking for what you sell.

SEO is the long game. Paid ads stop the moment you stop paying. A well-optimised blog post or services page can bring you traffic for years.

Step 1: Set Up Google Search Console (Seriously, Do This First)

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google. It shows you exactly how your site is performing in search results. It’s non-negotiable. If you don’t have this set up, stop reading and do it now.

What it tells you:

  • Which search queries are bringing people to your site
  • Which pages are getting impressions and clicks
  • Whether Google can actually crawl and index your pages
  • Any errors or issues Google has found on your site

How to set it up:

  1. Go to Google Search Console
  2. Click “Start now” and sign in with your Google account
  3. Add your website URL (use the “URL prefix” option if you’re not sure)
  4. Verify ownership—Google will give you a few options (HTML tag, DNS record, or Google Analytics). The HTML tag method is usually the easiest
  5. Wait 24–48 hours for data to start populating

Pro tip: While you’re at it, make sure Google Analytics is set up, too. Search Console shows you how people find you; Analytics shows you what they do once they arrive.

Step 2: Check If Google Can Actually Find Your Site

This sounds obvious, but many website owners don’t realise Google can’t find their site. Before optimising anything, let’s make sure the basics are in place.

The Quick Check

Type this into Google: site:yourwebsite.com

Replace “yourwebsite.com” with your actual domain. If your pages show up—great, Google knows you exist. If nothing shows up, or key pages are missing, something’s blocking Google. It can’t see your site.

Common Blockers

  • Noindex tags—Some page builders set pages to “noindex” by accident. That tells Google to ignore them. Check your SEO settings on every important page.
  • Blocked by robots.txt—This file tells search engines which pages to crawl. If it’s misconfigured, Google might be skipping your whole site. You can check yours at yourwebsite.com/robots.txt
  • No sitemap—A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site you want Google to find. Most website platforms (Showit, Squarespace, WordPress) generate these for you. Submit yours in Google Search Console under “Sitemaps.”

Submit Your Sitemap

In Search Console, go to Sitemaps in the left menu and add your sitemap URL. It’s usually yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml. Hit submit. Done.

This is like handing Google a map of your entire site instead of making it wander around looking for rooms.

Step 3: Organise Your Site Structure

Think of your website like a bookshop. If people throw the books in a pile on the floor, nobody could find anything, including Google. Site structure is how you organise the shelves.

Keep It Logical

Your site should have a clear hierarchy:

Homepage
├── About
├── Services
│   ├── Web Design
│   ├── Brand Strategy
│   └── SEO Setup
├── Portfolio
├── Blog
│   ├── Post 1
│   ├── Post 2
│   └── Post 3
└── Contact

Every important page should be reachable within 2–3 clicks from the homepage. If you bury a page 6 clicks deep, both users and Google will struggle to find it.

Use Descriptive URLs

Your URLs should tell people (and Google) what the page is about before they even click.

  • ❌ yoursite.com/page-3
  • ❌ yoursite.com/2024/03/15/blog-post-number-47
  • ✅ yoursite.com/services/web-design
  • ✅ yoursite.com/blog/how-to-source-stock-photos-ethically

Use lowercase letters, hyphens between words, and keep them concise. Google specifically recommends including meaningful words in your URLs.

Step 4: Understand Keywords (Without Overthinking It)

Keywords are the words and phrases people type into Google. It’s how they search for something. Your job is to figure out what your dream clients are searching for—and then create content that matches.

How to Find Keywords

You don’t need expensive tools to start. Here are free options:

  1. Google’s autocomplete—Start typing a phrase into Google and see what it suggests. Google shows those suggestions based on what people actually search.
  2. “People also ask” section—Scroll down on any Google results page. You’ll see related questions. These are goldmines for blog topics.
  3. Google Search Console—Once set up, it shows you exactly what people searched to find your site. It’s under “Performance” → “Queries”.
  4. Ubersuggest—Free keyword research tool. Shows search volume, difficulty, and related keywords.
  5. AnswerThePublic—Visualises questions people ask about any topic.

Choosing the Right Keywords

Not all keywords are worth targeting. Focus on:

  • Relevance—Does this keyword match what you actually offer?
  • Search intent—Is the searcher looking to learn, compare, or buy? Match your content to their intent.
  • Long-tail keywords—Longer, more specific phrases than broad terms. “Showit website designer for photographers NZ” has less competition than “web designer”. That Showit phrase attracts more qualified visitors.

As Google’s guide notes, consider that different users might search different terms for the same thing—”charcuterie” vs. “cheese board.” Your content can naturally include variations without keyword stuffing.

What NOT to Do

Do not stuff keywords everywhere. Google warns against this. “Excessively repeating the same words over and over (even in variations) is tiring for users, and keyword stuffing is against Google’s spam policies.” Keep it natural. If it sounds weird reading it aloud, you’ve overdone it.

Step 5: On-Page SEO (The Stuff on Each Page)

On-page SEO is everything you control on the page itself. Think titles, descriptions, headings, and content. This is where most beginners can make the biggest impact with the least effort.

Page Titles (Title Tags)

This is the clickable headline that appears in Google search results. It’s one of the most important SEO elements on your page.

Best practices:

  • Keep it under 60 characters (Google truncates longer titles)
  • Include your primary keyword near the beginning
  • Make it compelling—this is what makes someone click
  • Every page should have a unique title

Examples:

  • ❌ Home | My Website
  • ❌ Blog Post #47 — Read Now!!!
  • ✅ Web Design for Photographers | Tiny Owls Creative
  • ✅ How to Source Free Stock Photos Ethically (Without Getting Sued)

Meta Descriptions

The short summary below the title in search results. Google doesn’t always use your meta description. Sometimes it generates its own. But when it does use yours, a good one improves your click-through rate.

Best practices:

  • 120–160 characters is the sweet spot
  • Include your primary keyword without forcing it
  • Tell the reader what they’ll get from clicking
  • Unique per page—don’t copy-paste the same description everywhere

Example:

  • ❌ Welcome to my website. I do lots of things. Click here.
  • ✅ Learn how to find beautiful, legal stock photos for your brand—plus a free curated photo set and Notion tracker.

Headings (H1, H2, H3)

Headings give your content structure—for both readers and search engines.

  • H1—Your main page title. One per page. Include your primary keyword.
  • H2—Major sections. Think chapter titles.
  • H3—Subsections within H2s.

Google’s guide notes that heading order doesn’t affect rankings directly. A logical structure helps users scan your content. It also helps screen readers navigate it. Win-win.

Content Quality

Google cares about one thing above all: Is this content helpful?

From Google’s guide:

  • Write for readers first, search engines second
  • Make content original—bring your own perspective and experience
  • Keep it updated—revisit old posts and refresh them
  • Make it comprehensive. Answer the question so they don’t need to go elsewhere

Content length doesn’t matter for rankings. Google’s guide states: “There’s no magical word count target, minimum or maximum.” Write as much as the topic needs. No more, no less.

Step 6: Image SEO (Yes, Your Photos Need SEO Too)

I wrote a whole separate post about ethical photo sourcing. Here’s the SEO side of it. Your images can drive serious traffic if you optimise them well.

File Names

Rename every image before uploading. Google uses file names as clues about image content.

  • ❌ IMG_4582.jpg
  • ❌ screenshot 2024-03-15 at 10.42.png
  • ✅ minimal-workspace-flat-lay.jpg
  • ✅ brand-photography-session-wellington.jpg

Rules: lowercase, hyphens between words, descriptive, and keyword-relevant.

Alt Text

Alt text describes the image for screen readers and search engines. It’s critical for both accessibility and SEO.

The sweet spot is 80–140 characters:

  • ❌ alt="photo"
  • ❌ alt="stock photo workspace laptop coffee free unsplash pexels download" (keyword stuffing)
  • ✅ alt="Minimal workspace with open laptop, linen notebook, and morning coffee on a wooden desk"

Focus on describing what’s in the image and why it’s relevant to the page. Don’t stuff keywords.

Image Compression

Large image files slow your site down, and page speed affects rankings. A single uncompressed photo can be 5–15 MB when the compressed version would be 100–200 KB.

What to do:

  • Convert to WebP format—better quality at smaller sizes than JPEG or PNG
  • Compress before uploading—use TinyPNG or Squoosh (both free)
  • Target under 200 KB per image for most web use
  • Use lazy loading—images below the fold load only when the user scrolls to them. Most modern platforms handle this for you.

Image Sitemaps

If your platform supports it, ensure you include your images in your sitemap. This helps Google discover and index images. Regular crawling alone might miss them. Most website builders (Showit, Squarespace, WordPress) handle this for you.

Regular crawling alone might miss them. Most website builders (Showit, Squarespace, WordPress) handle this for you.

Step 7: Technical SEO Basics (Don’t Panic)

“Technical SEO” sounds intimidating. But most of the essentials are straightforward—and many are one-time setup tasks.

Mobile-Friendliness

Your site must look and work great on a phone. This isn’t optional. Google uses mobile-first indexing. For ranking purposes, it mainly checks the mobile version of your site.

Check yours: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or just pull up your site on your phone and actually use it. Can you read the text? Tap the buttons? Navigate easily?

HTTPS (The Lock Icon)

If your URL starts with http:// instead of https://, fix this immediately. HTTPS means your site has an SSL certificate—it encrypts data between your site and visitors.

Google and browsers actively distrust insecure sites. Most hosting providers offer free SSL certificates. There’s no excuse not to have this.

Page Speed

Slow sites lose visitors and rankings. Google’s PageSpeed Insights will analyse your site and give you specific recommendations.

Common fixes:

  • Compress and resize images (see Step 6)
  • Remove unused plugins or scripts
  • Enable browser caching
  • Use a content delivery network (CDN) if your host supports it

You don’t need a perfect score—aim for “Good” (90+) on mobile. Most creative business sites struggle here because of large, uncompressed portfolio images.

Robots.txt and Noindex

  • robots.txt—A file that tells search engines which parts of your site to crawl. Check yours at yoursite.com/robots.txt. If you’re not sure what it should say, most platforms set this up correctly by default. Don’t edit it unless you know what you’re doing.
  • Noindex tags—These tell Google to exclude specific pages from search results. Useful for thank-you pages or private client pages. But make sure your important pages don’t have this set.

Step 8: Links (Internal + External)

Links are how search engines discover and understand relationships between pages. There are two types that matter for your site.

Internal Links

These are links between pages on your own site. They help Google understand your site structure and pass authority between pages.

Best practices:

  • Link related blog posts to each other
  • Link from blog posts to your services pages where relevant
  • Use descriptive anchor text—”read my guide on sourcing stock photos” is better than “click here”
  • Make sure every important page has at least a few internal links pointing to it

External Links (Backlinks)

When other websites link to yours, Google sees it as a vote of confidence. The more quality sites that link to you, the more authority your site builds.

How to earn backlinks naturally:

  • Create genuinely useful content that people want to reference
  • Guest post on relevant blogs in your industry
  • Get featured in directories or roundup posts
  • Share your expertise on podcasts or interviews
  • Build relationships in your community—word-of-mouth applies online, too

Google’s guide names word of mouth as one of the most effective promotion strategies. As it puts it: “word of mouth: that is, people familiar with your site tell their friends about it.”

What NOT to do: Don’t buy links, take part in link schemes, or spam blog comments. Google penalises this.

Step 9: Things You Can Stop Worrying About

Google’s own starter guide says these things don’t matter (or matter far less than people think):

  • Meta keywords tag—Google doesn’t use it. Skip it.
  • Keyword-rich domain names—Having “seo” or “photographer” in your domain sounds smart. Bad news, it won’t help your rankings.
  • Content length—There’s no magic word count. Write what the topic needs.
  • Heading order perfection—Using an H3 before an H2 won’t tank your rankings.
  • Subdomains vs. subdirectories—Choose based on what makes sense for your business. Don’t choose based on SEO.
  • E-E-A-T as a ranking factor—It’s a quality guideline, not a direct ranking signal. Just make helpful, trustworthy content.

Clear is kind. Now you know what not to stress about.

Free SEO Tools and Resources to Keep Learning

This information shouldn’t be gatekept behind expensive courses. Here’s everything you need—and it’s all free:

Essential Tools (Set These Up Today)

Keyword Research (Free Tiers)

  • Ubersuggest—Keyword ideas, search volume, and competition data
  • AnswerThePublic—Visualise questions people ask about any topic
  • Google Autocomplete + “People Also Ask”—Built right into Google search

Learning Resources (Free Courses + Guides)

Image SEO Specifically

For Local Businesses

TL;DR: The SEO Checklist

Here’s your quick-reference checklist. Bookmark this. Come back to it. Tick things off as you go.

Setup (Do Once)

Set up Google Search Console and verify your site
Set up Google Analytics
Submit your sitemap in Search Console
Check that your site has HTTPS (the lock icon)
Test your site on mobile—make sure it actually works

Every Page

Unique, keyword-rich page title (under 60 characters)
Meta description (120–160 characters)
One H1 heading with your primary keyword
Logical heading structure (H2s and H3s)
Internal links to related pages on your site

Every Image

Descriptive file name with hyphens (brand-shoot-studio.jpg)
Alt text (80–140 characters, descriptive, not keyword-stuffed)
Compressed to under 200 KB (use TinyPNG or Squoosh)
WebP format where possible

Every Blog Post

Targets a specific keyword or question your audience is searching
Answers the question thoroughly—so they don’t need to go elsewhere
Includes internal links to your services or related posts
Descriptive URL (/blog/how-to-source-stock-photos-ethically)
Updated if the information becomes outdated

Ongoing

Check Search Console monthly for errors and opportunities
Refresh old content when it becomes outdated
Keep earning backlinks by creating genuinely useful content

Nobody should have to pay thousands to learn the basics of how Google works. This guide is free because this knowledge should be accessible. It shouldn’t matter what your background is or what your budget is. It shouldn’t matter how many tech bros have mansplained to you at seminars, either.

Okaythanksbye. 💛

Found this helpful? Slide into my DMs if you want me to handle the technical setup for you—that’s literally what I do.

Now you know how to set up SEO—but what about the actual words on your pages? Your SEO only works if your website copy is solid. And before you write a single word, sort your brand identity first. Your brand keywords become your SEO keywords.

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