Images are the backbone of engaging websites, but they can also be your site’s biggest performance bottleneck. For small and medium-sized businesses
Most small business websites don’t rank because they’ve never been properly optimised – not because SEO is too complicated or too expensive.
I’m Cheryl Logan Baird, I offer personal, hands-on SEO services for small businesses world wide. Every piece of work is done by me: no account managers, no junior staff, no outsourcing. Just clear, effective SEO from someone with over 30 years of marketing business experience who actually cares about your results.
If you’re unsure where to start, contact me and I’ll help you figure out the right approach.
SEO isn’t about gaming Google. It’s about making sure the right people find you when they’re actively searching for what you offer.
Done well, small business SEO delivers:
More qualified website visitors: people already looking for your product or service
Higher Google rankings for the search terms your customers actually use
Increased enquiries and leads without paying for every click
Stronger credibility: businesses that rank well are perceived as more trustworthy
Long-term visibility that compounds over time, unlike paid ads that stop the moment you pause your budget
SEO takes time. You’ll typically start seeing meaningful movement within 3–6 months, with stronger results building from there. It’s a long-term investment, but one that keeps paying back.
Every engagement starts with a thorough SEO audit of your current situation.
From there, I build and execute a strategy tailored to your business, your market, and your goals. Here’s what that covers.
On-page SEO is the process of optimising the content and structure of individual pages on your website. This includes keyword research and placement, title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, internal linking, image alt text, and URL formatting.
Your homepage and main service pages are the most critical pages on your entire website. These are the pages that need to rank, convert visitors into enquiries, and clearly communicate your value – both to Google and to real human beings reading them.
In my experience, most small business websites have significant on-page opportunities that have simply never been addressed. Fixing them can produce meaningful ranking improvements without any other changes at all.
Technical SEO is the foundation your entire SEO effort rests on. If Google can’t efficiently crawl and index your pages, no amount of great content will get you ranking.
Technical SEO covers your site’s infrastructure: how fast pages load, whether the site is mobile-friendly, how your URLs are structured, whether duplicate content issues exist, whether your XML sitemap is correctly configured, and whether there are crawl errors, broken links or redirect chains slowing Googlebot down.
I use professional tools including Screaming Frog SEO Spider and Google Search Console to conduct thorough technical audits. I then prioritise what needs to be fixed first based on what will have the greatest impact on your visibility.
Content is how Google decides what you’re relevant for. SEO-optimised content isn’t just about inserting keywords – it’s about creating pages and articles that genuinely answer what your target audience is searching for, in a way that demonstrates real expertise.
Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) mean that content written from genuine first-hand knowledge now has a significant advantage over generic, AI-generated filler. This is something I take seriously in every piece of content I create or review.
Whether it’s rewriting your core service pages or building out a content strategy that targets your ideal clients month after month, good content is one of the highest-return investments a small business can make in its online presence.
If you don’t have Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console set up on your website, you’re making every decision about your online presence in the dark. You don’t know how many people are visiting, where they’re coming from, which pages they’re landing on, or whether they’re doing what you need them to do.
Setting up tracking sounds simple – but doing it properly takes more than dropping a code snippet into your site. Many small business websites have tracking that was added years ago and never correctly configured, meaning the data being collected is incomplete, inaccurate, or simply misleading.
I set up GA4 and Search Console correctly, connect the two so your organic search data flows through in one place, and verify that everything is recording accurately before I hand it over. You’ll come away with a working, properly configured tracking setup, and a clear picture of what it’s telling you.
Need custom event tracking and Google Tag Manager? Those are available as add-ons.
Here’s what typically happens when you hire an SEO agency as a small business: a senior person sells you the work, then hands execution to someone far more junior. You end up with an account manager as your main point of contact: someone who didn’t do the work and can’t always explain it.
With me, that doesn’t happen. Ever.
You get me: start to finish. I handle the strategy, the technical fixes, the content, and the reporting personally. I know your site, your market, and your goals because I’m the one working on them every month.
Here’s how the two models compare:
| Logan Online | Typical Agencies | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work? | Me, personally | Junior staff or outsourced |
| Your point of contact | Me, directly | Account Manager |
| Strategy | Tailored to your business | Often templated |
| Flexibility | High, I adapt quickly | Slower, more process-driven |
| Cost | Transparent, low overheads | Higher (teams, offices, management) |
Working with me is straightforward. No complicated onboarding, no long contracts, no surprises.
Here’s what the process looks like:
We start with a conversation. You tell me about your business, your goals, and what's not working. I ask questions to ensure I understand. No sales pitch: just an assessment of what SEO can do for you.
I conduct a thorough audit of your website: technical health, on-page optimisation, content gaps, and competitive landscape. This gives us a clear picture of where you are and what needs to happen.
Based on the audit, I put together a prioritised plan. You'll know exactly what I'm going to do, why, and in what order. No mystery, no jargon.
I get to work. Technical fixes, content creation, on-page optimisation: all done personally, on an agreed timeline.
You receive regular plain-English reports showing rankings, traffic, and progress. SEO is ongoing, so I continue optimising, creating content, and adapting the strategy as your site grows and Google evolves.
I work with a small number of clients at any one time. That’s intentional: it means you get proper attention, not a slice of someone’s overloaded schedule.
“Cheryl has an exceptional ability to simplify complex SEO concepts… She consistently brings insightful recommendations that improve our site’s visibility and drive more targeted traffic.
Her proactive communication and unwavering attention to our goals make her feel like an extension of our team.”
January 2025
“Cheryl knows her stuff and is refreshingly pro-active with plans, strategy and suggestions. On top of which Cheryl is confident enough to disagree when the time is right. If you’re in need of SEO services I strongly suggest you consider Logan Online.”
December 2024
“I can honestly say that working with Cheryl has been one of the best business decisions I’ve made.
She has taken the time to really understand my business and what makes us different. She hasn’t simply optimised our website; she’s improved our Google Business Profile, written content that genuinely sounds like us, and quietly got on with all the behind-the-scenes work that most of us don’t even know needs doing.
What I’ve appreciated most is that Cheryl doesn’t just tell you what needs to happen – she makes it happen.
As a busy business owner, that’s invaluable. She’s knowledgeable, organised, responsive and incredibly patient, explaining everything in a way that’s easy to understand.
I already feel far more confident that our online presence reflects the quality of our business, and I’m excited to see the long-term results of all the work she’s put in.
If you’re looking for someone who genuinely cares about your business and wants to help it grow, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Cheryl.”
July 2026
Backlinks – links from other websites pointing to yours – remain one of Google’s most important ranking signals. So why don’t I list link-building as a service?
Because most “link-building” sold to small businesses is low-quality, spammy, and can actively harm your rankings. Cheap link packages, private blog networks (PBNs), and directory spam are shortcuts that Google penalises.
My approach is different. I focus on making your site genuinely worth linking to: through strong content, clear expertise, and a technically sound website. When link acquisition is appropriate, my advice is to pursue it through legitimate means: digital PR, relevant partnerships, and editorial placements.
If you’re in a competitive niche where aggressive link-building is necessary, I’ll tell you.
Most small businesses start to see meaningful improvements in rankings and traffic within 3–6 months of starting. The exact timeline depends on your industry’s competitiveness, your site’s current health, and how much work needs to be done. SEO compounds over time: the longer we work together, the stronger your results become.
Not necessarily all at once. An audit is usually the best starting point, because there’s no point optimising content on a site that has crawlability or other issues. From there, I’ll recommend the logical sequence based on what your site actually needs.
It depends on what you need. Some services – like GA4 setup, Search Console setup, and site audits – are available as fixed-price, done-for-you products, so you know exactly what you’re getting and what it costs. Browse the services →
For ongoing SEO, strategy work, or anything more bespoke, every engagement is scoped individually based on your site, your goals, and your market. After a discovery call, you’ll get a clear, transparent proposal with no hidden costs.
Not sure where to start? Get in touch and we can talk it through.
Yes, I work regularly with clients internationally, in addition to South Africa. All project work is handled remotely.
Prices quoted for projects or ongoing SEO services are quoted in South African Rand, making my services extremely affordable to international clients.
If needed, I’ll set up Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console at the start of every engagement so we have a clear baseline. Progress is tracked and reported regularly so you always know what’s happening with your organic performance.
The most common reasons SEO fails for small businesses are: the work was too generic and not tailored to the specific competitive landscape; technical issues were never properly diagnosed and fixed; or results were measured too early, before the work had time to take effect. I’ll always start with an audit of where things stand and give you a realistic picture of what’s achievable and over what timeframe, before you commit to anything.
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