When I ran my wedding and event flower business, my days were spent at the flower market at the crack of dawn, designing weddings, cleaning buckets, and working alongside other florists and wedding vendor pros. It was creative, physical, and full of community. There was an ease to finding support - and not something I’d actually thought about prior to setting up my floral design business. Florists swapped tips, shared suppliers, and passed on enquiries when they were fully booked, or if you were a better fit. Collaboration was almost built into the job!

A couple of months ago, I sat down to write a blog using my blog post template for one of my SEO retainer clients , a yoga teacher who runs retreats in the Pacific Northwest and worldwide. I’d done my usual round of in-depth keyword research and spotted “mother daughter yoga retreat” as a phrase with great potential. It had search volume, it fit the client’s niche perfectly, and it was something people were actually typing into Google plus the keywords were potentially easy to rank for.

Fast forward to today and that blog is ranking on page one of Google, after climbing 48 spots. Here’s exactly what I did and what you can take away from it for your own blog writing.

A question many small business owners may have pondered is: whether SEO really works for small businesses? You might not be a big brand with a huge marketing budget - speaking from experience (when I had my own floral design business) where you choose to spend your money is thoughtful and involves weighing up what might offer the best ROI (return on investment)

If you run a local business, optimising your Google Business Profile is one of the quickest ways to increase visibility, attract more local leads, and build trust online. By including your location in your profile, keeping your information accurate, posting regular updates, and replying to reviews, you make it easier for search engines and AI tools to recommend your business to people nearby. Paired with an affordable local SEO strategy, it’s a simple, effective way to turn online searches into real bookings.