Essential SEO support for Small Businesses: What I Shared on The Kind Business Podcast
I recently joined Yarrow Magdalena on The Kind Business podcast for episode 175, Creative SEO for Small Businesses. I first met Yarrow through a group run by Sophy Dale. Yarrow holds grounded, honest conversations about running a values-led business without hustle culture, so it felt like exactly the right place to talk about SEO in a way that isn't about gaming a system, but about taking a human approach to SEO and being genuinely found by the people you're best placed to help.
We covered a lot of ground in just over half an hour, so I wanted to pull together the themes here for anyone who'd rather read than listen, or who wants to come back to a particular point later.
From flowers to search engines
Before SEO, I spent years running a floral design business in California, after starting out in TV production. I learned SEO out of necessity, trying to get that business found online, and it changed how I thought about visibility altogether. That background is still what shapes how I work now: I know what it's like to be the one doing everything yourself, with limited time and no appetite for jargon.
What SEO actually means for a small creative business
SEO gets talked about like it's one big technical mystery, but at its core it's simple: it's making sure the people who are already looking for what you offer can actually find you. For small, creative and service-based businesses, that usually matters far more than chasing rankings for competitive, generic terms.
Good SEO isn't about gaming the system
This was the thread that ran through the whole conversation. SEO done well isn't about tricking an algorithm — it's about clarity, connection, and accessibility. Writing clearly about what you do, for the people who need it, in language that sounds like you. When the content is genuinely useful and genuinely you, the visibility tends to follow.
SEO versus paid ads
We also talked through where SEO fits next to paid advertising. Ads can bring fast visibility, but that visibility disappears the moment you stop paying for it. SEO is slower to build, but it compounds — the content and structure you put in place keeps working long after you've published it, which matters a lot for businesses that don't have an ongoing ad budget.
Creating content that feels human
One of my favourite parts of the conversation was talking about how to write content that search engines can understand without it losing your voice. It's entirely possible to be both optimised and authentic — the two aren't in competition. The businesses that do this well write the way they'd talk to a client sitting across from them, and let good structure do the technical work underneath.
AI, search behaviour, and where visibility is heading
Search habits are shifting quickly, and AI is a big part of that. We spoke about what this means for small businesses trying to stay visible as more people search through AI tools rather than traditional search results. The short version: the fundamentals — clarity, usefulness, and genuine expertise — matter more, not less, in this new landscape.
Building a business around your strengths and capacity
We closed on something that felt important to say out loud: your marketing and your business model don't have to look like everyone else's. Sustainable visibility means building an approach that fits your actual capacity, rather than one built on overwhelm.
Listen to the full episode
If any of this resonates, I'd love for you to listen to the full conversation — there's a lot more nuance in there than I can capture in a blog post.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
And if you'd like support with your own SEO, get in touch — I'd love to help you get found by the people you're meant to work with.
