New SEO Rules for Small Businesses in 2025: What You Must Know
May 12, 2025
Jaden Galinato
Despite what you might’ve been told, SEO is by no means dead. Especially not for small businesses. But, with Google constantly making changes to their algorithm, it can be easy to lose your top ranking (if you had it) if you aren’t keeping up with their updates. What worked even a year ago might not help anymore (thanks a lot, Google…)
But since we love to stay in-the-know with all things SEO, here are the new SEO rules for small businesses in 2025.
We’ll break down what Google has been doing behind closed doors, and how you can climb to the top spot of Google and steal customers from your competitors even after all their updates.
What Is SEO?
How SEO Works
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of perfecting your business’s website to be the first page that comes up when you search for similar businesses on Google (or other search engines).
Why Is SEO Important?
SEO will always be important, and ranking first will be one of the highest ROI things you can do to get more customers. According to SmartInsights, “ranking #1 generates a typical CTR [click-through rate] of 39.8%. That's more than double the CTR for 2nd position, 18.7%, and nearly 4x the CTR for 3rd position, 10.2%.”
Think about it, when you search for something, what link do you click on? Probably something within the first 3 results, right? But let’s say you’re not in the top 3, contention. That’s okay too–even moving up just 1 rank can, on average, boost your CTR by 2.8%, according to Backlinko.
The Search Engine Results Page
The SERP, or Search Engine Results Page is what you see whenever you look up something. Back then when Google was first launched, it just showed you a long list of websites.
Now, we have things like local service ads, search ads, map packs, and organic results.
We’ll dive into the differences between all of these, but for now, let’s take it from the top.
Local Service Ads
Say you look up “basement remodeling near me.” The first thing that will come up on your SERP is local service ads (LSAs).
The SERP for Grandir Solutions
These are ads that businesses pay for every time a potential customer hits the “Get Quote” or “Get Phone Number” button from those ads. Note: If you get spam leads, the business can dispute it with Google to get their money back.
Search Ads
Now, just below the LSAs are the search ads. Usually, one will pop up. Again it’s a sponsored result for “basement remodeling near me”, so every time someone clicks on this website, that business will get charged for that click (what we call a “Pay-Per-Click” or PPC ad, too).
Local Service Ads vs. Search Ads on the SERP
Later on, we’ll dive into why you need to be careful about running this type of ad, as it won’t guarantee new customers…
The Local Map Pack
One of the updates Google made in the more recent years is the addition of the map pack. Right under the search ad, you’ll see companies pop up that will remodel your basement.
Notice how these don’t have the “sponsored” tag anywhere? That means that every time someone clicks on the website, the business won’t be charged for that click—it’s completely free.
Getting to the top 3 of your local map pack isn’t easy, but when you do, you reap massive benefits as every new lead that comes through is entirely free.
This is what we call the “promise land” for all local businesses.
Feeling lost already? Our team at Grandir Solutions can help! Schedule a free SEO consultation.
Organic Results
Now below the map pack, you’ll see all the regular websites that aren’t sponsored. These are called organic results (organic = not paid for). At one point SERPs were made of entirely organic results, but now ads have been added to the game. Are you starting to see why SEO matters now?
With this understanding, let’s take a look at why customers might not be able to find you on Google.
Why Customers Can't Find You
While this could be an entire blog post in itself, we’ll take a look at one of the most common reasons why customers can’t find you on Google, and some hidden reasons you haven’t thought about.
You Use Outdated SEO Strategies
Not to beat a dead horse, but Google is constantly evolving their search algorithm to incentivize business owners to spend ads with them, and to penalize any websites that try to “game the system.”
Here are 2 outdated strategies that they’ve cracked down on:
Keyword Stuffing: Say you want to rank for the keyword, “home remodeling.” Keyword stuffing would mean typing “home remodeling” on your site a million times to get Google to see that you remodel homes. But Google is no fool, they see right through that and will actually rank your site lower if you do this.
Cloaking: This is when you show Google that you’re ranking for “home remodeling” on a page, but the page is actually about plumbing services. You’re trying to trick your audience and Google, which is a red flag–they’ll demote your page. Ensure your SEO strategy is aligned with the content you have on a given page to avoid getting penalized.
One of the more technical reasons why customers might not be able to find you is if you have a suspended, or unverified Google Business Profile.
A simple way to check is if you go to your Business Profile. If you’re already verified, it should show as “Published” or “Verified”
If you’re wondering why you aren’t getting jobs, it might be because a lot of your customer base isn’t looking for home improvements at that time.
And that’s by no means your fault, nor is your marketing failing (don’t scream at your marketing team, they’re doing everything they can), it’s just how the business goes sometimes. Sometimes “perfect” marketing will only generate bare results during an off season.
Using Local Service Ads
The Local Map Pack for “basement remodeling near me”
2. Your Google Business Profile Is Suspended
If it doesn’t, you either have a suspended or duplicate profile, or you’ll need to verify it. Once verified, you’ll show up on Google Maps when people search for you.
If you want to optimize your profile to rank higher, here are 5 tips to start ranking locally.
3. You’re Experiencing Seasonal Shifts
Another reason you might not be getting customers for your service business is the time of year. The busiest, most expensive season for contractors is around May-September depending on where you live—according to Mr. Roof.
Now that we know how SEO works, and why customers might not be able to find you, let’s see what tools you can use to make your SEO work for you.
Now that we went over the different parts of the SERP, where do you want to be to maximize new jobs? Let’s compare the differences between LSAs, Search Ads, and SEO.
Ads, SEO, or Both?
We recommend all of our clients to utilize LSAs. Why are they so effective? For one, they’re the first items to pop up on a SERP. And based on studies, LSAs get 14% of all clicks on a SERP. So if you’re skipping LSAs, you’re choosing to skip 14% of potential leads coming through your door.
Although you’ll have to pay for new leads, It’s an easy way to get business coming in while you continue to optimize your SEO in the meantime, while you climb for rank #1.
Go ahead and search for one of your keywords on Google–Do your competitors pop up on LSAs? If they do, that’s another reason why you’ll want to kick-off this strategy…
Verdict: Use Local Service Ads, even if you have a budget as small as $200-$500 a month.
Using Google Search Ads
These fall right under LSAs on a SERP. We normally don’t have our clients use Google Search Ads because they’re expensive, highly competitive, not to mention, you’ll need to have a near perfect website if you want to get leads.
You pay for every click, so if a potential customer clicks on your ad and they don’t book a consultation or quote from your site, you essentially just wasted that ad money. But, if you have a really strong conversion rate (the rate at which new leads become customers), and you’re confident that your website is top tier, give this a try.
Verdict: Use Google Search Ads with caution, only if you have a solid budget and full faith in your website to convert new visitors.
Organic Results With SEO
If you don’t want to spend money on ads, don’t worry, they’re not the end-all-be-all of marketing strategies. After all, none of us click every ad we see. That’s why SEO is so important. If you rank within the first page of a SERP, you don’t pay a penny for any lead that comes in.
Whether you run ads or not, optimizing your SEO should be every business's priority if they want to thrive in the new age of digital marketing.
Verdict: Always be optimizing your SEO to bring in new traffic for FREE.
Final Verdict: If you want to dominate your area, LSAs paired with SEO is the way to go.
SEO Doesn't Have To Be Complicated
So now, you’re up to date with the new rules of SEO for small businesses in 2025, you know how it works, and with your digital tools (LSAs & SEO) at your disposal, you’re ready to crush your competition who failed to brush up on their digital marketing.
Getting to the top of Google with SEO can be confusing, especially if you’re doing it all on your own. That’s why at Grandir Solutions, we handle all your SEO needs for you, getting more jobs in the door so you can focus on serving more people.
We’ll implement your LSAs, get you verified on Google, optimize your website for SEO, develop engaging social media calendars, and so much more.