Common SEO Myths That Waste Tradespeople's Money.

Use the words customers use, but write normally. Google understands related words and context. Repeating a phrase until it reads badly just puts customers off.

• SEO: search engine optimisation: making your website easy for Google to understand and show for the right searches.
• Keywords: the words people type into Google.
• Keyword stuffing: repeating search words unnaturally. Against Google's rules.
• Backlink: another website linking to yours.
• Meta description: the short summary you can write for each page. Google often writes its own instead.
• Meta keywords: a hidden list of keywords. Google doesn't use it.

Google says it has no preferred word count. A simple question needs a short answer. A big, expensive job might need more explaining.

Cut the waffle, not the useful bits. The question is: does the customer understand the job and what to do next?

Google says keywords in a domain name have hardly any effect on ranking. A clear domain helps people remember you, but it doesn't make Google trust you. You still need a good website, an accurate Google profile and real reviews.

Choose your domain for your customers, not because someone says a keyword in it will get you page one.

Ten good pages beat hundreds of thin ones. Mass produced service or town pages waste time, clutter your site and can break Google's rules.

Update a page when something's actually changed: prices, services, examples, or what customers ask. Changing just the date doesn't make it more useful, and Google lists changing dates to make pages look fresh as a warning sign.

Keep your prices, qualifications, area, photos and process right. That beats pointless weekly edits.

A backlink is another website linking to yours. Real mentions from people you work with help customers find you and show you're trusted. Buying bundles of random links, or swapping them just to rank, is risky.

• Go for links from real relationships, useful pages and genuine news
• Ask: would a real person ever click this?
• Avoid suppliers who won't show you where the links are
• Keep your directory and profile accounts in your name

Page titles and descriptions help explain a page, and can change how your result looks on Google. They matter, but they can't save a weak page or a site Google can't read.

Google often writes its own short description from your page instead of using yours. And the old hidden "keywords" setting does nothing: Google says it doesn't use it.

The tool doesn't matter as much as the result. Publishing loads of wrong, bland, unchecked pages to rank is risky, however they were written. AI can help sort your notes or draft questions, but someone who knows the trade should check the facts, add real experience, and decide whether it helps customers.

Google doesn't sell better free rankings, and warns about anyone claiming a special relationship. A proper supplier can explain what they do in plain English.