Showing up when someone local is looking.
There is no shortage of people in Jersey who will sell you SEO. Most of the value is in about six unglamorous things, and you should know which ones you are paying for.
Six unglamorous things.
A good fit if people who want what you sell are finding someone else.
- A Google Business listing that is filled in properly: hours, services, photos, and the right category
- Your name, address and contact details identical everywhere they appear online
- Pages that say what you sell in the words people actually search for
- A site that loads fast on a phone, on Jersey mobile data, not just on your desk
- Reviews, asked for consistently rather than hoped for
- Google Ads set up and monitored, where the numbers justify it
A small island is an easier place to be found than most people assume. You are not competing with the entire internet for a term like accountant, you are competing with other Jersey businesses for people searching here. And a lot of them have an unclaimed Google listing, opening hours from three years ago, or a site that takes five seconds to load on a phone.
That means the work is usually tidying rather than campaigning. I would rather fix your listing, your page titles and your load time and then stop, than put you on a retainer that produces a monthly report nobody reads.
Search is changing under everyone. Ofcom found 54% of UK adults now use AI tools, and three quarters of people online read the AI summary at the top of their results. Pew Research found that when that summary appears, people click through to an actual website about half as often. Google is not shrinking, queries are at a record high, but a smaller share of them reach you. So the visits you do get matter more than they used to.
What I will not do is promise to get you quoted by ChatGPT or Gemini. Nobody can reliably do that yet, the best evidence says the usual tricks do not move it, and I am not going to charge you for a lever that does not exist. If you have been quoted for a GEO or AI SEO package, ask what specifically it changes and how it will be measured. The answer is usually vague.
What does help is the same unglamorous list as above. A fast, clear site, details that agree with each other everywhere a machine might read them, and a real Google Business listing. That is what an AI has to work with when it decides who to mention, and it is worth doing on its own merits regardless.
The things to say no to.
- A guarantee of position one. Nobody can honestly sell you that.
- An AI search or GEO package. The evidence that those techniques work is not there yet.
- A monthly retainer that quietly produces a report and nothing else.
- Keyword stuffing, bought links, or anything that risks a penalty later.
- A rebuild you do not need, when the listing and the page titles were the problem.
The things people ask first.
How do I get my business to show up on Google in Jersey?
For most small Jersey businesses the fastest win is not the website at all: it is a properly filled-in Google Business listing, with the right category, real opening hours, photos and reviews. After that it is making sure your name, address and contact details match everywhere they appear online, and that your pages use the words people actually type. Those three things move local rankings more than anything else, and none of them require a rebuild.
How much does local SEO cost in Jersey?
It depends whether it is a one-off tidy-up or ongoing work. A lot of small businesses need a few hours of fixing rather than a monthly retainer, and I will say so if that is the case. A one-off tidy-up is often a booked half day at £300. Anything larger gets a fixed price before it starts, worked out at £80 an hour, and that price is a ceiling rather than a target: if it goes quicker than expected, you pay less. All the figures are published rather than quoted on request.
Can you guarantee I will be number one on Google?
No, and neither can anyone else. Google does not sell positions in its ordinary results and nobody controls the ranking. What can be done is to remove the reasons you are not showing up: a missing or wrong Google Business listing, a slow site, pages that do not mention what you sell, and details that disagree with each other across the web. That is the honest version of the job.
Will my business show up in ChatGPT or other AI search?
Honestly, nobody can promise that yet, and I will not charge you for trying. The behaviour change is real: Ofcom found 54% of UK adults now use AI tools, and Pew Research found people click through to a website roughly half as often when an AI summary appears. But the best available evidence shows the techniques commonly sold as AI SEO do not reliably move whether an AI mentions you. What genuinely helps is unglamorous: a fast, clear site, accurate and consistent business details everywhere they appear, and a real Google Business listing.
Do I need to pay for SEO every month?
Often not. A good deal of local SEO is set-up work that stays done: the listing, the details, the page titles, the site speed. Once that is right, what is left is keeping reviews coming in and revisiting it when something changes. If a monthly arrangement genuinely makes sense for you I will say so, and if it does not, I will say that too.
Is SEO worth it for a small Jersey business?
Usually yes, because the local field is small and the basics are so often left undone. You are not competing with the whole internet, you are competing with other Jersey businesses, and plenty of those have an unclaimed Google listing and a site that takes five seconds to load. That is a much easier race than national SEO, and it is mostly won with tidiness rather than budget.
Want to know why you are not showing up?
Often it is one or two specific things, and they are quick to find. Tell me your business name and I will have a look before you commit to anything.