Ongoing SEO for small businesses

Small Business SEO Services

Theo builds the website, hosts it and does the ongoing SEO work for $69.99 a month on the Starter plan, free for the first 30 days. The goal is more visitors from Google search and AI search tools, month after month, without an agency retainer or a separate design quote.

See If Google Can Find You - Free Build a site free and see it first

By Theo. Updated September 28, 2026.

Plumbing company demo website built by Theo

Website, hosting and SEO work in one plan from $69.99 a month
Weekly pages, posts and technical fixes, listed in your Growth tab
Every new page submitted to Google through Search Console
Cancel anytime; you own the site and its content

From $69.99 a month on Starter, free for 30 days.
Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 27 reviews
10,000+ sites built
Your first build is on Theo: see the site before you decide

Small business SEO services from Theo cost $69.99 a month on the Starter plan, free for the first 30 days, and that includes the website, hosting and the ongoing work. Pro is $129.99 a month with more weekly pages and posts; Basic at $29.99 a month is the site and hosting without the SEO program. Thryv's roundup of affordable SEO services, as of September 2026, lists Third Marble at $399 to $999 a month and a company called Small Business SEO at $499 to $1,948 a month. An agency's website is usually a separate quote. Theo does the same jobs: keyword research, pages and posts, technical fixes, Search Console indexing and work toward citations in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. Results compound over months, not days.

What the work produces

What small business SEO services include at Theo

SEO is a list of jobs done every week, not a report once a quarter. On Starter and Pro, Theo does these jobs on the site it built and hosts, the work never uses your chat credits, and each item shows up in the Growth tab; a weekly report summarizes what shipped. The six jobs below are the core of the program, in the order they usually happen on a new site.

Keyword and competitor research

Theo finds the searches your customers type, checks which competitors already rank for them and picks the ones a small site can win first, which decides what gets written next. For a plumber that means separating water heater searches from drain cleaning searches and giving each its own page, then adding the towns the trucks actually drive to. The plumbing demo site on the examples page shows the result: click-to-call in the header, service pages for repair, drains and water heaters, and service-area pages by town. The research is redone as pages start to rank, so the list changes over the months rather than being set once and filed.

Dedicated pages, posts and landing pages

Every week Theo adds pages for the services and areas you want to be found for, posts that answer the questions customers ask before they call, and landing pages for offers that need their own address. A dental practice gets a page per treatment, an insurance and financing page and a new patient page; a CPA firm gets services split for individuals and businesses, a tax season page and a secure portal link. Each new page is written from the research and linked from the pages that already get visits, so it is not an orphan waiting to be found. Pro drafts more pages and posts each week than Starter.

Technical SEO fixes and page speed

Titles, descriptions, headings, internal links, the sitemap and crawl paths stay clean as the site grows, and the fixes are made on the site rather than listed in a report for someone else to do. Every Theo site is a static site served over HTTPS, so pages load fast without a caching plugin or a hosting upgrade. Once Search Console has enough visitor data for the site, its Core Web Vitals report shows how Google measures each page for loading, responsiveness and layout shift, and page speed work is part of the weekly fixes on Starter and Pro. A rebuilt site starts clean; the fixes keep it that way as pages are added.

Indexing through Search Console

A page Google has not indexed cannot rank, so new and changed pages are submitted to Google through Search Console instead of waiting to be discovered. Theo tracks which pages are indexed and which are not in the Analytics tab, and the weekly report summarizes what shipped. Google's own guidance is that a crawl can take from a few days to a few weeks, which is one reason the first weeks of the program look quiet from the outside even when the work is landing. If the site is not in Google at all yet, the guide on how to get your website on Google explains what indexing means and what to check first.

Local SEO and the listings that feed the map

A search like electrician near me pulls from two places, the website and the business listings, and both have to say the same thing. On the website, Theo builds service-area pages by town and keeps the phone number, address and hours where every page shows them; the plumbing demo puts click-to-call in the header for exactly that reason. For the listings, Theo's Boost checklist walks you through Google Business Profile, Facebook, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places and Yelp, so the profile that appears in map results matches the site. Theo does the website half; the Boost checklist covers the listings themselves, so the profiles stay in your own accounts.

Citations in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

Theo works toward your business being named when someone asks an AI tool for a recommendation. Google's documentation for its AI features says a page needs no special file or markup to appear in AI Overviews, only to be indexed and eligible for a snippet, so the indexing work above is the first step. ChatGPT search draws on its own crawler and the Bing index, so a page both engines can read is eligible in both places. The pages themselves are written with a clear answer near the top, a question section and the business's name, location and services stated plainly, which is the shape those tools quote.

Who this is for

Who small business SEO services are for

This is for an owner who wants more customers from search and does not want to manage a writer, a developer and an agency. In Theo's audit of 5,974 small business websites, 48 percent of the 4,027 sites with search data got an estimated zero visitors a month from Google search, per The State of Small Business Websites 2026. Those sites are missing pages that answer what customers search for, and someone who keeps publishing them. Theo fits a business with one location or a service area, a clear list of services and a budget under $150 a month. Booking, payment and member tools stay where they are and the site links to them, and rankings are earned over months rather than promised.

Which plan

Which SEO package fits your business

Three questions settle it for most owners, and none of them need a sales call.

Does my site get any visitors from Google today?

Many do not, and the owner is usually the last to know because the site looks fine on a phone. If Search Console shows the business name and little else, the fix is pages plus time rather than a redesign alone, and that is the work Starter and Pro do every week. The free audit reads any site with no login and gives an estimate of its search traffic, its search health and the specific fixes, so you know the starting point before you spend anything.

Do I need SEO, or just a site?

If you only need a site and hosting and will do nothing after launch, Basic at $29.99 a month is the plan, and it has no SEO program. If you want visitors from search, Starter at $69.99 a month is the plan that includes the work, and it is free for the first 30 days, so the first month of pages and fixes costs nothing. Most owners who arrive at this page want the second one; the first is for a site that only has to exist, like a card for people who already know the business.

Starter or Pro?

Starter suits one location and a short service list: a handful of service pages and weekly posts cover what people search for. Pro at $129.99 a month suits a business with several services or areas that each need their own pages, an owner who wants bigger changes made in chat (7,000 credits a month against 4,500), or one who wants read-only access to the site code. If unsure, start on Starter; the free 30 days show how many pages the business actually needs.

Included

What Theo handles

The website itself

Every SEO plan starts with a site Theo builds from a description of the business, or rebuilds from your current site's URL to match its look. There is nothing to set up first: the first build is free, so you see a first draft of the site before any trial begins. Photos go into the chat by drag and drop.

Hosting and security

Theo hosts the site as a static site over HTTPS. There is no hosting bill, no plugin to update and no server to patch on the side, and the paid extras are top-up credits, the optional backlink packages in the Boost checklist and, if you buy one through Theo, a domain name.

Weekly content and fixes

Pages, posts and technical fixes are drafted every week on Starter, with more pages and posts on Pro, and wait in the Growth tab for your review unless you turn auto-publish on. The pace is set by the plan rather than by a retainer negotiation, and the work carries on for as long as the plan is active. Anything else you want changed, you type in the chat and Theo makes the edit; those changes use chat credits, the SEO work does not.

Service-page improvement

Core service pages get clearer headings, a question section, calls to action and internal links, built around the searches from the keyword research, so the pages customers land on read as answers rather than brochures. The pages that already get visits are improved as well as the new ones being added.

Conversion updates

Traffic only helps if the page asks for the call. Over time the same program refines the copy, calls to action, layout and page flow on the pages that get visits, so a visit is more likely to end in a call, a form or a booking on the tool you already use.

Analytics and weekly reports

Traffic, rankings and indexing are tracked continuously in the Analytics tab once Analytics and Search Console are connected, and on Starter and Pro the weekly report summarizes what was published and fixed. The Growth tab lists each page, post and fix as it arrives, so you can see what changed and why without asking; ask any service you are comparing for the same list of last month's pages and fixes, with links.

Process

How it happens

Build the site free

Describe the business in a sentence or two, or give Theo the URL of your current site so it matches the look. The first preview is usually ready in minutes. You see the first draft in the preview, type changes in the chat in plain English, such as move the reviews above the services or add a page for water heater repair, drag in photos, and publish when it reads right. Nothing has been charged and no trial has started; the free build is how you decide whether the SEO plan is worth paying for.

Connect your domain and Google

When you publish, the site is live on a temporary address, and your own domain takes over once it points at the site. Theo walks you through it: point both the root and the www version, turn off forwarding and parking at the registrar, and leave the email records alone. The domain connects once the registrar's records update, usually within a few hours, and your old site stays live until then; you can also buy a domain inside Theo. Then connect Google Analytics and Search Console from your own Google account. The SEO work switches on once the domain and both connections are in place, so do this early in the 30 free days of Starter.

The weekly work starts

Theo researches keywords and competitors first, then drafts pages and posts, fixes technical issues and submits each new page to Google through Search Console once it is live. What you see: every item in the Growth tab as it arrives, waiting for your review unless you turn auto-publish on, a weekly report that summarizes what was published and fixed, and the Analytics tab with what Analytics and Search Console show. In the first weeks Search Console usually shows impressions before clicks; that is the sign pages are being indexed and shown, and the clicks follow as the pages move up.

The results compound

Search traffic builds as pages get indexed, earn links from the rest of the site and move up, which takes months rather than weeks, and each page published stays on the site. Buy My Lunch, a school lunch service that moved to Theo in June 2026, went from 131 clicks from Google search in one 90-day period to 929 in the next, with impressions up from 7,500 to 61,700 and average position moving from 13 to 8, all from its own Search Console data through September 27, 2026. Theo keeps writing and fixing for as long as the plan is active, and you can ask for any change in chat at any time.

Pricing

What it costs, in full

The ongoing search work is part of Starter and Pro. Basic is the site and hosting on its own. Starter is free for the first 30 days.

Plan	Per month	Ongoing search work	Chat credits	Best for
Basic	$29.99	Not included	1,500 a month	Owners who just want their site live and easy to update.
StarterFree for 30 days	$69.99	Included, uses no credits	4,500 a month	Owners who want the site handled without heavy publishing volume.
Pro	$129.99	Included, uses no credits	7,000 a month	Owners who want more capacity, more publishing, and more room to experiment.

No contract, cancel anytime, and you own the site and its content. Top-up credits roll over and never expire. Full pricing and what credits are.

Reviews

What customers say

Rated 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 27 reviews.

Theo is the best in the game. I was originally forking over hundreds of dollars for a website hosting service only to be on the third page of Google search, but with Theo, I have a gorgeous site constantly optimizing SEO and actually getting me conversions. Truly life changing stuff, couldn’t be more grateful

Greg on Trustpilot

Theo is a fantastic platform, not only from a build and usability standpoint, but in terms of real, measurable performance. The platform is intuitive, well thought out, and easy to work with. More importantly, we saw significant lifts in a remarkably short period of time, and the analytics gave us a clear view into what was driving it. It has been genuinely impressive to see how quickly Theo makes an impact.

Tom Drymalski on Trustpilot

This tool is amazing! Truly the best bespoke AI tool that I've come across in the past year. The website design capabilities are tremendous, and even though I've only experienced 2 months of how Theo can support with SEO, the increases in traction we saw were significant. I've been telling everyone I know who could benefit from Theo to start using it today.

Josh Buoy on Trustpilot

Compare

Theo against the alternatives

	Theo	Typical agency	DIY builder
Monthly cost	$69.99 on Starter, free for 30 days; $129.99 on Pro; Basic at $29.99 is the site and hosting without the SEO program	Third Marble $399 to $999; a company called Small Business SEO $499 to $1,948; most others contact for pricing (Thryv's roundup, as of September 2026)	A builder subscription plus your own time
Website included	Yes, built and hosted by Theo, first build free	No, usually a separate design quote	Yes, if you build it yourself
Who writes the pages and posts	Theo, every week, from its own keyword research	The agency's writers, on a retainer schedule	You
Technical fixes and indexing	Made on the site and submitted through Search Console, included	Varies by agency	You, inside the builder's settings
Local listings	The website side, by Theo; Boost checklist for Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Yelp and Facebook	Often a separate local SEO service	You, one listing at a time
AI search (ChatGPT, AI Overviews)	Worked toward on Starter and Pro	Varies by agency	Up to you
Reporting	Growth tab plus a weekly report	Periodic reports	Whatever you set up
Commitment	None, cancel anytime	Usually a contract term	None

FAQ

Questions buyers ask

How much do small business SEO services cost?

At Theo, $69.99 a month on the Starter plan, free for the first 30 days, and that includes the website, hosting and the weekly SEO work; Pro is $129.99 a month for more weekly pages and posts. That is 30 days free, then $69.99 a month, with no build fee on top. The agency retainers above start at $399 a month, and an agency usually prices the website separately. Plan details and what chat credits are on the pricing page.

How long does SEO take to work?

Months, and Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO puts the payoff at four months to a year. Month one: the site goes live, your domain, Analytics and Search Console get connected, and the first pages and posts are published and submitted to Google; Search Console starts to show impressions. Months two and three: pages get indexed and begin to rank for the less competitive searches, impressions climb and the first clicks arrive. Months four to six: clicks build as pages move up, and the weekly report shows which pages are earning visits. After that the work compounds, because every page published stays on the site and keeps earning. No one can promise a ranking, and anyone who does is not being straight with you. Buy My Lunch moved to Theo in June 2026 and ninety days later Google was sending seven times the clicks, 929 in the 90 days through September 27, 2026, against 131 in the 90 days before, which is a fast case rather than a promise. The Analytics tab shows what is indexed and what is moving the whole time, and the weekly report summarizes what shipped.

Who owns the website and the content?

You do, always. Theo hosts the site, and every page and post it publishes belongs to your business, along with the photos and copy you added in chat. Pro customers can also read and copy the site code through GitHub. If you leave, you can copy the site and its images and take them elsewhere.

Can I cancel?

Yes, at any time, with no long-term commitment and no contract term. The cancellation confirmation shows the date the subscription ends, and the weekly SEO work continues until that date. Before it ends, you can copy the site and its images to move elsewhere.

What is in an SEO package for small business?

At Theo, the package is the plan, and there is no separate SEO add-on to buy. Starter includes the site, hosting, 4,500 chat credits a month and weekly content and fixes; Pro has 7,000 credits a month, more weekly pages and posts, more room for bigger changes and read-only code access. The SEO work itself never uses credits; credits pay only for changes you ask for in chat, where a small edit uses a little, a new page more and a redesign the most. Top-up credits roll over and never expire.

What counts as affordable SEO services for small business?

Agency retainers start around $399 a month (Third Marble's low end, as of September 2026), and they rarely include the website. Theo is $69.99 a month on Starter with the site included because it builds and hosts the site itself, so the work happens in one place rather than passing between a designer, a developer and an agency. Theo links to the booking, payment and member tools you already use rather than building custom code. No service can promise a ranking, so treat one that does as a warning sign rather than a bargain.

Does Theo do local SEO for small business?

The website half, yes: pages for the services and the towns you serve, click-to-call and the address on the site, technical fixes and indexing, all part of Starter and Pro. For the listings that feed map results, Theo's Boost checklist walks you through Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Yelp and Facebook one at a time, so the name, address and hours match the site. Theo is not a listings or review-management agency; you keep control of the profiles themselves.

Can Theo do SEO on the site I already have?

Theo does the work on a site it builds and hosts, so it starts by rebuilding yours: give it your current URL, it matches the look, you refine the preview in chat, and your old site stays live until you point the domain at the new one. The old addresses that still get traffic or carry links are redirected to the matching new pages once Search Console is connected, on every plan, and submitting the new pages to Google is part of the search work on Starter and Pro. If you are on Wix or Squarespace, the move guides cover what carries over and what to expect in the first weeks.