Building an in-house search strategy across SEO, local search & AEO

Search was critical to how customers found the business

For a residential service business, search captures customers at the point they're actively looking for help — from broad searches for an electrician or air conditioning company through to specific services, problems and locations.

Smartfix had already invested heavily in this channel. There was an established website, hundreds of pages, Google Business Profile activity, paid search and years of SEO work.

The opportunity wasn't to start again. It was to understand what was already there, identify what was genuinely contributing to visibility and enquiries, and build a clearer search strategy around it.

Search activity existed. Internal visibility didn't.

A significant amount of search activity had accumulated across agencies, platforms and the website, but much of the reasoning behind it sat outside the internal marketing function.

That made seemingly simple questions harder to answer. Which services were we prioritising? Where were the content gaps? Which pages were competing with one another? Were location pages genuinely useful? What should be handled through organic search versus paid search? And how should the site change as Google and AI-driven search evolved?

Bringing search closer to the business meant building the internal understanding needed to answer those questions rather than treating SEO as a separate supplier activity.

From agency contact to internal search ownership

I initially managed the relationship with Smartfix's SEO providers, reviewing recommendations, performance and priorities from the business side.

Over time, I became increasingly involved in the search strategy itself: analysing website and search performance, researching opportunities, developing content, managing local search, reviewing technical and on-page issues, and connecting organic search with paid campaigns.

I eventually brought much of that strategic and content capability into the internal marketing function, while still using specialist support where it made sense.

01Auditing the existing search footprint

I reviewed the website structure, service and location pages, existing content, metadata and search visibility to understand what Smartfix already had before creating more.

With hundreds of pages accumulated over time, the priority wasn't simply publishing additional content. It was identifying duplication, gaps, outdated information, weak page intent and opportunities to strengthen the relationship between pages.

02Search intent & keyword mapping

Search research was mapped back to the services Smartfix actually wanted to sell.

Rather than treating keyword volume as the strategy, I looked at the intent behind searches: the service someone needed, the problem they were trying to solve, where they were located and how close they were to making an enquiry.

That informed service pages, supporting articles, FAQs, location content and internal linking.

03Building local search visibility

For a Perth service business, the Google Business Profile and local results could matter before someone ever reached the website.

I managed the profile as an active marketing channel: services, categories, imagery, posts, reviews and business information were kept aligned with the website and current service offering.

Location strategy was then considered across both the website and Google presence rather than treating suburb pages as an isolated SEO exercise.

04Google Business Profile management

I managed Smartfix’s Google Business Profiles across two locations, keeping each profile accurate, active and aligned with the wider search strategy. This included updating business descriptions and services, adding new photos, maintaining business information and consistently publishing Google Business posts.

05Content built around real customer questions

I developed and managed search-led content around questions customers were already asking — from troubleshooting and service decisions to pricing considerations and common household problems.

Articles weren't created simply to publish more keywords. Each needed a reason to exist within the wider search structure and somewhere useful to send the reader next.

As AI-generated answers became more prominent, I also began structuring content around clear questions, concise answers, supporting detail, FAQs and information that could be understood outside a traditional list of blue links.

06On-page optimisation & site structure

Search work extended into the individual pages themselves: page hierarchy, titles and descriptions, headings, copy, FAQs, imagery, internal links and the relationship between service, location and informational content.

Because I also managed the website content, search recommendations didn't have to stop at an audit. I could make many of the content changes directly and build new pages when gaps were identified.

07Connecting organic and paid search

SEO and Google Ads were treated as two parts of the same customer search behaviour rather than completely separate channels.

Working with the paid media specialist, I used search and business priorities to help inform campaign direction, landing pages and messaging, while paid-search data could also reveal useful information about the language and services driving demand.

The objective wasn't to force every query into organic or paid. It was to understand where each channel made sense.