Last updated: October 2026
SEO (search engine optimization) helps your website show up when people search Google. AEO (answer engine optimization) helps your content get quoted by AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews. For service providers, both come down to the same thing: answer your ideal client’s real questions clearly, in their words, on pages that load well and link to each other. It’s the slow, steady part of a marketing strategy for service providers.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s the ability to affect the visibility of your website in a search engine’s unpaid (or “natural”) results through the words you use. Two big benefits: it’s free, and anyone can learn it. You don’t need to be a technically minded person to use keywords to get found.
What is AEO, and why does it matter now?
AEO means writing so AI search tools can lift a clear answer straight from your page. That means a direct answer in the first sentence or two under each heading, question-style headings, and FAQs. More people now ask AI tools for recommendations, so being the clear answer matters as much as ranking.
On my own site, I open every section with a one- or two-sentence answer before going into the details. I write headings as the questions my clients actually ask, like “How long does SEO take to work?” And I add a short FAQ section to the end of my posts, so readers and AI tools can both find the answer quickly.
How to choose keywords as a service provider
The best keywords for service providers are the long, specific questions your ideal clients already type into Google. Start with what clients ask you on calls, then check those phrases in Google’s autocomplete and “People also ask” box.
Remember, the goal isn’t just more traffic. It’s the right traffic: the people you actually want to work with. High traffic doesn’t equal business success, so choose keywords based on the language and pain points of your ideal client, not just search volume. Here’s how to do market research to find those questions.
What are long tail keywords?
This is what service providers should focus on: long tail keywords. Long tail keywords lengthen the search term to create more specific results. Service-based businesses benefit from being precise, not general.
If someone searches Google for “nervous system,” the results are endless, and most of those searchers aren’t looking for a coach.
“How to calm your nervous system” is much more specific.
Even better: “how to calm your nervous system before a sales call.”
The more specific the phrase, the narrower the results, and the better your chance of ranking in front of the people searching for exactly what you offer. These are the types of keywords to build your SEO around.
Once you know your keywords, here’s how to plan content marketing around them.
Where to put your keywords
Write the content you know your clients need first, then weave in keywords afterward so your posts stay interesting and specific. Here are the places you want your keywords to appear:
- The title of the post
- The first paragraph
- The subheadings
- The alt text of your images
- The URL
Use the full keyword phrase once, then use natural variations after that. You don’t need to repeat the exact phrase over and over; write the way your clients talk.
For images, fill in the alt text with a short description of what’s in the picture, and give each image a descriptive file name before you upload it (for example, calm-nervous-system-sales-call.jpg instead of IMG_4382.jpg).
Keep your URL clean and simple: letters and numbers only, with hyphens between words. Avoid underscores and punctuation; they make your URL less search engine friendly.
Links: internal and external
Backlinks, where another website links to yours, are one of the strongest ways to boost your SEO. Anyone can add keywords, but when other people or blogs mention you, it adds legitimacy and authority to your content.
How do you get other websites to link to you? Here are a few simple ideas:
- Create content people find genuinely useful
- Think local: as a service provider, how can you help your community?
- Make your content original: share a different opinion, take a stand, or publish your own research
- Contact a site that has linked to a competitor and tell them why your content is worth sharing
- Create incentives for people to share your link
Links within your own site matter too. Link every new post to two or three older related posts so readers (and Google) can move between them.
And don’t be afraid to link out. Linking to helpful sources that don’t compete with you makes your content more useful and more trustworthy.
SEO without WordPress plugins
You don’t need a plugin to do SEO. A plugin like Yoast just reminds you to do the basics: a keyword in your title, URL, first paragraph and meta description.
If your site is on Squarespace, Wix or Kajabi, you can do all of this by hand. Each platform has SEO settings for every page and post, where you can write your own SEO title, meta description and URL slug. Add those, fill in your image alt text as you upload, and you’ve covered the same basics a plugin would check for you.
Pinterest is a search engine too
Pinterest works like a search engine, so the same keywords that help your blog posts can help your pins. Pair each pin with a keyword-focused blog post instead of pinning at random.
Use your keyword in the pin title, the pin description and your board names, and link each pin straight to the post it matches. Pins keep sending traffic for months, sometimes years, after you create them.
How to tell if your SEO is working
Use Google Search Console, which is free, to see which searches show your pages, where you rank, and how many people click. Check it monthly. SEO usually takes three to six months to show results.
Then mine your analytics. In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), look at which posts bring in the most visitors and which ones lead to inquiries or bookings. Update and promote the posts that are already working, and write more about those topics.
Here’s how to calculate click-through rate from your Search Console numbers.
Want help with your SEO?
If you’d rather have someone do this for you, I offer SEO and AEO support for coaches and service providers. Book a marketing strategy call and we’ll look at your site together.
About the author: Alison Reeves is a holistic business coach with more than 15 years in marketing and nearly a decade coaching entrepreneurs. She’s trained in somatic and trauma-informed coaching and is the author of Embodied Abundance. Work with Alison
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between SEO and AEO?
SEO helps your pages rank in search results. AEO helps AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews quote your content as an answer. They overlap: clear, well-structured content that answers real questions helps with both.
How long does SEO take to work?
Most new pages take three to six months to rank well, and sometimes longer on competitive topics. Updating and linking existing posts can show results faster, often within a few weeks.
Can I do SEO myself?
Yes. The basics are choosing a clear keyword for each page, answering the question well, using the keyword in your title and headings, and linking related posts together. Get help when you want a strategy for the whole site or you don’t have time.
Do coaches need SEO?
Not always, but it helps. SEO brings in people who are actively looking for help, and a good post keeps bringing in clients for years. If you love writing or speaking, it’s one of the most sustainable ways to market.
More marketing help for service providers
- Marketing strategy for service providers
- Content marketing for service providers
- Coaching website examples and best practices
- How to calculate click-through rate
- How to do market research
Want help with your marketing? Book a marketing strategy call.
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