Small business marketing
Your first
30 days.
Do the free, lasting things first. Week one: claim and verify your Google Business Profile, since verification can take time. Week two: make the website clear on a phone. Week three: start asking every customer for a review, within the ACCC's rules. Week four: set up tracking, then try a small paid test. Each task is about 20 minutes.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Why
this order.
Verification first, because it can take days or weeks, and a postcard code expires after 30 days. The website next, because every ad and profile sends people there. Reviews third, because they take time to build and readers want recent ones. Tracking before spending, so the first dollar of ads can be measured.
Ads last, not because they don't work, but because they work better on top of a verified profile, a clear website and some reviews.
Your 30 days
Pick a start date.
Get a dated plan.
Each task is about 20 minutes. Pick the Monday you'll start and it puts real dates on each week. Copy it, print it, or send it to yourself.
A word on
email and SMS.
If week three includes texting or emailing customers, the Spam Act applies: consent, your business identified, and a working unsubscribe. The ACMA takes it seriously: Latitude Finance paid $3.96 million in 2026 after more than 2.3 million marketing messages went out without accurate sender details, some with an unsubscribe that didn't work.
For a small business, the fix is simple: ask customers if they want to hear from you, record that they said yes, and make every message easy to stop.
After
30 days.
Keep a monthly 20-minute check: new reviews and replies, profile details, enquiries and where they came from, and whatever you're testing. The budget calculator helps decide what to test next.
Add one free tool to that check. Google Search Console is a free Google service that shows which searches your website appears for and how often people click through. You don't need it to be in Google's results, but it's where Google shows you what people typed before they reached your site.
Website basics
in week two.
A small business website has three jobs: show you're real, say clearly what you do and for whom, and make the next step easy. Phone as tap-to-call text, a page for each main service, your area, prices or what drives them, and real photos. Check it on your phone, on mobile data, as a customer would.
If the site is slow or hard to update, note it and keep going. Fixing it can be a later project. What matters in the first month is that someone who finds you can contact you in two taps. Google's guidance on helpful content asks the same thing in different words: who you are, what you offer, and why the page exists.
Reviews
in week three.
Pick one moment to ask, write one short message, and use it every time. Ask everyone, not just the customers who seemed happy: Google calls selective asking review gating and doesn't allow it. Reply to recent reviews the same week.
What I see most often
What I see
most often.
- 1
Ads before the basics
Money spent sending people to an unverified profile or a slow website.
- 2
Everything at once
A weekend spent on ten things, then nothing for three months.
- 3
No record of what worked
Enquiries arrive and nobody notes where they came from.
- 4
Verification left too late
The postcard arrives after the owner has stopped checking the mail.
The honest bit. Thirty days won't transform a business. It will give you the foundations that make every later dollar of marketing work harder.
Questions
people ask.
How do I start marketing a small business?
Start with a verified Google Business Profile, a clear website, and asking every customer for a review. Then measure, then spend.
What should a small business do first online?
Claim and verify your Google Business Profile. It's free, and it's often how local customers find you first.
How long does Google verification take?
It varies. Phone, text and email codes arrive straight away, then Google can take up to 5 business days to review. A postcard usually arrives within 14 days, and its code expires after 30 days.
Do I need consent to text or email customers?
Yes. Under the Spam Act you need consent, clear sender details and a working unsubscribe.
Related
Keep
going.
Get a free
search audit.
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.