Small business marketing
Digital marketing for small business, sized to your budget
Local SEO, Google Ads and a website that turns visits into calls. We tell you what to do first with £500 to £1,500 a month, and what to ignore.
- Plans built around your budget
- Local SEO and Google Ads
- Rolling monthly, no lock-in
Quick answer
ProntX offers digital marketing for small businesses in London and across the UK: local SEO, Google Ads management and small business websites, prioritised around a realistic monthly budget. SEO plans start from £595 a month and PPC management from £450 plus ad spend, on rolling monthly contracts with no lock-in.
The short answer
What does digital marketing for small business actually involve?
For most small businesses it comes down to three things: being visible when local people search, a website that makes contacting you easy, and a steady flow of reviews. Everything else is optional until those work.
Digital marketing for small business is not a smaller version of what big brands do. You do not have the budget to test six channels, and you should not have to. You need the few actions that bring calls and enquiries this quarter, done properly and measured honestly. That is how ProntX plans work for small firms in London and across the UK.
The most common problem we see is spread. An owner pays a little for social posting, a little for an SEO package, boosts a few Facebook posts and runs Google Ads on autopilot. None of it gets enough attention to work, and nobody can say which part brought the last customer. It feels like digital marketing does not work, when really it was never given a chance.
Our approach is the opposite. We look at how your customers search, what a customer is worth to you and what you can afford each month, then pick one or two channels and run them well. As results come in, we add the next channel. Small business digital marketing services should grow with the revenue they create, not ahead of it.
Budget planning
What should you do first with £500 to £1,500 a month?
Spend in order of return: fix the foundations, then buy visibility, then build long-term rankings. Here is how we would typically split a small business budget, including ad spend.
| Monthly budget | What we would usually recommend | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Around £500 | Fix your Google Business Profile, website basics and tracking. Put any remaining money into a tightly targeted Google Ads campaign you can run yourself, or save towards a better website. | An agency retainer would take most of the budget. Getting the free and low-cost basics right gives a better return at this level. |
| Around £1,000 | One managed channel: either local SEO from £595, or Google Ads management from £450 with the rest as ad spend. | Choose ads if you need calls now and have a clear service with good margins. Choose SEO if you can wait a few months for cheaper leads. |
| Around £1,500 | Local SEO plus Google Ads management, with a few hundred pounds of ad spend on your highest-value services. | Ads bring enquiries while SEO builds, and ad search terms show which pages to create for organic search. |
These splits are a starting point. A locksmith with emergency call-outs and a bookkeeper with annual clients need different plans, and our free audit sets the order using your own data.
The basics
Which three channels matter most for small businesses?
Local search, Google Ads and your website. Between them they cover people searching for you right now and the place they land when they do.
Get found locally
Local SEO
Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees. We complete and optimise it, set up a simple review request process, clean up directory listings so your name, address and phone match everywhere, and build service and area pages on your site.
Get calls this month
Google Ads
Search campaigns limited to your service area and your most profitable jobs, with call tracking and negative keywords so you stop paying for irrelevant clicks. We start narrow and widen only when the cost per enquiry is proven.
Turn visits into enquiries
A website that converts
Fast on a phone, clear about what you do and where, with a visible phone number, a short enquiry form and trust signals like reviews and accreditations. If yours already does this, we leave it alone.
What the first 90 days usually look like
Weeks 1 to 2
Foundations
Tracking for calls and forms, Google Business Profile clean-up, quick website fixes such as page speed and a visible phone button, and agreement on the services that matter most.
Weeks 3 to 6
Visibility
Google Ads go live on a narrow set of high-value searches, review requests start, and the first service and area pages are written or improved for local search.
Weeks 7 to 12
Refinement
We cut keywords that bring poor enquiries, move budget to what works, add pages based on real search terms and agree whether a second channel is now worth funding.
Where money gets wasted
What should a small business skip at the start?
Anything you cannot measure or afford to do consistently. These are the spends we most often advise small business owners to pause.
- Posting on five social platforms with no time to reply to comments
- SEO packages that promise page one rankings or a set number of backlinks
- Display and awareness campaigns before search campaigns are profitable
- Paying for directory listings that bring no measurable enquiries
- Rebuilding a website that only needed a faster host and clearer pages
Skipping these is not about doing less marketing. It is about putting every pound where it can be tracked back to a customer. Once your core channels are profitable, social media, email and wider ad campaigns become worth testing, and we can add them without changing teams.
We would rather tell you a channel is not right for you yet than take a fee for it. That is easier to say when nobody is tied into a twelve-month contract.
Why ProntX
Why choose ProntX as your small business digital marketing agency?
Small businesses get the same senior team as larger clients, prices you can see before you call, and no contract trapping you if it does not work.
Clarity
Prices on the website
You can see what SEO, ads and websites cost before speaking to us, so the first call is about your business, not a sales pitch.
Flexibility
Rolling monthly terms
Stay because it works. Pause or stop with notice at the end of any month.
Ownership
Everything in your name
Ad accounts, Business Profile, analytics and domain stay yours, and ad spend goes straight to Google.
Access
A reply within one working day
You deal with the people doing the work, not an account manager relaying messages.
Pricing
How much do digital marketing packages for small business cost?
Plans start at £595 a month for local SEO or £450 a month for Google Ads management plus ad spend, all ex VAT. Typical combined plans are shown below; your final price depends on competition and the number of services and locations.
| Plan | Typical price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Local SEO | From £595 a month | Businesses serving one town or borough that can wait 3 to 6 months for results |
| Google Ads management | From £450 a month plus ad spend | Businesses that need enquiries quickly for a clear set of services |
| Local SEO and Google Ads | Typically £1,045 to £1,500 a month plus ad spend | Firms that want calls now and cheaper organic leads later |
| New website | From £1,950 one-off | Owners whose current site is slow, unclear or impossible to update |
SEO and AI search
from £595/month
Local and small business SEO, GEO and AEO included
What is includedPPC and Google Ads
from £450/month
Management fee. Ad spend is paid direct to Google
What is includedFull details of what each plan includes are on our pricing page.
Measuring results
How will you know if your marketing is working?
By counting enquiries and what each one cost, every month. Rankings and traffic matter only when they lead to calls, forms and bookings.
- Phone calls from ads, your website and Google Business Profile
- Enquiry form submissions and booking requests
- Cost per enquiry for each channel
- Google Maps views, direction requests and website clicks
- New reviews and your average rating over time
We set this tracking up in the first fortnight in your own Google Analytics and Google Ads accounts. Each month you get a short written update: what came in, what it cost, what we changed and what we will try next. If a channel is not paying its way after a fair test, we say so and suggest moving the budget.
Who we help
Which small businesses do we work with?
Owner-run firms that serve local customers or a defined niche, from one-person trades to practices and firms with a few locations.
If you work in a regulated or competitive sector, see how we adapt plans in our industry pages. Whatever you do, the first step is the same: a free video audit from ProntX showing the three changes most likely to bring you more enquiries.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
- 01Free audit
We review your site, search visibility, ads and competitors, then send a short video walkthrough with the quickest wins.
Request audit - 02Plan and price
A one-page plan with goals, channels, timeline and a fixed monthly price. No surprises later.
See prices - 03Launch in weeks
Tracking first, then quick wins, then the bigger builds. You see progress in the first month.
See our work - 04Report and grow
Monthly report in plain English: leads, sales, cost per result and what we do next.
Talk to us
FAQ
Small business digital marketing questions, answered
Still unsure? Ask us anything. We reply within one working day.
How much should a small business spend on digital marketing?
There is no single right figure, but most small businesses we speak to work with £500 to £1,500 a month including ad spend. Below about £1,000 it is usually better to fix your website and Google Business Profile and run one channel well than to spread money across several. The right number depends on the value of a customer to you.
Is digital marketing worth it for a very small business?
Usually, yes, as long as it is focused. A sole trader or a five-person firm rarely needs social campaigns or display ads. They need to appear when local people search for their service, a website that makes calling easy, and steady reviews. Those basics are cheap compared with the value of a few extra customers a month.
Should I start with SEO or Google Ads?
If you need enquiries this month, start with Google Ads, because campaigns can bring calls within days. If you can wait three to six months and want lower cost per lead long term, start with SEO. Many small businesses run modest ads while local SEO builds, then reduce ad spend once organic rankings and Google Maps visibility take over.
Do you offer digital marketing packages for small businesses?
We offer clear starting points rather than fixed bundles: local SEO from £595 a month, Google Ads management from £450 a month plus spend, and small business websites from £1,950. We then combine them into a plan that fits your budget. See all figures on our pricing page. Every plan is rolling monthly.
Can I do some of the marketing myself?
Yes, and we encourage it where it saves you money. Asking customers for reviews, posting photos to your Google Business Profile and answering enquiries quickly are jobs owners often do better than any agency. We focus our time on the technical and paid work, and give you a short monthly checklist for the rest.
How long before I see results?
Google Ads can produce calls within the first week or two once tracking is in place. Local SEO usually shows movement in Google Maps within two to three months, with stronger organic results over six months or more, depending on competition. We show progress monthly against enquiries, not just rankings.
What if my website is old or slow?
Then that is often the first fix, because ads and SEO both send people to it. Sometimes a few changes are enough: faster hosting, a clear phone button, proper service pages and conversion tracking. If the site cannot be saved, we build a new small business website from £1,950 that is ready for SEO and ads from launch.
Will I be tied into a contract?
No. Our marketing plans run on rolling monthly contracts, and website builds are fixed-price projects. Your Google Ads account, Google Business Profile, analytics and domain are set up in your name, so if you ever leave you keep everything, including the data and campaign history.
Works well with
Related services
Free growth audit
Find out what is holding your growth back
Tell us about your business in four quick steps. Within two working days you get a short video audit of your website, search visibility and ads, with the three changes that would make the biggest difference.
- Personal video walkthrough, not an automated PDF
- Covers SEO, AI search, ads and conversion
- No obligation and no hard sell