SEO for Small Businesses: Web Developers vs. SEO Specialists

If you own a small business, you've probably heard about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a million times. It’s the magic sauce that gets your website ranking higher on Google, bringing in more traffic, more leads, and hopefully, more sales.

But here’s the thing—SEO isn’t just one thing. It’s an ongoing, ever-evolving process that takes months of consistent effort to see real results.

And this is where many business owners get confused. When you ask a web developer about SEO, you might expect the same answer you’d get from an SEO specialist, but we do very different things.

So, let’s break it down:

• What web developers do for SEO (the essential on-page stuff)
• What SEO specialists do (the long-term, big-picture strategy)
• Why your website’s foundation makes or breaks your SEO success

By the end of this, you’ll know exactly what kind of SEO you’re getting when you hire a web developer like me—and why that matters.

What SEO Do Web Developers Handle? (The On-Page SEO Fundamentals)

As a web developer, my job is to build you a beautiful, functional, and SEO-performant website from the ground up. I don’t just slap together some code and call it a day. I make sure the technical foundation of your site sets you up for success.

Here’s What On-Page SEO Looks Like From a Developer’s Perspective:

✅ Fast Page Speed

• Using theelement to serve the right-sized images based on screen size
• Compressing images to reduce file size without sacrificing quality
• Lazy loading images and background images to prevent unnecessary load times
• Minimizing third-party scripts that slow down performance

✅ Clean, Search-Friendly Code

• Using semantic HTML so search engines understand your content structure
• Writing mobile-first CSS and coding for the best mobile experience
• Keeping HTML and CSS lightweight and easy to read for search engines

✅ Proper Heading Structure

• Organizing content with H1, H2, H3, etc. in a logical order
• Ensuring only one H1 per page (that actually describes what the page is about)

✅ Web Accessibility & ARIA Attributes

• Adding alt tags for all images to help visually impaired users (and boost SEO)
• Ensuring all buttons, links, and interactive elements have proper ARIA labels

✅ Optimized Image & Asset Management

• Resizing images to their actual display size instead of loading massive, oversized files
• Adding height and width attributes to images to prevent layout shifts

Why This Matters:

Google ranks sites based on speed, structure, and user experience. If your website is bloated, messy, or slow, it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at an SEO specialist—you’re fighting an uphill battle.

What SEO Specialists Handle (The Big-Picture SEO Strategy)

Now, let’s talk about what SEO specialists do.

Unlike web developers, SEO specialists don’t build websites. They focus on improving rankings over time through ongoing efforts. This is where the heavy lifting of SEO happens.

What SEO Specialists Focus On:

📌 Keyword Research & Strategy

• Finding the best keywords to target for your business
• Understanding search intent and competition

📌 Content Creation & Optimization

• Writing blog posts, landing pages, and product descriptions optimized for search engines
• Regularly updating and improving existing content

📌 Technical SEO Beyond On-Page Work

• Managing crawlability and indexing (ensuring Google can actually find and rank your pages)
• Fixing issues like duplicate content, canonical tags, and structured data markup

📌 Backlink Building & Off-Page SEO

• Getting high-quality websites to link back to your site (which boosts authority)
• Creating content that naturally earns backlinks over time

📌 SEO Audits & Ongoing Monitoring

• Tracking site performance, ranking changes, and fixing SEO issues as they arise

Why This Matters:

SEO isn’t instant. It can take months to see meaningful results, which is why SEO specialists charge premium rates—often hundreds or thousands of dollars per month—for ongoing optimization.

But here’s the catch…

If your website wasn’t built with on-page SEO best practices, an SEO specialist will have to fix your site before they can even start their real work.

A badly built website makes ranking on Google so much harder, no matter how much SEO work is done after the fact.

Good Website SEO Foundation = Gold for SEO Specialists

Think of SEO like building a house.

• Web developers lay the foundation. If it’s solid, everything built on top of it will be stronger.
• SEO specialists furnish and decorate it. They make it attractive and functional for visitors.

A well-built website with strong on-page SEO is like a gold mine for an SEO specialist. It means they don’t have to waste time fixing slow load speeds, broken headings, or messy HTML. They can focus on ranking strategies that actually move the needle.

On the other hand, a poorly built website can completely negate an SEO specialist’s efforts. If the structure is weak, no amount of keyword optimization or backlinks will save it.

What I Do Best (And Why I Don’t Dilute My Skills)

I run a web design and development business, not an SEO agency. My specialty is building SEO-performant websites that look great, load fast, and give SEO specialists the perfect foundation to work with.

I don’t stretch myself thin trying to do everything. Instead, I focus on what I do best:

✅ Designing and coding high-quality websites

✅ Implementing on-page SEO best practices

✅ Optimizing sites for speed, accessibility, and mobile-friendliness

If you need ongoing SEO work like backlinks, keyword tracking, and monthly optimization, that’s where an SEO specialist comes in. But if you want a website that’s already built with strong SEO fundamentals, that’s what I deliver.

Why My Pricing Makes Sense for Small Businesses

SEO specialists charge a lot because their work is ongoing. Many small businesses don’t have the budget for a full-scale SEO campaign, which is why I don’t bake those costs into my pricing. My websites are built with SEO in mind, meaning they are a perfect starting point for businesses that want a strong foundation but don’t need an expensive, long-term SEO commitment right away.

Once your business is ready for advanced SEO services, you can take your new website to an SEO specialist who can help you grow further. In fact, I plan on partnering with an SEO specialist in the future to make this process even smoother for my clients.

Final Thoughts: Get the Best of Both Worlds

SEO isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s a long-term game, and the best results come from a website that’s:

✔️ Built with SEO-friendly development practices

✔️ Maintained by an SEO specialist for ongoing optimization

If you’re looking for a website that’s fast, SEO-performant, and primed for long-term growth, let’s talk. I’ll build you a site that makes it easy for an SEO specialist to take you to the first page of Google.

🚀 Need a website that’s built right from day one? Let’s make it happen.