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SEO — 9 articles for US service businesses
Search engine optimization for US service businesses — how to rank in Google's organic results in 2026, what it costs, how long it takes, and how to measure ROI. Covers technical SEO, content, backlinks, and local SEO for verticals like dental, HVAC, legal, plastic surgery, and plumbing.
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Sorted newest first. 9 total SEO articles in the Foundgrove blog.
- SEO
SEO vs Google Ads: Which Should a Service Business Do First?
Side-by-side: time to results, cost, sustainability, attribution. When paid first beats SEO first. CPL benchmarks by industry. When LSAs win.
By The Foundgrove teamJun 24, 202611 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
Next.js Metadata API: The Complete SEO Setup Guide
Title templates, canonicals, OG, JSON-LD, sitemap.ts — Next.js Metadata API replaces Yoast. The production setup, plus the doubled-suffix bug.
By The Foundgrove teamJun 22, 202611 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
SEO Checklist: 25 Things Every Service Business Website Needs
The 25-item SEO checklist for service businesses in 2026 — technical, on-page, off-page, and AI-search. With verification steps for each item.
By The Foundgrove teamJun 15, 202613 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
How Much Does SEO Cost for a Service Business in 2026?
Real 2026 SEO pricing: entry $1,500/mo, standard $2,500–$5,000/mo, aggressive $5,000–$15,000/mo. What's in each tier, hidden costs, and ROI math.
By The Foundgrove teamJun 3, 202610 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
Why Isn't My Service Business Ranking in Google?
Ten diagnostic categories for service businesses that aren't ranking. How to diagnose each in 15 minutes with free tools. What to fix first.
By The Foundgrove teamMay 26, 202612 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
How Long Does SEO Take to Work for a Service Business?
Realistic SEO timelines by domain age, industry, and competition. Month-by-month milestones, the indexation-to-leads funnel, and what kills momentum.
By The Foundgrove teamMay 18, 202611 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
How Google AI Overviews quietly rewrote the SEO playbook
AI Overviews now appear on roughly half of all queries. Here's what changed, what didn't, and the three things every service business should do this quarter.
By The Foundgrove teamApr 22, 20269 min readRead the seo playbook → - SEO
GEO vs AEO vs SEO: a working definition for service businesses
Three acronyms, three real disciplines. Here's how we distinguish Generative Engine Optimization, Answer Engine Optimization, and traditional SEO — and why all three matter.
By The Foundgrove teamMar 14, 20267 min readRead the seo playbook →
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Six other category pages cover the rest of the Foundgrove playbook.
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