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Six months of local SEO, numbers included
A candid look at what an SEO retainer actually moves for a small Sydney café.
AAYUSH MARCH 28, 2026 11 MIN
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Month 1 shows no movement. That’s normal. Don’t fire anyone at month 2.
- First real ranking shifts arrived at month 3; revenue lift at month 5.
- Google Business Profile drove more of the lift than organic search did.
- Total 6-month cost $4,140; attributable monthly revenue lift ~$2,800 → payback month six.
Most SEO case studies compare month 1 to month 6 and show big percentages. The reality is slower. Here’s a real one, as flat as I can tell it.
The starting point
Small café, Marrickville, ~60 seats, brunch-focused. Existing Squarespace site, well-rated on Google, 1,100 Google Business Profile views/mo, barely ranking organically for anything except their own name. Retainer: $690/mo for 6 months, no lock-in.
| Metric | Month 0 (start) | Month 6 (end) |
|---|---|---|
| GBP profile views | 1,100 | 3,850 |
| GBP calls | 22 | 61 |
| Organic clicks (web) | 180 | 620 |
| Website bookings | 4/mo | 14/mo |
| Top-3 rankings (tracked) | 1 | 9 |
| Attributable revenue/mo | ~$0 | ~$2,800 |
Month by month
The actual play-by-play. Nothing skipped. No spin.
Month 1 — foundations
- Technical audit. Fixed 19 broken internal links, added LocalBusiness + Menu schema, rewrote 8 page titles.
- GBP hygiene. Added 45 photos, cleaned categories, filled Q&A section, turned on messaging.
- Search Console + GA4 properly wired (previously both were broken/partial).
- Traffic change: 0%. This is expected.
Month 2 — content + proof
- Published 4 local-intent pages: "best brunch marrickville", "vegan brunch inner west", "dog-friendly cafés marrickville", "weekend breakfast near sydenham".
- Encouraged review flow — 18 new reviews in 30 days (previous 90 days: 4).
- GBP views up 18% on photo engagement alone.
- Organic traffic: flat.
Month 3 — first movement
- First ranking movement: "brunch marrickville" from page 3 → position 7.
- Organic traffic up 31% off a tiny base (still just 240 clicks/mo).
- GBP calls: 35 (from 22 baseline).
Month 4 — links arrive
- Earned 2 links from local food blogs via a cold pitch + a press-ready "opening times" page.
- Three tracked terms on page 1.
- Clicks up 58% YoY.
- Revenue attribution starts being measurable (~$900/mo).
Month 5 — booking flow
- Redesigned the booking section on the homepage. One booking widget, not three.
- Website bookings up from 4/mo to 11/mo.
- GBP calls up 40%.
- Attributable revenue/mo ~$2,100.
Month 6 — ROI month
- 7 terms on page 1, 2 in the top 3.
- Organic traffic 2.3× start (420 → 970 clicks/mo).
- Reported revenue attributable to SEO: ~$2,800/mo increase.
- ROI: $4,140 spent, ~$8,400 earned in the last 3 months alone. Payback clean.
We didn’t do anything magical. We did the unglamorous local SEO playbook, consistently, for six months.
What we didn’t do
- Buy links. Not one.
- Publish 40 generic blog posts.
- Chase "café sydney" — too broad, not winnable on the timeline.
- Use any AI content for the on-site pages. We used AI for outlining and then wrote from scratch.
What it cost the client
| Item | Spend |
|---|---|
| 6 × $690 retainer | $4,140 |
| Google My Business premium features | $0 (free tier) |
| Schema markup tool | $0 (hand-written) |
| Link building spend | $0 |
| Content production | Included |
Total out-of-pocket: $4,140 over six months. Attributable uplift in the back three months alone: ~$8,400. Ongoing recurring benefit at no extra spend.
HOW WE KNOW THIS
Methodology
Basis
One real engagement: small Marrickville café, ~60 seats, brunch-focused. The client gave permission to publish with their numbers anonymised in name only. POS revenue is pulled from Square; ranking data from Ahrefs and Search Console; GBP from the Insights tab.
Period
October 2025 → March 2026 (six full retainer months)
Sources
Square POS, Ahrefs, Google Search Console, GBP Insights, GA4
COMPANION · PDF · 4 PAGES
The local-SEO month-by-month roadmap
The exact sequence we ran across months 1–6, with the trigger metrics that say "do this next." Drop-in for any service business with an existing GBP and a real address.
YOU MIGHT BE THINKING…
Common pushbacks, answered
Real objections we hear when we share this with clients. Often the disagreement is the most interesting part.
IF "Six months feels too long. Can't we go faster?"
THEN
Sometimes. Posts that look like overnight wins usually involve a previously-strong brand or a previously-poor competitor field. For an average small business in a competitive suburb, 3 months is the earliest you'll see meaningful movement, 6 months is the earliest you'll see steady revenue lift.
IF "$690/mo seems low for SEO."
THEN
It is — that's our minimum tier. For more competitive industries (plumbers, dentists in CBD) we usually scope $1,200–$2,500/mo. The café was a good fit for the minimum because the brand already had a real reputation and just needed Google to see it.
IF "Why didn't you migrate them off Squarespace?"
THEN
No reason to. Squarespace is fine for a small site that doesn't need custom behaviour. Migration would have eaten 30% of the retainer budget and bought nothing. Local SEO works on whatever CMS you're on.
IF "Did you do any link building?"
THEN
Two links over six months, both from cold pitches to local food blogs. No paid placements, no PBNs, no guest-post farms. That's deliberate — we'd rather rank slower and not fear an algorithm update.
COMMON QUESTIONS
TOOLS MENTIONED IN THIS POST
The kit referenced above
01
Google Business Profile
The single highest-leverage surface for local SEO. Most accounts have it badly configured.
02
Ahrefs
For rank tracking, competitor link gap, and the local pack snapshot.
03
Schema App
Used for the LocalBusiness + Menu schema markup, although we hand-wrote this client's.
04
Search Console
Where the early ranking shifts show up first, weeks before Ahrefs notices.
05
Squarespace
The client's existing CMS. We did not migrate — local SEO doesn't require a rebuild.
No affiliate links. We name what we use, you decide.
FURTHER READING
Other people, smarter than us
Sources we leaned on, plus a couple we just like. None of these paid to be here.
- 01The Local SEO GuideWhitesparkClosest to our actual playbook. We use their citation audit tool occasionally.
- 02How Google evaluates local intentGoogle Search CentralThe official primary source. Vague but worth reading.
- 03Why GBP photos matter more than you thinkSterling SkyJoy Hawkins' research on photo engagement & ranking correlation.
UPDATES LOG
What's changed since publication
- Mar 28, 2026Original publication. Numbers verified against the client's POS and GA4 within 48 hours of writing.
DISAGREE? GREAT.
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If something here is wrong, missing context, or just sets you off — email Aayush directly. We read everything. Sharper arguments make the next post better.
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