About Saltwater Search
A small, independent SEO agency for businesses in Brighton, Hove and along the Sussex coast.
Why we exist
Brighton is full of good businesses with websites that undersell them. The café with a loyal following that doesn't appear when visitors search for brunch near the station. The architect in Hove whose best projects are hidden in a PDF. The start-up with a brilliant product and a site that Google can barely crawl. We set up Saltwater Search to fix that kind of problem, one business at a time.
What we believe about SEO
- Specific beats generic. A page that answers one real question in detail will outperform ten vague ones.
- Honesty is part of the service. If SEO isn't the right spend for you this year, we will say so.
- Fix before you build. Technical problems and a neglected Google Business Profile come before new content and links.
- You should understand what you are paying for. Every month you get a short note in plain English: what we did, why, and what we expect.
- No tricks. No bought links, fake reviews, keyword stuffing or anything that could get your site penalised.
What we don't do
We don't run paid ads, manage social media or build websites from scratch. Staying focused on search means we stay good at it, and we are not trying to sell you a bundle. When you need those things, we are happy to work with whoever you choose.
How we work
We are a small team, which means the person you speak to is the person doing the work. We meet clients in Brighton when it helps and work remotely the rest of the time. Contracts run month to month after an initial three-month period, which is roughly how long it takes to see whether a plan is working.
We start with your business, not your website
Before we open a crawler, we ask about your customers, your best services, your margins and your busy and quiet seasons. A seafront café, a Hove solicitor and a SaaS start-up near the station need very different things from search, and the plan should reflect what actually makes you money.
We work from evidence
Recommendations come from your own Search Console and analytics data, a full crawl of the site, and a look at what currently ranks for the searches you want. When we are making a judgement call rather than following the data, we say so.
We write things down plainly
Every audit, plan and monthly note is written for a business owner, not an SEO specialist. If a recommendation needs a developer, we write it as a ticket your developer can pick up without a meeting.
We work with your existing team
Many clients already have a web designer, developer, copywriter or marketing agency. We fit around them rather than replacing them, and we are happy to share what we know.
What your first month looks like
| When | What happens | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 5 | Kick-off call, access to Search Console, analytics and your Google Business Profile | A shared list of goals and the searches that matter most |
| Days 5 to 15 | Technical crawl, local presence check, content and competitor review | A written audit in plain English |
| Days 15 to 20 | Prioritising: impact against effort for every issue found | A three-month plan you can say yes or no to, line by line |
| Days 20 to 30 | The first fixes go live: usually technical issues and profile improvements | A short note on what changed and what comes next |
Who we are a good fit for
- Brighton and Hove businesses that want to understand what they are paying for.
- Owners and small marketing teams who can give us an hour a month for questions and approvals.
- Businesses with something genuinely good to say: real expertise, a distinctive product, a place people love.
Who we are probably not right for
- Anyone wanting guaranteed rankings or results in a fortnight.
- Businesses that need paid ads or social media managed as the main channel.
- Large enterprises needing a big in-house-style team.
Want to see the kind of projects we take on? Have a look at our case studies or send us a message.