SEO Consultant Bath, James Burfield, SEOBurf
I’ve been doing SEO in Bath for over 25 years. In that time I’ve worked with RWK Goodman Solicitors for seven years straight, helped Marshfield Ice Cream get found locally, and built search strategies for businesses from the city centre to the Somerset fringes. I know this market. I know which searches matter here, and I know how to get your business in front of the people making them.
If you’re looking for a Bath SEO agency, you’re probably going to find a lot of them. Most will send a junior account manager to your first meeting and hand the actual work to someone you’ll never speak to. That’s not how I work. Every piece of work is done by me directly, no hand-offs, no overhead, just senior-level SEO from someone who knows Bath.
What I do for Bath businesses
The search landscape has changed significantly in the last two years. Google’s MUVERA algorithm now breaks queries into multiple components and matches them against content that covers a topic in depth, not just pages that mention the right keywords. AI Overviews have reduced clicks on informational queries. AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are now part of how people research suppliers.
SEO in Bath in 2026 means covering all of this. Here’s what I focus on:
Technical SEO
If your site has crawl issues, slow load times, or duplicate content, Google won’t rank it regardless of how good the copy is. I audit and fix the technical foundations first.
Local SEO
Google Business Profile optimisation, local citation building (NAP consistency across Yell, Clutch, Bark, Bath Chamber), and on-page local signals. For Bath businesses targeting local customers, this is usually the fastest route to visible results.
Content strategy
Pages that cover what your audience actually needs to know, written in plain English, structured for how Google reads content in 2026, and built around the real questions your customers ask.
GEO, Generative Engine Optimisation
Getting your business cited in AI tools. I’m already appearing in ChatGPT results for “SEO consultant in Bath”, I can apply the same approach to your business.
Reporting
No agency dashboards with vanity metrics. I report on rankings, traffic, and the things that actually connect to your business, leads, enquiries, conversions.
Bath businesses I’ve worked with
Over 25 years I’ve worked with some of Bath’s best-known businesses. A few highlights:
RWK Goodman Solicitors, seven years working together on their SEO strategy. We achieved page 1 rankings for over 100 search terms locally, including the number one position for “solicitors Bath”. Referral income through the website increased significantly as a direct result.
Marshfield Ice Cream, Bath Aqua Glass, Tea House Emporium, Mogers Solicitors, all Bath businesses I’ve worked with directly.
“Our referrals through the website increased significantly as a result of his input. I am not at all surprised to see that he has made a success of his business. A very talented individual.”
Richard Ellis, Head of Family, Crime and Mental Health Units, RWK Goodman
“James is best deployed for your strategic thinking on rankings and traffic. I enjoyed our conversations and how he always has an idea as to how to move the game forward.”
Simon P Marshall, Head of Brand and Communications, Osborne Clarke
“He blew the competition out of the water when it came to their proposals, system demonstrations and value for money.”
Paul McNally, IT Manager, TasteTech Ltd
Why hire a local Bath SEO consultant?
There are legitimate reasons to work with someone based in Bath rather than a national agency or a remote freelancer you’ve never met.
I know the local market. I know that “solicitors Bath” and “dentist Bath” behave differently in search than their equivalents in Bristol or London. I know which local directories carry real authority here and which are a waste of time. I know that the Bath Chamber of Commerce backlink means something.
I also know Bath’s business community. Some of my best referrals have come from introductions within the local network, something a London agency or offshore team simply can’t replicate.
If you want to meet in person, I’m available. If you prefer to work remotely, that works too. Either way, you’re dealing directly with me, not an account manager reading from a brief.
What working with me looks like
I work on a sprint model, fixed scope, fixed price, no rolling retainer commitments. A typical engagement for a Bath business starts with a full technical and content audit, then moves into a structured implementation phase. You know what you’re getting, what it costs, and what the expected outcomes are before we start.
For ongoing work, I offer monthly retainers for businesses that need consistent SEO attention, new content, monitoring, link building, and regular reporting.
Either way, every piece of work is done by me. You’re not paying agency rates for junior work.
Book a free discovery callFrequently asked questions
I help Bath businesses rank higher in Google and appear in local search results. That covers technical SEO (fixing site issues), local SEO (Google Business Profile, citations), content strategy (pages that match what people are searching for), and link building. For some clients I also cover GEO, getting cited in AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
For local searches in Bath, most businesses see measurable movement in 60 to 90 days once the core work is done, GBP optimisation, citation building, and technical fixes. Competitive terms like “solicitors Bath” take longer. Niche or long-tail terms can move faster. I’ll give you a realistic timeline based on your specific situation before we start.
Sprint projects (audit + implementation) typically start from £1,500. Monthly retainers start from £750/month depending on scope. I don’t publish a fixed price list because the right scope varies significantly by business, a local sole trader needs something very different from a multi-location professional services firm. I’m happy to give you a clear quote after a free discovery call.
For most Bath businesses targeting local customers, a consultant with genuine local knowledge and direct involvement in the work is a better choice than a national agency. You get faster communication, a better understanding of the local market, and someone who treats your account as a priority rather than one of hundreds. The tradeoff is that a large agency has more resource for very large-scale projects, but most Bath businesses don’t need that.
Yes, while I’m based near Bath and have deep local knowledge, I work with clients across the UK and internationally. I have clients in Bristol, London, and further afield. Remote working is standard and works well for most SEO engagements.