A small budget cannot buy everything, so the order matters more than the list. Roughly, the things that pay back fastest are the ones closest to a customer already looking for you: the business listing, the reviews, a site that answers and converts, and only then the slower work of pages, email and social presence.
First: be findable where people are already looking
For most small businesses that means a verified, correctly categorised business listing, accurate details everywhere they appear, and a steady flow of genuine reviews. It is cheap, it moves the map results that sit above everything else, and it can change call volume within weeks. Agencies often skip past it because it is not a retainer, which is exactly why it is the first thing to check.
Second: make the site answer and convert
A few pages that state what you do, where you do it, what it costs roughly and how to get in touch will outperform a large site nobody maintains. Make the phone number tappable, the form short, and the response fast. Measure enquiries from the start, because without that number every later decision is guesswork and every agency report is unfalsifiable.
Third: buy demand only when you can handle it
Paid search buys visits from people searching now, which is the fastest lever available, but it magnifies whatever happens next. If calls go unanswered or quotes take a week, paid spend funds your competitor's close rate. Fix the handling first, then buy the clicks, and start with a budget small enough to learn from.
Later: content, email and social
These compound and are worth doing, but they pay back over months and are the wrong first purchase on a tight budget. Email to customers you already have is usually the best of the three by return. Social is worth the time it takes only in categories where your customers actually choose there, which is a question to answer by asking them rather than by assumption.
Questions people ask about small business internet marketing services
What should a small business spend a month?
Whatever you can sustain for a year, because stopping and starting wastes the slowest-returning half. A small steady budget outperforms a large burst in most local markets.
Package or a la carte?
Packages are fine if itemised. Refuse one that will not tell you how many pages, how many hours and what media spend are inside the monthly figure.
Do I need social media?
Only where your customers choose there. In many trades the listing and reviews do the work that owners hope social will do.
How do I know it is working?
Count enquiries and their source, not traffic. If nobody is counting enquiries, nobody can tell you whether it worked.