Here's what SEO agencies do when they first win your account.
They run your website through a few tools, produce a 47-slide deck full of red traffic lights, and charge you $2,000 for the privilege of feeling bad about your online presence.
You could've found it yourself. Free. In the time it takes to drink a coffee.
Here's how.
What SEO actually is (30 seconds)
SEO is just making Google understand what your business does, so it shows your website to people searching for it. Ignore anyone who makes it sound more complicated — they're selling something.
The real problem most small business websites have is simpler than you think: the words on your site don't match the words your customers type into Google.
You call it "executive function coaching." Your customer Googles "help staying organised at work." You call it "cloud-based logistics solutions." Your customer Googles "how to track my deliveries."
That gap is where money goes to die.
Find your gaps in 20 minutes
You need: your website, and either ChatGPT (free) or Claude (free). That's it.
Step 1: Grab your own content. Go to your homepage. Select all the text — headlines, copy, your about blurb, services list. Copy it. Do the same for your top 2–3 service pages if you want to go deeper.
Step 2: Feed it to an AI with this exact prompt. Paste your website address, then paste this:
This is the content from my small business website. I want you to identify: 1) What my business does, in plain English. 2) What keywords or search terms I'm clearly targeting. 3) What relevant keywords my potential customers would search for that are NOT mentioned in this content. Give me a list of 10–15 keyword gaps with a brief explanation of why each one matters.
Step 3: Read what comes back. You'll get a plain-English breakdown of what your site is and isn't saying — and a list of gaps. Some will be obvious in hindsight. Some will genuinely surprise you.
Step 4: Pick three gaps and fix them. Don't try to fix everything. Find the three keyword gaps most relevant to what you actually sell — and then use the fixes below.
The three fixes (do these this afternoon)
Once you have your list, these are the highest-impact places to add your keywords — and the ones you can action without touching any code.
Fix 1: Your homepage headline. This is the single most important line on your site. If it says something like "Welcome" or describes what you do in your own jargon, rewrite it using the language your customers actually search. One sentence. Make it obvious who you help and what you do.
Fix 2: Your services descriptions. One natural mention of each gap keyword per service, written for a human. Not stuffed in awkwardly — just the word your customer would use, where it genuinely fits.
Fix 3: Your "who we help" or about section. This is where niche language lives — "we work with tradies, sole traders, and retail businesses in Sydney" — and most people leave it completely generic. If you serve a specific type of customer, say it explicitly. Google and your ideal customer will both thank you.
That's it. No plugins, no agency, no technical knowledge required.
One caveat: this won't fix technical issues or get you to page one overnight. But it will show you the gap — and knowing it costs you nothing.
Your one thing this week
Run the exercise above on your homepage. Takes 20 minutes.
If you find a gap that surprises you — or if the AI completely misunderstands what your business does (also useful, by the way) — hit reply and tell me what came up. Genuinely curious.
Need a hand with this?
If you'd rather not DIY it — or you run the exercise and want a second pair of eyes on your results — just hit reply. No sales pitch, just a straight answer on where your biggest opportunities are.
Iain