Hey —

A lot of businesses have a website for one simple reason:

👉 “We needed one.”

It sits there.
It looks fine.
It has your services, your hours, your contact info.

And that’s where it stops.

Why SEO Still Matters (In Plain English)

When someone searches:

  • “coffee near me”

  • “home insurance quote”

  • “best lunch in [your town]”

Google has to decide:

👉 Which business shows up first?

That’s SEO.

Not tricks.
Not hacks.

Just:

👉 Helping Google understand what you do
👉 Using the same language your customers use

The Problem Most Businesses Run Into

You try to “do SEO” by:

  • Writing a few pages

  • Adding some keywords

  • Maybe posting a blog once or twice

But you’re guessing.

You don’t actually know:

  • What people care about most

  • What wording connects

  • What would make someone click

So You Stop Updating It

And your website becomes:

👉 A digital brochure
👉 Instead of a customer generator

Here’s the Fix

👉 Use ads to guide your SEO

Not replace it.
Sharpen it.

Because ads give you something SEO doesn’t:

👉 Immediate feedback

The Shift Most People Miss

Most businesses treat ads like this:

Spend money → hope for customers

Instead, use them like this:

👉 Spend a little → learn what works → use it everywhere

You’re not just buying clicks.

You’re buying clarity.

4 Simple “Tricks” That Actually Work

1. Test Headlines Like You Mean It

Don’t run one ad.

Run a few versions of the same offer with different headlines.

The one that gets clicks?

👉 That’s how your customers actually think.

And that becomes:

  • Your website headline

  • Your blog topic

  • Your Google description

Real example (Insurance):

“Save on Home Insurance”
“Why Did My Home Insurance Go Up?”

That second one is SEO gold.

Try this:

“Here are 3 ad headlines I tested and their results:
[paste data]

Which one is resonating most and why?
Turn the best one into:

  1. A blog title

  2. A homepage headline

  3. 3 related content ideas”

2. High Impressions, Low Clicks = Opportunity

Most people think this means failure.

It doesn’t.

It means:
👉 People are seeing it
👉 But something isn’t connecting

That’s where the insight is.

Usually it’s:

  • Too generic

  • Too vague

  • Not matching what people actually care about

Fix that—and you improve both ads and SEO.

Try this:

“This ad is getting a lot of impressions but very few clicks:
[paste ad]

Why would someone scroll past this?
Give me 5 better headline options based on real customer concerns.”

3. Fix the Landing Page Mismatch

This one quietly costs people money every day.

Your ad makes a promise.

Your website doesn’t deliver on it.

Customers don’t analyze it…

They just leave.

Simple example:

Ad: “Get a Quote in 24 Hours”
Website: “Family-owned since 1987”

That’s a mismatch.

Try this:

“Here is my ad:
[paste ad]

Here is my landing page:
[paste or describe]

What is a customer expecting after clicking?
Where does the page fall short?
Rewrite the top section so it better matches the ad.”

4. Cheap Data Beats Expensive Guessing

You don’t need a big budget.

Even $5–10/day can tell you:

  • What people care about

  • What they ignore

  • What gets attention

Think of it this way:

👉 Spend a few dollars now
👉 Avoid wasting months writing the wrong SEO content

That’s a good trade.

What This Looks Like on Main Street

Let’s say you run a café.

You test:

  • “Best Coffee in Town”

  • “Quick Breakfast on Your Way to Work”

  • “Fresh Pastries Every Morning”

One clearly wins.

That’s not just an ad result.

That becomes:

  • Your homepage message

  • Your Google listing

  • Your next blog post

  • Your SEO focus

Now you’re not guessing.

You’re using real data.

Prompt of the Week

“Act as a marketing strategist for a local business.
Based on these ad results:
[paste impressions, clicks, headlines]

Tell me:

  1. What customers care about most

  2. What messaging is being ignored

  3. 3 SEO topics I should create content around

Keep it simple and practical.”

Keep Main Street Moving

If this gave you a new way to think about SEO (and not just “having a website”), send it to one other business owner.

Most people don’t need more tools.

They just need a better way to use what they already have.

— Ryan

Reply

Avatar

or to participate

Keep Reading