Being a small business owner right now is tough. Margins are tight, costs are going up, and our to-do lists have one of their own. So, finding ways to market our businesses that are easy and less time-consuming is something we’d all welcome.

Investing money in your business in things that won’t give you an immediate ROI can be scary, particularly if margins are tight.

You want to make sure it’s the right fit for your business, and is something you can fully invest in, in terms of money AND commitment.

I totally get that.

But sometimes, not investing and staying where you are with everything is actually worse, particularly when it comes to tools to help you attract your dream clients.

You might be getting all of your business through Instagram or Facebook right now. But that could literally be taken away in the blink of an eye.

Trying to keep up with social media algorithms, posting schedules, and everything that comes with marketing on those platforms can be exhausting. It can also be really good fun if the pressure is off and you take a bit of time to do what social media was originally made for, which is to be social.

Commenting and chatting with new connections is a great way of getting to know people, and informally spreading the word about what you do is often far more successful than hard-selling techniques.

Losing everything on social media

The other side to social media is that the platforms are effectively letting you borrow your audience and connections. You have no control over who sees your posts.

And, more importantly, if the platform you’re using to create a big following suddenly decides you’ve done something wrong, or your account gets hacked, you’ve lost it all. Followers, connections and conversations.

I lost my Facebook account a few months ago. All the connections, messages and access to the magazine’s page disappeared in seconds. I still don’t know why, as I still haven’t been able to speak to a human about it. I hadn’t posted anything differently or done anything new or unusual. But it’s gone and I can’t get it back.

So, please don’t put off investing in your website because you’re focusing on social media. You need a backup or two, so you know if one stops working, you’ll still have a business.

The power of SEO

If you’ve got a website for your business, it’s a wasted resource if you’re not using it to bring new people to your business. Once it’s got all of the right components in the best places, it can bring in leads and sales effortlessly.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is basically about the power of attraction. You use some of the words on your website (which are the ones people are typing into search engines to solve a problem they have) to attract Google’s attention. And then when you’ve got it, your content, navigation and layout impress it so much that it shows you higher up in search results.

And the best bit is, once all of that is in place, you don’t need to work open it constantly to keep it up-to-date and shining brightly above all of the online noise.

I learned everything I know about SEO and website visibility from my digital magazine We Made a Wish. Over the last few months, life has been lifing, and I haven’t published many new articles. But when I had a look at how some of the most popular articles were doing, I was very excited to see that one of them is in the AI overview.

AI Overview

This hasn’t happened by accident. It’s happened because:

• I know what search terms people use to find the magazine
• I’ve used those words in key places
• The magazine is easy to navigate and encourages people to read more than one page

But seeing it in the AI overview took me back to when I first launched the magazine and made me realise how far I’ve come.

I knew nothing about website visibility and search engine optimisation when I hit publish. I had no clue why only a handful of people (most of them were related to me!) read it during the first few weeks.

A lot of hard work, swearing and frustration later, and it’s hit the top.

I want YOU to see your website in AI overviews too!

How SEO Kickstart will help

I know from recent conversations with female small business owners that the two things that stop them getting support with SEO are cost and having the time to implement the recommendations.

So, I’ve created a lighter option of my full audit, SEO Kickstart. It covers the key aspect which is having the right words for your business in the best places. And the best part is you don’t need to do anything. There’s no work for you to do at the end because I do it all. I make the changes and add the right word to the best places on your site.

And not only does it deliver on getting you seen, but it’s as accessible as possible in terms of price.

With SEO Kickstart, you’ll get:

• Keyword research and competitor analysis
• Keywords added to places such as your tagline, page titles and names, headings, headlines and page and image descriptions
• Two blog posts/product descriptions/services pages optimised

All this takes place over three months while you get on with running your business. Or taking some time off.

Places are limited for the first cohort of SEO Kickstart, so if you’d like to join, don’t delay. The launch price of £125 is available until midnight on the 20th October 2025.

Hands-On SEO Support

Looking for something else? I’ve got a range of affordable DIY SEO resources and services from my signature course, SEO Jumpstart, to SEO Intensive, the ultimate done-for-you service.

If you don’t know where to start, join my free newsletter, The SEO Club. It’s packed full of chat, tips, offers and the odd bit of dating banter thrown in for good measure. As a thank you for subscribing, you’ll get my SEO Dating Challenge for free. The download shows you how to attract your dream clients through your website, keep them interested and then build a lasting relationship with them.