How to find local businesses that need a website
The owners most likely to want a website are those whose customers cannot find what they need online today. This guide shows you where to look, how to judge each business and whom to contact first.
Where to look
Search one town and one kind of business at a time, such as restaurants, electricians or salons, whose customers look them up before they call. When a list comes back short, try the next town. The lookup guide shows each button.
What each finding means
Each finding is something a customer runs into today:
- None found. The listing has no website, so a customer sees no menu, price list or photos of the business's own.
- Ordering or social page only. The listing points to an ordering, social or directory page in place of a site of the owner's own.
- A broken address. Address does not resolve, Certificate error or Parking page: a customer who taps it gets an error, a security warning or a domain company's holding page.
- Outdated. The site works, but it has no layout for phones, no secure connection, or a newest year five or more years back.
Open with what a customer cannot do today, such as find the menu, which the owner can check on their own phone.
Check each business
Before you get in touch, open the map listing and confirm that the business is open and busy:
- Reviews from the last few months.
- Opening hours that match today.
- A phone number that answers.
- Recent photos or posts.
- A way to order, book or ask for a quote.
A business with none of these signs may have closed or moved, so leave it for another month.
A worked example
You search for bakeries in Kestrel Bay, and Fernbrook Bakery comes back with None found. Its listing shows reviews from last week, hours that match today and photos of this week's bread.
Customers can find the bakery, and nothing online shows what it bakes. That is your opening line, and Fernbrook goes to the top of your list.
Who comes first
- Owners you already know, or who know someone you know.
- Active businesses with no website or a broken one.
- Active businesses with an outdated site.
Record each call, visit and reply on your call sheet.
Build the preview first
A preview of the business's own website is the most concrete thing you can show an owner. Press Build a preview on the business's row, and we build a site from its public details in minutes.
Every preview has a button that takes it down at once, and it ends after 30 days. When an owner says no, thank them and move on. Read the protections built into your account before your first contact.
Questions
How many businesses should I look up at once?
As many as you can check by hand in one sitting. Opening a business again in the same month uses no extra lookup.
Does the lookup show businesses with a good website?
No. It returns businesses with no website, a broken one or an outdated one, so every result gives you a reason to get in touch.
What if the current site credits a web designer?
The business already has help, so it goes to your call sheet, and any contact starts with a phone call.
Can I email the businesses I find?
Yes, on the Launch plan and above, from your own mailbox. You review every draft before anything is sent.