Getting found: Why a pretty website is not enough

Let’s be honest: building an online presence can feel like a minefield of tech speak, confusing acronyms, and hefty invoices.

If your eyes glaze over the second someone says digital marketing (or worse, “are you SEO optimised?”), you are not alone. This is the no-nonsense guide from The I.T. Bear on how getting found actually works today.

Before the deep dives, five realities. Each one has its own practical guide.

1. Facebook is useful. It is not your website

If you are a plumber or a florist, Facebook is often the local community hub. People already in town hang out there. If the group rules allow it, posting your business there is a sensible thing to do.

That is not the same as being findable on Google. A Facebook post does not build your Google authority. Think of it as a sponsor sign inside the sports club: members see it; anyone who is not in the club does not.

When you do post, send people to your actual website. Best place for that link is the first comment, not the main post — Facebook is less likely to bury it.

Getting found 1: Facebook is not a website

2. Ticking the hidden boxes

Owners judge a site by colour and type. The bits that matter to Google and AI sit behind the plasterboard.

A building inspector asks: is the frame sound? Is there one main heading (H1), none, or four fighting each other? Is the machine-readable data (JSON-LD) there so search and AI can tell what you sell?

Wix, Squarespace, and plugins like Yoast will say they have ticked a lot of those boxes. That is a start — proceed with caution. A green tick does not mean they did it correctly.

Getting found 2: Ticking the hidden boxes

3. Green ticks vs what humans type

Automated builders and basic SEO plugins can say the structure is fine and still miss search intent.

Air New Zealand example: a checker sees “airline, flies domestically” and stops. Real people type Los Angeles, Airpoints, sporting gear in the hold, what happens when a flight is late. Qualifying for Google is not the same as answering the question.

Getting found 3: The questions are not ticked

4. Do you know it works like the Ton?

Google, ChatGPT, and the rest do not behave like a noticeboard. They behave more like Bridgerton’s Ton: a queen who decides who is seen, and ladies in waiting who whisper the answers.

SEO is how you present yourself to the Queen (Google’s list of links). AEO is how you feed the Ladies in Waiting so they can name you without making the gossip up.

Getting found 4: Do you know it works like the Ton?

5. The expensive mistake: a car with no engine

Too many pretty sites treat getting found as an upsell. You pay for the paint and the seats. Turn the key: no engine. Discoverability belongs in the build.

Getting found 5: Do not buy a car with no engine

A basic check (your site, or theirs)

Google: Is this website optimised for SEO & AEO then paste the URL. Switch to AI mode and read the result. Ordinary blue links are not this test. It is a sniff test, not a score — the machine can be wrong. Full steps in Getting found 5.

The five guides

Need this done on your site? Book a yarn. Search work is KoruSignal.