The 2-Minute Digital Diagnostic (Using 0% of your budget)

So you just received a CIM for a $3M plumbing business. The financials look great, but how do you know if their revenue is sitting on a digital house of cards? I’ve spent 10 years in the trades and 5+ years in SEO. Before I even look at a P&L, I run a 'Digital Diagnostic' to see if a seller is hiding a traffic cliff or sitting on a mountain of untapped leads. ** The Tool & The Method:** You don’t need a $200/mo SEMrush account to do this. I use the free tier of Ubersuggest. You get 3 free searches a day—which is exactly enough to vet a few targets. Here are the 3 'Engine Lights' I look for: The 'Traffic Flatline' Does the chart look like a heartbeat or a flat line? If they have zero organic traffic, you aren't just buying a business; you’re buying a 'customer acquisition problem.' That’s a negotiation lever. The 'One-Legged Stool' Look at 'Top Pages.' If 90% of their traffic goes to one blog post about 'how to fix a leaky faucet' and 0% to their 'services' page, their leads are low-quality. The 'Competitor Gap' Pop in their biggest local competitor. If the competitor is ranking for 500 keywords and your target is ranking for 10, that’s Immediate Upside. That’s growth you can also model into your investor deck. In Closing Digital Due Diligence doesn't have to be expensive. It just has to be done. If you’re looking at a deal right now and want a quick second pair of eyes on their web presence, drop a comment or shoot me a DM. I’m always happy to run a quick diagnostic for fellow searchers.