Three secrets to boosting your website’s ROI without spending another dollar on ads

Most businesses think that ads on Google and social media create growth. More budget = more clicks = more revenue… right?

However, things have changed since AI entered the digital marketing landscape.

According to Jeremy Nasr, co-founder of web design and direct-response marketing agency Hungry Bull, clinging to this thinking may be bleeding money from budgets.

“What most small and medium businesses really want isn’t marketing,” he tells SmartCompany. “They want growth and ROI from the spend. If the business’s foundation isn’t right, online advertising just becomes more expensive and unviable in the long run.”

Turning your focus to your website can act as a real asset in driving both traffic and growth, or as Nasr says, “Treat your website like a structured growth engine, and not an online brochure.”

There are three key areas related to your website that growth-oriented businesses must prioritise in 2026 and beyond.

Shift from keywords to answers

The number of people using AI search platforms to find answers and solutions to their problems is growing. Now, more than a third of people begin their research using AI and move on to Google to confirm their choices.

Brands need to adopt a hybrid approach to visibility making sure their websites appear both in AI search and traditional search engines. However, content needs to be structured in a way that appeals to humans and machines.

Hungry Bull prioritises AI search by structuring content specifically around commercial or transactional intent queries. It uses enterprise-level analytics and AI-driven editorial tools to generate high-quality exact match content designed to capture AI-driven search traffic.

For an electrician’s website, a page built around the question “Do I need a new tastic?” was structured intentionally for answer engines. The business secured the top Google position for multiple search intents and was selected as an AI snippet.

These two strategies drive targeted search traffic to the website and position the business as an authority and preferred solution provider in AI search.

Smart outbound automation

“Businesses usually wait for leads to come to them organically. But they don’t have to. They can reach out to their ideal customers instead with smarter outbound automation,” says Nasr.

For example, an AI-driven B2B email outreach campaign identifies decision-makers, segments target industries and automates personalised outreach at scale to bring in warmer leads.

Receivers don’t see generic “Greetings of the day” spam-type emails that get deleted in frustration or blocked. Outbound emails are personalised using verified business data and intent-based targeting and directs receivers to the client’s website.

“Our AI-powered automation is like ‘modern-day door knocking’, but automated. One commercial contract secured through this type of outreach can be worth 10s of 1000s of dollars for growing businesses because it focuses on building partnerships, not chasing small value, one-off transactions” says Nasr.

According to Nasr, the success rate for replies using this system is much higher than a generic email blast.

This AI outbound automation works best when your website is built to convert those warm email leads.

Nasr says that your website should act as a critical trust and confirmation layer. Prospects have clicked on strategically placed email links that take them to your website, where they’ll need to validate your credibility, review your services and confirm your authority before taking action.

It’s another reason why your website must be built effectively, with clear positioning, strong proof points and a seamless user experience.

Google Business Profile automation

A Google My Business profile is often overlooked as a growth engine tool because many businesses treat it like a static listing that’s left to gather online dust.

Nasr says Google My Business listings remain critical for capturing local search intent. 

“Our campaign data for one client showed 82.75% of their total website traffic came from the Google Business Profile local pack, contributing to a 481% traffic increase overall for their business. We use an AI optimisation engine to actively manage and strengthen our clients’ GBP listings that also include automated content publishing, local keyword optimisation and competitor monitoring. The goal is to move businesses into the top three local results because position four is effectively invisible,” says Nasr.

Businesses should also build contextual backlinks and media placements as authoritative mentions strengthen local pack visibility and overall domain trust.

If your business relies on local customers, optimising and structuring your Google My Business listing is an essential strategy for growth.

Pro tip: Foundation before marketing spend

“What we see all the time is businesses spending heavily on ads while their marketing foundations remain weak,” Nasr explains.

“Running Google Ads on a poorly structured website increases your ad costs. Google’s Quality Score rewards high-relevance landing pages which lowers cost-per-click in the long run. If your site has irrelevant content, you pay more in ad spend and wasted clicks.”

His message is clear: Fix your marketing foundations first to see better ROI and to reduce reliance on ads. 

Shifting digital landscapes 

Yesterday’s tactics revolving purely around running ads on Google and social media are becoming less effective.

The three essential blocks for growth-oriented businesses in 2026 are:

1. Structure your website and content for AI and commercial-intent search.
2. Build smarter, outbound commercial pipelines.
3. Optimise your Google Business Profile as a live growth asset.

Want to get ahead? Get in touch with Hungry Bull to see how they can help.