Small Business Website Opportunity Finder

Find country-safe small-business website leads with visible improvement opportunities — useful for freelance web developers, small agencies, SEO consultants, and lead-generation teams.

This Actor discovers businesses from a place + category, validates the requested country before a lead is scored, visits each business website, and surfaces practical gaps such as weak booking paths, thin content, missing trust signals, and unclear contact information.

What it does

1. Searches for businesses by geography and category.
2. Finds each business website when available.
3. Fetches the homepage and priority pages.
4. Extracts website signals.
5. Returns opportunity and trust scores with outreach-friendly summaries.

Hosted Google Places discovery — no API key required

Discovery mode (searching by places + categories) uses a managed Google Places API (New) integration. You do not need a Google Cloud account, billing setup, or API key for normal runs. The Actor keeps the provider credential private and never exposes it in input, output, or logs.

Discovery is bounded to keep the service predictable: searches use capped Google Places requests and the Actor only analyzes the number of websites you request. If Google Places is temporarily unavailable or rate-limited, the Actor writes one friendly discovery-error row to the dataset explaining what happened and what to do next; the run still finishes normally.

Manual domains mode skips Google Places discovery entirely and does not use the managed integration.

Good use cases

• Find local businesses that may need a website refresh.
• Build prospect lists for web design, SEO, CRO, or conversion work.
• Prioritize outreach based on visible website gaps.
• Compare businesses in the same category and city.

Example inputs

{
  "places": ["Nyköping, Sweden"],
  "categories": ["pizza restaurant"],
  "maxResults": 20,
  "maxPagesPerSite": 2,
  "googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 20
}

{
  "places": ["Norrköping, Sweden"],
  "categories": ["pet groomer"],
  "maxResults": 20,
  "maxPagesPerSite": 2,
  "googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 20
}

{
  "places": ["Manchester, UK"],
  "categories": ["hair salon", "barbershop"],
  "maxResults": 20,
  "maxPagesPerSite": 2,
  "googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 20
}

Input fields

Field	Type	Description
places	array	Cities, regions, or geographies to search in.
categories	array	Business categories to search for, e.g. pizza restaurant, pet groomer, hair salon.
maxResults	integer	Maximum number of websites to analyze. Default is 20 for beta/normal prospecting.
maxPagesPerSite	integer	Maximum number of pages to fetch per website. Default is 2 for beta/normal prospecting.
googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch	integer	How many Google Maps places to inspect per query before filtering. Default is 50 and maximum is 100. Use 20 for a cost-safe smoke test; use 50 when you need broader coverage.
domains	array	Optional manual domain list for direct audit mode. Leave empty for discovery mode.
country	string	Optional explicit country, e.g. Sweden; recommended when a city name is ambiguous.
city / region	string	Optional explicit location fields for disambiguation.
forceCountryMatch	boolean	Default true: discard results outside the requested country.

How to use the results

Use the Lead overview as an outreach queue: sort by leadPriority and leadScore, read mainReason, topFixesText, outreachAngle, and nextAction, then contact high-priority independent businesses first. Check locationWarning before outreach when you search an ambiguous place name.

Category examples

Use plain business categories — the kind of thing you would search for on Google Maps. Google Maps is usually forgiving, so free-form local-language terms can work well too, for example skoaffär, frisör, or pizzeria. English is still a good fallback if a local term gives weak results.

Good input:

"categories": ["hair salon", "pet groomer", "pizza restaurant"]

Avoid vague inputs like small business, good leads, companies, or websites. Combine one clear category with one place instead, for example dentist + Manchester, UK.

Quick starter list

If you are unsure what to enter, start with one of these:

pizza restaurant
restaurant
cafe
bakery
hotel
bed and breakfast
hair salon
barbershop
nail salon
beauty salon
pet groomer
dog daycare
veterinarian
car repair
dentist
cleaning company
painter
carpenter
plumber
electrician
landscaper
gym
yoga studio
physiotherapist
chiropractor

Food, drink, and hospitality

What you want	Try these category inputs
Pizza restaurants	pizza restaurant, pizzeria, pizza, pizzerior
Restaurants	restaurant, restaurang
Cafés	cafe, café, kafé, coffee shop
Bakeries / pastry shops	bakery, bageri, konditori
Bars / pubs	bar, pub
Hotels / guest houses	hotel, bed and breakfast, guest house, bnb
Shoe stores	shoe store, shoe shop, skoaffär, skobutik

Beauty and personal services

What you want	Try these category inputs
Hair salons	hair salon, frisör, frisörsalong
Barbers	barber, barbershop, herrfrisör
Nail salons	nail salon, nagelsalong
Beauty salons	beauty salon, skönhetssalong
Massage / spa	massage, spa
Tattoo studios	tattoo studio, tatuerare

Pets and animals

What you want	Try these category inputs
Pet groomers	pet groomer, dog grooming, hundfrisör, hundsalong, hundtrim
Dog daycare / boarding	dog daycare, dog boarding, hunddagis, hundpensionat
Veterinarians	veterinarian, veterinary clinic, veterinär

Home, trades, and local services

What you want	Try these category inputs
Car repair	car repair, auto repair, bilverkstad, verkstad
Dentists	dentist, dental clinic, tandläkare
Cleaning companies	cleaning company, cleaning service, städfirma, städbolag
Painters	painter, painting contractor, målare, målerifirma
Carpenters / builders	carpenter, construction company, snickare, byggfirma
Plumbers	plumber, plumbing service, rörmokare, vvs
Electricians	electrician, elektriker, elinstallation
Landscapers / gardeners	landscaper, gardener, trädgårdsservice
Locksmiths	locksmith, låssmed

Health, fitness, and activities

What you want	Try these category inputs
Gyms	gym, fitness center, träningscenter
Yoga studios	yoga studio, yoga
Physiotherapy	physiotherapist, physical therapy, fysioterapeut
Chiropractors	chiropractor, kiropraktor
Clinics	clinic, private clinic, vårdcentral

Tips for better results

• Start with one city and one category, for example Malmö, Sweden + frisör.
• If a Swedish category gives weak results, try the English equivalent too.
• Use maxResults: 20 and googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch: 20 for beta testing and normal prospecting. This gives useful coverage while keeping Google Places costs bounded.
• Use maxResults: 10-30 depending on city/category size.
• For larger cities, run multiple focused category/place combinations instead of one huge Google Maps pull. The current default intentionally caps discovery to keep usage predictable.
• Some businesses only list Facebook, Foodora, booking platforms, or no website. These may be filtered out or ranked lower.

Output fields

Each result is written as one flat lead row in the Apify dataset. The important fields are visible directly in the table so you can judge leads without reading logs.

Key fields:

Field	Meaning
businessName	Business name when found.
domain / websiteUrl	Website being analyzed.
leadPriority / leadQuality	Human-readable outreach priority. Start here before reading numeric scores.
opportunityLevel	Text description of improvement potential, e.g. High improvement potential.
trustLevel	Text description of trust hygiene, e.g. Weak trust hygiene.
scoreExplanation	Plain-English explanation of what drove the score.
leadScore	Numeric prospect score for sorting, based on opportunity, fit, and contactability.
displayScore / opportunityScore	Legacy numeric opportunity score. Higher means more visible improvement potential, not “better design”.
trustScore	Numeric trust/hygiene score. Higher means stronger trust signals.
smallBusinessFitScore	Helps separate independent-business leads from chains/platforms.
mainReason	Main reason the lead looks interesting.
topFixesText	Practical website fixes to mention or sell.
outreachAngle	Outreach-ready pitch angle.
nextAction	Concrete next step for the lead, ready for an outreach queue.
requestedLocation / requestedCountry	The location scope the run was asked to use.
resolvedLocation / resolvedCountry	Location returned by the discovery provider for a retained lead.
locationWarning	Explains ambiguous or filtered geography; check this before outreach.
runStatus / runWarning	Run-level completion state and any partial-result warning.
phone / email / address	Contact details when found.
summary	Concise lead summary.
details	Full nested diagnostics for debugging/audit.

See docs/output-field-register.md for the full output register and field meanings.

Example output shape:

{
  "businessName": "Pizzeria Mamma Mia",
  "domain": "mammamiapizza.se",
  "websiteUrl": "https://mammamiapizza.se",
  "leadScore": 76,
  "leadPriority": "high",
  "leadQuality": "Strong outreach lead",
  "verdict": "Strong outreach lead",
  "opportunityLevel": "High improvement potential",
  "trustLevel": "Weak trust hygiene",
  "scoreExplanation": "Opportunity is high improvement potential and trust is weak trust hygiene. Main drivers: trust hygiene gap, booking/conversion gap.",
  "displayScore": 72,
  "opportunityScore": 72,
  "trustScore": 41,
  "smallBusinessFitScore": 83,
  "mainReason": "trust hygiene gap, booking/conversion gap",
  "topFixesText": "add privacy policy; add clearer booking CTA",
  "outreachAngle": "Lead with booking and conversion...",
  "phone": "...",
  "email": null,
  "summary": "Visible website improvement potential with weak trust hygiene."
}

How to interpret scores

Start with the text fields first:

• Lead quality / priority: the practical outreach verdict.
• Opportunity level: how much visible website improvement potential the site appears to have.
• Trust level: how strong or weak the trust/hygiene signals appear.
• Score explanation: the main reasons behind the labels.

Numeric scores are mainly for sorting and filtering:

• Opportunity score / displayScore: higher means more visible improvement potential. It does not mean the website is visually better.
• Trust score: higher means stronger trust and hygiene signals.
• Small business fit: helps separate realistic independent-business prospects from larger chains or platforms.

Scores are directional heuristics, not a human design review. Spot-check websites before outreach.

Managed discovery limits

Discovery uses the Actor's managed Google Places integration. Each query is bounded and the Actor caps the number of Google Places candidates it inspects before website analysis. Google Places may make a bounded follow-up lookup when a candidate is missing a website; candidates are deduplicated first to avoid paying twice for the same business.

Recommended normal beta input:

{
  "maxResults": 20,
  "maxPagesPerSite": 2,
  "googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 20
}

For a quick smoke test:

{
  "maxResults": 5,
  "maxPagesPerSite": 1,
  "googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch": 5
}

You do not need to configure Google Cloud billing or a provider key. The Actor returns a clear discovery-error dataset row if the managed discovery provider cannot serve a request.

Notes and limitations

This is a beta tool. Results are heuristic and should be spot-checked before outreach.

Discovery depends on search/map data availability. Some businesses may only list Facebook, Foodora, booking platforms, or no website at all. The Actor prioritizes real business websites over directories and weak platform pages when possible.

Scores are website-quality signals, not a judgment of the business itself.

Best workflow

1. Start with one city and one category.
2. Use maxResults: 20, maxPagesPerSite: 2, and googleMapsMaxCrawledPlacesPerSearch: 20 for a realistic cost-safe beta/prospecting pass.
3. Spot-check the top results.
4. Export usable leads into your CRM or outreach sheet.
5. Refine category/place and rerun.