Do I need the paid version of Claude for my business?

For real work, yes. The free plan is fine for trying it, but it runs out quickly and does not include Projects or connectors, which are the two features that save a business owner the most time. The Pro plan is the paid personal plan and covers one person.

What is a Claude Project?

A Project is a folder that Claude reads before every chat inside it. You give it standing instructions and upload files, such as a client’s brand guide and past copy. Every conversation you start in that Project already knows that client, so you stop re-explaining the background.

Can Claude do an SEO audit of my website?

It can give you a useful first look. Give it your web address and it will read the page and tell you whether the title, description and headings say clearly what you do. On its own it cannot see your real Google traffic or rankings, which live in Search Console, and it cannot change your site. A proper audit connects that data and checks the whole site.

Is it safe to connect my email to Claude?

You choose which tools to connect, and each one asks you to sign in and approve access. Claude can read and draft, and you stay the one who presses Send. Do not paste passwords or card numbers into a chat; connectors sign in for you, so there is never a reason to.

Set up Claude for your business: the basics

Claude is an assistant you talk to by typing, the way you would text a colleague. It is smart, fast and good with words. On day one it knows nothing about you.

Think of it as a new hire. The better you brief them, the better they do. Everything on this page is about briefing that new hire well, so each step tells you what to do and why it matters.

Where this is going

Start Sign up Laptop and phone
Talk Brief it Ask like a boss, not a search box
Remember Give it a memory One Project per client
Connect Connect your tools Email, calendar, Drive
Next Automate Work that runs without you starting it

This page covers the first four boxes. The last one is the automation, and it is built on top of them.

Before you start

Your laptop, and your phone nearby.
Your business email address and a payment card for the Pro plan.
One real task from this week you would like help with. Practising on real work sticks.

The steps

Sign up and install it

Go to claude.ai and sign up with your business email. Choose the Pro plan. The free plan runs out fast with real work, and Projects and connectors need a paid plan.
Then install the desktop app from claude.ai/download, and the phone app from the App Store or Google Play. Sign in on both.

Why it matters: Your conversations follow you. Start an idea on your phone in the car, finish it on your laptop at your desk.
Send your first message

Type something real, the way you would text a colleague. For example: "I run a brand strategy business. What are three ways you could save me time this week?"
Read the answer, then reply to it. Ask a follow up. Disagree with something. It is a conversation, not a search.

Why it matters: The fastest way to learn what it is good at is to use it on your own work, today.
Tell it about you, once

Open Settings, then Profile. There is a box for your personal preferences. Write two or three lines about how you work.
For example: "I am Canadian, use Canadian spelling. Keep answers short. Write like a person, not a brochure."

Why it matters: Claude reads this before every chat. You stop repeating yourself.
Make a Project for each client

In the left sidebar, click Projects, then Create project. Name it after the client.
In Instructions, write the standing brief: who they are, how they sound, what to avoid. In Files, upload the brand guide, past copy and call notes. Start every chat about that client from inside its Project.

Why it matters: Without a Project, every chat starts from zero. With one, Claude has read the client file before you say a word.
Connect your tools

Open Settings, then Connectors. Connect Google Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar, or whichever ones you use. Each one asks you to sign in and approve access.
Try it: "Find my last three emails from this client and tell me what they asked for."

Why it matters: Until now Claude only sees what you paste in. A connector lets it look things up for you. This is the step that makes automation possible later.

How to ask: the four-part brief

"Write a post" gets you something generic. A brief with these four parts gets you something you can use.

Part	Example
Who you are	I am a brand strategist who works with founders.
What you want	Write a LinkedIn post about why a logo is not a brand.
Who it is for	Founders who built their brand themselves and have outgrown it.
How it should sound	Warm and confident. Under 150 words. No jargon.

Try it: ask Claude to check your website

This is a good first real task, because you already know the answer to "what does my business do" and can tell whether Claude got it right. Copy this, swap in your own web address, and send it.

Look at my website: https://example.com

Check the home page and tell me, in plain English:
1. What a stranger would think my business does
2. Whether the page title and description say that clearly
3. Three things that might stop it showing up on Google
4. Which one to fix first, and why

Do not change anything. Just report.

What Claude can and cannot do for SEO

SEO is how people find you on Google. Claude helps, within limits. Here is the honest version.

Task	Can it?	What that means
Read a public page and say what it is about	Yes	Paste the address and ask. Turn on web search if it asks.
Rewrite a page title or description	Yes	Ask for three options and pick one.
Spot missing basics: titles, headings, image text	Yes, roughly	Good for a first look, not a full audit.
See your real Google traffic and rankings	No, not on its own	That data lives in Search Console. It needs a connection set up.
Fix the website for you	No, not on its own	It writes the words. Someone with access to the site makes the change.

The two "no" rows are the advanced side: connecting Search Console and the site itself so the checking runs on a schedule. If you want a full check now, the website audit runs 34 checks on your site.

Things worth knowing

You still press Send

Claude can draft emails, posts and replies. Read everything before it goes to a client. It writes well and is sometimes confidently wrong.

Ask for a second draft

If the first answer is off, say why: "Too formal, make it sound like me talking to a friend." It does not get offended. Three drafts is normal.

Paste in examples of your voice

Three posts you wrote and love will teach it your voice faster than any description of your voice.

Never paste passwords

Do not paste passwords, card numbers or a client’s private details into a chat. Connectors sign in for you, so you never need to.

Check the facts

Numbers, dates, names and prices: check them before you use them. Claude is a fast writer, not a source of truth.

If something goes wrong

What you see	What it means	What to do
It says you have hit your limit	You used up this plan’s allowance for now	Wait for the reset time it shows, or upgrade the plan
No Projects or Connectors in the menu	You are on the free plan	Upgrade to Pro in Settings, then Billing
The answer sounds generic	It does not know enough about you	Add the four parts of a brief, or work inside the client’s Project
It cannot open a web page	Web search is off	Turn on web search in the chat’s tools menu and ask again

Menu names are from claude.ai, checked 7 October 2026. Anthropic moves its menus now and then; if a button has moved, the steps are the same.

Your homework for the week

Use Claude for one real task every workday.
Make one Project for each active client.
Write down the three tasks you repeat most. Those are the first things to automate.

The basics are yours. The automation is mine.

Once Claude knows your clients and can see your tools, the next step is work that runs without you starting it: the weekly report, the follow up email, the website check. That is what I build.

Book a call What I do

Common questions

Do I need the paid version of Claude for my business?: For real work, yes. The free plan is fine for trying it, but it runs out quickly and does not include Projects or connectors, which are the two features that save a business owner the most time. The Pro plan is the paid personal plan and covers one person.
What is a Claude Project?: A Project is a folder that Claude reads before every chat inside it. You give it standing instructions and upload files, such as a client’s brand guide and past copy. Every conversation you start in that Project already knows that client, so you stop re-explaining the background.
Can Claude do an SEO audit of my website?: It can give you a useful first look. Give it your web address and it will read the page and tell you whether the title, description and headings say clearly what you do. On its own it cannot see your real Google traffic or rankings, which live in Search Console, and it cannot change your site. A proper audit connects that data and checks the whole site.
Is it safe to connect my email to Claude?: You choose which tools to connect, and each one asks you to sign in and approve access. Claude can read and draft, and you stay the one who presses Send. Do not paste passwords or card numbers into a chat; connectors sign in for you, so there is never a reason to.