Before you spend another dollar on marketing: a simple digital audit you can do in an afternoon
When a new client comes to us, the first thing we do isn’t design or ads. It’s an audit. We look at where they are right now, what’s working, what isn’t and where the money’s going.
It’s not glamorous, but it’s where most of the big wins come from. And you can do a decent version of it yourself in an afternoon.
1. Your goals and numbers
Start with the business, not the marketing. Write down:
- How many new customers you want each month
- What an average customer is worth to you (first sale and over time)
- Where your current customers come from (ask them, if you don’t know)
- What you spend on marketing each month, all channels included
This gives you a simple way to judge everything else. If a new customer is worth $2,000 and you’re paying $50 per lead, that might be a great deal. If a customer is worth $80, it isn’t.
2. Your website
- Open it on your phone. Is it fast? Is the phone number easy to tap?
- Can a stranger tell within five seconds what you do and where?
- Submit your own contact form. Did it arrive?
- Is the information current: team, prices, services, hours?
- Run it through Google PageSpeed Insights and note the mobile score
3. How you show up in search
- Search for your main service plus your city in a private browser window. Where do you appear? Who appears above you?
- Search for your business name. What comes up? Anything you don’t like?
- If you have Google Search Console set up, check which searches bring you clicks
- Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity to recommend a business like yours in your area. Are you mentioned?
4. Listings and reviews
- Check your Google Business Profile: hours, categories, photos, description
- Check Apple Maps and Bing Places too
- Count your Google reviews and note your average rating. When was the last one?
- Compare with your top three competitors
5. Social media
- List every profile you have. Which ones are active?
- Do they all use the same logo, name and description?
- Which ones have actually brought you a customer?
6. Ads
If you run ads, look at the last three months. How much did you spend, how many leads did you get, and how many became customers? If you can’t answer the last part, conversion tracking is your first fix.
7. Tracking
Make sure Google Analytics and Search Console are set up and that you can log in. Make sure calls and form submissions are being tracked as conversions. Without this, every other decision is a guess.
Turning it into a plan
You’ll end up with a list of problems. Don’t try to fix them all at once. Sort them into three groups:
- Broken: things that are actively losing you customers, like a dead form or wrong phone number. Fix these this week
- Quick wins: easy improvements with clear payoff, like updating your Google profile or asking for reviews
- Bigger projects: a new website, an SEO program, a content plan. Plan these over the next few months
The most common thing we find? Businesses spending money to bring people to a website that can’t convert them. Fixing the website first makes every other dollar work harder.
If you’d like a second opinion, our analysis and strategy service is built around exactly this. Or book a free call and we’ll go through the big picture with you.
