How to conduct a digital audit for businesses

We are all accustomed to using technology within our daily lives. From connecting with friends and family via social media right the way through to making online purchases, our lives are now directly linked to the online world.

This has been more evident over the last few months with the global situation and the social distancing guidelines amplifying the importance of online services. Indeed, a recent study from Statista actually found that the average adult spends over 4 hours of their day completing tasks and consuming content.

Furthermore, we have seen the likes of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Netflix report a surge in usage in recent times. This further reinforces the fact that as a society, we are spending more time online than ever before.

The change in our behaviour has a knock on effect for many businesses that are vying for our attention online. The basic concept of marketing states putting the right product or service in front of the right audience, at the right time.

With more and more people choosing to spend over 25% of their day online, it is crucial that businesses market their services online and aim to engage their audiences. However, even with such compelling stats and user behaviour, the vast majority of businesses simply don’t have a digital footprint or a coherent online strategy.

The focus of our blog this week is to actually shine some light on how to conduct a digital audit for businesses. It’s actually far easier than you think.

What is a digital audit?
A digital audit can be defined as a comprehensive, customised report designed to help an organisation leverage digital mediums to meet strategic goals. While this sounds complicated, in reality a digital audit is all about uncovering how a business is currently using its online presence to market its services.

A digital audit looks at things a business controls (owned media) such as its website, as well as things which are outside of its control (earned media), such as online reviews. This information is then used to benchmark the business against industry standards or the competition to recommend changes.

Why is it important?
A digital audit, now more than ever, is actually really important in helping businesses understand how to position their brand online. With customers like you and I becoming more technology savvy, it is vital that businesses connect with their audiences in the right way.

A joined up digital presence includes all the major touchpoints a business should consider when building their online presence. This will include their website, social media accounts, online review sites and how they appear on search engines.

While it is not mandatory that a business leverages every single online platform available, careful consideration must be placed on combining owned and earned media to create the right impression.

Another reason why a digital audit is important for every business is the fact that it can help uncover areas that need to be improved. Marketing effectively online is a continuous task and something that a business should always monitor. A detailed digital audit can highlight deficiencies such as a slow loading website or lack of content, that can be corrected.

How do you conduct a digital audit?
The basis for a digital audit in our opinion should always start with the businesses website as this is the platform that they have most control over. There are a number of third party tools available that allow you to complete a thorough examination of a website, from its loading speed right the way through to whether its been optimised for search engines and mobile devices.

All the information gathered while conducting an assessment of a businesses website can be used to help improve the overall customer experience. It also serves as a really good focus point when communicating with business owners as you can intelligently talk about how you can help improve their website.

Next, a digital audit should aim to assess how the business is perceived on social media. This can be as simple as reviewing their social channels and paying close attention to the level of content and engagement they receive.

From here, it is always good to understand how a business is performing with search engines such as Google. For example, has their Google My Business page been updated and are they showing up in the local results? Moreover, where does the business rank for keywords associated with their business and their competition? You should also look out for their Google Reviews to see if they are capturing, responding and leveraging customer insights. A simple search will also help you uncover any publicity, both positive or negative.

The penultimate consideration should be to examine a businesses profile on review sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp or Trustpilot. As mentioned above, review sites are independent and are part of the earned media that a business builds up over time. By looking at online reviews, you can gauge the perception of the business from the customer's point of view.

The final element to consider when conducting a digital audit is to have an appreciation for the industry and the competition. After all, every business is competing for the attention of their customers. Examining 1 or 2 competitors and looking at their digital footprint will help you understand how your potential client is matching up with them.

What can you do with the information?
Now, once you have all the information and insights into a business’s digital footprint, how can you use this to your advantage? Quite simply, you can use this information as part of your outreach programme when contacting businesses about technology solutions.

For example, if you notice areas for improvement with their website, rather than contact a business with a generic email, you can actually tailor your communication to remedy some of the problems they are facing. This can be in the form of an email or a 2-3 page report that highlights their existing online presence and what they can do to improve.

As with any information, it is crucial that the information is communicated and acted upon in the right way. Many businesses will be glad to view their digital audit as they simply haven’t got the time, knowledge or skills to compile one themselves. This is actually where our partners step in and provide valuable insights to local businesses.

Summary
As we have seen throughout this blog, conducting a digital audit for businesses is not difficult when you look to combine the various elements that make up a digital footprint. Understanding a business’s online presence is something we focus on during live training for each partner that joins our network.

To find out how you can launch your own Digital Agency and help local businesses with their digital transformation, please contact a member of our team.

Until next time, take care.