By Kara Dawn 

When was the last time you did an online audit??  

Our world is changing, and we’re all feeling it. It’s been over five years since our reality went  remote and small businesses in every industry were forced to adapt. We saw mobile delivery  skyrocket, protective equipment and policies, and Zoom meetings as a saving grace. This really gave businesses a chance. It also pushed activity online more than ever. Now the internet is rapidly evolving, and that’s our cue. As a business owner, online presence is a digital pamphlet. Every post, reel, live, every interaction is a decision for the consumer, interact, or scroll past? 

What does this look like for the everyday entrepreneur and established business owner? More intention, more connection, and the versatility of a chameleon. You have to develop the skill to blend within trends, and major world and societal shifts. 

Building with Intention 

The fire is lit for everyone to move through a rhythm of reflection to each a stronger level of planning and consistency. When we think of rhythm, nature is a natural place to look. For instance, it can be helpful to think about the different seasons your business goes through every year.  

The winter of your business requires audit and evaluation, spring asks you to plant seeds  and set intentions, summer provides growth and success, and the fall boasts of  abundance. As businesses thrive through their lifecycle, each season brings an opportunity and a lesson. Fortunately the colder, winter months gave us a chance to hibernate, rein in our energy and really do a ‘digital audit’ of what will matter most in the seasons ahead.

What Is a Digital Audit?

A digital audit of your business requires an inventory of how you’re showing up online. For owners, it asks you to zoom out and look at your online presence from the eyes of the consumer, the client, the  stakeholder. 

Intrigued? Here’s one place to start. Look at your most recent social media posts. 

• Do you have updated testimonials? 
• Do you share stories about staff and history of your origins? 
• How vulnerable are you with your audience? 
• How is your media playing out? The reels, posts, and interactions. 
• Are you being truly social and engaging with your audience? 

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube offer great analytics for business accounts, which can be a huge tell-tale for where you’re showing up on social and how your content is being received. Take note of the content you’ve put out that’s trending or has higher stats and plan to generate more like that..

Your blog is also a key place to look. When’s the last time you posted (be honest)? And how did you leverage that post? Did you share it on your social? In a newsletter? Was there any positive feedback? Your blog should establish you as an expert and help draw people to your website. It’s an amazing tool for building trust with customers. And now is a great time to make sure it’s not going to waste. 

If posts have fallen to the wayside, sit down and make a shortlist of hot topics in your business right now. Think about trends you’ve been seeing, questions customers have been asking, and interesting behind-the-scenes happenings in your business. Then plot out one topic for each month of the coming year. It’s an achievable goal with big returns. And don’t forget, each post you create and help feed other parts of your online presence.

Look for All the Touchpoints

We know image isn’t everything, but for business owners, it means a lot. Your website, landing pages, and Google Business profile (phone number, hours, location)—these are your ‘digital storefronts,’ and yes, they require maintenance. 

Everything from consistent branding (colors, fonts, logos) to keeping your content fresh can show the consumer the growth and evolution of all that you are as a business. How complete and thorough you are correlates to trustworthiness. Your business has a personality, and you raised it from day one! It’s a living entity that represents the products and services you offer, that’s why consumers WANT to know you.

The world we live in now is craving authenticity and transparency, and the people who shop with you want to feel seen, heard, and prioritized. Whether you’re walking down Main Street, visiting the farmers’ market, or looking to support small, life is bustling with small business energy. And yes, there’s community at the roots of it. 

These roots require tending and nurturing, especially when it comes to your online presence as a business. You’ve got this, and here are two actionable steps to get you started: 

1. Become a Customer: Go through the hypothetical order of operations cycle of your business, and pretend to be your ideal consumer. Start from how long it took you to get to wherever you wanted: ordering, customer support, location, hours, etc. (Quick Tip: Doing this in incognito mode helps you remove your data from your own business analytics. 
2. Apples to Apples: Open your socials and website all in separate windows so you have them next to each other. Start looking at how similar or different they are in terms of color, orientation, and ease of use. Do they all look like they come from the same business? 

These two actions can give you some unbelievable clarity and a great direction for your online presence. Once you have a sense of where you are, write down 3-5 immediate goals to improve your online presence. And like any smart goal, make it time bound so you have a guidepost. 

Know what you want to see happen but don’t have the time or skills to bring it to life? It can be sooooooo nice to have a content creator in your corner so you can share your vision and get the support to make it happen. If that makes you breathe a sigh of relief for your small business, give us a shout at Owl & Pen. We’d love to connect and learn about your story.