While the importance of having a website with useful information and resources about your company is a necessity, businesses often forget to periodically check that current information is accurate and consistent across all platforms. Completing an online presence audit every few months can minimize the problems customers come across while maximizing your chance for engagement and sales. Below, I will discuss the importance of conducting an online presence audit, and what exactly that entails.
Contact info
First, it is important to audit all of your owned, rented and earned platforms to double-check that the contact info on every platform is consistent and correct. Your contact info includes: website address, physical address, phone number and email. On some platforms like Yelp and Nextdoor, you may have to submit a request to change your info or verify your number. Keeping your contact info up-to-date is extremely important; otherwise, you risk either losing a customer or irritating them because they can’t get into contact with you and that could lead to a frustrated potential customer before you even have the chance to interact.
About section
Most companies have a slogan or a few sentences that they consistently use to describe what it is they do or the services they offer. But, a lot of the time that description changes over time with the company and it’s easy to forget to go back and update your bio sections to reflect your new description of your brand. This can quickly lead to your platforms having different and confusing versions and leave your customer with an incorrect idea of your brand identity. Creating a consistent brand identity and image across all platforms can help customers recall and remember your brand better.
Links and submission buttons
Though it may seem obvious to make sure your links and submission buttons properly function, a lot of the time we trust in technology too much and assume that these will work. Every once in awhile it is good to go back and confirm that your links actually take people where you want them to and that your submission buttons properly submit the information they’re supposed to. A common issue we’ve seen at AE is that many people will link to their social sites such as Twitter and Facebook and when you click on that link it takes you to the homepage of those sites and not the actual company profile. So, go through your platforms as if you were a customer or client and try your links and different buttons to see if they are properly functioning.
Audit time
Alright, guys, it’s time to start checking. We know this process can be tedious and boring at times, but trust us when we say it’s all about the little things. Those simple fixes you make on your online platforms can be the make or break between whether a potential customer actually makes it to you or not. Best of luck out there, and if you’d rather have someone else run your online presence audit, you know where to find us!