20 of the 55 businesses I audited were directly affected by Covid in ways that demanded immediate digital change. Not in the general sense that everyone was affected. These were businesses whose entire operating model had to pivot. The pivots A translation service that had been delivering 90% of its work face to face suddenly
32 out of 55 businesses I audited had Google Analytics installed on their website. Barely any of them were looking at the data. I understand why. You log in, see a wall of numbers and graphs and think “I have no idea what any of this means.” So you close the tab and get on
38 out of 55 businesses I audited were managing their client relationships through spreadsheets. Some had multiple spreadsheets maintained by different people with no shared version. One had client data split across Excel, Gmail folders, paper files and someone’s memory. Another had its entire client base in a paper folder in a locked office. If
37 out of 55 businesses I audited had social media issues that needed addressing. But the issues weren’t what you’d expect. The problem wasn’t that businesses weren’t on social media. Most of them were. The problem was that they were on it without any idea why. Two types of broken There were two distinct groups.
Most law firm websites don’t need rebuilding. Most of them need defining. The case below is one example of what that means in practice. The firm is anonymous at their request, the numbers are real and the work took eighteen months from first audit to the marketing report that produced these results. The firm A
From around 182 enquiries YTD to 529 across 18 months of phased, focused work. No rebuild. No rebrand. No six figure project. Online enquiries nearly tripled The starting point A site that looked fine on the surface. Search rankings were strong. Organic traffic accounted for around two thirds of all sessions. The agency’s quarterly report
“Founded in 2015, we are a leading provider of…” I read some version of that sentence on the homepage of nearly every business I audited. 35 out of 55 had homepage or landing page problems, and the most common one was this: the page was about the company, not the customer. Company history. Awards. Team
20/55 businesses had case studies recommended. Almost none had written any. One had ‘loads of case studies in her head but never put pen to paper.’ A jeweller with worldwide reputation had product photos but nothing about bespoke commissions. A training company had changed outcomes for organisations but the proof lived in the founder’s memory.
37/55 had social media issues. Two distinct problems. Group A: businesses that weren’t doing anything (set up a page three years ago, posted a few things, went quiet). Group B: businesses that were posting a lot but saying nothing (motivational quotes, ‘Happy Friday!’, shared content with no commentary). Both groups had the same result: no
38/55 were using spreadsheets. 11 were on paper files. One business had its entire client base in a locked filing cabinet in one building. Frame the spectrum: some businesses genuinely don’t need a CRM yet (5 clients, simple service). Most of the businesses I audited had outgrown their spreadsheet months or years ago but hadn’t