Some of the most interesting audits I did were for creative businesses. A photographer with international recognition. An illustrator building a personalised clothing brand. A theatre company pivoting to digital delivery. A designer running workshops for corporate clients. The irony was painful. These were people whose work is visual, expressive and often brilliant. And their
Seven of the 55 businesses I audited were manufacturers. Injection moulding, lifting equipment, heating systems, joinery, containers. Businesses where the product is physical, the expertise runs deep and the words "digital marketing" can feel like they belong to a different world entirely. What I found was that manufacturers don't have the same digital problems as
Situation A mid sized UK foreign exchange and international money transfer firm, with a sister brand handling emigration content for lead generation. Two websites, two audiences (private clients and corporate), one small in-house marketing team. Operating in a crowded category against competitors with much larger budgets, and against comparison sites that owned the top of
“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
42 out of 55 businesses I audited had SEO problems. That’s 76%. Before you stop reading because SEO sounds technical and expensive, let me be clear about what kind of problems I’m talking about. Not the advanced stuff. Not link building strategies or schema markup or the finer points of crawl budgets. I’m talking about
Over two years I audited the digital operations of 55 small and medium businesses. 35 of them had mobile usability problems. Not subtle technical things you’d need a developer to spot. I mean buttons too small to tap. Text you had to pinch-zoom to read. Navigation menus that collapsed into something unusable the moment you
Most marketing leads at law firms have an agency relationship that’s slightly uncomfortable. The agency has been there for years. They know the partners. They know the brand. They’ve done good work in places. But the monthly report is starting to feel a bit thin. The numbers always tell a positive story. The questions you’d