How to run a small business marketing checkup

Anna Wood, Social Media Marketing Lead, Blue Heron Digital Services

Quick answer

A marketing checkup is a short, honest look at the places customers find you: your website, your email setup, your social profiles, your Google Business Profile, and your reviews. You can walk through the checklist below on your own in under an hour, or enter your website in our free Marketing Checkup for one estimated score across all of them. You decide what to change.

Run the free Marketing Checkup

Why a checkup beats guessing

Most small businesses add marketing one piece at a time. A website goes up, then a Facebook page, then a Google profile, then an email newsletter. Each piece made sense when it was added, but nobody steps back to see whether they still work together. The phone number on one profile is old. The logo on another is from two rebrands ago. Reviews come in, but nobody replies.

A checkup puts everything on one page, so you can see which gaps are worth fixing first. It is not about doing more. Often the best result is doing less, but doing it on purpose.

A marketing checkup you can run yourself

Work through these six areas. For each question, answer yes, partly, or no. Anything marked "partly" or "no" goes on your short list.

1. Your website

Open your homepage on your phone, the way most visitors will see it.

Does the page load quickly, without things jumping around as it loads?
Can a first-time visitor tell what you do and who you serve in a few seconds?
Is there one clear next step, such as call, book, or request a quote?
Does the page have a clear title and description for search results?

For a deeper look at this area, see our website marketing checklist.

2. Your email setup

If customers or prospects get email from your domain, your domain's public settings matter. Records called SPF, DKIM, and DMARC help receiving mail systems confirm that mail using your domain really comes from you. Ask whoever manages your domain or email whether all three are set up. If nobody knows, that is a finding in itself.

3. Your social media

Have you picked one or two main platforms instead of trying to be everywhere?
Do you control the business profiles, rather than an old vendor or a former employee?
Do you post at least once a week on your main platform, and plan posts ahead?
Do you reply to comments and messages within one business day?
Does each profile say what you do, who you serve, and how to reach you, with a working link?
Do you mix helpful tips and finished work with your offers, instead of only promotions?
Do you check reach or follows once a month and adjust based on what worked?

4. Your Google Business Profile

If you serve customers locally, your profile is often the first thing people see.

Is the profile claimed and verified?
Have you published a profile post in the last 30 days?
Do your name, address, and phone match your website exactly?

Google's Business Profile help says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local search results, and that replying to reviews shows customers you value their feedback.

5. Your reviews

What is your average star rating, and about how many reviews do you have?
When did the newest review arrive?
Do you ask happy customers for a review, in person or by text, right after a good job?
Do you reply to new public reviews within a few days?
Is one named person responsible for reviews and messages?

6. Brand consistency and how your team uses AI

Is your business name spelled the same everywhere?
Do your logo, photos, and graphics look like they come from the same business?
If staff use AI tools to write posts or replies, is there a written rule for what they may paste in, and does a person review AI drafts before they go out?

How to decide what to fix first

You will likely end up with more items than you have time for. A simple order that works for most small businesses:

Fix anything broken. A wrong phone number, a dead link, or a profile you cannot log in to costs you customers today.
Fix what customers see first. That is usually your Google Business Profile and your homepage.
Build one habit. Pick one weekly task, such as one post or asking for one review, and keep it going for a month before adding another.

What the free Marketing Checkup shows

Our Marketing Checkup puts the areas above into one review.

What you enter:

Your website address and your email. Those are the only required fields.
Optional: your business name, your city, up to three social profile links, and up to two competitor websites for a side-by-side comparison.
Optional question sets: a social media self-assessment (yes, partly, or no), five questions about your Google Business Profile and reviews, and three questions about how your team uses AI.

How it works:

The checkup looks at your public website and email setup, plus the answers you choose to give.
Any section you leave blank is marked "add this to check." It is not scored as a zero, so you can start small and add more later.
We do not log in to your Google Business Profile, and Blue Heron is an independent service with no affiliation with Google.

What you get: one estimated score across the areas you filled in. It is an estimate based on public information and your answers, not a promise of leads or sales. If you want the detailed fix list, that is part of our paid Marketing Growth Plan. You make any changes yourself, or with whoever manages your marketing today.

How to run the checkup

Go to the Marketing Checkup.
Enter your website address. Add your business name, city, social links, and competitors if you want them included.
Answer any of the optional question sets you want scored. Skip the rest.
Enter your email, check the box to agree to the privacy notice and terms, and select Run the Marketing Checkup.

Your marketing checkup checklist

Homepage loads quickly on a phone and shows one clear next step
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC set up for your email domain
One or two main social platforms, with profiles you control
At least one post a week, planned ahead
Messages and comments answered within one business day
Google Business Profile claimed, verified, and posted to in the last 30 days
Name, address, and phone the same on your website and profiles
A simple habit for asking for reviews, and one person who replies to them
Same business name, logo, and look everywhere
A written rule for staff use of AI tools, with a person reviewing drafts

Want a closer look?

If you would like help reading your results, Book a Free Audit. We will talk through what the estimate shows and which fixes are worth your time. You stay in control of every change.

Or email support@blueheronds.com.