The digital marketing world moves fast, and what worked for your business six months ago might not be working today. Algorithms change, consumer behaviors shift, and competitors refine their strategies. To stay ahead, businesses need to pause and evaluate their efforts with a digital marketing audit.
But what exactly is a digital marketing audit, and how do you perform one effectively? Let’s explore the essentials, including popular frameworks like the 70-20-10 rule and the 7 C’s of digital marketing, and outline how to make an audit work for your business.
What Is a Digital Marketing Audit?
A digital marketing audit is a comprehensive evaluation of all your online marketing efforts, from your website and SEO to content, email, social media, and paid advertising. Think of it as a complete health check-up for your digital presence.
The goal is to assess what’s working, identify weaknesses, and uncover new opportunities for growth. For example, you may discover that your website ranks well for branded search terms but misses out on high-intent keywords, or that your social media engagement is strong but conversions lag behind. An audit provides the clarity you need to make smarter marketing decisions.
Why Does a Marketing Audit Matter?
The value of a marketing audit lies in its ability to highlight both immediate fixes and long-term opportunities. Businesses often waste money on campaigns that are not properly tracked, websites that load too slowly, or SEO strategies that miss the mark. By taking a step back and conducting a structured digital marketing assessment, you create a clear roadmap that ensures every channel is aligned with your business goals.
Audits are also crucial for benchmarking. Without one, you don’t know how your digital performance compares to competitors or whether your ROI truly matches your investment.
What Is the 70-20-10 Rule in Digital Marketing?
One useful framework often referenced in marketing strategy is the 70-20-10 rule. Applied to digital marketing, this means:
- 70% of your budget and effort should focus on proven, core strategies such as SEO, website optimization, and paid search.
- 20% should go toward innovative approaches like new social media platforms or creative campaigns.
- 10% should be experimental, testing unproven tactics that could give you a competitive edge.
When conducting a marketing audit, this framework helps evaluate whether your resources are being distributed wisely. For instance, if 90% of your spend is tied up in paid ads but you’re neglecting SEO and content, the audit will reveal an imbalance that could be limiting long-term growth.
How to Make a Digital Marketing Audit
Creating a digital marketing audit doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The process generally involves three key steps:
Step 1: Define your goals.
Before analyzing metrics, clarify what success means for your business. Are you focused on increasing organic traffic, generating leads, or improving conversion rates?
Step 2: Evaluate each channel.
Start with your website, ensuring it’s fast, mobile-friendly, and optimized for conversions. Move on to SEO, where you’ll review keyword rankings, meta tags, technical health, and backlinks. Assess content for quality and relevance, social media for engagement and reach, and email campaigns for open and click-through rates.
Step 3: Compile findings into an action plan.
A good audit doesn’t stop with data; it translates insights into next steps. For example, fixing broken links, refreshing outdated content, reallocating ad spend, or creating new automation workflows.
This process is essentially your marketing audit checklist, and whether you perform it yourself or hire a partner, the goal is the same: identify gaps and opportunities that will boost ROI.
What Are the 7 C’s of Digital Marketing?
When evaluating your marketing strategy, another framework worth considering is the 7 C’s of digital marketing:
- Content – Is your content relevant, engaging, and optimized for both users and search engines?
- Context – Does your message resonate with your audience at the right time and place?
- Community – Are you building loyal audiences and fostering relationships on social platforms?
- Customization – Is your marketing tailored to customer preferences and behaviors?
- Communication – Are you creating two-way conversations, not just broadcasting messages?
- Connection – How well are your channels integrated and working together to guide customers through the journey?
- Commerce – Are your digital efforts ultimately driving measurable business results?
A strong digital marketing audit evaluates each of these areas to ensure your strategy isn’t just active, but effective.
DIY vs. Professional Digital Marketing Audit Services
You can absolutely conduct a marketing audit yourself with tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and SEMrush. These platforms help uncover website performance issues, track keyword rankings, and evaluate SEO health.
However, many businesses find that professional digital marketing audit services deliver deeper insights. An experienced team can spot technical SEO issues, analyze cross-channel attribution, and recommend tailored strategies that align with your unique goals. More importantly, they can save you time and ensure the audit doesn’t just produce data, but actionable results.
Final Thoughts
A digital marketing audit is one of the smartest steps you can take to improve performance and ensure your strategy is driving real results. By regularly reviewing your website, SEO, content, social media, email, and paid campaigns, you’ll identify what’s working, uncover areas for improvement, and maximize your ROI.
If you’re ready to get started, we’ve created a free Digital Marketing Audit Checklist that walks you through each step of the process. Use it as a guide to evaluate your own efforts—or partner with Traktek Partners for a comprehensive, professional assessment that delivers actionable insights.
