As the year starts to wind down, it’s the perfect time to reflect on your private practice’s marketing efforts and the best way to do that is through a digital marketing audit. Conducting an intentional marketing audit, can help you clearly identify what’s working, what’s falling flat, and what should be optimized or prioritized in the new year.
By taking the time to do this now – before the year ends – you can start fresh in January with a clear strategy to attract more clients, increase visibility, and streamline your online presence.
And even if you feel like your marketing is “good enough,” a digital marketing audit can uncover gaps that may be costing your practice opportunities, so in this blog you’ll learn what a digital marketing audit even is, why it really matters, and exactly how to conduct one for your private practice!
What is a Digital Marketing Audit?
Before we get into how to actually conduct a digital marketing audit for your private practice, let’s get on the same page about what a digital marketing audit even is.
Put simply, a digital marketing audit is a comprehensive review of your online marketing efforts that looks at everything from your website and content to your social media, email campaigns, and SEO strategy.
The goal is to evaluate performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and ensure your marketing aligns with your ideal clients’ needs!
For private practices, this is especially valuable because potential clients often research their providers online before booking a session and a marketing audit ensures that your online presence accurately reflects your practice’s professionalism, values, and services while making it easy for clients to connect with you.
Why Auditing Your Digital Marketing Is Important
But why exactly do you need to conduct a whole audit to understand how well your marketing is performing?
Many private practice owners fall into the trap of assuming that marketing “just works” since they’re doing the “right things.”
Like oh, Studio Adagio said you need to implement SEO blogging, so you did. Yay, love that! But are the blog posts generating new traffic? Are they converting readers to clients?
Or so and so said you need to have a newsletter for your private practice, so you implemented that too. That’s amazing! But is your email list growing? Do people respond to your emails? How are the open and click rates? Are people unsubscribing often?
See what I mean? Just because you’re doing the “right” marketing things doesn’t mean those things are working the most effectively for your practice. And that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because you’re doing them wrong.
It’s important to remember that platforms are constantly changing, search engine algorithms shift, and your audience’s needs may evolve over time.
Auditing your digital marketing allows you to:
✔️Identify what’s working so you can double down on strategies that generate leads and engagement.
✔️ Pinpoint gaps in your marketing so you know what to optimize or prioritize (whether it’s your website that’s not converting, a blog strategy that’s stale, or a Google Business profile that’s incomplete)
✔️ Set clear goals for the new year, ensuring that your efforts are focused on initiatives that truly move the needle for your practice
Overall, a digital marketing audit ensures that your marketing is intentional, effective, and aligned with both your business goals and your ideal clients’ needs!
How To Conduct a Digital Marketing Audit for Your Private Practice
Now that we’re clear on what a digital marketing audit is and why it matters for your private practice, here’s a step-by-step process for HOW to actually conduct one:
Review Your Website
Your website is often the first point of contact for potential clients, so it needs to make a strong impression, but too often we find that private practice clinicians overlook a few key aspects that make a website successful.
To get a better understanding as to if your private practice website is doing its job, ask yourself:
- Does your home page clearly answer who you are, what you do, and who you specifically help?
- Are your services clearly described and can potential clients understand how you can support them through each offer?
- Do you have multiple call-to-actions throughout your website that guide people on what to do next?
- Do you have a dedicated contact page that’s easy to find?
Your answers to these questions can help you identify if your website is working for you or if it needs adjustments!
Additionally, you can dive into your analytics to get a better understanding of what pages people are visiting the most, what journey people are taking through your website, and where exactly they’re leaving, so you can make data driven decisions.
If you know that your website needs some work, Studio Adagio is here to help – we design and develop strategic, high-converting websites for private practice clinicians, so you can stay focused on what matters most!
Whether you’re just launching or are long overdue for a website that matches your growth, our process makes it easy to show up online authentically and confidently.
Assess Your Content Marketing
After you have a clear understanding of where your website falls, it’s time to audit your content marketing, which can be anything from blogs, social media posts, newsletters, etc.
Creating content for your private practice is crucial for building trust and staying top-of-mind with potential clients, so during your audit, consider:
- Have you intentionally chosen at least 2 platforms to show up on consistently? (And remember: this doesn’t necessarily have to be social media! Here are some other alternatives.)
- Does your content align with your ideal client’s concerns and needs? (aka are you creating content that they truly need or are you creating for you?)
- Which content pieces generate the most engagement or leads? (Psst: do MORE of this!)
- Do you have a clear content plan that’s backed in strategy or are you just winging it and posting when you feel like it?
In addition to asking these questions, you can use platform specific analytic tools to track performance and identify opportunities to repurpose or optimize content for better reach and impact!
And if you know that you want 2026 to be the year that you prioritize SEO blogging for your private practice, click here to see how Studio Adagio can help you get started!
Evaluate Your Social Media Strategy
While it’s true that you don’t necessarily have to show up on social media, it’s important to know that social media often does play a big role in marketing and it can be wise to have a solid strategy for it.
With that said, it’s often more important to focus on quality over quantity, so during your digital marketing audit, evaluate:
- Which platforms drive the most inquiries or engagement for you?
- Are your brand visuals and messaging consistent across your website AND your social media platforms?
- Are you spending time on channels that truly benefit your practice?
This will help you focus efforts where they matter most, saving you time and increasing ROI!
Look at SEO and Online Presence
Strategic SEO is something that all businesses can benefit from, but if you’re a private practice serving local clients, it’s really something you don’t want to ignore!
To get a clear picture of how your practice is performing online locally, look at:
- Your Google Business profile – is it complete and accurate? Better yet, is it even set up? If not, make sure you add this one to the top of your priority list so you can benefit from local SEO!
- Look at local directories and professional listings – are you included? If not, make it a priority to get yourself listed on ones that are aligned with your practice.
- Search rankings for your key services and specialties – are you showing up for the keywords aligned with your practice? If not, it’s time to work with an SEO professional for private practices to make sure that people can truly find you!
Overall, strong SEO and a visible online presence make it easier for clients to find your practice and build trust before they even contact you.
Check Your Marketing Automation and Systems
Most of the time when you think of marketing, you think about content and platforms, but something that shouldn’t be overlooked are your marketing automations and systems. Having efficient systems in place can save you time and keep your audience engaged.
When you’re auditing your marketing automations and systems, look at:
- Email marketing campaigns – if you have freebies that people can opt into, do they receive a value packed email sequence after?
- Automated appointment reminders – the last thing you need to be doing is manually sending out appointment reminders. Instead, make them automated so it’s on both you and your clients!
- Social media scheduling – creating content takes enough time on your own, so having a scheduler that can push the content out for you can reduce some of the overwhelm.
- Onboarding process – when you’re onboarding new clients, contracts and invoices are often involved, but you don’t have to create those things from scratch every time. Consider investing in a system like Honeybook or another invoicing system so everything is more automated and is less time consuming for you or your office staff.
Identifying gaps in your marketing automations and systems plays a huge role in improving your client experience!
Gather Client Feedback
Though you can conduct a lot of this digital marketing audit on your own, it can also be beneficial to call on your clients and audience to get their insight as well.
To do this, you can consider:
- Surveying clients on how they found your practice – this will give you a better idea of what’s working and what’s not.
- Asking for feedback on your website, content, or communications – for example, you may find that some clients would prefer text reminders instead of just email.
- Implementing self select reviews – as a private practice, you have to abide by HIPPA laws and it’s often prohibited to ask for reviews or testimonials from clients, but you can offer self select review in case clients feel inclined to do so.
Overall, client and audience feedback can help you understand how your marketing is perceived and highlights areas for improvement for your practice as a whole.
Set Goals for the New Year
Lastly, after completing your audit, it’s important that you actually do something with the insights you found! If you’re conducting your digital marketing audit at the end of the year, take the time to take the information and prioritize actionable steps for the next year, by asking yourself:
- What’s currently working? Do more of that!
- Are there any new platforms or strategies you should implement?
- Which content needs updating or expansion?
- Are there new tools or systems to implement for efficiency?
Setting goals based on your audit ensures you start the new year with clarity, focus, and momentum!
Additional Marketing Resources for Private Practice Clinicians
Overall, conducting a digital marketing audit before the new year is an invaluable step for private practice clinicians to help you understand what’s working, what needs improvement, and how to strategically plan for growth.
If 2026 is the year you really want to start prioritizing your marketing and making sure that it’s fully optimized for your practice, you’re in the right place – that’s what we’re all about over here and we have a few more resources to help you do just that: