Built by a Business Owner, for Business Owners
Digital Basics Score started with a simple, frustrating question: is my marketing actually working?
As the owner of A Moment's Peace Salon & Day Spa, Kip Dodson kept running into the same problem every small business owner knows well. Vendors report the numbers that make them look good, not necessarily the ones that matter, and by the time something is actually wrong, months of budget are already gone.
Free to run. No credit card, no jargon.
The Story Behind the Score
Kip also co-founded EmpowerLocal, a network with real data on what top-performing local businesses do differently online. Looking at that data alongside his own experience running a spa, one thing became clear: outperformance comes down to four areas, and no single vendor or software tool manages all four at once.
That gap is why Digital Basics Score exists. One score, built from the same four areas that separate the businesses pulling ahead from the ones standing still, so an owner can see where they stand before spending another dollar on marketing.
Why We Exist
Digital Basics Score tracks two things at once: what you, the business owner, need to improve, and whether the vendors you already pay are actually performing. No single vendor manages all four areas end to end, which means you are the one person positioned to hold the whole picture accountable.
Built for Business Owners, Not Marketers
Every marketer or advertiser you work with has their own angle, and in most sectors, you have more than one to choose from. Digital Basics Score gives you an independent measurement, in plain language, so you can hold any vendor (including us) accountable to real results.
The Four Quadrants
Digital Basics Score is built from four areas, weighted by how much each one tends to move the needle:
Website & SEO
30 points
Can someone actually book or buy once they land on your site?
Major Directories
25 points
Are you easy to find, and does what people find look reputable?
Reviews & Reputation
25 points
What does your rating say, and are you managing it proactively?
Social, SMS, & Email
20 points
Are you staying connected with clients after you have already won them?
A standard SEO audit only looks at one of these four areas. Digital Basics Score looks at all four together, because trust with a customer builds cumulatively across every one of them.
Where to Go From Here
Step 1
Get all four quadrants in solid shape first.
Step 2
Put a way to track client satisfaction in place.
Step 3
Start spending on marketing.
Step 4
Measure how that spending performs across all four areas.
Step 5
Compare your standing against your real competitors over time.
Meet Keaf
Keaf is built directly into your report so you are never stuck staring at a number with no way to ask about it. Flag something that looks off, ask Keaf to compare you against a different competitor, or request a metric we are not tracking yet.
Who This Is For
Digital Basics Score is built for small business owners, period. Salons, trades, and local service businesses are examples of who we work with, not the limit of it.
Our Values
Real-time and transparent
Your data updates weekly, and it is yours to see directly.
Traceable
You can see exactly when you improved, when you slipped, or when it's time to adapt.
Built to over-deliver
We want to coach you the way one business owner would coach another.
See Where Your Business Stands, Free
Run your first Digital Basics Score benchmark and try it for 30 days. All it takes is your business name, website, email, and phone number to get started.
Run My Free BenchmarkFree audit. No obligation.