Insights / Online presence

What customers see before they call you

Mujahid Mujeebullah
Technology practice · 5 min read

In short. Before most people call, they look you up. In fifteen minutes, on your phone, you can see roughly what they see. Here is the check, step by step, and the problems it usually turns up.

A customer hears your name from a friend, or sees your sign, and before they call they search for you. What they find in the next ten seconds decides whether they call you or the next result.

Every business casts a shadow online, whether or not anyone looks after it. The question is whether that shadow matches the business you are building.

You can see most of what they see yourself. Use your phone, not your office computer, because that is how most customers will look.

Five steps, about fifteen minutes in total.

1. Search your business name (2 minutes)

Note what appears first. Is it your website, your map listing, a directory page, or a competitor? Is the phone number shown the one you actually answer?

2. Open your map listing (3 minutes)

Check your opening hours, especially around holidays, your photos and your category. Read the last ten reviews. Have they been answered? Customers here often write in Arabic or English, and a review left without a reply in either language reads as nobody listening.

3. Open your website on your phone (4 minutes)

Does it load quickly? Can you call or send a WhatsApp message in one tap? Does the first screen say clearly what you do and where? If the site collects any details, is there a privacy notice?

4. Check your social pages (3 minutes)

When was the last post? Do the phone number, address and website link match everywhere else? An account that went quiet two years ago can make a busy business look closed.

5. Look at one competitor (3 minutes)

Search for what you sell in your area and open the business that appears above you. What do they show that you don’t: more reviews, replies to complaints, clearer photos, faster contact?

What it usually turns up

A fictional business, showing the issues that come up most often.

Different phone numbers in different places. Holiday hours that were never updated. Complaints with no reply, which pull down an otherwise good rating. A website link that still points to an old page. None of these takes long to fix. But they never show up in your sales figures, because the customers they cost simply never call.

If you want the full picture

The self-check shows you the surface. For a complete view of every channel, with the evidence behind each finding and a phased plan to improve it, there is our Digital Presence & Online Perception Audit. For the website itself, the Website Health Scan checks security, speed, search and trust. You can see a full sample report of each before you decide.

This article is general information, not advice for your specific situation. See our Professional Content Disclaimer.

Mujahid Mujeebullah, Strategic IT & AI Advisor at M2J Ventures. Over 30 years in IT, including enterprise IT leadership across the Middle East, Africa and the wider Eastern Hemisphere. About → · LinkedIn →