You run a hardware store, an electronics shop, a building supplies yard or a wholesale distribution business. A few months ago you handed your online visibility to an outside provider. They send upbeat emails and the occasional screenshot of a line going up. Yet when you close the till at night, you struggle to name a single customer who came in because of that work. You pay every month and you are not sure what for.
Retail has an advantage many trades lack: results show up fast. A customer who found you online rings to ask whether something is in stock, messages for a price, asks for directions to the store, or places a trade order for their own shop. You just need to organise the checking. This guide sets out a routine built around four moments, simple enough to keep up even if you are often the only one behind the counter.
Moment one: at signing, set the rules
Everything is decided before you pay the first invoice. A provider you cannot check is a provider you should not hire, however polished the pitch. Before signing, insist on three things.
- Accounts in your name. Your Google Business Profile, your website and your Search Console belong to your company. The provider is given access; it does not become the owner.
- A written commitment on delivery. What the provider will put live, by when, and what happens if it does not.
- A regular, dated report. How often and what it contains, set down in the agreement.
If a provider refuses any of these, you have your answer. And if you ever change provider, these precautions mean you will not start from scratch, as our guide on switching provider without losing ground explains.
Moment two: every week, read the dated report
A weekly report is not a luxury. It is how you see whether work is really progressing week by week and spot straight away a stretch where nothing happens. It should fit on one page and answer three questions: what was delivered this week, what improved, what comes next.
Be wary of reports that change format every month, pile up jargon without a conclusion, or only talk about impressions and reach. What you want to know is whether your store is being found more often by people who intend to buy. Our guide on what a visibility report should show lists the sections to ask for.
Moment three: every month, open your own Google tools
Once a month, take twenty minutes to look at the figures yourself, without going through the provider. Two sources are enough.
Search Console shows how often your website appeared in Google and how many people clicked. What matters is the trend over several months and the kind of searches involved: people looking for your type of product in your area, not readers of a general explainer.
Your Business Profile shows calls made from Google, requests for directions to your store and visits to your website. For a retailer these are very concrete signals: a request for directions often means a customer on the way.
Compare both with the provider's report. If they tell different stories, ask for an explanation straight away.
Moment four: every day, record where customers come from
This is the most important check, and it costs nothing. Ask your staff, or do it yourself, to note for every new customer or new order how they heard about you: a Google search, an AI assistant's answer, walking past, a recommendation, social media. A notebook by the till or a shared spreadsheet is enough, as long as it is kept every day.
For a distributor selling to other businesses, ask the same question of every new trade account: how did you find us? After a few months, that record tells you what no report can claim on your behalf: how many customers and orders really come from your online visibility.
What is reasonable to expect
Be strict about consistency and patient about volume. First signals usually appear within a few weeks, and progress becomes clear over time. At three months, judge the trajectory: work delivered each week, figures rising in your own tools, the first customers you can trace. At six and twelve months, judge the number of customers and orders. Our guide on results at 3, 6 and 12 months for a retailer gives more detailed markers.
Traffic Engine is built to be checked
Traffic Engine is Kolonell's service for making your business visible when buyers search for what you sell, on Google and in AI assistant answers. It is designed to be verified: a dated report every week, results followed in your own Search Console and a measured review at three months. If what your plan includes is not live on time, the following month is free. Kolonell guarantees delivery and measurement, not the decisions of Google or an AI assistant. The curves for Kolonell's own website are published on the offer page and updated daily.
You start with the Visibility Audit at €690, deducted from the €1,500 setup if you go ahead within 30 days. Monthly plans run from Presence at €1,100 to Flood at €3,500, on a 12-month commitment, with 3 seats per sector and area. See the offer and available seats.
Your next step
If you already have a provider, start the customer log at the till tomorrow. If not, begin with the free website score to see where you stand today.