Digital Growth Diagnostic

SHEPHERD

Provider of road asset management, disaster recovery and civil engineering services for regional and remote Australian councils and government agencies, featuring the RACAS road-assessment tool and DRFA delivery.

Strong RACAS® and DRFA track record, but it is not winning procurement opportunities.

SHEPHERD has built real sector credibility from Dalby, with RACAS® used by 100+ councils and 150,000 km of road data and a demonstrable DRFA record. That credibility is visible in your messaging, but it is not converting because buyers cannot find approval-ready evidence or a clear decision path when they are shortlisting. With a Google rating of 4.2 from six reviews and an Authority Score of 12, much of the verification buyers need happens offline rather than where procurement teams choose.

Your online reputation

4.2

Google star rating

6

Verified reviews

Medium

Reputation strength

Google Business Profile

Your online presence — what the data reveals

AI Visibility

Low

Authority Score

12

out of 100

Organic traffic

185

est. monthly visits

Traffic Trend

+120

%

past 12 months

Organic Keywords

42

ranking terms

Keyword Trend

-25

%

past 12 months

Backlinks

293

total

Paid traffic

0

0 paid campaigns

Digital maturity

Level 2

out of 5

The good news:

Your two hardest-to-copy assets are obvious: a proprietary RACAS® footprint used by 100+ councils and a dataset covering about 150,000 km of road, and a strong DRFA delivery record with 90%+ approval outcomes on the pages we reviewed. Those assets represent deep institutional knowledge and proof points that competitors cannot easily reproduce. If these facts are presented as approval-ready case evidence and decision-ready artefacts, councils will shortlist and approve faster.

How your website scores

Message clarity
3/5
Trust signals
3/5
Conversion design
2/5
Visual maturity
3/5
UX total11 / 20

TECH STACK

CMS
WordPress
Analytics
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics 4

UX OBSERVATIONS

Credibility metrics (150,000+ km, DRFA approval rate) exist but are not presented with procurement‑grade weight, so buyers will not treat them as actionable proof and will delay shortlisting.

Primary decision path is muddled: the hero CTA is small and the clear 'Book A Demo' control sits lower in the page, producing friction that reduces demo requests and lead conversion.

Hero headline phrasing and an intrusive widget over the main message reduce first‑impression clarity, creating immediate doubt about professionalism among risk‑averse council procurement officers.

What this means:

Because claims about 100+ council users and 150,000 km of data are not clearly verifiable online, procurement teams treat the value as unproven and skip SHEPHERD when compiling shortlists. A small public footprint, for example six Google reviews and low authority online, makes approval processes longer and hands advantage to suppliers who publish audit-ready evidence and clear approval outcomes.

The three gaps holding you back

  • Proof isn’t front and centre. The site claims 150,000+ km assessed and RACAS usage across 100+ councils, but those outcomes are not highlighted where procurement teams expect them, so the evidence fails to shorten evaluation cycles.
  • Primary action is hard to find. The main hero CTA is small and the ‘Book A Demo’ control sits further down the page, creating unnecessary friction that reduces demo requests despite clear offline demand.
  • First impression undermines confidence. An intrusive widget and diffuse headline hierarchy obscure the core message, which increases perceived risk for risk‑averse council buyers and delays contact or tender inclusion.

What's possible when these gaps are closed

  1. Turn RACAS® footprint into shortlist and approvals

    Turn the RACAS® claim into a source of immediate shortlists by publishing named or anonymised council references, clear km figures and project summaries that match your 100+ council footprint and 150,000 km of data. That kind of visible proof converts sceptical procurement officers into callers and shortlisting decisions.

  2. Make procurement sign-off fast with audit-ready packs

    Lead with downloadable case summaries, approval artefacts and contactable project references tied to your 90%+ DRFA approval claims so approvals happen faster. When councils can download the documents their auditors expect, internal sign-off time drops and your win rate improves.

  3. Clarify services to increase targeted enquiries

    Simplify how RACAS®, DRFA and asset services are presented so buyers find the one story they need, rather than sifting through deep navigation that dilutes your message. Improving clarity will help reverse the falling keyword trend (48 keywords today) and turn recent traffic gains into more qualified, procurement-ready enquiries.

This report was prepared by Redfox Digital using publicly available SEO, UX and reputation data.

Ready to find out what stronger digital growth could look like

Book a free 20-minute strategy call. We’ll map the gap between your commercial goals and digital capability, then design the system to close it.

SHEPHERD homepage screenshot