Digital Facade: the facade program for the storefront customers see first
Every business in town scored on its Google listing, handed a short fix list, re-scored monthly and celebrated at 90. Live in three Texas cities, with a free do-it-yourself version.
Digital Facade is a business retention program that scores every business in a town on its Google listing, 0 to 100 on nine checks, gives each one a short fix list, re-scores monthly and awards a certificate at 90. It started in Elsa, Texas by hand. A free do-it-yourself playbook exists, and software runs it citywide in Elsa, Weslaco and Alton.
What is a digital facade program?
A facade grant fixes the front of a building for the people already walking past. Most customers meet a local business on their phone first, so the digital facade program fixes that storefront instead: the Google listing. Each business is scored out of 100 on nine checks (its own website, phone, address, hours, a 4.0 rating, 50 reviews, recent activity, ten photos, and a menu or services online), gets a plain fix list, is re-scored, and earns a certificate from the EDC at 90 or above.
It started in Elsa, Texas with an intern, a spreadsheet and Canva, one business at a time. That manual version is written down in BRE in a Box, free. The software version, Digital Facade Texas, finds every business inside the city limits, scores the whole town at once and again every month, lets owners re-check their own listing, and prints the board report. It is live in Elsa, Weslaco and Alton.
Why does it work?
- It reaches every business you enroll, not the one that applied for a grant.
- It is measurable. A score today, a score next month, a number for the board.
- BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 97 percent of people read online reviews before visiting a local business. The listing is where the decision gets made.
How do you start a digital facade program?
- Download BRE in a Box and score ten businesses by hand. That is enough to learn the routine.
- Visit each one with the scorecard and leave one fix.
- Re-score in 30 days and celebrate the first business to reach 90.
- When ten businesses turn into the whole town, look at the software.
Texas examples
- Digital Facade Texas: the software, pricing and the free community snapshot
- BRE in a Box: DIY Edition, the free playbook, workbook and certificate
- One facade, or a whole community: the math
What to watch out for
- A business that is not on Google cannot be scored until it is. Start those owners with a listing, not a scorecard.
Full disclosure: The BRE Brief is published by Digital Facade Texas. This is our program. It is pinned because it is the newest idea in the library and the one we know best, and the do-it-yourself version is free whether or not you ever buy the software.
Questions directors ask
What are the nine checks?
A website of the business's own, a phone number, a street address, hours, a 4.0 rating, 50 reviews, a review in the last three months, ten photos, and a menu or services online.
Does it cost anything?
The do-it-yourself version, BRE in a Box, is free. The software, Digital Facade Texas, starts at $5,000 a year for a city and scales by population.
Who can run it?
Staff, a chamber ambassador or an intern. If someone can follow a checklist, they can run it.