Monitoring your digital vital signs or … Will I ever get my cat’s prescription?

I talk frequently about the importance of creating a strong and consistent web presence. It is so important to create a publication schedule and stick to it.  There are a number of reasons it is so important.  It keeps you in touch with your customers, it provides searchable content for search engines, it shows your subject matter expertise and it is a great way to generate interest in your business.  Want to know something else?  It serves as proof of your very existence.

A parable showing what I mean…

Cumi, my 18 year old cat takes Methimizole to treat her hyperthyroidism. I have been getting that prescription for years from a pet compounder near me in Rockville, Maryland.  I called this morning to refill her prescription. The electronic voice on the other end of the phone told me the phone line wasn’t in service. That is a bad sign but certainly phones have been out of service for companies in business so let’s not jump to any conclusions.

Time for some Internet research.  First stop, Google.  Results come in looking promising. Though the phone listed is the same as I received an out of service message on.

Ok, how about the website? Uh oh.  This doesn’t look good.

    

Next, let’s see what I can find from Twitter. Hmm, this could explain why the website is dead.  But, this is a very active profile (over 21K tweets!) that has been dormant for months.

  

As of the writing on this post, I have no definitive answer as to whether the company is in business or not. Certainly the signs aren’t strongly in favor of that being the case.  Think though, either way, wouldn’t some digital markers be in order?  When you get quite, what do your customers think?  Well, we think the heartbeat has stopped.

Update: I just heard back from my Cumi’s veterinarian that the company has indeed closed.  RIP Center Pet Pharmacy.