Website audit checklist
The checks from our website audit checklist, as a list you can tick off.
The article explains each check and why it's there. Your progress is saved in this browser and nowhere else.
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The two sides
One is your business: who your customers are and how each one moves through your site. The other is everyone else: what people actually type when they're looking for what you do.
Your customers and their journeys
One for each kind of person you serve.
Writing personas that influence designAt minimum, a page written for them.
The right person should read the top of it and think "that's me," and the wrong one should know to move on.
Enough for someone to decide you're the right fit before they ever get in touch.
A guide, a worked example or a calculator, so they leave better off even if they never contact you.
Navigation that follows the journeys
Someone who lands on a blog post can find their pillar page, and someone on a pillar page can go deeper.
What people actually search for
And how often. They'll often use different words from you.
Ideally a persona's landing page does both jobs. Sometimes a search deserves its own page or article.
Useful to that searcher, not a rewrite of what the big marketing blogs already say.
Choosing which searches to go after
Weigh how many people search for a phrase against how hard it is to rank for. Longer, more specific phrases with steady demand and little competition make the best targets.
What the page does
Once someone is on a page, how well it carries them.
Copy and design
People scan more than they read, and take in images and short headings almost without noticing, so design does as much work as the words.
No pages or sections that were added over time without fitting, and no long walls of text with nothing to break them up.
You've hired good people and set up your space to show the quality of your work. Does your site carry that through, or does it feel like a mismatch?
Proof and pricing
Reviews, testimonials or client logos, if you have them. That's what people expect now.
It qualifies people in both directions. Someone on a much smaller budget knows before anyone spends time on a call, and someone who expects to pay for quality sees a number that reassures them.
Hiding your pricing filters out leads
The plumbing
The basics underneath, and the habits that keep it working.
The technical basics
One main heading per page, and clear subheadings that match what people search for.
On a phone as well as on a desktop.
Menus, forms and buttons included.
The end of the journey
Book the call, request the quote, start the trial. It should feel as easy as booking on Airbnb or buying on Amazon. Third-party tools are fine, as long as the handoff is smooth.
Who gets the enquiry, how quickly, and what the customer should expect to hear back.
What happens after someone fills in your form
Measurement
Privacy-friendly options exist that don't need a cookie banner.
Check it against the searches you're going after, so you can see whether you're actually showing up.
With time on the calendar for it. None of this works if it's set up and forgotten.
Ownership
Without waiting on someone else for every change.
A set of building blocks and styles that everyone works within.
Every project starts with a style guide
Putting it in order
There's no score. Once you've been through the list, put what you've found in order.
- Critical
Anything that blocks someone who's ready to act. Unclear entry points to your sales process, or a booking or checkout step that's clunky or broken.
- High
Gaps that cost you customers you never see. Missing pages for a type of customer, searches you should show up for and don't, or a site that doesn't match the quality of your work.
- Medium
Real problems that can wait, like a slow page or a missing testimonial.
If you'd rather walk through it with us, that's how every project starts.
Tell us about your business