How to audit your website
While we have a robust, full-blown Website Gap Assessment that many of our clients utilize, you can perform a basic website audit yourself. You don’t need to be a web developer, an SEO guru, or someone who speaks fluent HTML.
With just a little bit of time (and maybe a fresh cup of coffee), you can check some of your website’s most important aspects and spot easy-to-fix issues that could be costing you visitors, leads, or sales.
Here’s a DIY website audit checklist—10 things you can check right now to ensure your site is doing its job.
1. Is your website mobile-friendly?
More than half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your website isn’t easy to use on a phone, you lose potential customers before they even start.
How to check:
- Pull up your website on your phone. Is it easy to navigate? Can you tap buttons without zooming in?
- Use a Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your site is mobile-friendly.
- If your site doesn’t pass, you may need a design update to make it more mobile-friendly.
2. Can visitors find your contact info quickly?
If someone wants to reach you, they shouldn’t have to go on a scavenger hunt.
How to check:
- Is your phone number and email easy to find in the header, footer, and contact page?
- Can a visitor get in touch with you in under five seconds?
If not, update your site so your contact info is obvious and accessible.
3. Is there a clear call to action (CTA)?
What’s the main thing you want visitors to do? Call you? Schedule an appointment? Buy a product? If your website isn’t making it easy to take action, you’re losing business.
How to check:
- Is there a clear button above the fold (before scrolling) telling visitors what to do?
- Is the wording direct and specific? “Schedule a Call” is better than “Learn More.”
- If your CTA is hidden, weak, or missing, add a bold button that stands out.
4. Does your homepage headline explain what you do?
You have about three seconds to make a first impression. Visitors will bounce if your homepage headline is vague, confusing, or too clever for its own good.
How to check:
- Read your homepage headline out loud. If a stranger heard it, would they immediately know what your business does?
- If not, rewrite it to be clear, specific, and benefit-driven.
Bad: “Helping businesses succeed.”
Good: “We design websites that bring in more leads.”
5. Are there broken links or missing pages?
Few things scream “this site isn’t maintained” louder than broken links or error pages.
How to check:
- Click around your site. Are any links broken?
- Try Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider (free for up to 500 pages) to scan for broken links.
- If you find dead links, fix them immediately or create a helpful 404 page.
6. Does your website load quickly?
Speed matters. Forty percent of visitors will leave if a page takes more than three seconds to load. And Google penalizes slow websites as well!
How to check:
- Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights.
- If your site is slow, try:
- Compressing images
- Removing unnecessary plugins
- Enabling website caching
7. Is your website secure (HTTPS)?
Look at your website’s URL. If it starts with http:// instead of https://, your site isn’t secure. This makes visitors question your credibility, and Google actively warns users about unsecured sites.
How to check:
- Visit your site and look for a padlock icon next to the URL.
- If you don’t see it, you need an SSL certificate—your web host can help with this.
8. Do you have SEO basics in place?
If your website isn’t showing up in Google searches, you might be missing some SEO basics.
How to check:
- Search your business name on Google. Does your website come up first?
- Check your homepage title tag (the text that appears in search results). It should include your business name and, optionally, what you do.
- Example: Smith Plumbing | 24/7 Emergency Plumbers in Dallas
- Claim your Google Business Profile if you haven’t already.
9. Do you have customer reviews?
People trust other people more than they trust businesses. Without customer reviews, you’re missing a huge credibility booster.
How to check:
- Search for your business name + “reviews” on Google. Do any come up?
- If not, start asking happy customers to leave a Google review. Just not all of them at once.
10. Does your site look professional?
Your website doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to look professional.
How to check:
- Ask yourself (honestly): Does this site look modern and polished?
- Ensure your images are high-quality, your fonts are consistent, and your layout is clean and easy to navigate.
- If your site feels outdated, it might be time for a refresh.
So, how did your website do?
If you passed everything, congrats! Your site is in great shape. If you found some gaps, don’t stress. The good news is that most of these fixes are simple and can make a big difference.
And if you’d rather not deal with it yourself? We do website audits all the time. Let’s take a look together.