How I actually audit a website, step by step

First: does the money path work?

Before looking at design, speed or anything else, I check the two routes a customer uses to reach you: the contact form and the phone number.

I fill the form in properly and see whether anything arrives. I check whether the phone number is tappable on a phone, and whether it is visible without scrolling. A site can be beautiful and fast and still be worthless if these are broken.

This is first because it is the highest-cost failure and the one owners are least likely to know about. It is also, consistently, the most common serious fault I find — which is why it leads the list of mistakes.

Second: the phone, on mobile data

I open the site on a phone, on a mobile connection rather than wifi, and time how long until I can read something useful.

Then I try to complete a real task: find a service, understand roughly what it costs, get to the contact form. I turn the phone sideways, because landscape breaks more layouts than anything else.

I am looking for the things in mobile and responsive design — sideways scrolling, tap targets too close together, a menu that will not open.

Third: measure before judging

Only now do I run the numbers, because opinions formed before measurement tend to survive it.

• PageSpeed Insightspagespeed.web.dev (opens in a new tab) on the homepage and at least one service page. Service pages are usually much worse, and nobody checks them.
• LighthouseBuilt into Chrome. Gives accessibility and best-practice scores alongside performance — Chrome documents it here (opens in a new tab).
• The network panelSorted by size. This is where the oversized images announce themselves, as in images and media.
• View sourceChecking the title, meta description and heading structure covered in technical SEO basics.
• A keyboard passTab through the page without a mouse. Catches accessibility problems automation misses.

Fourth: the findability check

I search for the business name to see what comes up, then for the main service plus the town to see whether they appear at all.

I check whether the Google Business Profile is claimed and complete, since for a local business that is often worth more than everything on the website combined — see local SEO.

I also look for the site in Google using a site: search, which shows roughly what has been indexed. Pages missing from that list are pages nobody can find.

Last: write it in plain English

The output is a written list, ordered by what it is costing rather than by how technically interesting it is. Each item says what is wrong, what it means in practice, and roughly what fixing it involves.

No scores out of a hundred, no colour-coded dashboard. Those look impressive and tell you nothing about what to do on Monday morning.

If you would like this done on your site, that is what the free audit is — the same process, written up, within 24 hours.

From doing the work

Sources and further reading

• PageSpeed Insights (opens in a new tab)Google
• Lighthouse overview (opens in a new tab)Chrome Developers
• Google Search Console (opens in a new tab)Google
• WebAIM contrast checker (opens in a new tab)WebAIMFor checking text contrast against the WCAG thresholds.

Common questions

Can I do this audit myself?

Most of it, yes, and this guide is deliberately specific enough that you can. Testing your form, checking your site on a phone and running PageSpeed Insights need no technical skill and cover the majority of what matters.

How long does an audit take?

About an hour of actual work for a typical small business site, then the writing up. I return them within 24 hours.

What do I get at the end?

A written list in plain English, ordered by what each problem is costing you, with a rough sense of the effort to fix each. No obligation attached, and nothing to pay.