A website audit is a detailed check-up of your entire website—technical performance, content quality, SEO readiness, user experience, and security. Think of it as a diagnostic tool that shows what’s working, what’s not, and what needs improvement.
For business owners, it’s not just about spotting broken links or slow pages. A proper audit gives you clarity: where your site stands today, how it supports your goals, and what actions will deliver the biggest impact moving forward.
What a website audit covers
Depending on the scope, an audit can cover a range of areas. Here’s what’s typically included:
1. Technical Performance
- Site speed and load times
- Mobile responsiveness
- Indexing issues (how Google crawls your site)
- Broken links or missing pages (404 errors)
- Redirect chains and HTTPS compliance
- Core Web Vitals (Google’s user experience signals)
2. SEO
- Page titles and meta descriptions
- Keyword usage and content gaps
- Alt text and image optimization
- Internal linking structure
- Canonical tags and sitemap setup
- Crawlability and noindex errors
3. User Experience (UX)
- Navigation clarity and structure
- Readability and content hierarchy
- Button placements and CTAs
- Accessibility issues (contrast, font sizes, etc.)
- Design consistency
4. Content Quality
- Relevance and tone of copy
- Duplicate content or thin pages
- Outdated information or broken formatting
- Blog structure and topic alignment
5. Security & Compliance
- HTTPS and SSL certificates
- Security headers
- Cookie compliance and privacy policy checks
- WordPress/plugin vulnerabilities (if applicable)
Why a website audit matters
A website can look great on the surface—but still underperform behind the scenes. An audit helps you:
- Uncover hidden issues that affect rankings or user trust
- Improve speed and usability to reduce bounce rates
- Fix SEO errors that keep your pages from showing up in search
- Spot outdated or ineffective content before it drives people away
- Prioritize improvements instead of guessing what to fix
When to get one
- Before or after a website redesign
- When your rankings or traffic drop unexpectedly
- If leads have dried up and you’re not sure why
- As part of regular website maintenance (at least once or twice a year)
It’s also a great way to kick off a digital strategy, since it gives you the facts you need to make smart, targeted decisions.
DIY vs. professional audits
You can run quick audits using tools like:
- Google Search Console
- PageSpeed Insights
- Screaming Frog
- Ahrefs or Semrush (for SEO)
But these tools often need interpretation. A manual or hybrid audit from a specialist adds context and prioritization—what to fix, what to leave, and what to do next.
Bottom line
A website audit gives you the roadmap. It cuts through guesswork and reveals what’s holding your site back—and where you’re already doing well. If you want your website to do more than just exist, an audit is the first step to making it work smarter and harder for your business.
