How to Do a Website Audit in Seven Easy Steps
Boost sales and traffic with this Self-Guided Website Audit Checklist.
So, your website isn’t selling.
You’re not alone. Most websites are woefully underachieving when it comes to lead generation and conversions.
If this sounds like you, take heart, your site probably doesn’t need a complete overhaul (although if you decide it does, please reach out to me); you simply need a few things to be tweaked or added.
And this Checklist is designed to tell you EXACTLY what those things are.
This Website Audit Checklist will give you seven easy steps to button up your site and turn it into a conversion machine.
Just want the short version? Download the PDF checklist below.
1. Are your industry and offer immediately obvious?
Take a quick look at your homepage (or the sales page for your main offer), and see if what you do is immediately clear.
Do your design, color scheme, imagery, and even layout convey what your industry and main offer are?
Does everything work together to create a clear impression of what you do?
For example, a hot pink site with polka dots and curly font probably won’t send the right message for a corporate accountant.
Likewise, a children’s party planner business website that has a beige color scheme and nature stock photos wouldn’t work, either.
Yes, you want to set yourself apart from your competitors, but you can’t do it at the expense of your brand and message. So…
Have you been clear about what sets you apart from your competition without confusing your visitors? Is it clear what problem you solve for your Right People and why they should choose you?
Several years ago, I taught some business classes at Southwest Acupuncture College and when researching websites for my students, I found that almost every single acupuncture website at the time had some version of black rocks and bamboo. Acupuncture sites have come a long way since then, but apparently, this used to say, “stick me with needles and I’ll feel better”? What do the images on your site convey?
Remember, you have two seconds to convey to someone that they are in the right place. If they land on your site and get confused about where they are, the back button is too close for them to work to figure it out.
Is there a balance between clear and clever in your copy and design elements? E.g. if your logo is clever, is your tagline clear?
Many people make the mistake of relying too much on cute or clever words and design elements, blurring the overall purpose of their site. Make sure that everything above the fold (what someone can see on their screen without scrolling), works together to give a clear impression of what you do.
I’ve included a few Canva ad templates here that I’ve changed to show the impact of design and copy choices. My comments are to the right of each image.
Your URL, logo, site title, and hero image (the first image at the top of your website) all work together to create an impression. Is that impression clear enough to convey exactly what you do to your visitor?
Certainly, there are times when polka dots can be sleek, and could lend personality to a stylish accountant’s brand, and maybe beige or gray could work on a site of vibrantly-colored children’s party photos, but shocking or surprising your audience isn’t usually a good thing.
2. What is the purpose of your website?
What exactly do you want your website to do? What does your business need the most right now?
If you’re just getting started, or you’re in transition, it might be cash flow. If you’re getting ready to launch a new program or course, it might be list growth. If you’re getting ready to publish a book, it might be brand recognition and PR.
Note: We’re talking about what YOU want from your website, not what your visitor wants. We’ll answer that in question three. For now, focus on what you want to get from your website.
What exactly does your business need to accomplish right now?
Grow your email list
Increase sales
Schedule discovery calls
Build a social media community (this can incl. YouTube)
Increase podcast subscribers
Establish yourself as an expert on your topic
Other:
Of course, you’ll have more than one purpose, but it’s best to pick one to focus on right now for this exercise.
Does every page have a call to action that aligns with that purpose?
If not, you’re missing opportunities and wasting traffic.
3. Does your website make it easy for your visitor to achieve their goal?
Now let’s dig into what your users want.
Can they easily find the information they’re looking for? Think about the average mindset of your ideal client.
How aware are they of their own problem?
For example, let’s say you’re an acupuncturist who specializes in sports injuries. Your ideal client knows that they have back pain, but they might not know anything about acupuncture. Do they need to be educated on what acupuncture is and how it can benefit them?
And, the more important question, do you want to educate them on that?
How aware are they of your solution?
You might not actually be interested in explaining that to people, so your ideal client might be fully aware of the benefits of acupuncture, but they need to learn about how great your acupuncture is. These people need to learn about your awesomeness and how it sets you apart from other acupuncturists (and healers of all kinds, probably).
Once you give them that, then what? What’s next in their journey through your site? Urgency? Social-proof? Objection handling?
Each step in their journey needs a clear call to action.
This may seem like a deep dive into copywriting and messaging because it is.
Understanding your customer’s awareness, and then using that awareness to lay out clear, intentional steps for them to follow, makes all the difference between a website that just ‘looks pretty’ and website that actually performs.
Want a website that sells while you sleep? Give some thought to these questions and how you address them throughout your website.
Now that we’ve clarified your message a bit, let’s get into the SEO and UX (user experience) nitty-gritty.
4. Is your navigation clear and intuitive?
Since your main navigation is how people will orient themselves and ‘walk’ through your site, it needs to be clear and user-friendly.
First, does your menu have eight menu items or fewer?
Don’t overwhelm people with too many options. Giving people too many choices—or choices that are weirdly named—is disorienting and confusing, and remember confused people don’t buy!
Second, does it have as few drow-downs as possible? (Like, none, hopefully?)
Remember that over half your visitors are looking at your site on mobile where it’s much easier to scroll and click buttons than it is to manipulate a drop-down menu and click tiny links.
Walk people through your site with thoughtful content and strategically-placed buttons instead of drop-downs.
Finally, does your footer include social links, and a GDPR privacy policy and T&C?
Put social links in your footer and keep them off of your Contact page. Reserve that page for getting people to do what you want them to do (your answer to #2 above). Don’t give them the option to commit to you in a lesser way, especially by following a social media account you might not keep up with anymore.
5. Does your site have basic SEO in place?
I could do an entire blog series on SEO (and I probably will at one point), but for now, let’s tackle some basics.
Analytics:
Is your site connected to some kind of analytics so you can track traffic and conversions?
What blog posts or podcasts of yours are the most popular? What pages attract the most traffic? How long do people stay on pages? Where do your visitors come from?
It’s impossible to create a solid marketing strategy without these answers. Google Analytics is great, and many website platforms, like Squarespace, have their own.
Page Titles and Descriptions:
Are there titles and descriptions for each of your pages in the meta information?
Your page titles and descriptions are essential for SEO, but they only show up in Google searches (see image below), not actually on your site anywhere.
Google search results is the only place that people will be able to read your page titles and description, but it’s CRUCIAL to getting traffic. Make sure they’re extra clickable by making them accurate and appealing.
Page Titles (keep them short, up to about 7 words - up to 70 characters)
Shows up in Google searches as the blue link (or purple if it’s a site you’ve visited)
Use good, specific keywords
Should be specific to each page, e.g. “About Website Designer Diane Whiddon” for my About page. “Squarespace Website Design Services” for my Services page.
Page Descriptions (A few sentences - up to 160 characters)
Shows up in Google searches as black text underneath the link
Answers the question “What is on this page?”
Should be specific to each page (Google some websites in your industry to find descriptive, clickable examples.)
Images:
Do all your images have descriptive alt-tags?
Each image needs to have an alt-tag that describes what the image is. Think of describing the image to someone who is visually impaired, and you’ll create a clear alt-tag.
In Squarespace, the pop-up that appears when you add an image has a place to add an alt-tag.
To find where you enter your alt-tags, look for it in your page settings, or Google your platform to find it.
Are all your images under 2 MB?
At least. Most pics don’t need to be over 250 KB unless they’re background images, and even those rarely need to be over 500 KB. Keep images small so your site can load faster. (Google hates making people wait.)
Heading Tags:
Do you use heading tags to emphasize keywords and important content?
Everywhere on my site that I use …
this font …
I’m actually using a heading tag. (That one was H3.)
Google prioritizes these over your other text because it assumes that it includes an important topic or keyword.
Now, I rarely think about using them strategically. I’m almost always simply using them for emphasis or organization, but that’s okay. It still works.
Just scroll through this post. Almost every example of this font includes an important keyword: navigation, SEO, menu, font, visitor, website, industry, etc. Those are great keywords!
You’re probably doing this automatically, too. But if not, make sure your headings are H1, H2, and H3 tags and that they tell Google what your site is about.
Slightly more advanced SEO tactics: (<< look! it’s another heading tag!)
If those were easy for you, get a little extra credit by tackling the next few questions below. The links will take you to sites where you can test some of your site’s functionality.
(I have personally used all of these sites and determined that they’re safe.)
Is your site mobile-friendly?
How is your site’s speed?
Does your site have any broken links?
Is your site accessible?
6. Are your content and copy clear?
Okay, now let’s take a global look at your content. Scan the questions below to make sure your site is on track.
Is your content well-written, without typos. Does it have short sentences and paragraphs, and lots of white space for easy online readability? (LOTS of white space. More than you think you’ll need. For my writer clients out there, you’re not writing a book. You’re writing for the web. It’s different. Hit that Enter key.)
Does it consider your visitors’ awareness of both their problem and your solution?
Does it set you apart, convey urgency and benefits, and deal with objections well enough to illustrate that your solution is the best for them? And do your numbers (conversions) reflect that?
Does your about page include your values? (For more on this, watch Simon Sinek’s TED talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Put some of your why on your About page.)
Does your services page include both the features and benefits of your work? (Features = what your services include; Benefits = how you make their lives better.)
Do your blog posts use good Categories and Tags? Are titles either keyword-rich or written for clickability/shareability? (It’s hard to do both at the same time. Be cute and clever sometimes so people will want to share it on social, but remember to be crystal clear sometimes so Google will find it.)
7. Is your content marketing strategic and effective?
This question is for you if you’re hoping to sell your intellectual property, e.g. a course or coaching program.
(If instead, you’re growing a 1:1 business, you can skip this step and focus less on online content creation and more on in-person marketing and networking opportunities.)
To sell stuff online, you need to build a list. If you want to build a list, you need to create consistent content.
Are you consistently (even if it’s just twice a month) publishing a blog post that helps your ideal client solve a problem?
(This can include transcripts from a podcast or YouTube video, but it’s important that it’s on your blog/website (a thing you own that will build over time as opposed to a capricious-and-algorithm-ruled social platform that will bury your content next month). This is the key to building your list and increasing sales over time.
Do your posts include clear calls to action?
Are they written in a way that underlines the benefit you provide and/or offers value to your ideal client?
Great work on these! Now, keep it going.
Revisit these questions once or twice a year to make sure you’ve optimized incoming traffic, user experience, and conversions.
Even annual audits can give you valuable insights to improve your website’s performance and make sure it’s doing all it can for you.
Ready for more help?
Would you like more help than what I could give you here? Wish you had an expert eye to give you feedback on your website? Get a Website Review where I will personally review your website and give you a 30-minute video and 15-minute follow-up call!
