What is a Website Audit and Why Do You Need One?

Traffic Analytics

We look at where visitors are arriving, where they came from, bounce rates, time on page and other engagement stats. How is your analytics tool configured and set for tracking specific goals (e.g. completing a purchase or submitting an email address)?

Based on the journey you’ve outlined for your visitors, we look at how your site’s design, content and functionality encourage conversion rates. We’re looking to eliminate the issues which cause friction and impair engagement.

On-page Optimization

Are your pages optimized with relevant and consistent keyword use? Are your on-page calls-to-action clear and compelling? Are your response mechanisms performing as expected?

We look at your content with an eye for SEO, using our Ultimate SEO Copywriting Cheat Sheet as our best-practice guide. We also look for potential clutter and unnecessary content, navigation or functionality. This can give more space for information and calls-to-action, limiting distraction and confusion.

Lead Generation

We review the overall user experience to assess how well your website is optimized to generate leads. This involves taking a close look at lead generation mechanisms, such as calls-to-action and forms. For example, are your site’s forms simple and easy to complete? What is the user’s reward for completing a form? Is there an abandonment issue? We’ll pinpoint the obstacles your users face when trying to engage with your site.

Reporting

We assess the reporting you’re doing on a regular basis. We’ll review your dashboard(s), reports and collection methods and determine if and how improvements can be made.

Technical SEO

We carefully review how your site is implementing the basic but important SEO best practices. This includes title tags, meta descriptions, headings, image alt attributes, keyword density and consistency, in-page links, backlinks, broken links, WWW resolve, robots.txt, XML sitemap, URL parameters, mobile friendliness and speed, custom 404 pages, avatar and more.

SEO-boosting Content

Does your site have a blog? Is it set up to benefit your site users, your marketing goals and your site’s organic search health? If you are blogging, we look at your blog style, posting frequency, titles, categories, images, social media integration and more.

Social Media

We take a look at your organization’s official social media accounts, quantity and quality of your followers, who you’re following and the likes and shares of recent posts. We define how your social presence impacts your website.

Competitor Website Analysis

Comparing your site to those of your top competitors is a great way to walk in the shoes of your customers and prospects. When they’re researching their options, how does their experience on your site compare to that of other players in the field? Again, based on your specific situation, we tailor this analysis for your particular needs. It may be focused more on technical and SEO aspects, or it might require a stronger emphasis on design, functionality or messaging. Or perhaps all of the above.

View-only access to your traffic analytics tool, such as Google Analytics, is required

Access to your website’s content management system (CMS) is helpful

List of key performance indicators for website success and each KPI’s response mechanism

List of up to 3 competitor website URLs

Description of current and recent past traffic-driving activities: email, paid search, display advertising, social media and offline efforts like direct mail, etc.

List of landing page URLs used as part of your marketing activities and description of how they’re being used

Documentation related to website marketing plans, audits, performance reports, etc.

Target audience profiles/personas (the demographics of the ideal web visitor)