Website audit: what to check before investing in promotion
How to check demand, pages, enquiries and analytics. Audit checklist and example of a work plan with which you can go to the contractor.
A site audit should end with a clear decision: which pages and errors to fix first, how to check the result and who is responsible for the work. A list of technical warnings alone does not do this. Start with the product, region, and tickets that your sales team is actually willing to handle.
What to collect before inspection
Prepare a website address, a list of main products or services, regions of operation, and three examples of suitable enquiry. If analytics is connected, compare the same periods: visits, landing pages, submitted forms and sales. For a seasonal business, comparing adjacent months can be misleading: consider the season and changes in advertising.
Access to your personal account is not required for the first conversation. You can start with a public website and anonymous uploads. There is no need to transfer account passwords; If access is required, issue separate read rights.
Six checks you can do yourself
- Demand.Write down what the buyer calls the service, task and product. Check the wording in Wordstat. The total frequency includes clarifications and is not equal to the number of buyers.
- Page structure.Find a page for each important request. It should contain the terms and conditions of this particular service, and not a general story about the company.
- Proposal.Is the price or calculation procedure, terms, restrictions and results of the work clear? For complex equipment, a list of calculation data is more useful than a fictitious “from” price.
- Trust.Are there actual projects, details, photographs of the work and an explanation of the process? Check the rights to publish client materials.
- Communication.Send a test request from your phone and make sure it arrives. Check the form error, required fields, and response after submitting.
- Accounting.Match the test request with an event in analytics and a record in CRM. Clicking on the messenger does not mean that a dialogue has begun.
What does a useful audit result look like?
| Observation | Action | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Visitors are looking for delivery to a specific city | Add real delivery terms and price calculations | Page entries and qualified hits from this region |
| The form shows success but there is no message | Check server sending and error handling | The test request appears in the working channel |
| The report shows only total traffic | Separate articles, services and product cards | It is clear which pages help sales |
In the plan, each task should have a priority, owner, and completion criterion. Enquiry delivery errors are more important than decorative animation. And a new section makes sense if there is a demand for it and the company can deliver on the promise on the page.
How to apply this to your business
In case "Firewood of the Neva"You can see the performance of local pages and search traffic. INVehart case— industrial service. Compare the structure of the buyer's journey, rather than transferring someone else's conversion rate to your niche.
Questions and answers
How does a free analysis differ from a full audit?
During the first analysis, we identify the main problems and opportunities. We will agree on the scope of the detailed check, access and implementation plan after reviewing the task.
Do I need to order a new website right away?
No. First, we find out whether the problem can be solved by improving existing pages, forms, or analytics. A complete overhaul is not necessary in every case.