What is a website audit?
A website audit examines a site against what it is supposed to achieve and reports what is preventing it. For a local service business that purpose is enquiries, so an audit that never mentions phone numbers, forms or follow-up is auditing the wrong thing. A good audit is short, prioritised and specific rather than a long automated list of everything imperfect.
The short definition
A website audit examines a site against what it is supposed to achieve and reports what is preventing it.
For a local service business, that purpose is enquiries — so an audit that never mentions phone numbers, forms or follow-up is auditing the wrong thing.
What a useful audit covers
Does it convert? Phone number visible on mobile without scrolling, forms that work and deliver, clear next step, proof near the decision.
Is it fast? On a phone, on mobile data.
Can it be found? Real service pages, correct titles, indexable, sensible structure.
Is it trustworthy? Real photographs, named people, reviews, current information.
Is it measured? Conversion tracking that fires, calls attributed, some record of what closed.
Does it work everywhere? Different phone sizes, one-handed, in sunlight.
How to tell a good audit from a bad one
Length. A hundred findings scored red is an automated scan, not judgement. Four prioritised findings is an audit.
Specificity. "Improve your meta descriptions" is a category. "Your three service pages share the same description, so search results do not distinguish them" is a finding.
Priority. A good audit says what to do first and why. Without an order, an owner is left to guess.
Business relevance. Technical findings that do not affect enquiries belong in an appendix.
Free audits
Many agencies offer them, and they are a sales tool. That is fine when everyone knows it.
A good free audit tells you something true you did not know. A poor one is a generated report with your logo on the front, recognisable because nothing in it is specific to your business.
Acting on the two obvious findings without buying anything is a legitimate use of one.
The free version you can do yourself
- Open the site on your phone and time how long until you find the phone number
- Submit a real enquiry and check it arrives
- Call your own number and see whether anyone answers within a few rings
- Search your main service plus your city and see whether you appear
Four tests, fifteen minutes, and they surface most of what matters for a small local business.
Where it sits at BayouEdge
An audit is part of the setup work in every package, from $2,500, and a focused conversion audit is available as a one-time add-on.
Starting
Run the four tests. What they show determines whether a formal audit is worth commissioning.
Frequently asked questions
What should a website audit cover?
Whether it converts, whether it is fast on a phone, whether it can be found, whether it looks trustworthy, whether anything is measured, and whether it works across devices.
How do I spot a generated audit?
Length and vagueness. A hundred findings scored red is an automated scan. Nothing in it will be specific to your business, your trade or your service area.
Are free audits worth taking?
Sometimes. A good one tells you something true you did not know, and acting on two obvious findings without buying anything is a legitimate use of it.
What can I check myself?
Time how long to find the phone number on a phone, submit a real enquiry and check it arrives, call your own number, and search your main service plus your city. Fifteen minutes.