How to Audit Your Small Business Website

Spot what’s holding your website back, and learn when it’s time to bring in expert help.

Why a Website Audit Matters

Your website is often the first place potential customers meet your business. But if your site is outdated, slow, or confusing, you’re losing visitors and revenue, before you even get a chance to connect.

That’s why regular website audits are so important. An audit helps you spot weaknesses, improve performance, and make sure your site is doing what it should: attracting and converting customers.

The good news? You don’t need to be a tech wizard to do a basic audit yourself. Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Check for Mobile Friendliness

With more than half of web traffic coming from mobile devices, your site has to look great and function smoothly on smaller screens.

✅ Test your site on your phone: Are fonts readable? Do buttons work? Is it easy to scroll?
✅ Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your site performs.

If your site is clunky on mobile, you’re losing customers. Period.

Step 2: Test Website Speed

A slow website is a silent customer killer. Studies show that even a 1-second delay in load time can drop conversions by 7%.

✅ Use free tools like PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to test your site speed.
✅ Look for issues like oversized images, unnecessary plugins, or outdated code.

If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, visitors are already bouncing.

Step 3: Review Your Design and Branding

Ask yourself: Does your website still reflect your business today?

✅ Is your logo, color scheme, and layout modern and consistent?
✅ Do your images look professional or dated?
✅ Does the overall design build trust, or turn people away?

Design is about more than looks, it’s about credibility and conversion. Outdated visuals can quietly tell visitors that your business is behind the times.

Step 4: Audit Your SEO Basics

SEO doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start with these basics:

✅ Do all pages have unique, keyword-rich titles and meta descriptions?
✅ Are your images using alt tags (great for SEO and accessibility)?
✅ Is your content clear, useful, and up to date?
✅ Do you have internal links connecting your pages logically?

If the answer is “no” to most of these, your site is likely invisible to the people who need your services most.

Step 5: Check User Experience (UX)

Think like a customer. Is your website easy to use?

✅ Can visitors quickly find your services, contact info, or pricing?
✅ Are calls-to-action (like “Book Now” or “Contact Us”) easy to spot?
✅ Do forms work properly?

The goal is simple: make it easy for visitors to take the next step.

When to Call a Pro

A DIY audit is a great start, but knowing what’s wrong and knowing how to fix it are two very different things.

If your audit reveals:

• Outdated design that doesn’t reflect your brand

• Poor SEO that keeps you off Google’s radar

• Slow load times you can’t fix yourself

• Confusing navigation that drives visitors away

…it’s time to bring in a professional.

At Jamie’s Design & Marketing, I specialize in helping small businesses transform underperforming websites into modern, SEO-optimized, customer-friendly platforms that work as hard as you do.

FAQs: DIY Website Audits

1. How often should I audit my small business website?
At least once a year, or more often if your business is growing or changing.

2. Can I fix everything myself after the audit?
Some small fixes (like updating content or resizing images) you can handle. But for bigger issues, design, SEO, site speed, it’s more efficient (and effective) to hire a pro.

3. How long does a professional website redesign take?
Most small business sites take 4–6 weeks to complete at Jamie’s Design & Marketing.

4. Will a website redesign really pay off?
Yes! A well-optimized, modern site increases visibility, builds trust, and boosts conversions, often paying for itself many times over.

5. What’s different about Jamie’s Design compared to other designers?
I focus on small businesses, balancing design, SEO, and storytelling to build sites that aren’t just pretty, but powerful tools for growth.

Performing a DIY website audit is a smart first step in making sure your website is actually working for your business. But when issues pile up, or when you’re ready to grow, it pays to bring in professional help.

Your website should be more than just an online brochure, it should be a 24/7 marketing and sales machine.

Ready to transform your website into a site that attracts, engages, and converts? Let’s talk about how Jamie’s Design & Marketing can help.