What’s a website audit?

Print anything with Printful



A website audit assesses a site’s content, security, and performance to determine if it’s fulfilling its purpose. It checks the creator, content, promotion, controls, and visitor profile to suggest improvements.

A website audit is typically used to determine the overall content, security, and performance of a website. Many websites are built by various companies to enhance or complement their productivity. Auditing a website can determine whether or not the website is fulfilling its primary purpose, and if not, how it could be improved.

One of the first things that a website audit usually deals with is who the creator of the site is. Sites can be created by the domain owner, a company employee, or an independent third-party web designer. If the site was created by a third party, the audit will often ask whether a web design agreement has been entered into between the site owner and a third party, and if so, what the current status of the agreement is.

Content rating is usually very important for any website audit. Web content created in its entirety by the website owner without references to third parties generally does not need to be verified. Third-party content, however, is usually worth checking the website to determine if it has been licensed to the website for use. For optimization purposes, the audit may suggest that the content consists of graphics, short paragraphs and multiple links within those paragraphs.

Promotion is something that can directly influence the success of a website. A website could be checked to see if it is registered in major search engines and if paid keywords are being used as part of a web campaign. Another thing that could be looked into is if the description, keyword and tags of the title on the website are modified to match the main purpose of the website.

Website controls generally seek optimal website performance which, at the same time, complies with any applicable privacy laws. For example, site audits usually check whether or not a website has a Terms of Service page. Such a page should typically allow the reader to agree to any terms and disclaimers the website may have relating to the content or products it offers. In regards to privacy, a Terms of Service page typically should address the security of information posted by visitors in the website’s interactive features, such as message boards or comment forms.
Visitors can be a vital part of any successful business website. More visitors usually translate into a higher chance of a sale. As part of determining the overall efficiency of a website, sometimes a website audit checks whether the site is designed with a visitor’s profile in mind. The design and overall navigability of the website should match what a person would come to search for on the site.




Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN


Skip to content