How the free website audit works

The audit is fully automated. It reads your homepage and a few files next to it, runs ten checks, and shows you which passed, which need attention and which could not be measured this time. No person reviews the report. Here is exactly what each check reads.

The ten checks

1. 1. Secure website

   Browsers warn visitors away from a site that isn't secure, before they read a word.

   Reads:

   We load your homepage over https://, following any redirects, and look at where it ends up and what it loads.

   Passes when:

   It loads over https with a certificate browsers accept, ends on an https address, and loads nothing over plain http://.

   Needs attention when:

   The certificate has a problem, the site redirects to an http:// address, or parts of the page still load over http://. A site we couldn't reach is marked Not measured, not failed.

2. 2. Works on phones and is easy to use

   Most people looking for a local business are on a phone, often in a hurry.

   Reads:

   Your homepage's code: the phone-screen (viewport) setting, descriptions on images, labels on form fields, and the page language.

   Passes when:

   All four are in place.

   Needs attention when:

   Any of them is missing. These are a few basic automated checks, not a full accessibility (WCAG) audit: contrast, keyboard use and focus need a real browser and aren't tested.

3. 3. Clear page title and description

   They are the words Google shows for your link. 'Home' tells nobody anything.

   Reads:

   Your homepage's title and description, the words Google usually shows for your link.

   Passes when:

   Both are filled in and the title isn't a placeholder.

   Needs attention when:

   Either is missing, the title is just "Home", "Welcome" or your bare domain, or the description only repeats the title.

4. 4. Clear business message and next step

   A visitor should see what you do, and how to get in touch, within a few seconds.

   Reads:

   Your homepage's main headline (H1), and whether there is an obvious next step: a call, quote, booking or contact button, a tap-to-call number or a form.

   Passes when:

   There is a real main headline and a next step.

   Needs attention when:

   There is no main headline, it is only a word like "Welcome", or there is no next step. Whether the words are clear to your customers is a judgement the scan doesn't make.

5. 5. Search access and sitemap

   A site that tells search engines to stay out cannot be found, however good it looks.

   Reads:

   Your robots.txt, the page's robots tag and X-Robots-Tag header, its canonical address, and your sitemap (at /sitemap.xml or named in robots.txt).

   Passes when:

   Search engines are allowed in, the page points at itself, and the sitemap lists pages.

   Needs attention when:

   Something tells search engines to stay out (most urgent), the page points Google at another address, or there is no usable sitemap. Being allowed in doesn't mean Google has indexed the site; only Search Console shows that.

6. 6. Important pages and links work

   A dead link reads as an abandoned business.

   Reads:

   Up to eight links from your homepage to your own pages, each requested once, with a time limit.

   Passes when:

   None of the links that answered returns an error.

   Needs attention when:

   At least one returns an error page; the report names it and the error. Links that don't answer in time aren't counted either way.

7. 7. Customers can contact you

   A phone number that dials, an email, or a form — reachable from the first page.

   Reads:

   Your homepage's tap-to-call links, email links and contact forms, and whether the phone and email links are written correctly.

   Passes when:

   At least one working way to get in touch is there.

   Needs attention when:

   None is there, or the phone or email link is malformed. We never send a test message to a business, so a form's delivery is never claimed as tested.

8. 8. Business details Google can read

   Your name, phone and address in a form Google can read, matching what the page says.

   Reads:

   Your homepage's business details in Schema.org JSON-LD, compared with what the page shows.

   Passes when:

   There is a business entry with your name and a phone number or address, and they match the page.

   Needs attention when:

   There is none, it only describes the website, it is missing your name or contact details, or its phone or name don't match the page.

9. 9. Measured website speed

   A slow page loses the people who were ready to call.

   Reads:

   Google PageSpeed Insights on your homepage: a simulated mid-range phone on a slow connection, run beside the other checks. The report shows the score, how long the main content took to appear, how long the page was blocked, how much it jumped, and real-visitor data when Google has it.

   Passes when:

   Google's mobile performance score is 50 or above, out of the band Google labels poor.

   Needs attention when:

   The score is below 50. If Google doesn't answer in time or is too busy, speed is Not measured, never a pass.

10. 10. AI compatibility

    More people ask AI tools about local businesses. These tools can only use what they can read.

    Reads:

    What AI tools can read: your page's text without running scripts, whether robots.txt lets AI crawlers in, your business details (check 8), and three optional extras: an llms.txt file, WebMCP form markup, and an A2A "AI front desk" agent card.

    Passes when:

    AI crawlers are allowed in and your homepage has real text in its code.

    Needs attention when:

    robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, or the page has almost no text until scripts run. The optional extras never fail this check; missing ones are listed as optional improvements. No check can say whether an AI tool will mention your business.

“Not measured” and the score

When a check cannot be decided — most often because Google’s speed test did not answer in time — it is marked Not measured. It never counts as a pass. The score counts only the checks that were measured: “7 of 9 automatic checks passed” means one check could not be measured that time and is left out of both numbers.

Also noticed

Three smaller checks appear under the main ten: whether the homepage links a privacy policy and terms, whether a missing page returns a proper “not found” page, and whether an analytics tag is present so you can tell where enquiries come from.

What to fix first

The report puts up to three fixes at the top, by a fixed rule, not a score: first anything that stops customers reaching you or makes browsers and search engines turn them away (an insecure site, no way to get in touch, search engines blocked); then what loses visitors on the way in (broken links, a page that doesn’t fit a phone, a slow page); then what Google and AI tools read. Optional AI extras never come before any of those.

What a scan cannot judge

• Whether your photographs are of your own work.
• Whether your words sound like you and say what you do.
• Whether your contact form actually reaches you — we never submit anyone’s form. Send yourself a test enquiry.
• Anything beyond the homepage, apart from the eight sampled links, robots.txt, the sitemap and the two AI files.
• Your Google Business Profile, and whether Google has indexed your site.
• Whether any AI tool will mention or recommend your business.

The score is our own measure of these basics. It is not a Google score, and it says nothing about where you will rank.

Your data

We scan the address you give us once. We email the report to the address you give us, and the report gets a private link that is kept out of search engines. See the privacy policy.