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B2B Playbook 3
The 12-Point Website Audit Checklist for Small Business
Find what is costing you enquiries before you spend another euro on ads.
About an hour
12 checks
Free tools only
No technical skills needed
Who it’s for
Audit your own site, no developer needed
This website audit checklist for small business owners gives you twelve checks you can run yourself, with free tools, in about an hour. Each one has a clear pass line, a self-test and a plain fix.
Built for trades and home-service businesses, restaurants, consultants and coaches, and online stores. You need a browser, your phone, your own logins and one person who has never seen your site.
The one rule
Do not fix anything while you audit.
Run all twelve checks first, write down every failure, then decide what to do. The most expensive habit in web projects is fixing the first problem you find instead of the most costly one.
You will probably find something in section 2 or 3 that matters more than everything in section 1. Section 1 is where everyone starts.
THE SCORECARD
What should a website audit checklist for small business cover?
Twelve checks in three sections. Tick pass or fail as you go, and click any check to jump to it.
| # | Check | What it protects | Pass or fail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mobile load speed | The visitors who clicked | |
| 2 | Page movement while loading | Taps landing where intended | |
| 3 | Largest image weight | Load speed | |
| 4 | Add-ons you can explain | Speed on every page | |
| 5 | Five-second stranger test | Every visitor you send | |
| 6 | One primary action | The first tap | |
| 7 | Required form fields | Enquiries | |
| 8 | Dead-end pages | Convinced visitors | |
| 9 | Pages Google holds | Being found | |
| 10 | Search listings | Clicks from search | |
| 11 | AI assistant mentions | Being recommended | |
| 12 | Ownership | Your domain, hosting and data |
Section 1, checks 1-4, about 15 minutes
Speed and technical health: are visitors leaving before they see anything?
A slow site does not annoy people. It removes them. They are gone before they form an opinion about your business, so you never see them in any report and the loss stays invisible.
01
How fast does your site load on mobile?
Why it matters
The longer the page takes, the more visitors leave before it finishes. They were interested enough to click, which makes them your most expensive traffic.
Self-test
- Go to pagespeed.web.dev and enter your homepage address. No account needed.
- Open the Mobile tab.
- If the top says “No data” (common for small sites), scroll down to Largest Contentful Paint (LCP).
- Note the LCP time. Ignore the 0-100 score.
PASS
LCP under 2.5 seconds.
What failing looks like
LCP of 2.5 seconds or more on the Mobile tab.
Example
A plumber’s homepage opens with a full-width photo of a finished bathroom, uploaded straight from his phone. Someone searching for an emergency plumber on mobile data sees a blank screen, taps back, and calls the next result.
The fix
In the PageSpeed diagnostics, find the Largest Contentful Paint element. It names the exact thing that loads last. If it is an image, do check 3 first and make sure that image is not lazy-loaded. If it is a slider, replace it with one static image and one headline. If the server response is slow, turn on caching, and if that does not help, the hosting plan is the limit.
02
Does the page move while it loads?
Why it matters
A button that jumps as someone taps it produces a mis-tap, not a complaint. They assume the site is broken and leave, and you never hear about it.
Self-test
- In the same PageSpeed report, find Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
- Load your site on your phone and watch the first two seconds carefully.
PASS
CLS under 0.1, and nothing jumps on your phone.
What failing looks like
CLS of 0.1 or more, or you see text, images or buttons jump while the page loads.
Example
A restaurant’s “Book a table” button sits just under a review feed that loads late. A visitor taps the button at the moment the feed appears, and lands on the reviews instead of the booking page.
The fix
Give images and videos a set width and height, or a fixed aspect ratio in your builder, so the browser reserves the space. Announcement bars, cookie notices and chat bubbles should sit on top of the page, not push content down. Put maps, review feeds and other embeds inside a container with a fixed minimum height.
03
How heavy is your largest image?
Why it matters
An unoptimised hero image is the most common single cause of a failed check 1, and the easiest to fix. A 3 MB photo straight off a camera is not rare.
Self-test
- On a desktop computer, right-click your homepage and choose Inspect.
- Open the Network tab and tick Disable cache.
- Reload the page, click the Img filter, then sort by Size.
- Note the top file’s size, and its format in the Type column.
PASS
Under 200 KB, served as WebP or AVIF.
What failing looks like
Your largest image is over 200 KB, or it is served as JPG or PNG.
Example
A coach’s homepage photo is a 4000-pixel portrait several megabytes in size, shown in a space 1200 pixels wide. The phone downloads the whole file before it shows anything.
The fix
Resize the image to the largest size it is actually shown at: 1920 pixels wide is plenty for a full-width hero, and 1200 or less for most other images. Convert it to WebP at squoosh.app (free, runs in your browser) at quality around 75, and check it still looks right. Replace the old file everywhere it is used. On WordPress, an image optimization plugin can convert future uploads automatically.
04
Can you explain everything your site loads?
Why it matters
Every add-on is a tax on every page view, and most sites carry a few nobody uses. There is no magic number, because tracking and a consent banner legitimately add code.
Self-test
- Open your list of plugins, apps or add-ons (WordPress: Plugins. Shopify: Apps).
- Write down every one.
- Next to each, write the job it does.
- Anything you cannot explain goes on your failure list.
PASS
Every plugin, app and add-on has a job you can name.
What failing looks like
One or more add-ons you cannot explain, or two that do the same job.
Example
An online shop still loads a countdown-timer app from a sale years ago, and two copies of the same Meta pixel, on every single page.
The fix
Take a backup, deactivate one unexplained add-on, check the site still works, re-run PageSpeed, then repeat. Count your tracking tags too: two analytics setups or several copies of the same pixel is common and pure waste. On Shopify, uninstalling an app does not always remove its code from your theme, and cleaning that out is a job for someone who edits theme code.
Section 2, checks 5-8, about 20 minutes
The conversion path: do interested visitors know what to do next?
These four are free to fix and almost always worth more than the four before them. You are not looking for what is ugly. You are looking for the moment a willing buyer stops knowing what to do next.
05
Can a stranger explain your business in five seconds?
Why it matters
This is the highest-value check in the playbook, and it costs nothing. If people do not understand what you do, every visitor you send is wasted, however fast the page loads.
Self-test
- Find someone who has never seen your site.
- Show them your homepage for five seconds, then close the laptop.
- Ask two questions: what does this business do, and who is it for?
- Do not explain your site while they look. The explaining is the failure.
PASS
They answer both questions, correctly, without hedging.
What failing looks like
The homepage says “Excellence in every detail. Quality solutions for your home, delivered with passion.” The stranger guesses a cleaning company. It is a kitchen fitter.
Example
A plumber’s homepage opens with a full-width photo of a finished bathroom, uploaded straight from his phone. Someone searching for an emergency plumber on mobile data sees a blank screen, taps back, and calls the next result.
The fix
Write ten headline versions that say what you do, who it is for and what they get, in the words your customers use. Cross out any a competitor could put on their site unchanged, then pick the plainest one that is left, not the cleverest. Put it on the first screen with one button, and re-test with a new person, because the first one has already seen it.
06
How many things compete for the first tap?
Why it matters
Three equally weighted buttons are not three times the chance of a conversion. They ask the visitor to make a decision you should have made for them.
Self-test
- Open your homepage on your phone.
- Without scrolling, count every clickable thing that asks for a decision: buttons, offers, chat popups, newsletter bars.
- Do not count the cookie banner. In the EU and UK it is a legal requirement, not a design choice.
- Check whether the cookie banner covers your main button.
PASS
One primary action, and the cookie banner is compact and does not cover it.
What failing looks like
Two or more things compete for the first tap, or the cookie banner covers your main button.
Example
A restaurant’s first screen on mobile shows “Book a table”, “Order online”, “See the menu”, a newsletter popup and a chat bubble. The visitor closes the popup and leaves without choosing any of them.
The fix
Pick the one action that leads to the most paying customers (call, book or request a quote) and make it the only solid, colored button on the first screen. Everything else becomes a plain text link or moves further down. Stop newsletter popups on the first visit, delay the chat widget, and keep the cookie banner compact at the bottom of the screen.
07
How many fields stand between a buyer and you?
Why it matters
Each extra required field costs you some enquiries. Phone number and company size can be asked in your reply, once they are already talking to you.
Self-test
- Open your main enquiry form.
- Count only the fields marked required.
- For each one, ask whether you genuinely need it before the first conversation.
PASS
Four or fewer required fields.
What failing looks like
Five or more required fields.
Example
A consultant’s form requires name, email, phone, company, company size, budget, job title, how you heard about us, and a message. Nine required fields before the first hello.
The fix
Require only what you need to reply: name, email or phone, and a message. A service drop down is a reasonable fourth. Under the button, say what happens next, and only promise what you keep. Then send yourself a test enquiry to confirm it arrives and does not land in spam.
08
Does any page leave a convinced visitor stranded?
Why it matters
The About page is the usual offender. It is often one of the most visited pages on a small business site, and it usually ends in nothing at all.
Self-test
- Click every item in your navigation.
- On each page, scroll to the bottom.
- Ask: if someone were convinced right here, what would they do?
PASS
Zero pages that end without a next action.
What failing looks like
Any page that ends with no button, no link and no way to get in touch.
Example
A builder’s About page ends with a team photo and then the footer. A visitor who was ready to ask for a quote has to scroll back up and hunt for the menu.
The fix
Build one reusable closing block: a single sentence plus the primary action from check 6, saved as a reusable block. Add it to your About page and every service page first. Link each blog post to its most related service page, and make your thank-you page say what happens next and when.
Section 3, checks 9-12, about 20 minutes
Visibility and ownership: can anyone find you, and do you own what you paid for?
This is the section almost nobody runs, and it contains the check almost nobody has passed. If you only do one thing in this playbook, do number 12.
09
Is Google actually holding your pages?
Why it matters
A page Google does not hold cannot bring you anyone. A large gap usually means pages are blocked, duplicated or were never submitted.
Self-test
- Open Google Search Console (search.google.com/search-console, free with a Google account).
- Go to Indexing > Pages.
- Compare the Indexed count with the number of pages you believe you have. A site: search count is only an estimate.
- If nobody ever set up Search Console for your site, write that down. It is a finding in itself.
PASS
The Indexed count roughly matches your real page count.
What failing looks like
A large gap between indexed pages and real pages, or no Search Console access at all.
Example
A shop launched with “Discourage search engines” still ticked from the test build. Search Console shows only a handful of the product pages indexed, months after launch.
The fix
Submit your sitemap in Search Console: /wp-sitemap.xml or your SEO plugin’s /sitemap_index.xml on WordPress, /sitemap.xml on Shopify. On WordPress, check Settings > Reading, and untick “Discourage search engines” if it is ticked. Then read the reasons Search Console gives for excluded pages, and use URL Inspection to request indexing for your key pages.
10
What do strangers see in your search results?
Why it matters
Your search listing is your advert, and the placement is free. If Google shows a different title from the one you wrote, it decided yours was not good enough.
Self-test
- Search Google for site:yourdomain.com (use your own domain).
- Read every blue title and grey description.
- Look for duplicates, blanks, and anything that reads like a filename.
PASS
Every title is unique, written for a human, and roughly 50-60 characters.
What failing looks like
Repeated titles, blank descriptions, or titles like “Home” or “IMG_2041”.
Example
Every page in the search results shows the same title, “Home – My WordPress Site”, and Google has written its own description from the cookie notice.
The fix
Write a unique title for each page using What it is + Where | Brand, and a description of around 150 characters that gives an honest reason to click. On WordPress, edit both in your SEO plugin box under each page. On Shopify, use “Search engine listing” at the bottom of each page.
11
Can an AI assistant recommend you?
Why it matters
This is a newer signal, and everyone, including me, is still working out the practices. But the behaviour is real and growing.
Self-test
- Open ChatGPT or Perplexity (free tiers are fine).
- Ask it to recommend a business like yours, in your area or category, without naming yourself.
- Try two or three phrasings, twice each. Answers vary from run to run.
- Note whether you appear and whether the description is accurate.
PASS
You appear more than once, and the description is accurate.
What failing looks like
You never appear, appear only once, or are described wrongly.
Example
Asked for a good accountant for small businesses in your city, the assistant names three firms. Yours is not one of them, or it lists your old address.
The fix
Nobody can guarantee a place in an AI answer, so be careful with anyone who does. Make what you do, who it is for and where you work plain text on your site, keep your name, address, phone and description identical across your website, Google Business Profile and LinkedIn, and check robots.txt is not blocking AI crawlers by accident. Re-test monthly with the same questions and look for a trend.
12
Do you actually own the things you paid for?
Why it matters
If someone else holds these, you are not a client, you are a tenant. Most ownership problems are not bad intent, and they are easy to fix while everyone is still friendly.
Self-test
- In your domain registrar’s account, whose name is the registrant? Public WHOIS now hides this, so you need to log in.
- Is your hosting account in your company’s name, under your own login?
- In your analytics, under Admin > Account access, are you an Administrator?
- Cannot log in to one of them? That is your answer.
PASS
Your company’s name on all three, under logins you hold.
What failing looks like
Any of the three is in someone else’s name, or you cannot log in to it.
Example
The web designer registered the domain on their own account years ago to save time. Now they do not answer emails, and the renewal notices go to them, not you.
The fix
Ask your provider to change the domain registrant to your company, move the hosting into an account in your name, and make you Administrator in analytics. They can keep their own access for the work they do for you. Before moving a domain, ask your registrar how transfers work, because some lock a domain for up to 60 days after an ownership change. If the provider will not cooperate, get help.
Your result
How do you score your website audit?
Count your failures, not your passes. The number that matters is how many of the twelve you did not clear, and which section they clustered in.
Your result
Failed check 5 or check 12? Treat your result as 3-5, whatever your total.
A homepage strangers cannot understand, or a domain you do not own, outweighs everything else on this list.
0-2
Your site is doing its job
Fix the individual failures and leave the rest alone. Do not redesign a working site because it looks dated to you. You are not the visitor, and you look at it far more often than they do.
3-5
Repairable, not rebuildable
The most common result, and the most commonly over-treated. Many agencies will quote you a full rebuild here. Most of what you found can be fixed in days without touching the design.
6+
The foundation is the problem
At this point patching costs more than replacing, because each fix fights the last one. It is worth pricing a rebuild, but get the scope written down as a fixed deliverable before anyone starts.
NEXT STEPS
What to do with your result
print it
Want it on paper?
All 12 checks, the scoring guide and click-by-click steps, on one printable PDF.
FIX IT
Failed some checks?
The Website Fix Guide takes each failure in the order that protects the most money, and tells you plainly which fixes you can do yourself and which ones need help.
We will only use your email to send you the guide. See the privacy policy.
Talk it through
Failed three or more, or check 5 or 12?
Book a short call. Bring your results, and I will tell you what I would fix first, what it involves, and whether you need me at all.
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