The website audit checklist I use before every redesign

Every website redesign we do at Launchhaus starts the same way: a structured audit of the existing site. Not a vague "your site looks old" assessment — a specific, quantified look at exactly what's working, what isn't, and what's costing the business customers.

Here's the exact checklist we use. You can run this on your own site in about 20 minutes.

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1. PageSpeed Insights — mobile score

Tool: Google PageSpeed Insights What to look for: The mobile performance score (0–100)

Score	What it means
90–100	Good
50–89	Needs improvement
0–49	Poor — customers are leaving

Most small business websites we audit score between 30–60 on mobile. The fix almost always requires moving to a faster platform, not tweaking the existing one.

What kills mobile scores:

• Unoptimised images (the most common issue)
• Too many plugins or scripts loading
• Slow hosting
• No image caching

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2. Mobile usability

Tool: Google PageSpeed Insights (same tool, look at the "Mobile" tab) What to check manually:

• Can you read the text without zooming?
• Is the phone number or main CTA visible without scrolling?
• Are buttons big enough to tap without accidentally hitting the wrong one?
• Does the site layout break or overlap on a phone screen?

Test this on a real phone, not just a browser simulator.

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3. Clear call to action above the fold

What "above the fold" means: Everything visible without scrolling, on the device the user is on.

What to look for:

• Is there a single clear action visible immediately? (Book now / Call us / Get a quote)
• Is the phone number visible?
• Does a first-time visitor understand what the business does within 5 seconds?

If you have to scroll to find a contact button, that's a conversion problem.

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4. Page title and meta description

Tool: Right-click any page → View Page Source → search for <title> and <meta name="description"

What bad looks like:

• Title: "Home | My Business"
• Description: blank, or "Welcome to our website"

What good looks like:

• Title: "Emergency Plumber in Scottsdale, AZ | Same-Day Service"
• Description: "Licensed plumbers serving Scottsdale, Chandler, and Gilbert. Available 24/7. Call (480) 555-0100 for same-day service."

Every page needs a unique, descriptive title and meta description. This is basic SEO that a huge percentage of small business sites get wrong.

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5. Site age and copyright year

Tool: web.archive.org — search your domain and see when it first appeared Also check: The footer for the copyright year

A site built in 2017 was designed for screens, browsers, and user expectations from 2017. A lot has changed. If your copyright year in the footer is more than 3 years ago, your site is likely overdue for a redesign.

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6. Google reviews presence

What to check:

• Are your Google reviews visible on the website?
• Is your star rating displayed?
• How many reviews are shown?

If you have a 4.7-star rating with 200 reviews, that's one of the most powerful trust signals you can show a potential customer. Most small business sites bury this or omit it entirely.

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7. Technology stack

Tool: Wappalyzer (free browser extension)

Install Wappalyzer and visit your site. It tells you what platform, plugins, and services your site runs on.

What to look for:

• Old WordPress version (indicates the site isn't being maintained)
• Basic Wix or Weebly (usually indicates poor performance)
• Many third-party scripts (analytics, chatbots, retargeting pixels) — each one slows down your site

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8. SSL / HTTPS

What to check: Does your site URL start with https:// or http://?

If it's http://, your site is not secure. Browsers show a "Not Secure" warning. Google penalises it in rankings. This should have been fixed years ago — if it hasn't been, it's a sign the site has been neglected.

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9. Contact information visibility

What to check on every page:

• Is the phone number visible in the header or top of every page?
• Is there a contact form and is it easy to find?
• Is the business address clear if it's a location-based business?

We've audited sites where the only contact option was a form buried four pages deep. Every barrier between a customer and a conversation is revenue left on the table.

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10. Image quality and authenticity

What to look for:

• Are the photos real photos of the team and business, or generic stock?
• Are images crisp and high-quality on retina displays?
• Do the images reflect what the business actually looks like?

Stock photos create no connection. Real photos of real people build trust. This is consistently one of the highest-impact changes we make in redesigns.

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11. Load time in practice

What to do: Open an incognito browser window. Navigate to the site and time it.

Not PageSpeed score — actual perceived load time. How long before you see content? How long before you can click something?

If it takes more than 3 seconds on a good connection, it's taking 5–8 seconds on a typical mobile connection. You're losing customers.

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12. Competitor comparison

What to do: Search your primary keyword on Google ("dentist in [your city]", "HVAC contractor [your city]"). Compare the top 3 results to your site.

Ask yourself honestly:

• Does your site look as professional as the top results?
• Does it load as fast?
• Is the call to action as clear?

If the answer to any of these is no, that gap in quality is costing you rankings and customers.

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What to do with the results

If you've run this checklist and found multiple issues, you have two options:

Option A: Attempt to fix them on your existing site. Some issues (meta descriptions, phone number visibility) can be fixed quickly. Performance and fundamental design issues usually can't be fixed without a rebuild.

Option B: Start fresh on a modern platform. For most small businesses, a full redesign on a high-performance platform is faster and more cost-effective than patching an old site. You get a better result, and you get it in 7–10 days.

If you'd like us to run this audit for you — and give you the results with specific numbers, not vague feedback — book a free 30-minute audit call. We do this every day.