Check what makes your website difficult to use

01

What is a website audit, and what should it cover?

A website audit is a structured check of how well a site does its job, using the same questions each time. A ten-point audit covers five areas: speed and mobile use, clarity, trust and legal details, findability, and security and accessibility. The result is one score out of 20 that you can track.

02

How do I check how fast my site is on a phone?

Run your home page through Google's PageSpeed Insights on the mobile setting and compare the result with Google's three "good" thresholds: main content within 2.5 seconds, response within 200 milliseconds and layout shift of 0.1 or less. This is one of the ten checks in the audit.

Google's web.dev names the three measures largest contentful paint (the main content appearing), interaction to next paint (response to taps) and cumulative layout shift (content jumping about). It says to measure them at the 75th percentile of page loads.

1. 01
   Open PageSpeed Insights

   Enter your home page address and choose the mobile tab.

2. 02
   Read the three measures

   Compare each with the thresholds above. If the report lacks real-visitor data, use the lab result as a guide.

3. 03
   Score the result and choose what to fixFull step in the download ↓

03

What contact and legal details must my website show?

Show a phone number, email address and physical address that visitors can find within two clicks, plus the legal details UK law requires. A limited company must show its registered number, registered office address and place of registration. Online service providers must show a name, geographic address and email address.

GOV.UK says that on business letters, order forms and websites a limited company must show its registered number, its registered office address and the nation where it is registered. If it names directors, it must name all of them.

Regulation 6 of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 requires a provider of online services to keep these easily, directly and permanently accessible: its name, its geographic address, contact details including an email address, any trade register number, any supervisory authority, any regulated profession details and any VAT number. A contact form alone is not enough.

04

How do I tell whether my reviews and testimonials are genuine and lawful?

A review is safe to show when it reflects a real customer's experience, any reward for it is clearly disclosed, and genuine negative feedback is not hidden. Fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews are banned under UK consumer law, and the CMA published guidance on 4 April 2025.

The CMA's guidance explains the banned practice in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024: fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews are automatically unfair and illegal. It says commissioning is not limited to payments and can include asking a member of staff to write a review of your product.

A trader may also infringe the law by suppressing genuine negative reviews or selectively promoting positive ones. Incentives are allowed, but the guidance says consumers must be told that a review was incentivised.

05

What does Google say about page titles and local listings?

Google says a good page title is unique, clear and accurately describes the page. For local results it says ranking is mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, that complete and accurate information helps, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.

Google's SEO Starter Guide suggests a site: search to see whether your site is indexed, and notes that changes can take from a few hours to several months to show. It also says no secret automatically ranks a site first.

Google Business Profile Help describes prominence as how well known a business is. It says verifying your business helps, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.

06

What do accessibility and cookie rules mean for my site?

WCAG 2.2 is the main technical benchmark for accessibility, and the ICO sets out when cookies and similar technologies need consent. At Level AA normal text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, and non-essential storage on a visitor's device needs consent unless an exception applies.

WCAG 2.2 also asks that all functionality works from a keyboard (criterion 2.1.1), that images have a text alternative (1.1.1) and that buttons are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels unless spacing exceptions apply (2.5.8).

The ICO lists five exceptions to the consent requirement: communication, strictly necessary, statistical purposes, appearance and emergency assistance. The statistical exception covers only aggregate figures used to improve your own service. It does not cover tracking, profiling or advertising, and you must still give clear information and a simple, free way to object.

07

Why does scoring matter, and how should I use a score?

A score turns opinion into a number you can repeat. Scoring every check the same way, on the same device and by the same person, shows whether your changes help and which problem to fix first, instead of relying on how the site feels.

Without a fixed method it is easy to fix what is visible and miss what is risky. Problems that carry legal or security risk should come before design polish, and a repeatable score lets you see progress quarter by quarter.

08

How often should I re-audit, and when do I need a developer?

Re-score every quarter and after any major change, such as a redesign, new plugin or platform update. Bring in a developer when a fix needs changes to code, hosting or the platform, or when several foundation checks fail and a patch will not hold.

Keep a simple log of date, scores and changes. Because search effects can take weeks or months, re-test after a few weeks, not days. A developer needs your scores, screenshots and notes, which also make a good start for a brief.

Reeve Consult builds websites and apps for UK businesses. If your audit points to a rebuild, you can contact us, but the method works with any supplier.