The complete website audit checklist: 38 signals that cost you customers

A real website audit isn't a checklist of best practices — it's a diagnostic. You're looking for the specific things on your site that are making visitors leave without doing what you want them to do. Here are the 38 signals we check in every Convexa audit, grouped into six categories, with what each one means and why it matters.

1. Value proposition (6 signals)

Can a first-time visitor understand what you do, who you serve, and why they should pick you — in under five seconds?

• Hero headline states the outcome, not the company history
• Subheadline clarifies who it's for and what they get
• Above-the-fold copy answers 'what is this?' without scrolling
• No jargon or industry-speak that a new visitor wouldn't understand
• Pricing or offer is clear (or at least hinted at) — no 'contact us for pricing' on a simple service
• Unique angle — what makes you different from the next site they'll visit

2. Call-to-action (6 signals)

Is the next step obvious, easy, and repeated? If a visitor decides they want to act, can they do it in one click?

• Primary CTA is above the fold
• CTA uses action language ('Book now' not 'Submit')
• CTA is visually distinct — a solid button, not a text link
• CTA repeats throughout the page (every 1–2 screens)
• No competing CTAs that split attention
• Booking or contact is one click from anywhere on the page

3. Trust & social proof (7 signals)

Are you giving visitors evidence that they can trust you? People are deciding whether to spend money or share their contact info with a stranger.

• Real customer reviews or testimonials (not just star ratings with no source)
• Photos of your work, team, or location
• Years in business or number of customers served
• Service area is clearly stated
• Contact info is visible — a real address and phone number
• Professional design that doesn't look like a template from 2014
• No stock-photo-only hero — real photos build more trust than generic ones

4. Mobile experience (6 signals)

Over 60% of your visitors are on a phone. If the mobile experience is broken, you're losing most of your potential customers.

• Text is readable without pinching to zoom
• Tap targets are at least 44×44 pixels
• No horizontal scroll or content overflowing the viewport
• Forms are usable on a touch keyboard — no tiny inputs
• Navigation works with a thumb — no hover-only menus
• Images aren't so large they push content off-screen on mobile

5. Performance (7 signals)

Speed is a conversion lever, not a technical nicety. Every second of load time costs you real money.

• Largest Contentful Paint under 1.5 seconds on mobile
• Images are compressed and served in modern formats (WebP/AVIF)
• No render-blocking third-party scripts above the fold
• CSS and JS are minified
• Browser caching is enabled
• No unused plugins or bloat from the theme
• Server response time (TTFB) under 600ms

6. Friction (6 signals)

Every extra step between 'I'm interested' and 'it's booked' is a place where people drop off. Friction is the silent killer.

• Contact form has the minimum number of fields possible
• No required fields that aren't actually needed (phone, company, budget)
• Booking is embedded or one click — not 'call us during business hours'
• No pop-ups that block content on the first visit
• No auto-playing video or audio
• Page doesn't redirect or force a login to see basic info

How to use this checklist

Don't try to fix all 38 at once. Run the audit, find the three biggest leaks, and fix those first. The free Convexa audit at the top of this page runs all 38 signals automatically and ranks them by impact — so you know exactly where to start.