← DictionaryWebsite Audit
also called site audit
A structured review of a site's structure, content, performance and conversion.
A full inspection of what the site is doing wrong.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Website Audit lives under Website — Delivery. In practice it means this: a structured review of a site's structure, content, performance and conversion.
It is a repeatable structure, which means it only pays off when it is actually followed through instead of quoted. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
You will usually meet Website Audit in site builds, page structure and the technical decisions underneath them. It is usually discussed together with Brand Audit, Technical SEO and Conversion Rate Optimization. The practical test is whether anyone can follow it without the person who wrote it in the room.
Why It Matters
Website Audit is cheap to get right early and awkward to fix late. When it is unclear, the site still launches — it just quietly underperforms. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
Think of a recipe. Follow the steps and you get a predictable result. A full inspection of what the site is doing wrong.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Website Audit as shorthand and expect no explanation — a structured review of a site's structure, content, performance and conversion.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: a full inspection of what the site is doing wrong.
The Bottom Line
Keep Website Audit plain: a full inspection of what the site is doing wrong. That is the version that holds up in a real project.