Evidence-led website audit guide
Find the first important gap a new visitor can actually see.
A useful review does not begin with a generic score. It starts with the result the owner wants, records what a suitable visitor can verify, and identifies the first evidence gap worth checking.
Start with the public view
The first screen is evidence, but it is not the whole website.
Record what is visible without scrolling on a typical desktop and mobile screen: the main wording, relevant service, reassurance and next action. This is a bounded observation of a visitor's first view, not proof of what every visitor noticed or did.
Then check the public page most relevant to the owner's goal. Something missing from the homepage may still be explained clearly elsewhere, so the conclusion must name which page and view were actually examined.
Add only established evidence
Customer and comparison layers are conditional, not assumed.
What a new visitor can verify
Capture visible wording, page structure, relevant proof and the available next action without inferring hidden intent.
What customers have actually said
Use a review, interview note or other owner-confirmed source only when its origin is known. Keep the original words separate from Showhy's interpretation.
What a source-backed comparison shows
Include competitor or market wording only when the source and comparison scope were established. Do not turn an unavailable comparison into a confident claim about the market.
What remains unavailable
Name missing customer, comparison, analytics or page evidence. An unavailable source is a limit on the conclusion, not a gap to fill with plausible-sounding facts.
A bounded result
Separate what is known from what it may suggest.
- What was observed
- The exact page, viewport and visible evidence that were checked.
- What this may suggest
- A cautious interpretation connected to the owner's goal, never presented as measured visitor behaviour.
- What was not established
- Missing sources, unavailable evidence and questions that still belong to the owner.
- What to improve first
- One useful, reversible task that follows from the evidence before a larger redesign is considered.
What this cannot prove
A page review is not conversion measurement.
Public-page evidence cannot by itself prove why visitors leave, how much traffic is suitable, or whether one change will produce more enquiries. Those questions may require consented analytics, customer research or measured follow-up. Showhy should keep that uncertainty visible rather than promise an outcome.
Use your own goal
Ask what may be getting in the way.
Tell Showhy the business result you want. The analysis will use only the evidence available to that journey and say where the evidence ends.