How to Audit a Website for Online Visibility (and Win More Clients)

Yesterday at 11:06 am

Raymond Miyawa | Web Developer at Digital For Africa

How to Audit a Website for Online Visibility (and Win More Clients)

Table of Contents

Your website is your client’s shopfront in the digital world. But here’s the thing—it doesn’t matter how beautiful that shop looks if nobody can find it, or if customers walk out seconds after stepping in. That’s why every serious web developer should know how to run a proper website audit for online visibility.

Over the years, I’ve realized that almost every lead who walks through my door for a redesign or maintenance project eventually benefits from an audit. Why? Because most business owners don’t see the hidden issues holding their sites back until you show them. A website audit not only uncovers those issues—it builds trust and positions you as the problem-solver they’ve been searching for.

In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to perform an audit that reveals opportunities, impresses clients, and sets the stage for long-term projects.

Why a Website Audit Matters

Think of an audit as a health check-up for a website. Without it, you’re guessing. With it, you gain:

A clear view of how search engines crawl and index the site.
Real insights into how people discover and use the site.
A roadmap of issues that drag down visibility and performance.
Opportunities to strengthen SEO, UX, and conversions.

A website audit is your best shot at turning a prospect into a paying client because you’re showing them the truth about their website, not just pitching services.

💡 Side note for aspiring developers: At Digital4Africa, we actually teach these exact skills in our 2-month Web Development Training Course, complete with 30 days of free mentorship after training. So if you’re reading this and thinking, “I want to know how to do these audits myself,”—that’s your chance to level up.

Step 1: Check the Technical Health

Start here—if search engines can’t properly crawl or index the site, everything else is pointless.

Tools I use: Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, SEMrush Site Audit.

Look out for:

Broken links (404s and redirects).
Duplicate content.
XML sitemap and robots.txt issues.
Mobile-friendliness.
Page speed & Core Web Vitals.
HTTPS and SSL security.

Developers often forget to test mobile usability. Yet in markets like Kenya, mobile drives over 80% of traffic.

Step 2: Review SEO Performance

SEO is the backbone of visibility. If a client isn’t ranking, they’re invisible.

Tools I recommend: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Rank Math SEO Analyzer, Google Search Console, Google Analytics.

Check for:

Keyword rankings & visibility.
Organic traffic patterns.
Backlink quality & toxicity.
On-page SEO (titles, descriptions, H1s, alt text).

Don’t just report what’s ranking. Compare against competitor gaps—keywords they rank for but your client doesn’t. This one trick makes you look like a strategist, not just a technician.

Step 3: Audit Content Quality & Relevance

Content is what keeps users on the site—and what convinces search engines to keep sending traffic.

Review:

Blog posts, product pages, landing pages.
Outdated content that needs refreshing.
Engagement metrics: bounce rate, dwell time, shares.
Alignment with user intent (does it actually answer the queries people are typing?).

Always ask, “If I were my client’s ideal customer, would this content solve my problem?” If the answer is no, flag it.

Step 4: Examine User Experience (UX)

Even with great content, a poor experience kills conversions.

Test on desktop and mobile:

Navigation simplicity.
CTA visibility.
Loading speed.
Visual clutter vs clean layout.

I always run a “5-second test”—ask someone unfamiliar with the site what the business offers after looking at the homepage for 5 seconds. If they can’t tell, UX needs work.

Step 5: Track Analytics & Conversions

Visibility isn’t just about traffic—it’s about results.

Check in Google Analytics:

Visitor sources.
Top-performing pages.
Conversion paths (what leads visitors to sign up/buy).
Drop-off points.

Developers sometimes skip this step, but this is where you show ROI. If you can point to pages bringing money in vs. those leaking traffic, clients will listen.

Step 6: Benchmark Against Competitors

No website exists in isolation.

Compare:

Keywords and ranking strength.
Site speed and technical setup.
Content strategies (what’s working for them?).
Backlink profiles.

Present competitor findings visually (charts/tables). Nothing convinces a lead faster than seeing their rival outperforming them.

Step 7: Turn Findings Into Action

An audit is useless if it ends at the report stage. The gold lies in your recommendations and prioritization.

Fix quick wins (broken links, missing meta tags).
Plan medium-term updates (content refreshes, blog strategy).
Propose long-term solutions (redesign, full SEO strategy).
Set tracking checkpoints (monthly/quarterly reports).

Position yourself as the partner to implement these fixes—not just the person pointing out problems.

Final Thoughts

A website audit isn’t just a technical process—it’s a business development strategy. For me, it has consistently turned leads into long-term clients because it demonstrates expertise, builds trust, and creates a roadmap they can’t ignore.

So, whether you’re an up-and-coming developer or an experienced pro, make audits part of your toolkit. They’re not just about visibility—they’re about credibility, growth, and lasting client relationships.