Need a Technical Website Audit? Here's Where Most People Get Stuck

Need a Technical Website Audit? Here's Where Most People Get Stuck

Most businesses do a technical website audit at least twice a year. And when the time comes, you’re faced with two options:

1. Sign up for a platform
2. Hire an agency or consultant

Option 1: Platforms.

You start by Googling for website auditing tools. There are plenty of options, all promising to scan your site for technical issues. But these tools vary widely: metric-wise, and how they difine them. (Psst! They rarely provide website security checks). Researching for a good platform will most likely also include researching what metrics you actually need.

Eventually, you pick a tool: paid subscription or a limited free trial. Free trials can be very useful but it doesn't take long until you hit paywalls blocking the most useful reports. Meanwhile, you’re still figuring out how to use the tool, and the marketing emails from the platform start flooding in.

The Setup... and the Learning Curve

Most SEO tools don’t just 'work out of the box.' You’ll probably need to connect your domain, set crawl limits, pick filters - all before you even get to the results. That’s easily another workday gone.

Then, you’re finally in. You run the website audit. And now you’re looking at a bunch of charts, numbers, red flags - but no clear next steps, recommendations, or explanations.

The Data Still Needs Context

Here’s the thing most website auditing and SEO platforms don’t mention: even after setup, you still need to interpret the data yourself. Numbers or charts without context aren't really going to make the process easier. At most they supplement your further investigation. If your time for the website audit is limited due to other responsibilities, you will probably end up contacting a consultant or an in-house analyst anyway.

Analyzing, Reporting, Prioritizing...

Once you finally understand what the charts and numbers are representing exactly on the platform (sadly, a lot of them define things differently so a lot of manual research is still required), there’s some more work: building a report (especially if you’re sharing it with someone else), deciding what to prioritise, and figuring out how to fix the issues. That’s a lot of time and mental load. Especially when all you really wanted was: 'Tell me what’s wrong, what to fix, and why it matters.' The whole process usually takes about a week for a full-stack marketer who sacrifices most of their time on getting this done.

Platform Pros:

• You control the process
• Can dig into the data accordingly to your experience and time scheduled
• Might be good for specialized SEO teams who are already doing SEO at scale

Platform Cons:

• Subscriptions + upsells
• Time-consuming setup and learning
• Overwhelming for full-stack marketers
• You still need to interpret the data
• If you or your team are time-strapped you will likely end hiring help anyway

Option 2: Agencies.

You start by searching for SEO consultants or agencies that offer technical audits. There are plenty out there: each promising expertise, thorough reports, and strategic guidance. You reach out to a few. Some reply with slick proposal decks and calendars to book discovery calls. Others take longer or need follow-up nudges. It's very unlikely that they won't try to sell a whole package, upsell or pitch other services during discovery calls.

The Audit That Turns Into a Sales Funnel

You asked for a one-off technical audit. But now you're being offered other retainer services. And while some of it might be helpful, it’s not why you reached out, and suddenly this feels like more than you bargained for.

Once you pick an agency (usually after a few calls and follow-ups), the briefing process begins. You’ll explain your website’s goals, target audience, CMS setup, and maybe even share access to some of your tools. That alone can take time, especially if things aren’t already organized internally.

The Report Drops… But It’s a Lot

After a week or sometimes a few - the audit arrives. Usually a heavy PDF full of charts, technical terms, screenshots, and recommendations. It looks comprehensive, but it's still a lot to go through. Depending on an agency qualities, values and experience they may accomodate the report to your SEO knowledge level, but most of them will resuse the same template they use for other businesses. You start reading, but some things don’t land. There are bad experiences of agencies purposely not sharing all the tips and explanations to then keep you coming back to them for more, so they can sell more services in extreme cases. They often offer a debrief call to go thorugh the report.

Expertise Comes with a Time (and Cost) Tag

There’s no doubt: When you find good ones - agencies know their stuff. The advice is usually solid, the reports thorough, and the recommendations grounded in best practices. But the process is very long and expensive, on average ranging from £1,000 - £5,000 in the UK, and $2,000 - $5,500 in the US. What started as a “simple audit” request has now become a mini project with more decisions (and invoices) to come. Additionally if you are trying to for example get your website in order before a big campaign - this is defenietly not the best option.

Agency Pros:

• Deep expertise from professionals
• Tailored insights that go beyond surface-level platform scans (however, remember agencies are still using platforms)
• Direct support for follow-up questions and prioritization

Agency Cons:

• Slow process, from back-and-forth to final delivery
• High costs
• Pressure to upsell, often bundled with long-term services
• Complex outputs, which still require interpretation or help to implement
• You don't exactly know what their report will include, as they don't offer a demo like platforms

The Critical Role of Technical Website Audits

Behind every high-performing website is a solid technical foundation, and that foundation needs maintenance. A technical audit isn’t just about ticking SEO boxes; it’s about uncovering the silent friction points that cost you traffic, conversions, and credibility.

Search engines notice. Users bounce. And over time, your site stops performing as well as it could, even if your content is strong. Regular technical audits help you spot early warning signs before they escalate, ensure your site stays fast and discoverable, and give you the clarity to focus efforts where they’ll make the biggest impact. In a competitive digital landscape, skipping this step means not tapping into a full potential and falling behind.

Website Audits That Matter for Every Business

For SMBs:
Smaller websites often run lean with limited content. That’s exactly why technical issues can have a bigger impact. One broken redirect, a slow-loading homepage, or an overlooked bug can directly affect sales.

For Creators & Content-Driven Brands:
You’ve put hours into your content and your unique story. A technical audit makes sure your creativity isn’t wasted by preventable backend issues.

For Enterprises:
Large websites come with scale and complexity. It's easy to lose track of all the links and webpages. Thanks to that - technical issues can go unnoticed for months. But internal bottlenecks from approvals to training to vendor cycles often delay straightforward action. A focused, external audit helps cut through the noise without adding more platforms or processes.

ilumi: We're Here to Offer the Simplest Solution

ilumi doesn’t follow the traditional agency or platform route. No calls, no subscriptions, no learning curve. The process is easy: you submit your site and within one business day you receive an easy to follow report with experts explaining what is wrong and what to fix. The report is designed in a way to be easily shared with your website developer or use yourself to action simple fixes, even without technical knowledge. We don't do upselling and don't send marketing emails. All ilumi provides is just a one-off, high-impact review that shows you exactly what to fix for less than most platforms charge monthly.

How to Get a Free Website Audit with 1:1 Guidance

We also offer a free 1:1 consultation for first-time users. We’ll run the audit, then walk you through the results in real time, answering your questions as we go. It’s not a sales call, just honest insight into your site’s visibility, performance, and blockers. Whether you’re a marketer, founder, or just curious, it’s the easiest way to see what’s working and what’s not.

You Don’t Have to 'Know It All' to Optimize Your Website

Running a technical website audit doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

You built your website for users but search engines are usually the first to see it and the last oens to judge your position in ranking.So while your content should speak to people, the structure needs to make sense to search engines too.

Short on time and just want clear answers?

Try ilumi’s Website Audit See what’s wrong, why it matters, and how to fix it fast.