Most website audits follow the same tired script: a checklist, a couple of broken links, a handful of SEO tips, and a vague nudge toward “improving user experience.” It’s fine—if all you want is a tidy report to file away and forget.
But when your site isn’t pulling its weight, you need more than a tidy report.
At Axon Garside, our B2B website audit process goes beyond the basics.. We don’t just look at what’s broken, we look at what’s holding you back.
That means examining how you stack up against competitors, how your site performs in search, how easily it converts, and what kind of story it’s really telling your buyers.
Because behind every underperforming website, there’s usually something deeper at play: a gap in positioning, an unclear value prop, or a platform that’s quietly working against you.
Here’s how our B2B website audit reframes strategy, aligns your teams, and turns your site into a serious revenue driver, not just a digital brochure.
No website exists in a vacuum. (Well, unless it’s broken, and then it might as well.) Your prospects aren’t just looking at your site in isolation. They’re comparing it, often without realising, to a parade of others in the same space. The polished industry leader. The startup with a punchy tone of voice. The one with all the animations. The one that still looks like it was built in 2009.
That’s why one of the first steps in our B2B website audit is competitor benchmarking. We typically look at 3-5 competitors and analyse how they present themselves, direct rivals, category leaders, and the occasional wildcard who’s managed to steal a bit of your search traffic or LinkedIn mindshare.
We’re not just ticking boxes on colour schemes or font choices. We’re looking at messaging, design language, navigation flow, and calls to action. Do they speak to pain points, or just list services? Do they sound like real people, or like a committee wrote the copy in a meeting room with no windows?
And here’s the thing: a lot of B2B sites sound the same. Everyone’s “delivering solutions” and “putting the customer first.” It’s professional beige. This part of the audit helps identify where you’re blending in, and where there’s a chance to own a sharper, more differentiated position.
We’ll also look at experience design: how are competitors structuring content, using CTAs, or guiding visitors through a journey? Are they leveraging case studies, video, or thought leadership, or just crossing their fingers someone clicks ‘Contact’?
These insights give our clients a clear sense of where their site sits in the landscape, and more importantly, where it should sit. That perspective feeds directly into messaging strategy, brand tone, and site structure, because a website that doesn’t stand out isn’t going to convert anyone.
If you suspect your site might be saying the same thing as everyone else (just in slightly nicer typography), our breakdown on B2B brand strategy covers how positioning and differentiation really start to take shape.
Search engine optimisation has a bit of a reputation problem. For some, it still conjures up flashbacks to keyword stuffing, sketchy backlinks, or a cousin who swore they could get you to “number one on Google” for £99 and a Greggs meal deal.
Thankfully, that’s not how we approach it.
When we conduct an SEO audit, we’re not just looking at rankings for the sake of rankings. We’re focused on how your site performs where it actually matters, against the search terms your ideal customers are using when they’re actively looking for help, insight, or a solution.
We’ll review your existing keyword performance, flag content gaps, and uncover which traffic sources are converting and which look healthy but aren’t pulling their weight. Just as critically, we identify your real search competitors by analysing SERP overlap, not just industry relevance. Because the businesses showing up next to you in Google, whether they’re in your sector or not, are the ones siphoning off your visibility, clicks, and leads.
We also examine how your content aligns with intent. Are your blog posts and landing pages answering actual questions? Are they too top-of-funnel to convert, or too bottom-of-funnel to attract? Do they give searchers what they need, or just what the algorithm wants?
That’s where we start drawing out opportunities, not just to “rank higher,” but to own more of the right conversations. We’re looking for ways to grow share of voice, protect your high-value positions, and plug the leaks where traffic turns into bounce rates instead of leads.
All of this feeds into a clear, practical content roadmap. One that’s tied to lead generation, not vanity metrics.
And if you’re wondering how this kind of SEO thinking applies to your business, we’ve unpacked the topic in more depth in our post on SEO strategy for manufacturers, but the same principles hold across industries: relevant traffic, real intent, and content that converts.
Now for the nuts and bolts. Not the flashiest part of a B2B website audit, but one of the most essential, because even the best messaging and design can fall flat if your site’s quietly frustrating visitors (or search engines).
We run a full technical sweep using tools like Ahrefs and Screaming Frog, but don’t worry, we won’t just dump a list of broken links in your inbox and call it a day. We translate what we find into real-world impact: what’s causing friction, where trust is being eroded, and what’s stopping your site from doing its job.
Here’s what we typically uncover:
We’re not just looking for errors, we’re looking for risk. Because technical debt might not scream for attention, but it can quietly drain performance over time.
This part of the audit often highlights quick wins: easy-to-fix issues that make an immediate difference to site performance and user confidence. It also gives us a clearer view of whether your site structure is helping or hindering scalability.
Alongside the technical audit, we’ll often surface issues tied to deeper structural limitations, sometimes the CMS lacks scalability, editable modules, or modern integrations, which feeds into bigger strategic decisions around platform choice and site architecture. More on that later.
You don’t get a second chance at a first impression, and in B2B, that impression often happens in under three seconds on a mobile device with flaky Wi-Fi and a distracted decision-maker.
So yes, site speed matters. But this part of the audit goes further than just a PageSpeed score.
We start by looking at how your site performs technically, especially on mobile. Using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Chrome Lighthouse, we assess:
But we also layer in real-world usability. Because speed is one thing, but flow is another.
We test for:
Clunky navigation
Here’s a typical scenario: A user hits your site from a LinkedIn post. The content is good, the messaging’s on point… but the font is tiny, the menu’s hidden behind an unintuitive icon, and the contact form wants a 12-step bio. That user’s not converting. They’re bouncing.
This part of the audit highlights exactly where friction lives, both the obvious and the subtle. Because even small annoyances (a laggy scroll, a misaligned button, a form that reloads the page) chip away at trust and kill momentum.
Combined with earlier findings around messaging and content flow, this feeds directly into broader decisions about structure, user journeys, and B2B website design that supports real lead generation.
One of the biggest surprises for clients going through a strategic B2B website audit is that it rarely ends with a list of things to fix; it usually starts a much bigger conversation.
Because once we’ve mapped out what’s happening on your site, what’s slow, what’s hidden, what’s misaligned, we often find the real issues go deeper than broken pages or flat copy. The problem isn’t just technical. It’s strategic.
We start seeing signs that the CMS is holding things back. Or that content was created reactively, with no clear intent. Or that messaging hasn’t kept up with where the business is now. That’s when we stop fixing pages and start questioning the bigger picture.
You’ll hear questions like:
Sometimes, this points toward a platform change or a full redesign. Other times, it’s more about refining strategy, rethinking user journeys, clarifying positioning, or cutting the dead weight from outdated content. But in every case, it’s about connecting the dots between what the data tells us and what you need to do.
It’s also what helps bring teams together. The audit gives marketing something concrete to take to sales or leadership. It’s the moment strategy starts to feel less fluffy and more like a plan.
Because done properly, an audit isn’t just a report. It’s the start of sharper conversations, smarter decisions, and websites that finally work the way they should.
For marketing leaders, the website isn’t just a channel, it’s the linchpin for growth, alignment, and brand clarity. So when it’s underperforming, it’s not just a web issue. It’s a visibility issue.
A credibility issue. A revenue issue.
What the audit really delivers is clarity. Not in the form of surface-level stats, but in actionable insight: what’s working, what’s blocking progress, and what needs to change to meet actual business goals.
It also gives you a platform to bring the rest of the business with you. No more vague complaints about bounce rates or brand inconsistency, just clear, evidence-backed findings that help teams align behind smarter decisions.
Whether it leads to a new site, a content revamp, or just sharper messaging, the audit helps you step back and ask: “Is this digital presence really pulling its weight?” And for a marketer who’s serious about reclaiming market share or making better investments, that’s the question that matters most.
If your website’s not converting, or worse, you’re not sure why, it’s probably time to dig deeper.
A proper B2B website audit doesn’t just tell you what’s broken. It shows you what’s possible.
Where you’re missing out. Where competitors are sneaking ahead. And where your site could be working a lot harder for your business.
Whether you’re planning a full redesign or just need to know where to focus first, we’ve built a resource to help: our Ultimate Guide to B2B Website Design. It walks through the strategy, structure, and thinking that underpin effective websites, and what to do when yours isn’t quite cutting it.