If you’ve ever wondered how to keep your website running smoothly without spending hours on it, you’re in the right place. Doing a quarterly site health audit doesn’t have to be boring or complicated. In fact, once you have a system, it only takes about two hours. That’s right—just 120 minutes to spot issues, fix problems, and keep everything working like a charm.
Why You Should Do a Quarterly Audit
Imagine if you never checked your car’s oil. Eventually, it’ll break down. Your website is no different. Over time, links break, pages slow down, or tools stop working. A quarterly checkup helps catch those problems early.
Plus, by making it a regular habit, you’ll avoid major surprises later on. No more emergency fixes or last-minute scrambles before a big campaign launch.
What You’ll Need
You don’t need fancy tools to start. Here’s what to have ready:
- Browser (like Chrome or Firefox)
- Google Analytics or another traffic tool
- Google Search Console
- A website speed checker (like GTMetrix or PageSpeed Insights)
- An SEO audit tool (Screaming Frog is great!)
- WordPress or CMS login (if your site uses one)
- A simple checklist (you’ll build this based on your site)
The Quick 2-Hour Audit Process
Break your audit into 4 parts. Each one takes about 30 minutes.
1. Speed and Performance Check
First, test how fast your site loads. Use tools like GTMetrix or PageSpeed Insights. Pay close attention to:
- Homepage load time (anything over 3 seconds is too slow)
- Mobile speed vs. desktop speed
- Large images or scripts slowing things down
If things look slow, take notes. You might need to compress images or update plugins.
2. SEO & Content Health
This is about how “findable” your site is. Use an SEO tool to crawl your pages. Look for:
- Missing or duplicate meta titles and descriptions
- Broken SEO tags (like H1s missing or duplicated)
- 404 errors (pages that don’t exist anymore)
- Old or outdated content
Check your top-performing blog posts. Are they still accurate? Update anything that feels stale. Remember, search engines love fresh content!
3. Technical and Functionality Review
Tech is sneaky. One broken plugin or form can mean lost leads. Test these areas:
- Menus and navigation (are all links working?)
- Contact forms (send yourself a test message)
- Payment or checkout flows (go all the way to the thank-you page)
- Pop-ups or plugins (do they appear correctly?)
- Mobile responsiveness (view your site on a phone)
It’s amazing how often you’ll find something small that broke. This step saves headaches later.
4. Analytics & Tracking Review
Finally, we look at your numbers. Are your analytics set up right? Open your dashboard and check:
- Are you tracking all pages?
- Did traffic drop suddenly anywhere?
- What pages are driving the most visits?
- How’s your bounce rate and time on site?
You can also spot trends. Is mobile traffic growing? Are visitors coming from new places like TikTok or Pinterest?
What to Do With the Info
Now that you have all these insights, what’s next?
Create a simple report. Don’t overthink it. A Google Doc or spreadsheet is enough. Include these sections:
- Site speed summary
- Top SEO issues
- Functionality bugs
- Analytics insights and goals for next quarter
Then—set some priorities. Not everything needs to be fixed today. Make a “To-Do” list and highlight what’s urgent.
Make It a Habit
The key is to repeat this every quarter. Put it in your calendar. Better yet, create a checklist that you reuse each time. Here’s a sample template to start with:
🗹 Quarterly Site Health Checklist
- Page speed test (desktop + mobile)
- SEO crawl for title/meta/tag issues
- Broken links and 404 page check
- Form and pop-up functionality test
- Responsive design check (mobile + tablet)
- Review analytics: traffic, bounce rate, conversions
- Update outdated content or articles
- Backup your site (before making big changes)
Tips to Keep It Fun 🕺
- Play music while you do it. Make it a party!
- Set a timer for each section—race the clock.
- Involve your team. Split up tasks for speed.
- Give yourself a reward at the end (coffee? cake? both?).
Bonus idea: Turn it into a “Site Health Brunch” once a quarter. Eggs, coffee, and CSS—why not?
Final Thoughts: Progress, Not Perfection
Don’t worry about being perfect. The value is in showing up regularly. Each quarter you’ll learn more about your site and the small improvements will add up.
If you’ve never done a site audit before, this may feel like a lot. That’s okay. Just go one section at a time. You got this.
Over time, this 2-hour process will become second nature. Better site health, better performance, and fewer surprises—yes please!
Your future self (and your website visitors) will thank you.
