How to prepare a conversion rate audit before hiring

1. Choose one main goal

Decide what counts as a conversion for your business. For a shop it may be a completed order. For a service business it may be a booked call or a submitted enquiry form. Pick one main goal and, if useful, one or two smaller steps such as adding an item to the basket. A clear goal lets the specialist judge every page by the same question: does this help the visitor reach the action?

2. List the pages that matter

You do not need an audit of every page. Name the handful that carry most of the value: the home page, the main product or service pages, the basket and checkout, and the page where people arrive from ads. If you have pages that are visited a lot but lead nowhere, mention them. Share the web addresses so the specialist starts with the right pages.

3. Share what you know

Give access to your analytics if you have it, or screenshots of key reports: visits, where visitors come from, device types, and the steps people take before leaving. Note recent changes to the site, offers or advertising, since they affect the numbers. If you have customer questions, reviews or support messages, include them, because they reveal what visitors worry about before buying.

4. Describe your customers

Explain who you want to attract, what problem they have and what usually stops them from choosing you: price, trust, delivery time, unclear information. A specialist who understands your customers can judge whether the wording and layout answer their doubts. Mention competitors you often lose to, and what they do better.

5. Agree the scope

Ask exactly what the audit will deliver: a written report, a recorded walkthrough, a prioritized action list or a call to explain it. Ask whether it covers mobile and desktop, page speed, copy, design and tracking. Ask how recommendations will be ranked, ideally by expected impact and effort, so that you can start with the easy wins. Confirm whether implementation, design work or testing is included or quoted separately.

6. Plan how to measure

Changes only mean something if you can measure them. Before the audit, check that your tracking records the main goal correctly. If it does not, fixing tracking comes first. Agree on a time window for comparing results and note any seasonal effects, such as holidays, that might distort the numbers.

Questions to ask the specialist

• How have you improved conversion for businesses similar to mine?
• Which pages and devices will you review, and how will you review them?
• Will you use visitor recordings, surveys or only analytics data?
• How will recommendations be prioritized?
• Is help with implementation or testing available, and how is it priced?
• What do you need from me, and how long will the audit take?

After the audit

An audit only helps when it leads to action. Sort the recommendations into quick fixes, medium projects and long-term ideas. Start with fixes that are cheap and likely to matter, such as clearer headings, a simpler form or faster loading. Make one change at a time where you can, write down the date and compare results over a fair period. Keep the report: it becomes a reference when you redesign pages later. Plan a follow-up review after a few months to see which changes worked and what to try next.

Common mistakes

• Asking for an audit without access to any data.
• Changing many things at once, so you cannot tell what worked.
• Fixing design while ignoring slow loading or a confusing offer.
• Expecting a single change to double results overnight.