How to Read a Website Audit Report

You've run a website audit and received a report full of issues, scores, and recommendations. Where do you start? This guide explains how to read a website audit report so you can act on it without getting lost in the details.

What Most Reports Include

Typical audit reports cover several areas. Here's what they mean in plain English:

• SEO - How well your page is set up for search engines: titles, meta descriptions (the short summary under the link in search), headings, links, and content signals.
• Performance / speed - How fast your page loads and how stable it is (e.g. whether it jumps around while loading). Many tools mention Core Web Vitals - the main speed and stability metrics Google uses (we explain these in a deeper dive below).
• Accessibility - Whether people with disabilities can use your site: contrast, alt text for images, keyboard navigation, and structure. See what is website accessibility for context.
• Security basics - Whether your page uses HTTPS (the padlock), has safe headers, and doesn't mix secure and insecure content.
• Content - Word count, duplicate or thin content, and readability.

Some tools (e.g. AuditCrow) group findings by severity (how much the issue hurts your site - critical, warning, or notice) and fix difficulty (how much effort it usually takes - easy, medium, or hard). Think of severity as "how bad is it?" and fix difficulty as "how much work to fix it?" That helps you decide what to do first.

Understanding Scores

Many tools show category scores (e.g. SEO 72/100, Performance 85/100). Treat them as a snapshot, not a final grade. A low score in one category doesn't mean the whole site is broken - it means that category has the most room for improvement. Use scores to compare before and after you make changes, and to see which area to prioritise. In AuditCrow reports, we emphasise the list of issues and their priority rather than a single number, so you can work through the list in order.

How to Prioritise

1. Critical issues first - These often affect whether Google can index your site, security, or core user experience. Fix them before moving on.
2. Easy wins - Quick fixes (e.g. missing meta description, one broken link) can improve scores and clarity with minimal effort. Our 5 SEO quick wins post aligns with this.
3. Warnings - Important but not blocking. Schedule them after critical and easy items.
4. Notices - Optimisations and best practices. Tackle when the rest is under control.

If the report labels fix difficulty, use it. "Critical + easy" should be at the top of your list; "notice + hard" can wait.

What to Do With the Report

• Share it - Send the report link or PDF to your developer or agency so they can implement fixes. AuditCrow reports are shareable for 30 days and downloadable as PDF.
• Re-scan after changes - Fix a batch of issues, then run the audit again. Compare the two reports to confirm progress.
• Use it in planning - If you're about to redesign or migrate, run an audit first so you have a baseline. Run another after launch to catch regressions.

AuditCrow Reports Specifically

AuditCrow reports list issues in plain English with severity and fix difficulty so you know what to do first. In a report you'll see:

• Summary - High-level scores by category and a list of pages (if multiple were scanned).
• Issues - Each issue has a title, explanation in plain language, severity, fix difficulty, and (where relevant) the affected element or URL.
• Recommendations - Actionable next steps.

We don't store reports long-term; the link expires in 30 days. Download the PDF if you need a permanent copy. For more on what we check, see our methodology and FAQ. To run your first audit, go to our free website audit tool or how to audit your website for SEO.