Guide

What a free website review should give you.

Most free reviews are a form that leads to a sales call. Here is what a useful one contains, and how to tell the difference before you hand over your details.

Most “free reviews” are a sales step

Search for a free website review and most results are agencies offering one. Many ask for your budget before they look at anything. Some say spots are limited. The review is often a short call where the real aim is to sell you a project.

That is not wrong. Agencies need clients. But it helps to know which kind of free review you are asking for before you fill in the form.

What a useful free review contains

Whoever you ask, a free review is worth your time if it gives you these five things in writing:

  • ✓ A plain verdict on the site as it stands, with the reason for it.
  • ✓ The things that are already working, so you do not break them.
  • ✓ The biggest problems, each with something you can see: a screenshot or the page text.
  • ✓ One to three things to do first, in order.
  • ✓ A clear line between what is free and what costs money.

If you only get a score, a sales call or a list with no evidence, you have a lead form, not a review.

Five questions to ask before you send your details

  1. 1. Do I get something in writing, or only a call?
  2. 2. Will each finding show me where it was found?
  3. 3. Will it tell me what already works, not just what is wrong?
  4. 4. Do you need my login or access to my site? (A review of your public website should not.)
  5. 5. What happens after the free part, and what does the next step cost?

What to do with the findings

Fix the cheapest, clearest problem first, usually something on the main path a visitor takes, like the first button on your homepage. Leave alone anything the review says is working. If the review says the problems are deep and everywhere, that is when a redesign is worth pricing. Our guide on choosing between an audit and a redesign walks through that decision.

How the GreatInternet free audit works

The free audit is the start of a real report, not a call. You paste your website address and give an email. We read the site the way a visitor does, on a laptop and a phone, and email you once when the report is ready. We do not need your login.

The free version gives you an overall verdict with the reasoning, six scores, your top findings, one to three things to do first, and three things that are already working. If you want every finding with its evidence and a fix plan, the full report is £149. You never have to buy it.

Start the free auditSee a real free report first

Common questions

Frequently asked.

Is a free website review really free?
Often it is free to receive but leads to a sales call. Ask whether you get a written report, and what the next step costs, before you send your details. The GreatInternet free audit is a written report and you do not have to buy anything after it.
What should a free website review include?
A plain verdict with the reasoning, the things that already work, the biggest problems each with evidence you can see, and one to three things to do first.
Do I need to give access to my website?
Not for a review of your public website. GreatInternet reads the site the way a visitor does and never asks for your login.
How many pages does the free audit read?
Up to 15 pages, the ones a visitor is most likely to meet. The report says which pages it read.