If your website is almost doing its job but still misses enquiries, donations, or sales, I would start with a 30-minute missing-piece audit before changing the design.
Google’s SEO Starter Guide keeps the focus on clear, useful pages, and the W3C’s accessibility introduction makes the same point from another angle: structure, labels, and alt text help real people find what they need. That matters for artists and charities because visitors usually arrive with one question and very little patience for puzzle games.
In this article, I will show you how to check the first impression, navigation, trust signals, calls to action, contact paths, freshness, and accessibility basics. If you only have half an hour, this is enough to tell you what to fix first.
What this audit is, and what it is not
This is a fast self-check. It is not a full redesign, content strategy project, or search overhaul. You are looking for missing essentials: the one page, label, or button that stops a visitor from going further.
- It is a practical scan of the pages that do the most work for you.
- It is useful whether you sell work, take commissions, run events, or ask for donations.
- It is not a reason to rebrand every page because one button feels slightly old.
- It is not complete until you test the site on mobile and desktop.
A few terms worth keeping straight
- CTA: call to action, or the next step you want the visitor to take.
- Trust signal: any clear proof that the site is real, current, and cared for.
- Conversion path: the route from interest to contact, booking, donation, or purchase.
- Accessibility: whether people can actually use the site, including with assistive technology.
If a page does not help with one of those four things, it is probably in the wrong place or doing too much work.
Set your 30-minute timer
Open the site on desktop and mobile at the same time if you can. Keep the window simple. The point is not to admire the branding; it is to notice where a visitor loses the thread.
| Time | Check | Pass signal | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 min | Homepage first impression | You can say what the site does in one sentence. | Rewrite the headline and subheadline first. |
| 5-10 min | Navigation | Main pages are visible in one menu scan. | Reduce the number of top-level choices. |
| 10-15 min | Proof and trust | About, examples, and contact details are easy to find. | Add a clear About section or recent examples. |
| 15-20 min | Calls to action | There is one obvious next step on the page. | Replace vague buttons with a direct action. |
| 20-25 min | Contact and conversion | Form, email, or phone path works without friction. | Test the form and simplify the form fields. |
| 25-30 min | Freshness and accessibility | Content feels current and readable. | Refresh old copy, fix alt text, and check contrast. |
Step 1: First 10 seconds – can a visitor tell what you do and who it is for?
Start on the home page. Do not scroll. Do not explain the site to yourself. Just read the first screen as if you landed there by accident after a busy day.
Ask three blunt questions:
- What does this site offer?
- Who is it for?
- What should I do next?
Pass signal: the headline, supporting text, and main image work together. An artist page should not read like a law firm. A charity page should not hide the cause behind a mood board.
Fix first: the headline, then the subheadline, then the main button. If those three pieces are unclear, the rest of the page is doing decorative work.
If the homepage is trying to describe everything, it is probably describing nothing. I would rather see one clear offer than five polite ones.
Step 2: Navigation clarity – are your main pages reachable in 1-2 clicks?
Open the menu on mobile and desktop. The useful pages should be obvious without hunting. For this site, that usually means Support, Contact, Latest News, and a services or features page when it helps the visitor understand the offer.
Pass signal: the menu uses plain language, and the visitor can move from the home page to the key pages in one or two taps or clicks.
Fix first: remove duplicate labels, vague labels, and clever labels. A menu is not the place to prove wit.
If someone needs help, they should not have to guess whether the answer is on the support page, the contact page, or somewhere buried in the footer. Keep the path short.
If a page is meant to explain your work, link it from the place where people ask the question. For example, if your offer needs more detail, the Features of Taeko Website Design page is a good model for naming what is included without making the visitor read a brochure the size of a small novel.
Step 3: Proof & trust – do you show credible details?
People do not trust a site because it says “trusted” in large type. They trust it because it gives them enough proof to judge for themselves.
Look for the basics:
- An About page that explains who is behind the work.
- A short bio, team note, or artist statement that feels specific.
- Examples of past work, exhibitions, services, or campaigns.
- Testimonials, reviews, impact notes, or case studies where they are genuinely useful.
Pass signal: the site shows enough detail for a new visitor to understand what you do and why they should care.
Fix first: add one concrete proof point before you add another slogan. One good example is usually stronger than three general claims.
For charities, proof can be a simple explanation of where funds go, who benefits, and what happens next. For artists, proof might be the medium, process, exhibition history, or a short note about commissions. In both cases, the visitor is looking for something they can verify.
Step 4: Calls to action – do you have one clear next step?
Every important page should answer this: what do you want me to do now?
That answer should be specific. Contact, book, buy, donate, join, or ask for a quote all work. “Learn more” is usually only useful as a secondary step.
- One primary CTA per page is usually enough.
- The same CTA should appear near the top and again near the end.
- The button text should match the action, not hide it.
Pass signal: the visitor can tell what happens after the click.
Fix first: replace vague buttons with direct verbs. If someone is ready to commission work or make a donation, the site should not make them interpret a riddle first.
If the page needs a helper step, make it the secondary action and point the primary route to Contact. If the user has questions before they reach out, send them to Support rather than making them search for reassurance.
Step 5: Contact & conversion – are forms and email links working and easy to find?
This is the part where a lot of sites quietly fail. The button looks fine. The form looks fine. Then nothing arrives where it should.
Test the actual route:
- Submit the contact form once yourself.
- Check that the email address works if the form sends to email.
- Open the page on mobile and make sure fields are not awkwardly stacked or cut off.
- Confirm the confirmation message says what happens next.
Pass signal: the contact route is short, obvious, and reliable.
Fix first: reduce the form to the fields you truly need. If you are asking for five details before a visitor even says hello, the form is asking too much.
A contact path should also be easy to find in the header, footer, and any support content. If visitors have to search for it, they will often stop searching.
Step 6: Content freshness – are key pages updated enough to feel current?
A current website does not need constant posting. It does need believable recency. If the last update is years old, visitors start wondering whether the work is still active.
Check the pages that carry the most weight:
- Homepage copy
- About or bio page
- Latest work, events, or news
- Support or service details
- Contact information
Pass signal: the site reflects what is true now, not what was true three projects ago.
Fix first: update the pages that affect trust before you write a new post. A fresh headline, a current project note, and a working contact path usually matter more than a brand-new article.
If you like to track updates in a simple system, some teams keep a shared spreadsheet; others use a web app generator to keep owner, status, and review date in one place. The tool is less important than the habit of reviewing the site before it drifts.
For regular publishing, the Latest News page should feel like a living part of the site, not a cupboard for forgotten announcements.
Step 7: Accessibility basics – are images described, headings structured, and contrast readable?
This is the quickest section to skim and the one people postpone the longest. Do not. A site can look polished and still be hard to use.
Keep three references nearby while you check: the W3C accessibility introduction, the W3C WCAG overview, WebAIM alt text guidance, and, if contrast is in question, the WebAIM contrast checker.
Then run this quick list:
- Every meaningful image has alt text that says what it shows or why it matters.
- Headings move in order, not randomly from H1 to H4 to H2.
- Text has enough contrast to be read outdoors and on a dim phone screen.
- Buttons and links are easy to identify without guessing.
- Keyboard focus is visible if you tab through the page.
Pass signal: the page is readable, navigable, and understandable without extra effort.
Fix first: alt text, heading order, and contrast. Those three changes usually deliver more value than another visual flourish.
For artists and charities, accessibility is not a side quest. It is part of being available to the people you want to reach.
What I would fix first if the audit finds several gaps
- Clarity – rewrite the homepage headline and button so the purpose is obvious.
- Contact – make the enquiry path short, visible, and working.
- Trust – add proof, examples, and an honest About page.
- Freshness – update the pages that make the site feel alive now.
- Accessibility – fix alt text, headings, and contrast basics.
If you only have time for one pass, make it the first three. They are usually the missing piece behind most of the missing pieces.
When a site starts to feel almost right, that is often a sign that one small structural problem is still in the way. The useful move is not to panic and redesign everything. It is to find the gap, close it, and then test again.
If you want a second pair of eyes, start with Support for the common questions, or go straight to Contact if you already know the site needs work. Either route is better than leaving the visitor to wonder.
That is the whole method: check the first impression, shorten the path, show proof, make the next step clear, and remove the friction that hides the work. I would rather fix one missing piece well than rebuild five pages badly.