WordPress redesign readiness audit - 10 questions

#Does my WordPress site need a redesign?

A set of 10 questions across 7 areas that in 15 minutes will tell you whether your site actually needs a redesign, or whether a few targeted fixes will do. Every question has a measurable criterion, not a subjective rating. Add up your score at the end and see what to do next.

Scoped audits and hard fixes sit with a WordPress specialist, not a general retainer.

#How to fill in the audit and count your score

Answer yes only if you meet the measurable condition stated in the question. If you only partially meet it, answer no. Do not know the answer? Mark do not know and at the end see what that means. The sum of yes answers gives a score from 0 to 10.

#10 questions to check before a website redesign

#1. Does the site load fast on mobile (LCP and INP)?

Question: Does your site achieve LCP below 2.5 seconds and INP below 200 ms on mobile devices in Google PageSpeed Insights for the home page and your most popular subpage?

How to check: Open PageSpeed Insights, paste the URL, choose Mobile, read the Core Web Vitals section. Both thresholds must be green on both URLs.

#2. Does Search Console show pages with poor Core Web Vitals?

Question: In Google Search Console -> Reports -> Core Web Vitals, do you have zero pages with the “Poor” status over the last 28 days?

How to check: GSC -> Core Web Vitals -> Mobile tab. “Poor” = red bars. Zero bars = yes.

#3. Is organic traffic stable or growing?

Question: Has organic traffic over the last 12 months been stable or growing (not dropping month over month by more than 10% outside seasonality)?

How to check: GSC -> Search results -> compare the last 3 months with the same 3 months a year earlier. A drop above 15% with the same volume of published content = no.

#4. Does the site pass a WAVE accessibility check (WCAG 2.1 AA)?

Question: Does the site pass an automated WAVE audit with zero critical errors (Errors) and fewer than 5 alerts on the home page?

How to check: wave.webaim.org -> paste URL -> the red error counter is “Errors”. Contrast, alt text, heading structure.

#5. Are PHP, WordPress and plugins up to date?

Question: Does your installation run on PHP 8.2 or newer, the current stable version of WordPress and all plugins updated at least once in the last 90 days?

How to check: WordPress admin -> Tools -> Site Health. Info tab -> Server -> PHP version. Plugins -> filter “Available updates”.

#6. Is wp-admin protected with 2FA and off-site backups?

Question: Is login to wp-admin protected with 2FA and do you have active off-site backups (not only at your hosting provider)?

How to check: Admin -> Users -> Your profile -> do you see a “Two-Factor Options” section? Backups: are the last 7 days stored in S3, Backblaze, Dropbox or similar?

#7. Do key actions work on a smartphone?

Question: Does every important business action (contact form, add to cart, main menu CTA) work fully on a smartphone with no need for horizontal scrolling and no mis-taps?

How to check: Open the site on your own phone. Perform the 3 most important actions. If any requires zooming out or does not work the first time = no.

#8. Can visitors find answers within 3 clicks?

Question: Does a visitor landing on the home page reach the page that answers their most common business question in no more than 3 clicks?

How to check: Write down the 3 most common questions you hear from customers (“how much does it cost”, “do you do X”, “where to call”). Does each have an answer within 3 clicks? Yes.

#9. Is your content up to date and on brand?

Question: Has every offer, pricing, team and about page been updated within the last 12 months and does it match the current visual brand identity?

How to check: Open each service subpage and check the “last updated” date plus whether logo, colors and tone match the current brand. A page with a pre-rebrand logo = no.

#10. Can you edit content without a developer?

Question: Can your marketing team or the owner update content on any subpage within 5 minutes on their own without contacting a developer?

How to check: Open the admin, edit any text block, save, see the change on the front end. If any step requires knowledge of code, shortcodes, CSS or a developer handoff = no.

#How to read your audit score

Lots of “do not know”? Three or more “do not know” marks are a separate signal: the team is missing someone with visibility into the technical state of the site. Before deciding on a redesign, commission an external technical audit to close the gaps.

#What to do with a low audit score

#Related services

• WordPress website redesign and modernization - full service scope
• WordPress developer - how the collaboration works
• Core Web Vitals optimization - if your score in questions 1-2 is low
• WordPress security audit - if your score in questions 5-6 is low