UX audit for websites
A form that never confirms anything. A button that’s missing on phones. Spots like these cost leads, often without anyone noticing.
Where visitors get stuck
Someone wants to book an estimate with a local painting company. They find the form and type in their name, address and a preferred date. Then they hit Send. The page reloads, the fields are empty again, and no confirmation shows up. They can’t tell whether it worked, so they call the next company on the list, where somebody actually picks up.
The owner never hears about it. To them the website looks fine, because technically it works. A UX audit looks for exactly these spots, and it looks at them from the customer’s side. It walks through every step the way a customer would and notes every place where someone hesitates, has doubts or gives up.
Finding the big hurdles takes only a few test users. Jakob Nielsen, a Danish researcher who has spent decades studying why people struggle with screens, showed that five test users already run into most of the problems. That’s because the sixth person usually trips over the same stones as the five before. You do need more people to find every last issue, but five are enough for the big ones.2
- UXUser experienceWhat a visitor goes through, from the first glance at the page to sending an inquiry.
- ReviewExpert reviewSpecialists walk through the site and hold it against a list of rules of thumb.
- TestUser testA few people try a real task on the site, and someone watches them do it.
85 out of 100problems are found by a first test with five people, according to Nielsen’s model from 2000.2
Ten rules that have held since 1994
When specialists review a site without test users, they hold it against a list of rules of thumb, which UX people call heuristics. The best-known list also comes from Jakob Nielsen. At its heart it hasn’t changed since 1994, even though websites have changed completely.1
For a business website, we’d single out three of these rules, because they decide directly whether someone gets in touch. The first rule says a site should always show what’s happening. The second says it should speak its customers’ language. And the fifth says it shouldn’t let errors happen in the first place. The painting company’s silent form, incidentally, breaks the very first rule.
Show what’s happening
After someone hits Send, the page says something like “Thanks, we got your request and will get back to you by tomorrow.” A button that visibly reacts while it loads counts too.
Speak the customer’s language
The button says “Get an estimate,” not “Initiate contact,” and the menu says “Prices,” not “Rate structure.” The order of the pages follows the customer’s questions, not the company’s org chart.
An easy way back
A visitor who made a mistake can go back a step, and what they typed is still there. A pop-up that won’t close, on the other hand, is a trap.
Same thing, same look
A button looks the same everywhere on the site and does the same thing everywhere. And the logo takes you to the homepage, just like on nearly every other website.
Prevent errors
When someone taps the ZIP code field on a phone, the number pad opens right away. Required fields are marked before anyone hits Send.
Show, don’t make people remember
The label sits above the field and doesn’t vanish while you type. That way nobody has to remember what the previous step said.
Shortcuts for people in a hurry
On a phone, the phone number can be tapped to call. Regular customers get there faster this way, and newcomers still don’t get lost.
Only what’s needed
Anything unrelated to the task pulls attention away from it. So a form sitting next to three flashing offers has a hard time.
Error messages that help
Instead of “Invalid input,” the message says “A ZIP code has five digits.” In other words, it says what went wrong and how to fix it.
Help where it’s needed
The answer to the most common question sits right next to the form. Nobody has to click three pages away to find it.
Which method fits?
The ten heuristics are only one of four tools. Next to them there’s analytics and there’s the user test. And there’s a step back to check whether audience and message are right at all. Each of these tools answers a different question.
Expert review
against the ten heuristics
Specialists walk through every key page and hold it against the ten heuristics. It’s quick, because no test users are needed. And it brings the obvious hurdles to light, like the silent form.
Limit: The review doesn’t show how many real visitors actually fail at a given spot.
See the Quick Check ↓What a UX audit reviews
A thorough audit works through six spots on a site. It starts with the first impression and ends with page speed. For each spot there’s a method that makes it easiest to see.
What gets fixed first
- Critical. Visitors can’t go on, for example because the form doesn’t send or a button is missing on phones. This gets fixed right away.
- Serious. Visitors do get through, but only with effort or doubts, like with the form that never confirms. This goes into the next round.
- Minor. These are cosmetic flaws, such as two buttons in slightly different blues. They get fixed along the way.
When two problems share a level, the one that costs more leads goes first. If that’s a tie, the quicker fix wins.
What a UX audit costs
The agency prices in the table come from Merge Rocks, a UX agency that sells these audits itself.
According to Nielsen, five test users already find the big hurdles, and an expert review needs none at all. So in our view, a small business website can often get by with a small scope.
Our AI Quick Check, on the other hand, is an automated report. It reads the homepage and a few subpages and checks whether message, content and navigation fit the customers. It also checks how easily the site can be found on Google and in AI assistants. Test users and visitor data aren’t part of it, though.
Know now what your website needs.
Our AI Quick Check reviews your website and tells you what to fix first. Built by web and SEO experts, in your inbox within minutes.
- Audience analysis
- Market analysis
- Content analysis
- UX analysis
- SEO
- AI search
- Action plan
$9.99 one-time payment · no subscription, no account
PDF by email, usually in under 5 minutes
UX audit: common questions
What is a UX audit?
A UX audit checks whether visitors can do what they came to a website for. They should find what they’re looking for and be able to get in touch or buy without hurdles. At the end there’s a list of those hurdles, with the worst ones at the top.
How do I know my website needs a UX audit?
A first sign is a site that gets visitors but hardly any inquiries. A second is customers calling to ask about things that are already on the website. A form that rarely gets sent is suspicious too. And if many visitors leave after a few seconds, it’s also worth taking a closer look.
Can I do a UX audit myself?
Partly, yes. Open your own site on your phone and go through the most important task, for example sending an inquiry. You’ll learn even more if five friends try the same task while you watch without saying a word. Every time they hesitate, you’ve found a hurdle.
How many people do you need for a user test?
Five people are enough for a first test. To find nearly all problems, Nielsen says you need at least 15. It’s better, though, to split those 15 into three rounds of five. That way you fix things after each round, and the next round finds what was hidden before.2
Which tools are used for a UX audit?
Most audits combine three kinds. Your web analytics shows where visitors leave. Heatmaps and session recordings show where they click and how far they scroll, and Microsoft Clarity offers both free of charge.5 The most revealing tool costs nothing at all, though, because it is watching five real people try to get something done on the site.
Is a UX audit the same as a UI audit?
Not quite. A UI audit looks at the interface itself, so the buttons, colors, fonts and spacing. A UX audit asks whether visitors reach their goal, and the interface is only one part of that. In practice, the two are often done together and called a UX/UI audit.
Is there a UX audit checklist?
The ten rules above work as one, and many experts start their review with exactly these rules. Go through the key pages, such as the homepage, a service page and the contact form, and note every place where a rule is broken.
How long does a UX audit take?
Most UX audits take two to four weeks.3 The AI Quick Check, by contrast, is done in a few minutes, but it doesn’t replace testing with real people.
How often should you audit UX?
Once or twice a year is common, plus a shorter review after every major change to the website.3
How is a UX audit different from an SEO audit?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. So an SEO audit asks whether people can find the site on Google. A UX audit asks the next question, which is whether visitors get along once they arrive.
Sources
- Jakob Nielsen, 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design, Nielsen Norman Group, accessed Nov 5, 2026: nngroup.com
- Jakob Nielsen, Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users (“After the first study with five participants has found 85% of the usability problems”, “you need to test with at least 15 users to discover all the usability problems”), accessed Nov 5, 2026: nngroup.com
- Contentsquare, How to conduct a successful UX audit (“Most UX audits take 2 to 4 weeks”, “once or twice a year”), accessed Nov 5, 2026: contentsquare.com
- Merge Rocks, UX audit: what you get, what it costs (“between $3,000 and $8,000 for a small product”, “around $10,000 to $25,000”, “100 to 200 hours of expert time”), agency article, accessed Nov 5, 2026: merge.rocks
- Microsoft Clarity, FAQ (“Clarity is a free service forever.”), accessed Nov 6, 2026: learn.microsoft.com