What’s in a SiteScanly report and how to use it

In a previous post, I introduced SiteScanly and why it exists. It aims to help small business owners feel more confident about their website by giving them clear, plain-English information about what’s wrong, what matters, and what to fix first.

This post is the practical follow-on. I’m going to walk you through what you’ll see inside a SiteScanly report and how to read it in minutes (not hours). Then we will consider how to use it to make steady improvements over time even if you do not consider yourself technical.

If you know your website matters to your business, SiteScanly is for you. It’s built for small businesses and sole traders who do not have the time, the interest, or the technical knowledge to monitor their website.

The aim is not to overwhelm you with technical noise. A monthly website check can generate a lot of data, but the useful part is interpreting it, prioritising it, and turning it into something you can act on.

First, a quick reminder: what SiteScanly does and doesn’t do

SiteScanly is a clarity and priority service. Each month, you get a plain-English PDF report that tells you what’s working well, what needs attention, and what to prioritise. If something matters, it explains why, and it gives you straightforward next steps you can do yourself. If not, you can pass the report to whoever helps you with your website.

It does not do the fixing for you. It’s designed to supplement the work you already do, or the work your web person already does. It cuts down the time spent diagnosing and pinpointing issues, and helps you prioritise what matters.

Most importantly, it is not designed to elicit fear. The purpose is to guide you towards sensible best practice and sensible fixes, with clear facts presented in a helpful way

The report at a glance: How to read page one

The report structure is designed to be helpful as quickly as possible. From the first page, you’ll be able to see how your website is performing without having to wade through jargon.

1) A simple A to E score across the core areas

You’ll get an A to E score across the core areas: Security, Performance, Links, and SEO, plus Accessibility and Usability on higher tiers.

This is not there to shame you. It’s there to help you answer one practical question straight away: are there obvious risks you should deal with, or not?

2) Clear 'at a glance' indicators

Beneath the scores you’ll see clear 'at a glance' indicators using traffic light colours. You can immediately tell what’s fine and what needs attention.

3) Your top three priorities

The first page also outlines your top three priorities. In other words: what you should do now. If you only ever read one part of the report, read these priorities.

What’s inside each section (in plain English)

Each page thereafter the first goes deeper into the core areas, but it’s still designed to be easy to scan and easy to understand. You’ll never get a dump of technical noise.

Each section is also supported by notes written in plain English. These notes are the human part of the report. They’re not always top priorities, but they work like the advisory notes on a car MOT certificate. Fix them soon, or they’ll likely become bigger issues over time.

Below is what each section is trying to tell you, and how to use it.

1) Security: trust, safety, and avoiding nasty surprises

Security is where you want boring results. No warnings, no expiry dates creeping up, and no nasty surprises.

In the report, this section focuses on practical checks such as SSL certificate status and expiry. Plus, mixed content issues (when only parts of a page still load in an insecure way).

If you ever want a simple, trustworthy explanation of why secure connections matter, the UK National Cyber Security Centre has a clear guide on using TLS to protect data.

How to use this section:

If anything in Security is flagged as a priority, treat it as 'fix soon'. Security issues have a habit of becoming urgent at the worst possible time.

2) Performance: speed on mobile, and whether your site feels heavy

Performance is not just about impatience. It affects trust. If your website feels slow, people can assume your business is less professional or less reliable. It can also mean fewer people make it to your contact page before giving up.

In the report, the Performance section looks at things like uptime over the past month, PageSpeed results, image-related issues, and anything affecting mobile loading.

If you are curious about what the common performance measurements mean, Web Vitals explains them in plain terms. Also, Google’s guidance on Core Web Vitals explains how they relate to real user experience.

If you already use Google Search Console (it’s free), it also has a Core Web Vitals report which can be a helpful second opinion.

How to use this section:

Do not panic and rebuild your whole website. The quickest wins are often image optimisation, removing unnecessary scripts, and tidying up a small number of heavy pages. Start with the pages your customers actually rely on (Home, Services, Contact, key landing pages).

3) Links: the quiet breakages that make your website feel unreliable

Links are one of the most common sources of slow website decline. They break gradually as pages get renamed, PDFs move, services change, or external websites disappear.

This section can include pages returning errors, broken internal links, and broken external links. It can also include broken images, and redirect issues.

If you ever want to understand the basics behind common errors, Mozilla has a brilliant reference page on HTTP response status codes. If redirects come up, 301 Moved Permanently is the most common one you’ll see.

How to use this section:

Treat broken links as 'easy credibility wins'. Fixing a handful of broken links and cleaning up messy redirects can quickly make your website feel more trustworthy. This is especially true of someone comparing you with competitors.

4) SEO: the basics that help people find you and understand you

SEO does not have to mean obsessing over rankings. In real terms, it’s about making sure your website is easy to find and easy to understand.

The SEO section can flag missing or duplicated titles, missing descriptions, missing alt text, sitemap issues, or heading structure problems.

If you want a reference for what 'good' looks like, Google’s own guidance on writing meta descriptions is surprisingly readable. For anything more advanced, Google also lists the meta tags and attributes it supports, which can be useful to share with a developer.

If you are curious about the audit tools behind some of these checks, Google’s overview of the SEO Audit category in Lighthouse is helpful.

How to use this section:

If you can only do one thing, make sure your key service pages have clear, human titles and descriptions. Think: would a stranger understand what this page is about in five seconds?

5) Accessibility (Plus): making your site easier for more people to use

At its core, website accessibility is about making sure everyone can use your website with no restrictions or limitations. Experiencing visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments should not prevent someone from being able to access your website or your business.

Better contrast, clearer labels, and better structure help all visitors. It's not just about helping the 16 million people in the UK who have a form of disability, it is about making your site easier for everyone

The recognised standard is WCAG 2.2. If you want a UK-friendly explanation, GOV.UK has a very approachable overview in Understanding WCAG 2.2.

How to use this section:

Accessibility fixes are often simple wins: clearer wording, better contrast, properly labelled buttons, and sensible page structure. Use the report to prioritise what affects real users first.

6) Usability (Premium): the 'does it actually work?' checks

Usability is where we focus on the journeys that matter. Can someone actually contact you? Do key buttons take people to the right place? Does the cookie banner behave properly?

This is also where basic 'GDPR hygiene signals' can show up, such as whether a privacy policy exists, whether it loads properly, and whether it’s linked in an obvious place.

Cookie banners are a common pain point for small businesses. If you want the UK source, the ICO has straightforward guidance on cookies.

How to use this section:

If a key journey fails (like a contact form), treat it as urgent. A broken enquiry route can be the difference between a good month and a quiet one.

How to use your report in 30 minutes a month

Here’s the routine I recommend. Keep it simple and consistent.

Step 1: Read the top three priorities (5 minutes)

Ask yourself:

• Does this stop people enquiring, booking, or buying?

• Does this damage trust (security warnings, broken pages)?

• Does this reduce visibility (missing titles, important pages not being understood)?

Step 2: Decide what you can do yourself (10 minutes)

Depending on what platform your website is built on, some fixes are genuinely DIY:

• Updating page text

• Replacing a broken link

• Swapping out an overly large image

• Adding a missing page description

Some results are judgement calls (like improving clarity on a page), while others are plain facts (like broken links). Either way, the report should make it obvious what’s what.

Step 3: Send the priorities to your web person (10 minutes)

A report becomes valuable when it becomes action. If you have a developer or agency, do not just forward the PDF with a vague note. Give them the priorities in order.

Here’s a copy-and-paste message you can use:

Subject: Help with top SiteScanly priorities this month

Hi [Name],

I’ve had my monthly SiteScanly report and I’d like help with the top priorities.

Top priorities to tackle first:

1. [Priority 1]

2. [Priority 2]

3. [Priority 3]

Notes from the report (why these matter):

• [One sentence for each, copied from the report notes]

Can you confirm what effort and cost is involved, and whether we can get these done this month?

Thanks,

[Your name]

Step 4: Keep a tiny 'done list' (5 minutes)

You do not need a big system. A note on your phone is enough:

• This month’s three priorities

• What you fixed

• What you delegated

• Anything you chose to leave for now (and why)

Next month, the report checks whether it’s been resolved and whether anything new has appeared. That’s how you stop slow drift.

A note on 'boring' reports

Some months your report will be boring. That’s a good outcome. It means you’re being proactive and your website is not quietly getting worse while you’re busy running your business.

What happens next

Getting started is simple. You choose a plan, submit your website address, and you’ll receive your first report by email within 24 hours. After that, you’ll receive a report every month, so you always know where you stand and what to tackle next.

If you only remember one thing, let it be this: the aim is not to impress you with data. The aim is to give you a clear, calm set of priorities you can act on, month after month.