# 3. Audit a website and improve its copy

**Outcome:** a source-backed report and usable replacement homepage copy. Use Website Opportunity Audit, then Page Copy. No live business, paid media tool or website runtime is required. Allow yourself time to check the answer; this is a practice task, not a promised delivery time.

Complete [setup](../01-setup.md) and [the context lesson](../02-context.md) first. Copy the entire [Fold exercise folder](../../examples/free/website-audit/README.md) into your practice project. Keep the original files and write your answers into a new `my-work` folder.

## Establish what you can actually know

Read `BRIEF.md`, then open `before-page.html` in a browser. The brief is the authority for the fictional business. The old page is evidence to inspect, not another source of promises. Its claim of same-day work must not become a fact merely because it appears on a website.

The audit answers three questions: what can the visitor understand; what action can they take; and which observed problems interfere with that task? It cannot tell you how many sales were lost. A screenshot cannot establish whether a link works, and an HTML file cannot establish a real business's search ranking.

## Run the audit

Invoke `$website-opportunity-audit` in Codex or `/website-opportunity-audit` in Claude Code. Then use this task:

> Read BRIEF.md and before-page.html. Audit this one fictional homepage for a person deciding whether to request an alterations appointment. Save my-work/audit.md with coverage, strengths, prioritized findings, source locations, proposed fixes and ways to check them. Treat the brief as authoritative. Distinguish source inspection from browser interactions you actually perform. Do not inspect external sites or change the supplied files.

Read the result before asking for copy. For every finding, locate the evidence yourself. “The page feels generic” is less useful than “the opening doesn't identify the alterations service or Station Quarter; add both so the reader can assess relevance.” Keep genuine strengths, including the existing service list.

Compare with [the worked report](../../examples/free/website-audit/AUDIT-REPORT.md). Its findings are one acceptable set, not required wording or a conversion score.

## Turn findings into usable copy

Invoke `$page-copy` or `/page-copy`, then:

> Use BRIEF.md and my-work/audit.md to write replacement homepage copy in my-work/page-copy.md. Include the opening, offered services and exclusions, appointment process, location and call to action. Preserve the difference between an appointment request and a confirmed appointment. Include source notes outside the customer-facing copy. This is copy delivery; do not implement or publish a website.

Check [the worked copy](../../examples/free/website-audit/PAGE-COPY.md). The included `after-page.html` shows that copy in the same simple teaching layout, with the missing anchor repaired. That HTML is an authored reference implementation, not evidence that your copy task changed a website. Open `preview.html` to compare the two.

Watch for subtle additions: “free consultation,” “ready tomorrow” and “bring it in any time” would all add promises. An attractive headline does not compensate for an inaccurate action or missing exclusion.

## Repair and transfer

Keep an example of a rejected sentence, the reason it fails, and your corrected sentence. Use [CHECKS.md](../../examples/free/website-audit/CHECKS.md) to check content, coverage and handoff. Then repeat in a fresh session using [CHANGED-BRIEF.md](../../examples/free/website-audit/CHANGED-BRIEF.md). Compare your answer with `CHANGED-ANSWER.md` only after finishing.

**Complete when:** you have a report whose findings trace to evidence, replacement copy whose claims trace to the brief, a change note and an honest list of unperformed checks. The changed brief must replace old service/location facts. These files can become a clearly labeled practice portfolio example; they do not represent a real client or prove sales improvement.

Continue to [create a useful download](04-useful-download.md). For a reusable client format, use the [free templates](../../templates/free/README.md) and [service guide](SERVICE-GUIDE.md).