One of the most common frustrations with website audits is getting a report full of technical issues and having no idea how to act on it. You can’t explain it to a developer because you don’t understand it yourself. You can’t fix it because you’re not technical. The report sits in your inbox and nothing changes.
There’s a better way to handle this.
Do you need to understand the report to use it?
No. A well-structured audit report is designed to be passed directly to a developer. Your job is to forward it, not to translate it.
What you should understand is the priority order — which issues matter most and should be addressed first. A good report ranks issues by impact: critical (fix now), important (fix soon), minor (fix when convenient).
What should you say when you send the report to a developer?
Keep it short. Something like:
“I’ve had a technical audit done on my website. The report ranks issues by priority. I’d like a quote to fix the critical and important items. Can you review the report and tell me what’s involved?”
You’re not asking them to explain everything — you’re asking for a scoped quote based on documented issues. This is much more efficient than a discovery call where you try to describe problems you can’t name.
What access does a developer need to act on an audit?
Typically:
– WordPress admin login (if the site runs on WordPress)
– Hosting control panel login (for server-level issues)
– Access to the domain registrar (for DNS issues)
– Google Search Console access (to submit sitemaps, check indexing)
Give access one step at a time. Don’t hand everything over upfront before you’ve established trust.
How do you know the developer has actually fixed the issues?
Ask them to show you what changed — specifically. A developer who fixed a robots.txt issue should be able to show you the before and after. One who improved page speed should be able to show you the PageSpeed Insights score before and after.
A general claim of “it’s fixed” without evidence isn’t enough. Issues on an audit report have specific, verifiable outcomes.
What if a developer says the issues in the report aren’t real problems?
That’s possible — some audit tools flag issues that are minor in practice. But “this isn’t a real problem” needs to come with an explanation of why. A developer who dismisses an audit finding without reasoning isn’t helping you evaluate it — they’re just removing it from scope.
Push back: “Can you explain why this isn’t affecting my ranking or conversion?” If they can answer clearly, accept it. If they can’t, get a second opinion.
→ Read more: What does a website audit actually tell you?
→ Read more: How to talk to a web developer when you’re not technical
GhostSite produces two versions of every report: a plain-language version for you, and a technical version ready to hand to any developer.