Technical Website Audit Case Study: Fixing 404 Errors for 300% Site Speed Improvement
Project Summary
A service-based business with a large lead-generation website was struggling with slow page load times, broken pages, and declining organic visibility. A comprehensive technical website audit uncovered hundreds of 404 errors, render-blocking resources, and heavy media assets that negatively impacted both users and search engines.
The goal of the project was simple: improve site health and speed to restore user trust, stabilize traffic, and support future SEO growth.
Hundreds of legacy URLs created over several years.
No structured decommissioning process for old content.
Limited in-house technical expertise for performance and crawlability.
Client Background and Challenge
The client operated a multi-service website.
Users frequently landed on 404 pages when navigating key service paths, while slow load times on core landing pages increased bounce rates and hurt conversions. Search engines were wasting crawl budget on broken or low-value URLs, further limiting organic potential.
Audit Approach and Strategy
The engagement began with a full technical website audit focused on crawlability, errors, and performance.
Comprehensive Site Crawl
404 and Redirect Strategy
Speed and Core Web Vitals Optimization
Technical Cleanup and Monitoring
Key Results and Metrics
Within the campaign period, the website showed clear improvements in user experience and technical health.
Metric | Before Audit | After Audit |
|---|---|---|
Average load time (key pages) | 4–6 seconds | ~1.5–2 seconds (up to 300% faster) |
Number of 404 errors (tracked set) | High volume across core paths | Reduced to minimal, monitored ongoing |
Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS) | Failing thresholds | Moved closer to or into “good” ranges |
Organic sessions to key landing pages | Declining trend | Stabilized with early upward movement |
Bounce rate on key landing pages | Elevated | Noticeably reduced after fixes |
These changes improved the user journey and helped regain trust from both users and search engines by providing a cleaner, faster site.
Client Feedback
After the audit and fixes, our site loads fast, errors are gone, and we’ve stopped losing leads to broken pages.
If your website is slow, full of 404s, and losing leads, a technical website audit can quickly uncover the root causes. Request a comprehensive technical website audit today and start improving your site’s performance and conversions.