Is Your Website Healthy? The 4 Things That Actually Matter
You've probably seen those website testing tools that spit out scores and colored circles. Green is good, red is bad, and there's a lot of confusing technical jargon in between.
But here's the thing—those tools are actually measuring just four main areas. And once you understand what each one means, the whole thing stops being mysterious.
Think of it like a health checkup for your website. A doctor checks your heart, your lungs, your blood pressure, your reflexes. Website tools check these four things:
1. Performance — How Fast Is It?
This is the one most people think of first. When someone clicks a link to your website, how long do they wait? Does the page appear instantly, or do they stare at a blank screen wondering if their internet is broken?
Speed matters more than you might think. People are impatient. If your page takes more than three seconds to load, roughly half your visitors will give up and leave. They'll go to a competitor instead.
Search engines care too. Google has said directly that slow websites get pushed down in search results.
What gets measured:
- How quickly the first content appears
- How quickly the main content appears
- How quickly the page becomes usable
- Whether things jump around while loading
Read the full guide: Understanding Website Performance →
2. Accessibility — Can Everyone Use It?
Your website might look perfect on your computer. But can someone use it if they're blind and using a screen reader? What about someone who can't use a mouse and navigates with their keyboard? What about someone who's colorblind?
Accessibility means making your website work for everyone, including people with disabilities. This isn't just a nice thing to do—in many countries, it's a legal requirement. And it affects way more people than you might expect.
About 15% of the world's population has some form of disability. That's over a billion people. If your website doesn't work for them, you're locking out a huge audience.
What gets measured:
- Can screen readers understand your content?
- Can people navigate without a mouse?
- Is text readable and contrast sufficient?
- Are images described properly?
Read the full guide: Making Your Website Accessible to Everyone →
3. Best Practices — Is It Built Right?
This is the "did you follow the rules?" category. Over the years, web developers have figured out better and worse ways to build websites. Best practices are the accumulated wisdom of what works well and what causes problems.
Some of these are about security—making sure your site is safe from hackers and protects your visitors' information. Some are about reliability—making sure your site works correctly across different browsers and devices. Some are about avoiding common mistakes that cause bugs or poor experiences.
What gets measured:
- Is your site secure (HTTPS)?
- Are you using outdated or risky code?
- Do images display correctly?
- Are there JavaScript errors?
- Is the site trustworthy?
Read the full guide: Website Best Practices Explained Simply →
4. SEO — Can Search Engines Find It?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In plain terms: can Google (and Bing, and other search engines) understand what your website is about, and will they show it to people searching for related topics?
You could have the most beautiful, fast, accessible website in the world—but if search engines can't find it or understand it, nobody will ever see it. SEO is about making your site discoverable.
This includes technical things (like having the right tags and structure) and content things (like having useful information that answers people's questions).
What gets measured:
- Can search engines crawl your pages?
- Do your pages have proper titles and descriptions?
- Is your content structured correctly?
- Do links work properly?
- Is it mobile-friendly?
Read the full guide: SEO Basics That Anyone Can Understand →
How These Four Work Together
Here's the important thing: these four areas aren't separate. They overlap and support each other.
A fast website (Performance) tends to rank better in search (SEO). A well-structured website (Best Practices) is usually easier for screen readers to understand (Accessibility). Good SEO practices like proper headings also help accessibility.
When you improve one area, you often improve the others too.
Where to Start
If you're feeling overwhelmed, here's a simple approach:
- Test your website using a free tool like Google's PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev)
- Look at your scores in all four areas
- Start with the lowest score — that's where you have the most room for improvement
- Pick one or two specific fixes from the recommendations
- Test again after making changes
You don't need to get perfect 100s everywhere. Aim for green scores (90+), and focus your energy where it matters most for your visitors.
Go Deeper
Ready to understand each area in detail? Read the full guides:
- Performance: Why Speed Matters and How to Get Faster →
- Accessibility: Making Your Website Work for Everyone →
- Best Practices: Building Your Website the Right Way →
- SEO: Helping People Find Your Website →
Each guide explains everything in plain language, with practical steps you can take today.