Website audit September 2026

1. Restore page titles and meta descriptions

The public homepage, checked collection pages and sampled information pages return an empty document title and no description meta tag. This was checked both in downloaded public HTML and in the rendered browser. Canonical links are present on sampled collection pages. This points to a shared theme or SEO integration issue; its exact cause has not been established.

Action: inspect the theme’s head output and SEO app integration, then check that each page emits one appropriate title and description. Preserve existing collection SEO settings. Google can generate its own search titles and snippets, so this finding does not establish lost rankings or indexing failure. Google’s title guidance and snippet guidance.

2. Repair the Returns and email links

The homepage card labelled Returns links to International Shipping, which contains no returns instructions. The email displayed as sales@shoecentre.net on Terms & Conditions actually links to mailto:sales@www.shoecentre.net.

Action: point the Returns card to Delivery and Returns, and correct the email destination. Add click-to-call and email links on the Contact page as a small usability improvement.

3. Review the public staff-training page

Staff Training is publicly accessible and included in the page sitemap. It contains internal working instructions and a returns policy that differs from customer-facing pages.

Action: confirm whether it is intended for customers. If it is internal, move the material to staff-only storage and unpublish the storefront page. No content was removed during this audit.

4. Resolve empty destinations still linked in the menu

Jasper displays “There are currently no products in this collection.” Other empty navigation destinations are identified by the inventory’s “Empty collections only” filter. This is a customer dead end even when the page returns a successful HTTP status.

Action: check collection rules before removing links. The wider catalogue’s brand filter includes “Jaspers”, so the singular/plural naming is worth checking for Jasper; this is a possible explanation, not a verified cause. For temporarily unavailable ranges, provide a useful message and alternatives.

Most missing content is the introduction, rather than the heading

The inventory below separates the main heading from supporting content. A brand name on its own is a heading, but it does not explain the range, fit, use or benefits. A collection with text in a separate rich-text section is counted as having content even when its standard banner description is blank.

The checked banner settings have “Show collection description” switched off. Some custom templates, including Skechers, deliberately use separate text sections. A sample of stored Shopify descriptions also contains existing copy. Therefore, do not simply write new text for every blank banner or enable every description globally: that could duplicate the text already displayed on custom templates.

Action: prioritise current brands and categories that customers reach from the menu. Start with an accurate, concise introduction above the products, with useful longer guidance below where appropriate. Reuse and edit existing stored copy where it is sound. The inventory records which stored descriptions were actually inspected.

Improve the existing copy rather than adding more keywords

Skechers, Smart Shoes and Wellingtons have substantial text. Some of it contains awkward repeated search phrases, lists of near-identical wording, and editorial summaries such as “This page highlights…”. Skechers includes “Skechers womens Skechers” and “Skechers shoes for female”.

Action: rewrite for customers: describe the range and relevant comfort or fit features in natural English, keep claims accurate, and remove search-phrase lists. Use one clear main heading and subordinate headings for sections. Multiple H1s are flagged for review; their presence alone is not proof of a Google penalty.

The collection directory needs a deliberate structure

The public Collections directory displays exactly 1,000 unique collection links, ending at “UK 7.5–8”, without a next-page link in the inspected page. The sitemap lists 1,125 collection URLs. The 125 absent from this directory include useful destinations such as White Stuff, Waldlaufer, Walking Boots and several women’s categories.

There are 673 collection URLs beginning size- or colour-, alongside price bands, old seasonal promotions and internal-looking names such as Window collections. These overwhelm the directory. The breadcrumb on collection pages leads customers into it.

Action: build a curated brand/category directory and review the purpose of attribute, duplicate and old campaign collections. Do not commission hundreds of generic SEO paragraphs for size and colour pages. Check traffic and links before deciding on consolidation, redirects or indexing changes.

Give custom information pages a clear main heading

The April Outfit Edit, Brunel Trail, Summer Fashion Show 2026 and Coast Cams offer have visible display headings but no H1 in the inspected main content. Review their heading markup alongside the collection templates. This is a structural improvement; no ranking penalty is inferred.

Review overlapping collection destinations before writing

There are parallel destinations such as Womens Boots and Womens Boots (second collection), plus Womens Hats and Women's Hats in Devon. Some have different product counts and text. These may be deliberate selections, so identical intent should be established before merging anything.

Action: choose the intended primary destination for each shopping category and make homepage, menu and campaign links consistent. Review parallel price-band collections such as £60–£80 at both /collections/60-80 and /collections/60-81 before adding more content.

Main navigation needs clearer landing pages

The top-level Women and Men links redirect successfully from the myshopify domain to tagged catalogue pages, but both arrive at an H1 of “All”, with no useful category introduction. The top-level Brands link also opens the All catalogue. Individual brands remain available in its dropdown.

Action: create or use clear Women, Men and Brands landing pages, and update links to the primary domain. Clothing’s “New In” link currently targets the Autumn/Winter 2025 collection while the homepage promotes Autumn 2026. Also review the “New In Footwear” rules: the inspected admin setup used the same footwear and stock conditions as All Footwear, rather than a recency condition.

The first-order offer gives conflicting instructions

Enjoy 20% Off Your First Order tells shoppers to use a form on the page and wait for a unique emailed code. No form or input was present in its main content, and the page displays the generic code WELCOME20. The homepage popup says the offer is for full-price orders of £50 or more; that threshold is absent from the information page.

Action: choose one signup/code journey and put the same conditions on both surfaces. Confirm the actual Shopify discount settings before rewriting the promises. No code or checkout was tested in this audit.

Unify delivery and returns information

Delivery and Returns says returns are within 14 days of receipt. Terms & Conditions says 14 days of purchase. The public training page gives a different 28-day full-price policy. These may refer to different sales channels, but the distinction is not clear.

The customer delivery page quotes standard UK delivery of 3–5 working days and dispatch before 3pm where possible. The shipping policy instead says dispatch within 1–2 working days and receipt within 3 working days after dispatch. International Shipping lacks destinations, rates and delivery estimates.

Action: confirm the intended online and in-store policies, then make the wording consistent across pages. This is a content-consistency finding, not a legal compliance assessment.

Review old and unfinished public pages

Christmas and New Year Delivery has no clear year and refers to Royal Mail strike dates. The Autumn Winter 2025 page contains placeholder wording (“Showcase your best products”) and spelling mistakes. Meet The Team lists several names with empty role labels. The privacy policy is dated May 2018 and should be checked against the store’s actual current services; age alone does not establish non-compliance.

Action: update useful evergreen pages, clearly date archived campaigns, and unpublish material that no longer serves shoppers after checking existing links.

Loyalty and mobile presentation need tidying

The loyalty page loads its content after a delay; it is not blank once loaded. However, its referral heading reads “Give 20% Discount, Get 1000 Discount”, which does not clearly describe the reward.

In Shopify’s mobile preview, fixed “Get £5” and “Co Loyalty” controls occupy noticeable space over the collection content. The homepage also displays a reviews panel and a separate 20% offer popup. These are opportunities to simplify the experience, rather than evidence that checkout is broken.

Action: verify the referral reward units and update the label. Review the combined frequency and positioning of promotional overlays on real phones. The mobile check was a theme preview, not a full device or accessibility test.