Our expert team at Squee conducts a thorough evaluation to pinpoint how your site can perform better.
C
The Cheltenham Student Homes site has a strong foundation and some good technical aspects to it, but certain limitations of the website builder may now be holding it back. From an SEO perspective, there’s a solid base to build on. The domain has a reasonable authority score of 7, compared with 12 for Student Houses Cheltenham, which currently receives around 650 visits a month. That traffic largely comes from ranking first for search terms like “student accommodation Cheltenham” and “student housing Cheltenham.” With Cheltenham Student Homes sitting just ten to fifteen places behind, adding more written content, FAQs, and blog articles would help Google better understand the site and could lead to a major increase in visibility and enquiries.
Usability and accessibility both have strong starting points but would benefit from refinement. The hero section could communicate the value proposition more clearly and make it easier for users to take action, particularly when booking a viewing. Accessibility is generally good, with strong colour contrast and visible focus indicators, but there are areas that could be improved, such as skipped heading levels, empty images, and text displayed within graphics. Addressing these issues would make the site more inclusive and also support better SEO performance. With the site already performing well technically, focusing next on content depth, clearer calls to action, and accessibility would help Cheltenham Student Homes turn a good foundation into a site that attracts more students and converts more enquiries.
Good colour contrast: The colour palette throughout the site provides strong contrast between text and background. This supports users with low vision or colour blindness and improves readability on all devices.
Keyboard navigation: Clear focus outlines appear as you move through the page using the keyboard. This benefits anyone who cannot use a mouse, such as users with limited dexterity or motor impairments.
Descriptive links: Most links are written in a way that makes sense out of context, which is very helpful for people using screen readers who often navigate from link to link.
Form labelling: The contact form includes visible labels for each field. Labels tell assistive technologies what information a user needs to enter, which makes the form easier and more reliable to complete.
Use of ARIA labels: The social media icons at the bottom of the site include ARIA labels, which help screen readers describe what each icon does. This ensures users know whether they are opening Facebook, Instagram, or another platform.
Text within images: Some sections use images that contain text. While it is good that these images have descriptive alternative text (alt text), it is more inclusive to use real text instead. Real text can be resized, translated, read aloud accurately by screen readers, and indexed by search engines, which is not the case for text baked into an image.
Heading structure: Each page includes a main heading (H1), which is great for both accessibility and search indexing. However, the homepage currently has two H1 headings, and some headings skip levels, such as jumping from H1 to H4 for the property titles. Screen readers rely on a clear heading order (like chapters in a book) to help users move quickly through content. Adding a H2 for the listings section and setting each property title as a H3 would improve structure and clarity.
Empty decorative image: There is an empty image positioned over the main image in the hero section. Because it has no content or alternative text, screen readers announce it as “image,” which adds unnecessary noise. Decorative images should be marked as decorative or removed entirely.
Duplicate links: In a few places, the same link appears twice close together. This can cause confusion for screen reader users who may think there is a difference between them. Consolidating these where possible would create a cleaner navigation experience.
High-quality imagery: The visuals across the site create an impression of high-end, modern accommodation, which matches the expectations of students seeking premium housing.
Interactive elements: Integrations such as the 3D property viewer and embedded maps enhance the experience by allowing users to explore listings in more depth without leaving the page.
Hero section focus: The hero section, which is the first part of the site visible on load, relies heavily on the logo and imagery but lacks a clear value proposition. Because users form an impression within seconds, this area should clearly communicate what Cheltenham Student Homes offers and why it is different. Reducing the logo size and image height while introducing a short headline and immediate access to listings or a search tool would make this space more purposeful.
Call-to-action visibility: The “Book a Viewing” action is one of the most important conversion points but is not visually distinct in the menu, and on property pages the form only appears at the bottom. Visitors often leave before scrolling that far, so keeping a visible contact option or button available higher up the page would encourage more enquiries.
Consistent layout: Some components such as the property slideshow cause horizontal scrolling, and certain footer elements fall outside the main page container. Maintaining consistent alignment across all pages improves readability and gives a more professional feel.
Image relevance: While the photography overall is strong, a few stock images, particularly in the testimonials section, feel out of place next to the otherwise high-quality visuals. Replacing these with genuine photos or simple graphic elements would help maintain consistency.
Spacing and alignment: Some sections, particularly near the footer and image areas, appear tight or misaligned compared to others. Consistent spacing and alignment throughout the site improve clarity and perceived quality.
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Meta and heading optimisation: The site has done a solid job of setting page titles, meta descriptions, and H1 headings that include relevant keywords such as “student accommodation” and “Cheltenham.” These help search engines understand what each page is about and can improve ranking potential.
Keyword presence: Around 30–40 keywords are already being indexed, which shows Google is recognising the content and starting to associate it with relevant search terms.
Healthy early authority: The website has a domain authority score of 7. Domain authority is a general measure of how trusted a site is based on factors like quality content and backlinks (links from other websites). This is respectable for a domain just over a year old.
Limited homepage content: The homepage currently has very little written content, which makes it harder for Google to understand the full scope of what the business offers. Adding more varied content such as a short introductory paragraph, internal links to other key pages, FAQs, or even previews of blog posts would help increase keyword coverage and keep visitors engaged for longer.
Malformed robots.txt file: The robots.txt file, which tells search engines which pages they can or cannot index, is currently not set up correctly. Fixing this ensures search engines can crawl and understand the site properly.
Competitor comparison: A local competitor, studenthousescheltenham.co.uk, has an authority score of 12 and receives around 650 monthly visits. Much of this comes from ranking first for search terms like “student accommodation Cheltenham,” “student housing Cheltenham,” and “student properties Cheltenham.” In comparison, Cheltenham Student Homes currently has an authority score of 7 and under 10 visits per month, but that provides a solid foundation to build on. With continued content growth and link-building, the site could begin ranking within the top three results for key search terms, which would have a major impact on both visibility and the number of enquiries coming through.
Lack of backlinks: There are currently 27 referring domains (websites linking back to this one). Backlinks from relevant, reputable sources signal to Google that your site is trustworthy. Building links from local directories, partner organisations, or student resources could strengthen your visibility.
No blog content: The site doesn’t currently include a blog. Writing short articles targeting common search phrases such as “student housing tips in Cheltenham” or “how to choose your student property” could help attract organic traffic and improve search rankings.
B+
Fast loading: The site loads very quickly, with key content visible in under a second. This means users can start interacting almost immediately, which helps reduce bounce rates and makes the site feel responsive.
Stable layout: The layout remains steady as the page loads, with no shifting of images or buttons. This creates a smooth and professional experience for users on all screen sizes.
Good overall optimisation: The main performance indicators such as loading time, responsiveness, and layout stability all perform at a high level. This reflects well on how the site has been built and configured.
Image formats: Some images could be saved in newer, lighter formats to reduce their file size. This would make pages load even faster, especially for users on slower connections.
File compression: Enabling text and file compression can slightly reduce the size of resources such as code and styles, which would help pages load more efficiently.
Unused code: There are small parts of unused CSS and JavaScript being loaded in the background. Cleaning these up would make the site even leaner and improve long-term performance as more pages are added.
Browser caching: Setting efficient caching rules allows browsers to store parts of the website locally, so returning visitors experience near-instant load times. This helps improve repeat visits and user satisfaction.
Here to help you
It depends on a few things, but 9 times out of 10 we can help. If we can’t, we’ll point you in the right direction.
If you feel your website isn’t performing as well as it could, or you’re unsure what’s holding it back, our Cheltenham website consultancy can help. Common signs include poor user engagement, low conversions, slow performance, accessibility issues, or difficulty ranking on search engines. We’ll work with you to identify what’s working, what’s not, and create a clear strategy to improve your site and support your business goals.
Typically, we try to send it over in 2–3 working days.
It is a significant time investment. Every scorecard is carefully evaluated by a real person who takes the time to thoroughly review your website. As part of our Cheltenham web consultancy, we offer this service for free because our mission is to improve web accessibility and help businesses create inclusive experiences for people of all abilities.
Absolutely. Once we’ve produced the scorecard, we always recommend getting together to give you more details on ways to resolve some of the items raised.
