The Website Intelligence Score™ Explained: What It Measures and Why It Matters
The WIS is a composite 0–100 score across six dimensions of website quality. This article explains exactly how it is calculated, what each dimension measures, and what a good score looks like for your industry.
What Is the Website Intelligence Score™?
The Website Intelligence Score™ (WIS) is a composite metric that measures the overall quality and maturity of a website across six dimensions: Security, Performance, SEO, Tech Modernity, Accessibility, and Data & Analytics. It is expressed as a number from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a more professionally maintained, technically sound website.
Unlike single-dimension tools that measure only performance (Lighthouse) or only SEO (Ahrefs), the WIS provides a holistic view of a website's technical health. It is designed to answer a single question: "How well is this website built and maintained?"
The Six Dimensions
Security (25% weight)
Security is the highest-weighted dimension because it has the most direct impact on user safety and business risk. The security score measures:
- HTTPS and TLS version — is the site served securely, and is the TLS version current?
- Content Security Policy — is there a CSP header that prevents XSS attacks?
- HTTP Strict Transport Security — is HSTS configured to prevent protocol downgrade attacks?
- X-Frame-Options / frame-ancestors — is clickjacking protection in place?
- Cookie security flags — are session cookies marked Secure and HttpOnly?
A site with all five signals correctly configured scores 90–100 on this dimension. Missing HTTPS alone results in a score of 0.
Performance (20% weight)
Performance measures the technical foundations of a fast website, not the actual load time (which varies by network and device). The signals are:
- CDN presence — are assets served from a content delivery network?
- Asset compression — are Gzip or Brotli compression headers present?
- Cache-Control headers — are static assets cached with appropriate lifetimes?
- Image optimisation — are modern formats (WebP, AVIF) in use?
- HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 — is the connection using a modern protocol?
SEO (20% weight)
The SEO dimension checks for the on-page signals that search engines use to understand and rank pages:
- Title and meta description — are they present, unique, and appropriately sized?
- Open Graph protocol — are og:title, og:description, and og:image present?
- Schema.org markup — is structured data present for the page type?
- Sitemap.xml — is a machine-readable sitemap accessible?
- Robots.txt — is a robots.txt file present and correctly configured?
Tech Modernity (20% weight)
This dimension assesses whether the site's technology stack is current and well-maintained:
- Framework versions — are detected frameworks running current, supported versions?
- Deprecated API usage — are deprecated browser APIs or server-side patterns detected?
- End-of-life libraries — are outdated libraries (jQuery 1.x, PHP 7.x) in use?
- Modern JavaScript features — is the site using ES2020+ features or transpiling to ES5?
- Build tooling — are modern build tools (Vite, esbuild) in use?
Accessibility (10% weight)
Accessibility measures whether the site is usable by people with disabilities — and by extension, whether it meets legal requirements in jurisdictions with accessibility laws (ADA, WCAG 2.1 AA):
- ARIA landmarks — are page regions marked with appropriate ARIA roles?
- Alt text presence — do images have descriptive alt attributes?
- Lang attribute — does the
<html>element have alangattribute? - Semantic HTML — are headings, lists, and form elements used correctly?
- Focus management — are interactive elements keyboard-accessible?
Data & Analytics (5% weight)
The smallest dimension, but an important signal of operational maturity:
- Analytics platform — is an analytics tool (GA4, Plausible, Fathom) detected?
- Cookie consent — is a cookie consent mechanism present (required by GDPR)?
- Tag manager — is a tag management system in use?
- Conversion tracking — are conversion events being tracked?
- A/B testing tools — is experimentation infrastructure in place?
Score Bands
| Score | Band | Typical Profile |
|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | Best-in-Class | Enterprise SaaS, major e-commerce, top-tier media |
| 75–89 | Advanced | Well-funded startups, professional agencies, established SMEs |
| 55–74 | Modern | Competently built sites with some gaps; typical of good WordPress builds |
| 35–54 | Developing | Sites with HTTPS but missing security headers and modern practices |
| 0–34 | Critical | Sites with fundamental issues: no HTTPS, no SEO, outdated technology |
How the Score Is Calculated
Each dimension is scored independently on a 0–100 scale, based on the presence and quality of its signals. The dimension scores are then combined using the weights above:
WIS = (Security × 0.25) + (Performance × 0.20) + (SEO × 0.20) + (Tech × 0.20) + (Accessibility × 0.10) + (Analytics × 0.05)
WIS = (Security × 0.25) + (Performance × 0.20) + (SEO × 0.20) + (Tech × 0.20) + (Accessibility × 0.10) + (Analytics × 0.05)
Each signal within a dimension contributes a weighted sub-score. For example, within the Security dimension, HTTPS/TLS is worth 30 points, CSP is worth 25 points, HSTS is worth 20 points, X-Frame-Options is worth 15 points, and cookie flags are worth 10 points.
What a Good Score Looks Like by Industry
Based on SiteReveal's scan database, here are typical WIS scores by industry:
| Industry | Median WIS | Top 10% WIS |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS / Developer Tools | 74 | 91 |
| E-commerce | 68 | 87 |
| Financial Services | 72 | 89 |
| Healthcare | 61 | 82 |
| Media / Publishing | 58 | 79 |
| Small Business | 44 | 71 |
| Government | 52 | 76 |
These benchmarks are updated monthly as new scans are added to the database.
How to Improve Your Score
The most efficient path to a higher WIS depends on your starting point:
If your score is 0–34 (Critical): Focus entirely on Security. Getting HTTPS, HSTS, and a basic CSP in place will add 15–25 points to your overall score.
If your score is 35–54 (Developing): Add the remaining security headers, then address SEO fundamentals (title, description, Open Graph). These two dimensions together can add 20–30 points.
If your score is 55–74 (Modern): Focus on Performance (CDN, compression, image optimisation) and Tech Modernity (update outdated libraries, add HTTP/2). Expect 10–20 point gains.
If your score is 75–89 (Advanced): The remaining gains come from Accessibility improvements and Analytics completeness. These are smaller in absolute terms but important for compliance and operational maturity.
Scan your website now to get your current WIS and a prioritised list of improvements.
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