What should I improve first on my site?
You moved your site to bernard so it would get better. Bernard’s list is where you see what “better” means for your site in particular: the handful of improvements worth making, most useful first, each backed by something Bernard actually found.
The prompt
“Look at my site and tell me the first three things you would improve, with what you found for each, most useful first.”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
What a row looks like
Each row says one thing in plain words, with one sentence of evidence from your own site. For example:
- Mend broken links - 36 links on your site go to pages that don’t exist.
- Describe your photos - 10 images have no description for people using screen readers.
- Tidy your contact details - 2 different email addresses appear on your site and there’s no privacy page.
The numbers are counted from your published site. Bernard never guesses one.
Each row has one button. It starts the job in Bernard’s Workshop, where he prepares the change on a draft for you to look at. Nothing goes live until you approve it (see How do I stop my site looking out of date? for the kind of tidying this leads to).
Where it lives
Near the top of your site’s home page, and at the head of the Ready recipes tab in Bernard’s Workshop. The home page shows the top five, the workshop the top three, and See all opens the rest in place. When anything is waiting, the workshop opens on Ready recipes so the list is the first thing you see. Switch to This site and the workshop remembers that until you close the browser tab.
While you are still moving in, your first steps sit at the top of the list: see your site, ask Bernard for one change, and go live. Each one leaves the list as soon as it is done.
Speed fixes
If Bernard found ways to make your pages faster when he moved your site, they appear as one row: Make your pages faster, with how many are waiting. Its button takes you to your site’s history page, where you approve each one before Bernard does it. The row leaves the list by itself once none are left waiting.
How things come off the list
- Bernard ticks it. Every time you publish, he reads your live site again. When a problem is gone, the row leaves and joins your tally, for example “4 things improved since 14 Sep”.
- You tick it. Press I’ve done it if you sorted something yourself.
- You wave it off. Press Not for me and that finding is never raised again.
When everything is done you will see “Nothing waiting. Bernard checks again after every change.” The list stays put, so you always know where to look.
Just moved in?
For a minute or two after your site first arrives, the list says “Bernard is reading your site.” That is him running his checks on the published pages. Come back shortly and the rows will be there.
Questions people ask
- Where do I find Bernard’s list?
- In two places, and it is the same list in both. It sits near the top of your site’s home page, just under your site card. And it heads the Ready recipes tab in Bernard’s Workshop, under Where your site stands. When something is waiting on the list, the workshop opens on that tab.
- Where does the list come from?
- Three places. Your first steps after moving in (see your site, ask Bernard for a change, go live), until each one is done. The checks Bernard runs on your published site: links that go nowhere, dates that have gone stale, contact details that disagree, pages with no search description, photos with no description, a missing tab icon and more. The speed fixes Bernard found when he moved your site, as one row that takes you to them. And, if you have visitor numbers switched on, the suggestions Bernard makes from them.
- What happens when I press the button on a row?
- It opens Bernard’s Workshop with the job already started, using what Bernard found as the brief. He prepares the change on a draft and shows you a preview. Nothing goes live until you approve it.
- How does a row get ticked off?
- Every time you publish, Bernard reads your live site again. If the problem he found is gone, the row leaves the list and joins your tally of things improved. You can also press I’ve done it if you sorted something yourself.
- What does Not for me do?
- It takes the row off your list for good. Bernard will not raise that same finding again, even if he still sees it, because you have told him it is not worth doing for your site.
- Why did a new row appear after I published?
- Because Bernard re-read your live site and found something new, such as a new page with no search description. If something he had ticked off comes back, like a link that breaks again, the row comes back too, so the list never hides a real problem.
- Is the list on the trial too?
- Yes. Trial sites get the whole list. It is the quickest way to see what Bernard would do for your site.