AI Skill Report Card
Building South African Web Experiences
Quick Start14 / 15
When asked to audit or build a South African-facing site, run through tiers in order — don't skip to Tier 3 features while Tier 1 gaps exist.
Priority check (do this first):
1. Page weight per route < 2 MB? (Lighthouse / WebPageTest, throttled to 3G)
2. LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200ms on mid-tier Android emulation?
3. SSL valid + POPIA privacy notice present + no third-party trackers leaking PII?
4. WCAG 2.1 AA: alt text, 4.5:1 contrast, keyboard nav?
5. "Call Now" / "WhatsApp Us" CTA visible above the fold on mobile?
If any of these fail, fix them before touching personalization, PWAs, or analytics.
Recommendation▾
Add a third example showing a Tier 2/3 scenario (e.g., PWA rollout) to demonstrate range across all tiers, not just Tier 1 audits.
Workflow15 / 15
Progress:
- Tier 1 audit: mobile-first, performance, SEO+AEO, security/POPIA, accessibility, CTAs
- Tier 1 fixes implemented and re-tested
- Tier 2 audit: personalization, local integrations, schema, interactive content, analytics, trust signals
- Tier 2 enhancements scoped and prioritized by conversion impact
- Tier 3 roadmap: PWA, content automation, AI security monitoring
- Final report with before/after metrics
Tier 1 — Core Essentials (non-negotiable)
- Mobile-First Optimization: Design for smallest viewport first. Thumb-reachable nav (bottom or sticky), no hover-dependent interactions, tap targets ≥44px. Test on throttled 3G/4G, not just WiFi.
- Performance & Load Speed: Target <2 MB total page weight. Compress/lazy-load images (WebP/AVIF), defer non-critical JS, inline critical CSS. Measure Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) via Lighthouse/PageSpeed Insights/CrUX.
- SEO + AEO: Use local keywords (city/township/service combos), structured headings, and content phrased as direct answers to questions (for AI search engines like Google SGE, Perplexity, ChatGPT browsing). Add FAQ sections answering real customer queries verbatim.
- Security & POPIA Compliance: Enforce HTTPS everywhere, secure form endpoints, cookie consent banner, and a plain-language privacy notice stating what data is collected, why, and for how long. Avoid unnecessary third-party scripts that leak PII.
- Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA): Alt text on all images, semantic HTML, minimum 4.5:1 contrast, visible focus states, screen-reader-tested forms.
- Conversion-Optimized CTAs: Persistent "Call Now" and "WhatsApp Us" buttons (using
tel:andwa.melinks) above the fold and sticky on scroll. A/B test copy, color, and placement.
Tier 2 — Advanced Growth Drivers
- Personalization Engine: Adjust hero content/offers based on geolocation (city/province), referral source (UTM/ad source), and device type. Keep logic client-light to avoid hurting performance.
- Local Integrations: PayFast/Ozow/SnapScan checkout, WhatsApp Business API for order/support flows. Always provide a fallback (EFT/manual) for integration failures.
- Structured Data & Schema: Implement
LocalBusiness,FAQPage, andAggregateRatingJSON-LD. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test before shipping. - Interactive & Video Content: Compress video (H.264/AV1, <5 MB for short clips), provide calculators/quote tools as lightweight JS widgets, make content easy to share via WhatsApp (short links + preview images).
- AI-Driven Analytics & Insights: Track funnel drop-off points, use predictive/behavioral tools (e.g., GA4 + BigQuery, Hotjar) to flag friction. Report actionable insights, not raw dashboards.
- Trust & Reputation Signals: Embed real reviews with
Review/AggregateRatingschema. Never fabricate ratings — validate against actual review platform data.
Tier 3 — Future-Ready Enhancements
- Data-Light PWAs: Add service worker for offline caching of key pages, app manifest for "Add to Home Screen," and graceful degradation on poor connections.
- Content Freshness & Automation: Use AI-assisted workflows to keep FAQs, pricing, and service pages current; flag stale content (>90 days) for review rather than auto-publishing unchecked.
- AI-Enhanced Security Monitoring: Set up anomaly detection for traffic spikes, brute-force login attempts, and phishing-style form submissions; alert rather than silently block, to avoid false positives hurting real users.
Recommendation▾
Include a 'bad output' example contrasting a superficial audit (e.g., just adding a cookie banner) with the correct thorough approach, per the pitfalls listed.
Examples16 / 20
Example 1: Input: "Audit this ISP's landing page for prepaid data customers in Gauteng." Output:
- Page weight: 4.8 MB (fail, target <2 MB) — largest offenders: unoptimized hero image (2.1 MB), unminified JS bundle (900 KB)
- LCP: 4.2s on throttled 4G (fail, target <2.5s)
- No POPIA privacy notice found (fail)
- WhatsApp CTA missing on mobile view (fail)
- Recommendation: compress hero to WebP (~150 KB), defer JS, add sticky WhatsApp button, add privacy notice footer link — re-test before Tier 2 work.
Example 2:
Input: "Add trust signals to a township-based retailer's site."
Output: Embed 5 real Google Reviews with Review schema, add AggregateRating JSON-LD, display "Verified by Google" badge linking to live review page, ensure star rating markup validates in Rich Results Test.
Recommendation▾
Description is solid but slightly long — could be tightened while still covering what/when triggers.
Best Practices
- Always test on throttled connections (Slow 3G/Fast 3G) and mid-tier Android devices — not just desktop WiFi.
- Fix Tier 1 issues completely before investing in Tier 2/3 — a fast, compliant, accessible site converts better than a feature-rich slow one.
- Prefer
tel:andwa.melinks over contact forms for South African users — WhatsApp and calls convert far better than email. - Validate all schema markup before deployment; broken structured data can hurt SEO instead of helping.
- Keep personalization and analytics scripts lightweight — don't let Tier 2 features regress Tier 1 performance budgets.
Common Pitfalls
- Adding PWA/offline features before basic page weight is under control — this masks the real problem.
- Using stock hero videos/images without compression, blowing past the 2 MB budget.
- Fabricating or inflating review scores — always link schema to real, verifiable review data.
- Treating POPIA compliance as a checkbox (just adding a cookie banner) without an actual plain-language privacy notice.
- Over-personalizing based on assumptions (e.g., city-based pricing) without testing that it doesn't confuse or alienate users.
- Silently auto-publishing AI-generated content updates without human review — leads to stale or incorrect info going live unchecked.