SHAG Framework™
A Livetech Method
First published 18 Sept 2026
00The Manifesto

A website has one real job: to bring in work.

SHAG Framework™ is the lens we use to judge whether a website actually does it. Four dimensions, and not a vanity metric among them.

Each scored out of five
S
Search
Can the right buyers find you?
H
Human
Does it convince them?
A
Authority
Do you look trustworthy?
G
Growth
Is it winning new work?
01Philosophy

Most websites are judged on how they look. That is the wrong test.

A website earns its keep when the right people find it, it convinces them, and it turns that attention into enquiries. Everything else is decoration: pleasant, sometimes expensive, and largely beside the point.

SHAG breaks the real job into four things that move the needle. Score each out of five and you can see, in about a minute, where a site is strong and where it is quietly leaking opportunity.

It is deliberately blunt. A number you can argue with beats a report nobody reads.

02What we measure
S
Search / Visibility

Being found

Can the right buyers, and the AI assistants they increasingly ask first, find you when they go looking? Indexing, rankings, technical health, and whether machines can read what you do. Being trusted by those answer engines is a discipline in its own right, which we measure with our companion framework, Trust Density.

H
Human / Conversion

Being convincing

Once a real person lands on the site, does it convince them you are the right choice? Clarity, proof, ease of use, speed, and a next step that is obvious.

A
Authority / Trust

Being credible

Do you look as established and credible online as you are in reality? Reputation signals, references, listings, and the quiet cues that tell a buyer you are safe to choose.

G
Growth / Traction

Winning work

Is anything actively pulling in new enquiries, or is the site just sitting there? Content, reach, and a pipeline that turns visitors into conversations.

03How it is used

One method, three depths. The four dimensions never change, so scores stay comparable.

ColdNo data

A first read from the outside, with no inside data. Fast and honest, before a conversation has even started.

LightBasic data

Blended with basic data: traffic, rankings, page speed. A sharper picture at the point of a first meeting.

DeepFull audit

A full audit: analytics, search data, backlinks and competitors, distilled back to the same one-page score.

04Origin & ownershipFirst published 18 September 2026

Ours by design.

SHAG Framework™ was developed by Livetech, a North Wales digital agency, out of years of work getting websites to generate real business for industrial and manufacturing firms. It is the method behind every assessment we produce.

Paul Levy
The author
Paul Levy

Founder of Livetech and a writer on AI, search and digital privacy at ideasman.com.

SHAG Framework™ and the SHAG scoring methodology are the intellectual property of Livetech Ltd.

First published 18 September 2026 by Livetech Ltd, Llandudno.
Asserted as an unregistered trademark and protected work. You are welcome to be assessed against it and to act on what it tells you; the name, structure and materials remain ours.

Privacy

SHAG Framework™ · Livetech Ltd

SHAG Framework™ is published by Livetech Ltd. This is a simple information page: it does not ask you for personal details or store them.

Who we are

Livetech Ltd, 16 Trinity Square, Llandudno, Conwy LL30 2RB. Data protection enquiries: [email protected].

What this page collects

Nothing you type. Our web host keeps standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) to keep the site running and secure; these are held briefly and are not used to identify you. We do not set tracking or advertising cookies on this page.

Links to other sites

Links to livetech.co.uk, trustdensity.com and ideasman.com take you to separate websites, each with its own privacy policy.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask what we hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, and object to how it is used. Email [email protected]. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Last updated 18 September 2026.