Valero: a phone-and-desktop teardown
We loaded https://valero.com 4 times on a simulated iPhone and 2 more on a 1366px desktop, and wrote down what a real visitor would see on each. No login, no insider access, no Harvv pixel needed. Here is what repeated visits already show, sorted by how we know it.
TL;DRWhat jumped out
Of everything we found on this scan, this is the one to start with: Tiny buttons are hard to tap on mobile. 21 of 32 tappable items on this page come in below 44×44 pixels, the minimum size Apple and Google recommend for reliable tapping, and the same ones came up small on every test load. When visitors can't hit what they expect to, they get frustrated and many of them leave instead of trying again.
Below: what's already working, every finding ranked by impact and tagged with the screen it affects, the speed numbers on phone and desktop, and a checklist of what to fix first.
00What's already working
Start here so the problems below are in context. These held up across the test loads:
- Speed is good. The main content paints in about 0.3s in our test loads, inside Google's 2.5s "good" threshold. Real networks are slower, but the page itself is not heavy.
- Search basics are in place. Lighthouse scores SEO 92/100. The fundamentals Google looks for are present.
- Accessible to most visitors. Lighthouse accessibility is 96/100, so screen-reader and contrast basics are largely handled.
- Layout holds on phone and desktop. Nothing spilled past the edge at either 390px (phone) or 1366px (desktop), so the structure is responsive.
This is one of several oil refiner sites we tore down the same way. The same friction repeats on PBF Energy, and we pulled the cross-site pattern together in the oil-refiner web benchmark.
01Findings, ranked by what hurts conversion most
| Severity | Finding | How we know |
|---|---|---|
| High | Tiny buttons are hard to tap on mobileMobileAccessibility (WCAG)Conversion 21 of 32 tappable items on this page come in below 44×44 pixels, the minimum size Apple and Google recommend for reliable tapping, and the same ones came up small on every test load. When visitors can't hit what they expect to, they get frustrated and many of them leave instead of trying again. The exact elements we found: paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| High | A floating widget is covering a clickable elementBothConversionAccessibility (WCAG) 8 clickable elements are sitting underneath a fixed overlay (p#cm__desc over a "Learn More About Valero"), so a visitor who tries to tap them hits the widget on top instead. The element is there and looks fine in a preview, it just can't be reached. Move the floating widget to a clear corner, lower its z-index, or add spacing so it never overlaps your links and buttons. The exact elements we found: paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| High | Google Analytics tracking brokenBoth The Google Analytics request failed to complete on every one of the 4 test loads. If real visitors hit the same failure, GA is missing those visits and the dashboard has no way to flag it. Conversion numbers, audience counts, and channel attribution are all undercounting. Worth checking the tag loading order and any consent banner that might be blocking the request. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| High | 35 potential dead-click targetsBothConversionAccessibility (WCAG)Tracking Elements styled like buttons but with no anchor, no <button> wrapper, no role="button", and no click attribute. Real visitors tap these expecting something to happen, then leave. Examples on this page: "Refining " (div.menu_link_content), "Branded Valero" (span.ref-link), "Low-Carbon " (div.menu_link_content). The exact elements we found: paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| High | 35 interactive elements have no stable, accessible identityBothAccessibility (WCAG)Tracking These elements are clicked like buttons but expose no accessible name, or are a plain div/span used as a control with no role. Assistive tech announces only a role (or nothing), and analytics and heatmaps have no human-readable label or stable selector to bind the click to, so the click is both inaccessible and untrackable, and any redesign silently breaks click aggregation. Give each one a real <button>/<a>, an aria-label, and a stable id or data-attribute. The exact elements we found:
paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| High | JavaScript errors were logged during loadBothConversionTracking Errors in the console often mean a feature silently broke: a button that does nothing, analytics that did not fire, a form that will not submit. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Medium | Page is heavy and slow on mobile dataBothPerformance Each visit downloads about 3.7 megabytes, roughly 3170 KB of images and 411 KB of JavaScript across 26 separate downloads. On a fast connection that's fine. On a phone with patchy mobile data, that's several seconds of blank screen before the page is readable. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | median across loads |
| Low | Links to this page will look bare when sharedBoth The page is missing its Open Graph title and image, so when someone shares it on Facebook, LinkedIn, iMessage, or Slack the preview has no title and image. A flat grey link gets far fewer clicks than one with an image and headline. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | No structured data for rich search resultsBoth The page has no schema.org markup. Adding the right type (Product, Article, Organization, FAQ) lets Google show rich results like star ratings and prices, which lift click-through for free. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | No advertising pixel detectedBothTracking Analytics is present but no Meta/Google/TikTok ad pixel was found. If you run paid ads, conversion tracking should be installed before the next campaign so the platforms can optimize toward buyers, not clicks. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | No email capture or newsletter detectedBothConversion No email-marketing tag (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, etc.) was found. Email capture plus a welcome and abandoned-cart flow is consistently the highest-ROI addition for a small store, and it is owned audience you keep regardless of ad costs. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | No visible contact details (email or phone)BothConversion The page exposes no email or phone link. For higher-value or trust-sensitive purchases, a clear way to reach a human reduces hesitation. Add an email or phone link in the header or footer. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | Unused JavaScript is being downloadedBothPerformance Code that never runs on this page still costs download and parse time on every visit. Splitting or removing it speeds up load. Lighthouse measured: Est savings of 190 KiB. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | Unused CSS is being downloadedBothPerformance Style rules that this page never uses still block rendering while they download. Trimming them frees the paint path. Lighthouse measured: Est savings of 71 KiB. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | Some links do not describe where they goBothAccessibility (WCAG)Conversion Links like "click here" or "read more" tell screen-reader users and search engines nothing about the destination. Lighthouse measured: 1 link found. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | No llms.txt fileBothSEO No /llms.txt. This emerging standard gives AI search engines a clean, structured map of your most important content, improving how they understand and cite your site. paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT | |
| Low | No Organization or WebSite schemaBothSEO No site-wide Organization or WebSite structured data found on any crawled page. This is the schema that tells Google and AI engines who you are (name, logo, social profiles) for the knowledge panel and brand recognition in AI answers. (Found across a sample of 8 pages from your sitemap, a partial crawl rather than your full site.) paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT |
Accessibility findings are automated checks against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and 2.2. They flag potential barriers and legal risk, not a certification or a determination of compliance with the ADA, Section 508, or EN 301 549. Automated testing catches only a subset of issues; a full conformance review needs manual and assistive-technology testing by a qualified reviewer.
"How we know": unlabeled = a deterministic fact, identical on every load (e.g. element sizes). Most findings are this kind, so we only mark the exceptions: median across loads = a noisy lab metric, reported as a median. real-user field data = Google CrUX, actual Chrome visitors.
Structural and AI-search checks crawl up to 8 pages from your sitemap (a sample, not your full site). "Broken" means a link returned 404, 410, or 5xx, or did not respond; access-controlled pages (401, 403) are not counted.
02Performance: phone, desktop, and real visitors
| Metric | Mobile | Desktop | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTFB (lab median) | 82 ms | 92 ms | Lab |
| FCP (lab median) | 204 ms | 232 ms | Lab |
| LCP (lab median) | 332 ms | 336 ms | Good |
| Page weight (median) | 3.7 MB | 4.6 MB | Watch |
Google Lighthouse (lab): Performance 60 mobile / 87 desktop, SEO 92, Accessibility 96, Best Practices 96.
Lab numbers are from a headless mobile browser on an unthrottled connection: treat them as a floor, not a typical experience. Add a Google API key to light up real-user field data (CrUX) and Lighthouse scores.
03Tiny buttons are hard to tap on mobile
21 of 32 tappable items on this page come in below 44×44 pixels, the size Apple and Google both recommend for reliable tapping on a phone. The same ones came up small on every one of the 4 test loads, so this is the page itself, not a fluke.
The buttons measuring below the minimum on this scan:
- a 1x1 "Skip to main content"
- a 65x19 "Home"
- button 40x32 "Toggle Navigation"
- a 30x30 "Youtube"
- a 30x30 "Instagram"
- a 30x30 "LinkedIn"
- a 30x30 "Facebook"
- a 114x41 "ValeroPay+"
The fix is CSS-only on most sites: add padding around the icon (don't just change the icon size) so the actual tap area is at least 44×44 pixels. No redesign, no new assets.
04Technical SEO & structured data
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Title | Valero | Advancing the Future of Energy (39 chars) |
| Meta description | 246 chars |
| H1 | 1 on page |
| Canonical | Present |
| Structured data (JSON-LD) | None |
| Open Graph | Incomplete |
05The fix checklist
Everything to fix, priority first, each tagged with the screen it affects and a rough effort. Work top to bottom.
- Tiny buttons are hard to tap on mobileMobileCSS only
- A floating widget is covering a clickable elementBothCSS only
- Google Analytics tracking brokenBothDev afternoon
- 35 potential dead-click targetsBothCSS only
- 35 interactive elements have no stable, accessible identityBothDev afternoon
- JavaScript errors were logged during loadBothDev afternoon
- Page is heavy and slow on mobile dataBothSmall
- Links to this page will look bare when sharedBoth1 line
- No structured data for rich search resultsBothVaries
- No advertising pixel detectedBothDev afternoon
- No email capture or newsletter detectedBothVaries
- No visible contact details (email or phone)BothVaries
- Unused JavaScript is being downloadedBothVaries
- Unused CSS is being downloadedBothVaries
- Some links do not describe where they goBothVaries
- No llms.txt fileBothVaries
- No Organization or WebSite schemaBothVaries
Effort is a rough read from the outside: "CSS only" means no new assets or backend work, "1 line" means a single tag, "Dev afternoon" means a developer needs to touch tracking or scripts.
06What this report cannot tell you
Everything above is from the outside, looking at the page on a simulated phone and desktop. The questions that actually decide revenue need real visitors. Install the Harvv pixel (one script tag, 16 KB, zero personal data, no engineering project) and within about 72 hours you'd know which buttons real customers tapped and missed, how often Google Analytics is missing visits, and exactly where mobile shoppers stalled and left. This report shows you where to look. The pixel shows you how often it happens, and to whom.
Drop the Harvv pixel on valero.com and we turn this one-off scan into ongoing measured behavior: which taps miss, where sessions stall, and the real drop rates. Free to start, no card needed.
Add the pixel free07How we did this, and what it can't prove
- 4 mobile + 2 desktop loads of one URL from headless Chrome (iPhone viewport at 390px, desktop at 1366px), June 29, 2026. Enough loads to separate real defects from random noise, not a full-site crawl.
- Lab numbers, not real-user numbers (no field data was available for this run). Real devices on real networks run slower.
- Friction is inferred, not counted. We can prove a button is small. We can't, from the outside, count how often it causes a missed tap. That requires the pixel on a live page.
Prepared by Harvv. Last updated June 29, 2026.