SEO Audits: What They Include, How They Work, and Why They Matter for Your Business
Imagine you’re renovating your kitchen and the first thing you do is head to the store to buy brand-new countertops.
They’re gorgeous… until you get them home and realize they’re the wrong size, wrong color, and don’t fit your layout at all.
You know that you need to start your renovations with an evaluation of what is already there and a blueprint of the plans.
That’s exactly what happens when you dive into SEO without an audit. You might be using the wrong keywords, optimizing content that isn’t even indexed, or ignoring technical issues that are quietly killing your rankings.
An SEO audit is your blueprint. It’s the plan that shows exactly what you have, what’s broken, and what to fix first so you’re not wasting time or effort. Let’s break it down.
What is an SEO Audit (and What Does It Include)?
An SEO audit is essentially a comprehensive health check for your website’s visibility in search engines. It looks at all the factors that influence your ability to rank, from your site’s technical setup to the content itself, to how other websites link to you.
If you’re looking for a step-by-step process that you can do yourself, I also have a detailed guide on how to SEO audit your own website.
A real SEO audit will go beyond simply pointing out problems. It will:
Review current data — how much organic traffic is coming to your site now, are they converting, and what keywords are they using to find you.
Look at user experience — site structure, navigation, and whether visitors can find what they need easily.
Review technical SEO — things like crawlability, site speed, mobile-friendliness, security, broken links, and indexing errors.
Evaluate on-page SEO — your headings, keyword use, meta tags, and image optimization.
Assess content quality — is it relevant, original, and actually answering your audience’s questions?
Check off-page SEO — your backlink profile, Google Business Profile (if local), and other search engine appearances.
Without it, you’re essentially guessing, and guessing is a terrible SEO strategy.
Why an SEO Audit Must Come First
SEO is data-driven. Without a clear starting point, you risk:
Targeting keywords your audience isn’t actually searching for.
Spending hours optimizing a page that isn’t even indexed.
Missing major technical issues that tank your rankings.
Chasing “quick wins” that don’t move the needle for your business.
Just like my analogy earlier about a kitchen remodel. You wouldn’t start a remodel by buying countertops. You’d start with a blueprint.
When you start with the data, every action you take is more effective, and you’ll avoid redoing work later. In fact, regular SEO audits can boost organic traffic by as much as 61% (The 7 Eagles, 2023).
If you’ve been doing SEO for a while but not seeing results, this post on why your SEO isn’t working can help you troubleshoot before you spin your wheels any further.
More of a video person? Check out this video explanation of SEO audits!
My SEO Audit Process (And Why It’s Different From a Free Audit Report)
Every SEO consultant has their own process. Here’s how I do it.
1. User Experience & Website Architecture
User experience (UX) and site architecture set the foundation for everything else in SEO. This is all about how visitors experience your website, and whether your site’s structure makes sense to both humans and search engines.
Why it matters: If your site is confusing, slow, or hard to navigate, visitors will leave quickly, which sends bad signals to Google. And if your site’s structure doesn’t follow SEO best practices, Google and LLMs may not be able to properly crawl and index your content.
I look for:
First impressions — is it immediately clear what you do and who you help?
Navigation — can users find key pages easily?
Conversion cues — is it obvious what to do next?
Design and messaging — does it align with your brand and value?
Site speed & mobile usability — slow sites lose visitors and rankings.
Logical page hierarchy — a structure Google can understand.
2. Reviewing Your Current Data
Before we start making changes, we need to know what’s already working (and what’s not).
I review your existing performance data to get a clear baseline:
How much organic traffic you’re getting now — and whether those visitors are actually converting into customers or leads.
What keywords people are using to find you — especially if you’re currently only ranking for your brand name.
Where your traffic is coming from — so we know if your search visibility is strong or if you’re leaning too heavily on referrals, social media, or paid ads.
I use tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, and your platform’s built-in analytics to pull the real numbers.
Why this matters: Without this snapshot, you might optimize for the wrong things. Many small businesses discover they’re only ranking for brand-related searches. Meaning people who already know about them. Part of my job is to help you build a more well-rounded keyword strategy that targets your “money pages” (your most profitable products or services) so you can bring in new customers, not just the ones already in your circle.
3. Technical SEO Review
Technical SEO focuses on the behind-the-scenes elements that help search engines access, crawl, and index your website.
Why it matters: You can have the best-looking site in the world, but if search engines can’t properly crawl or understand it, you won’t rank.
I review:
Indexing issues — are important pages indexed and junk pages excluded?
Broken links — internal and external.
Redirect errors — making sure users (and Google) land in the right place.
Site speed — if it’s slow to load, people click away.
Mobile usability — essential with Google’s mobile-first indexing.
Sitemap and robots.txt — guiding crawlers effectively.
I use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, and Google Search Console, but tools alone aren’t the audit. They can spit out hundreds of “issues” that don’t really matter. My job is to filter the noise and focus on fixes that actually move the needle.
4. On-Page SEO Analysis
On-page SEO is everything you control directly on your site to help Google understand your content.
Why it matters: Even with perfect technical SEO, you won’t rank well unless your content is relevant, well-structured, and clearly signals its topic to both search engines and humans.
I check:
Keywords — are they relevant, naturally placed, and in the right spots?
Headings — using proper hierarchy (H1, H2, H3) for clarity.
Meta titles — keyword-rich and click-worthy.
Alt text — for accessibility and extra context for search engines.
Internal linking — guiding visitors and passing SEO value between pages.
Search intent match — does the content solve the visitor’s problem?
5. Off-Page SEO Factors
Off-page SEO is everything outside your website that still affects your rankings.
I look at:
Backlink profile — quality and relevance matter far more than quantity.
Google Business Profile — huge for local visibility.
Competitor activity — finding gaps and opportunities.
Other search appearances — YouTube, Pinterest, directories.
6. Turning the Audit Into a Roadmap
This is where my process goes beyond a basic audit, and it’s the most important part.
An audit without a roadmap is like a doctor diagnosing you but refusing to tell you how to get better. You now know what’s “wrong,” but you don’t know what to fix first or how to prioritize.
Why it matters:
Data without a plan is useless.
Not all SEO issues are created equal. Fixing the wrong thing first wastes time.
A roadmap prioritizes what will have the biggest payoff for your business.
What I deliver:
A prioritized action plan instead of “fix everything now” overwhelm.
Steps in order of impact to see results faster.
Clear role assignments like what you can DIY vs. what needs expert help.
Tailored recommendations instead of cookie-cutter templates.
If you decide you’d rather have an expert handle the work, check out my guide on how to hire the right SEO support.
The Problem with Free or Automated Audits
You’ve probably seen “free SEO audits” online or from big agencies. They sound great in theory ( I mean, who doesn’t love free?) but here’s the catch:
Most of these reports are auto-generated by a single tool and:
Overflowing with technical jargon.
Packed with “issues” that won’t move the needle.
Completely lacking action steps or prioritization.
Designed to make you dependent on the sender’s services.
Heavy on technical issues instead of a comprehensive list.
It’s like getting an X-ray without the doctor explaining what’s broken. You have data, but no idea what’s urgent or how to fix it.
The harm:
Wasting time fixing tiny, irrelevant errors.
Ignoring critical issues hidden in the noise.
Feeling pressured to trust someone who “sounds” like they know best.
Free tools can give you a quick peek at surface-level issues, but they’re no substitute for a professional, strategy-backed audit.
What Happens After the Audit
Once your audit is complete, we’ll meet for a one-on-one call to walk through everything together. The goal of this video call is to make sure that everything is 100% clear to you no matter what you plan for your next steps. Then you can decide which direction you want to go. You can choose:
DIY implementation.
DIY with my support (monthly or quarterly check-ins).
Have me handle some or all of the work.
It’s your choose-your-own-adventure approach to SEO. It all depends on your level of confidence, time, and bandwidth.
It’s Important to Start with the Data
Whether you’re just starting SEO or looking to level up, an audit is the smartest first step. It’s your blueprint, your roadmap, and your plan of attack, all rolled into one.
Ready to see what’s working, what’s broken, and what to do next?
Book your SEO Audit & Roadmap and let’s build your strategy the right way from the start.
