How to Perform a Complete SEO Audit in 14 Steps

The Search Atlas Backlink Research Tool helps you to analyze and understand the backlink profile of any website, page, or subdomain. The Search Atlas Backlink Research Tool provides detailed insights into both domain-level and page-level metrics. Evaluating site speed improves SEO because page speed is an official ranking factor in Google’s algorithm, with faster websites receiving preferential treatment in search results. In addition to direct ranking benefits, improved site speed reduces bounce rates, increases pages per session, and increases conversion rates across all types of sites. A sitemap is a structured list of a website’s pages and content hierarchy for easy navigation.

Step 4: Evaluate On-Page SEO Elements

If you’ve been following Google’s search guidelines, your content already has the potential to be featured as a source in AI summaries. This will send the selected prospects to the Link Building tool, where you can set up a new project for your domain. Sites that link to your competitors are excellent prospects since they’ve already shown interest in your niche. To evaluate how you stack up against competitors, use Semrush’s Domain Overview tool. If you’re seeing unexplained traffic drops, it might be useful to check for manual actions.

Get Your Free SEO Audit

By following this SEO audit checklist, you can uncover hidden issues, improve user experience, and make data-backed decisions that drive real results. Site audit tools have the ability to identify all the 404s within your site. Once you identify them, fixing them is a matter of determining how important each link is to your linking structure and user experience. Have a page which no longer exists, or which now exists at a new URL? It’s a good idea to make sure all high-traffic pages which formerly linked to that page now 301 redirect to the new page; or, that they at least redirect back your home page. SEO audits, whether completed in-house or externally with an agency, are often worth it.

• SEO Pro is a free extension for Google Chrome that allows you to spot indexing, canonicalization, redirect, and schema markup issues.
• In today’s digital marketing landscape, running on HTTP is a decided no-no.
• Checking for crawlability and indexability helps identify and fix issues like blocked resources, noindex tags, and crawl errors that might prevent important content from being discovered and indexed.
• A high number of links dilutes the link equity every link passes and can make it harder for Google to determine which links are important.
• The ones we’ve listed are the ones our team feels are the best SEO audit tools available that people can use for free.
• The final step is to put it all together and plan solutions – effectively turning the audit findings into an actionable roadmap.

Tools are not all created equal, and it’s important to level the playing field between tools to ensure that recommendations make sense in the context of the website you are auditing. Its Guru plan runs at $229.95/month and gives you a topic research tool, among other benefits – including greater numbers of keywords to track and more results per report. Once you enter all of the URLs and any keywords you want to be analyzed, click “Scan Now” and you’ll receive a comprehensive SEO report in seconds.

Summary: Agentic SEO Is A Fundamental Shift

The index is where Google stores information about pages it has crawled and where it selects the content to rank for a particular search query. Google tends to store only the HTML of websites in the cache opposed to the JavaScript executed version. If properly executed, the page should still render all important content and SEO elements in the HTML state. As CSS and JS are executed, ensure all content remains available for Google’s rendering process. Previously, Google did not process JavaScript, but now that it does, ensure Google can access all necessary files without restrictions to fully render the page like a regular user.

By analyzing shared and unique ranking keywords, the Search Atlas Keyword Gap Tool highlights gaps in your content strategy, revealing high-value terms your competitors rank for but you don’t. The Search Atlas Keyword Gap Tool enables you to expand your keyword coverage, target new search queries, and strengthen your competitive position in search results. Checking your presence in SERP features helps you understand how your content is being displayed and perceived in search results. By analyzing which features you already appear in and SEO Anomaly which ones your competitors dominate, you can adjust the content format, structure, and markup to gain better positioning. Structured data is a standardized format used to label and organize website content in a way that helps search engines better understand it.

In truth, a URL that doesn’t want to be found can be very difficult to find if it isn’t linked to or listed anywhere. Most major SEO toolsets offer site crawl/audit capabilities, and they can often reveal issues not uncovered via traditional analytics or Search Console properties. While having analytics installed isn’t an actual ranking factor, having an analytics package can deliver a ton of visitor and technical information about your site. Most webmasters install Google Analytics, but for those with privacy or performance concerns, there exists a wealth of great alternatives. This table provides a framework for tracking your progress and showcasing the value of your SEO audit efforts. Remember to tailor these KPIs to align with your specific business goals and industry benchmarks for the most accurate and relevant assessment.