SEO Audit – The Basics: A 5-Step Process
Reading Time: ~4 Mins | Written By: Jason Serafica
An SEO audit highlights opportunities to improve a website’s organic search rankings through both on-page and off-page strategies. On-page SEO focuses on elements within the site, like page titles, meta descriptions, and alt tags, while off-page SEO focuses on activities outside the site, such as link-building and optimizing local website listings. Both are essential for driving organic growth and long-term SEO success.
In this post, we’ll share a simple 5-step SEO audit to help you identify opportunities to improve your site’s search engine ranking.
Step 1: Check Your Website's Strength
The first step is to determine your website's current strength in terms of SEO performance. Understanding where your website stands is important before making any optimizations, as it provides a foundation for your strategy.
Recommended Tools: SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz.
Analyze Domain Authority (DA)
Checking your domain authority helps you see how strong your website is compared to others. A higher domain authority means you’re more likely to show up higher in search engine results, which can bring more visitors to your site.
Check URL strength
Looking at your URL rating helps you understand how well each page on your site is optimized for search engines. The more quality individual pages you have on your website, the better your overall domain authority will be. Think of it like a team: if each member is strong, the entire team will be strong.
Review the number of backlinks
Reviewing the number of backlinks (links from other sites to yours) is important because these act like votes of confidence. The more quality mentions you have, the more trustworthy search engines will see your site.
Examine the number of referring domains
Checking the number of referring domains shows how many single websites link to yours. This sends a strong signal that your content is valuable, which can boost your credibility and help you rank better in search results.
Reminder: Each SEO tool scores your website differently because they use their own methods and algorithms. So, one tool might show you strengths or weaknesses that another tool doesn’t highlight. To get the best insights, it’s a good idea to use multiple tools together. This way, you’ll have a clearer picture of your website's SEO performance.
Step 2: Analyze On-Page Issues
Next, analyze your website for on-page issues to find pages that may need updates to title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and image alt tags. These meta tags help search engines understand the page and how it relates to the overall services or products offered on the website. The better you optimize the meta tags, the easier it is for search engines to understand the page, leading to improved search rankings.
Recommended Tool: Screaming Frog
Page Titles: Check for titles that are over 60 characters, less than 30 characters, duplicates, or missing.
Search engines analyze the page title for keyword relevance. If the title is too long, it will be truncated on the results page.
Meta Descriptions: Identify descriptions that are over 155 characters, less than 70 characters, duplicates, or missing.
Keep meta descriptions concise and descriptive; if they are too long, they will be truncated on the search results page.
Headings: Look for missing headings.
Headings help readers scan information by breaking paragraphs into multiple sections. They also inform search engines about the page's context.
Images: Ensure all images include alt tags and are properly sized; some may need compression. Upload images under 1 MB for faster loading times for better user experience.
Image alt tags help describe the image and improve accessibility, increasing the chances of appearing in image search results.
To simplify your decision-making process, check out our SEO tools comparison to help you choose the best SEO solution for your business needs.
Step 3: Analyze Off-Page Opportunities and Local Search Performance
In this step, analyze your Google Business Profile (GBP) listing to ensure it follows SEO best practices, including having the correct address, hours of operation, name, images, and accurate descriptions of products or services.
If your Google Business Profile is fully optimized, remember to provide consistent updates and include a link to your website. Additionally, analyze secondary listings on platforms such as Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yelp, and Yellow Pages. Ensure that these listings match the primary Google Business Profile in terms of name, address, phone number, and business description.
If all secondary listings are optimized, consider registering for additional relevant listings, such as the BC Marketplace for local businesses in British Columbia.
Step 4: Review Current Pages
Review existing pages on your website for additional optimization opportunities. A good strategy is to revisit older blog posts and link them to newer content or primary service pages. This practice helps search engines understand how pages relate to one another, improving search indexing and organic performance.
Update page titles and meta descriptions
Add or update headings
Revise any outdated information
Identify internal and external linking opportunities
Step 5: Identify Non-Indexed Pages
Finally, use Google Search Console (GSC) to identify any pages that are currently not indexed by search engines. Non-indexed pages do not appear in Google search results, which may happen if they lack sufficient strength or relevance.
Make sure to submit index requests for any non-indexable pages.
Simply navigate to the left hand column - “URL inspection” → Enter URL → “Request Indexing”
This easy 5-step SEO audit will help you identify opportunities for improving your website’s organic search performance. By evaluating site strength, analyzing on-page and off-page factors, reviewing current pages, and ensuring all key pages are indexed, you can set a strong foundation for SEO success.
