SEO Audit: A Complete Guide, Checklist, and Software List

Contents:

• SEO audit: what tasks it solves and how often is it needed
• What needs to be analyzed: five areas
• How to conduct an audit: independently, with the help of freelancers or an agency
• Tools for a self-service SEO audit
• Checklist for a self-service SEO audit

A quick reference is a concise summary of information that provides a general overview of the selected topic. The primary purpose of such a briefing is to provide the reader with key facts and highlights, allowing them to quickly become familiar with the subject. A briefing may include definitions, key characteristics, significant events, or facts that will aid in understanding the topic. It is a useful tool for research, learning, and decision-making.

Since 2007, I have been involved in website promotion and internet marketing. I am the head of the Impulse.guru agency and an active speaker at events such as "Business Environment," "Synergy," and "Netology." My experience and expertise in SEO have allowed me to be ranked among the top 10 leading SEO experts and speakers, according to the Ashmanov & Partners rating.

Impulse.guru is a unique platform offering a wide range of services and resources for developing personal and professional skills. We strive to help each user unlock their potential and achieve their goals. Our team of experts creates useful content, including articles, courses, and webinars that cover current topics in self-development, business, and technology.

At Impulse.guru, you'll find a wealth of materials to help you improve your time management, communication, and leadership skills. We also offer advice on career development and personal effectiveness, making our resource indispensable for anyone striving for success.

Subscribe to our website to stay up-to-date with new materials and updates. We regularly add fresh content to support you on your path to personal and professional growth. Impulse.guru is your reliable partner in the world of self-development.

• What tasks does an SEO audit solve and how often should it be conducted?
• What to analyze: main areas of the audit
• In which cases should the analysis be delegated to a specialist, and when can you do it yourself?
• Eight services for checking a site for SEO parameters
• Checklist for an independent SEO audit: 23 things to check
• What else to read in Skillbox Media about SEO

SEO audit: what tasks does it solve and how often is it needed?

SEO audit is a comprehensive check of a site for compliance with search engine criteria. The purpose of the audit is to identify and eliminate factors that hinder the promotion of a resource in search engines, as well as to determine opportunities to increase its visibility and popularity. A proper SEO audit helps improve your website's structure, optimize content, and improve its search rankings.

After the analysis, you will receive a list of errors and tasks. Addressing these issues will help improve your website's ranking in search engines like Yandex and Google. Improving your resource's SEO will attract a larger target audience and increase your online visibility.

Every website that strives for development inevitably undergoes changes. Regular SEO audits are essential. This procedure allows you to assess the resource's condition and identify potential problems. SEO audits are especially relevant for commercial projects, as a website is a key tool for attracting customers and increasing sales. Preventive maintenance and website optimization contribute to its competitiveness and improve search engine rankings.

The frequency of project audits varies depending on their characteristics and specifics. It is recommended to conduct an audit at least twice a year. This will help identify problems and optimize processes, which ultimately contributes to improved project results. Regular audits help maintain high quality standards and make necessary changes in a timely manner.

A regular SEO audit ensures your website's effectiveness in search engines. It helps identify issues that may negatively impact rankings. By conducting an SEO audit, you can evaluate your site's current position, analyze keywords and their use, and check the quality of your content.

An audit also allows you to evaluate technical aspects such as page loading speed, mobile responsiveness, and URL structure. It is important to pay attention to external and internal links, as well as the use of meta tags and headings. Regular audits help promptly identify and correct errors, which improves search engine visibility and increases website traffic.

Therefore, a systematic approach to SEO audits is a key element of a successful online promotion strategy.

• Identify site weaknesses and growth points. This is necessary in order to properly allocate available resources (time and budget) and get the most out of them. Sometimes even small changes to a website can lead to good and fairly quick results.
• Understand indexing issues. Most often, problems fall into one of two categories: not all necessary pages are indexed by search engines, or, conversely, unwanted content is indexed. For example, duplicated or automatically generated service pages by the site engine.

• Respond to algorithm changes. Google and Yandex are changing their ranking algorithms in an effort to improve search results. To maintain rankings and retain traffic, you need to monitor these changes and adapt your site to the new search engine requirements. For example, using HTTPS or increasing site loading speed are common topics discussed by search engine representatives.
• Find and fix website errors. If the resource is live, errors are inevitable. Even a simple update to the engine or one of the plugins used can lead to them. Website developers also don't always adhere to SEO requirements. For example, the URLs of important pages on a web resource were accidentally changed. This led to a deterioration in their search rankings; now they need to be redirected. This error can be found and corrected as a result of an SEO audit.

What to analyze: five areas

A comprehensive SEO audit includes five main components. Let's look at each of them in more detail.

• Technical SEO audit. The name itself suggests this. This is an analysis of all technical aspects of a website that affect its search rankings, such as the sitemap, robots.txt, the correctness of Title and Description meta tags, the presence of duplicate pages, and page loading speed.
• Usability audit. The more user-friendly a website is, the better its behavioral factors. They influence not only conversion but also its search rankings. Behavioral factors are more important for resources competing for top positions in Yandex. During a usability analysis, it's important to examine navigation, structure, user-facing elements, mobile display, and other similar aspects.
• External factors audit. This primarily involves backlinks to the website. This group also includes factors important for local SEO promotion (for example, presence in Yandex.Directory, Yandex.Maps, and Google My Business).
• Content audit. High-quality, unique content has always been the foundation of search engine optimization. It is necessary to analyze its optimization level, structure, design, and compliance with the semantic core. Content analysis allows you to understand whether it is worth increasing its volume and how best to do so.
• Audit of commercial ranking factors. This is a separate group of characteristics relevant for those who sell something through their website. It includes the product range, their descriptions, contact information, an online consultant, and delivery availability. These characteristics are taken into account when generating search results for commercial queries, for example, "buy product X." They should be analyzed when promoting in Yandex: search engine representatives have stated that they separately identify commercial factors. There was no such information from Google.

When conducting a full SEO audit, it is necessary to use an integrated approach. No area of ​​​​analysis can be ignored. However, some types of audits should be performed regularly, while others can be completed as a one-time project. This depends on the specific website and its goals. It's important to keep in mind that regular audits help maintain and improve search engine rankings, identify technical issues, and optimize content for better results.

If a website is in the pre-launch stage, a technical audit is sufficient. In this case, analytical data is lacking, making a usability audit impossible. Most landing pages and online stores also don't require a content audit, as they don't have a section with informational articles. A usability audit should be conducted when it's essential to maximize existing traffic. This allows for targeted optimization of landing pages and increased conversion.

A comprehensive website audit is performed in cases where SEO specialists have not yet worked with the resource. This process is necessary to assess the current state of the web resource. A full audit is especially important for websites with poor SEO results, as it helps identify obstacles preventing them from improving their search engine rankings. The audit includes an analysis of the structure, content, external and internal links, and technical aspects, which helps develop a strategy for optimization and increasing the site's visibility in search results.

How to conduct an audit: independently, with the help of freelancers or an agency

A website owner, with knowledge of the key principles of search engine optimization, can conduct a basic SEO audit on their own. For an internet marketing specialist, this process becomes even easier. In the next section, we will look at tools that will significantly simplify this task. Conducting an SEO audit allows you to identify and correct website weaknesses, which ultimately helps improve search engine rankings and increase traffic.

For the analysis of a website with a large amount of content, it is recommended to consult with specialists in this field. This is especially relevant in cases where there is a suspicion that a website may have been penalized by search engines. Professionals can help identify issues, optimize content, and restore search rankings. Working with experts will provide a deeper understanding of current algorithms and search engine requirements, which will ultimately lead to improved website visibility and performance.

If your company doesn't have an SEO specialist, you have two main options: hiring a freelancer or contacting an SEO agency. Choosing a freelancer can be riskier, as the quality of their work can vary. Using an agency typically requires more investment, but it provides a higher level of professionalism and a comprehensive approach to promotion. I recommend considering working with an agency, where you will have access to a team of experts and modern tools. If you decide to work with a freelancer, make sure they have positive reviews and recommendations from colleagues or friends who have already used their services.

To conduct a high-quality website audit, you need to provide access to resources such as the website, web analytics systems, and webmaster panels. This data should be shared exclusively with reliable specialists you trust. This will ensure the security of your information and allow you to obtain more accurate audit results.

Do-It-Yourself SEO Audit Tools

There are many paid and free SEO audit tools on the market that allow you to conduct a comprehensive website analysis based on various criteria. In this article, we will look at eight services that cover all aspects of an SEO audit and will help improve your website's visibility in search engines.

Skillbox Media offers a wide selection of do-it-yourself SEO audit tools. In this article, you'll find nine tools, including both free programs and powerful SaaS platforms, organized by price. Browse the selection to find the right tool to optimize your website.

Istio is a powerful platform for managing microservices, providing observability, security, and traffic management capabilities. It simplifies the implementation of service meshes, allowing developers to focus on business logic without worrying about the complexities associated with interservice interactions. Istio's key features include automated traffic management, security policy configuration, and microservice performance monitoring and analysis. Using Istio helps improve the reliability and scalability of applications by improving communication between components and ensuring data protection in distributed systems. Incorporating Istio into a microservices architecture significantly simplifies development and operations processes, making them more efficient and secure.

This free SEO-based text analysis service offers users effective tools for improving their content. It checks text length, word count, keyword density, and other important metrics. The premium version offers additional features, such as a word map, keyword highlighting, and link analysis. Using this service will help optimize your materials for search engines and increase their online visibility.

MegaIndex is a powerful website analysis and promotion tool that allows website owners to optimize their projects for search engines. With MegaIndex, you can conduct in-depth keyword analysis, track your site's ranking in search results, and identify weaknesses in your SEO strategy. The platform offers a variety of features, including competitor analysis, page auditing, and backlink monitoring. A user-friendly interface and detailed reports help users quickly find the necessary data and make informed decisions to improve site visibility. MegaIndex is an indispensable tool for those seeking to improve the effectiveness of their online marketing and increase website traffic.

This multifunctional platform offers over 30 specialized applications designed to solve specific problems. Nearly all the necessary tools are available for a comprehensive SEO audit, making this service indispensable for online marketing professionals.

We recommend considering the backlink analysis module. Its quality is comparable to Ahrefs, but the monthly subscription is half the price. This tool will help you effectively track and analyze backlinks, which will positively impact the SEO of your projects.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a powerful website analysis and audit tool that helps optimize them for search engines. It allows you to crawl web pages, identifying errors such as broken links, duplicate content, and incorrect meta tags. With its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set, Screaming Frog helps SEOs effectively improve website visibility in search engines. The tool also provides the ability to analyze page data, including titles, descriptions, and H1 headings, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the site's structure and optimization. Using Screaming Frog SEO Spider can significantly improve the effectiveness of SEO strategies and improve website rankings in search engine results.

This crawler is one of the best for technical website audits. It performs an in-depth analysis of resources across a variety of parameters. With this tool, you can research competitors' pages, perform batch analysis of a specified list of URLs, extract data from Google Search Console, and perform many other tasks. It is an indispensable tool for SEO specialists, which also offers an intuitive interface.

A license to use the program costs 149 British pounds (approximately 15,000 rubles) per year. The free version offers access to all features, but limits the number of crawled pages to 500 URLs. This limitation is suitable for most corporate websites, business cards, and personal blogs, which typically fit within the specified limits.

The PR-CY Analyzer is a powerful tool for evaluating and optimizing websites. It offers users a wide range of features, including SEO parameter analysis, page speed testing, and code error detection. Using the analyzer, website owners can obtain detailed reports to help improve search engine visibility and enhance user experience. This tool also provides recommendations for optimizing the site's content and structure, which helps improve its search rankings. The PR-CY Analyzer is an indispensable tool for webmasters and SEO specialists seeking to improve the performance of their online resources.

The service checks a website across multiple key indicators and generates a detailed report in just a few minutes. This tool is ideal for quick assessments, including competitor analysis. Registered users can add a site to their panel and set up regular automatic checks, which makes using the service even more convenient and effective.

Content-Watch is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing web content. It allows you to monitor changes on websites, identify new articles and updates, and analyze competitors. With Content-Watch, you can receive notifications about new publications on resources you are interested in, which will help you stay up to date with the latest trends in your niche. This tool also provides analytics on keywords and topics, which allows you to optimize your content and improve its visibility in search engines. Using Content-Watch helps develop an effective content strategy and increase the competitiveness of your website.

The text uniqueness checker service offers a fast and effective solution for analyzing the originality of content. Users can perform up to three free checks per day. The tool supports URL uniqueness checking and offers batch processing. With a paid plan, the function of checking the entire site is available, as well as setting up regular checks at a specified interval. This service is an ideal tool for authors, SEO specialists, and editors striving to ensure high-quality content and avoid plagiarism problems.

Iloveadaptive — Iloveadaptive is a platform specializing in responsive web design and development. Our goal is to create websites that are perfectly responsive across all devices, providing users with a comfortable and intuitive interface. We utilize modern technologies and approaches to ensure the high quality and functionality of every project. Our team pays attention to detail and strives for innovation, which allows us to offer unique solutions for businesses. By choosing Iloveadaptive, you gain a reliable partner in the digital world that will help your business stand out online and attract your target audience. Check how your website displays on various devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. We offer simulators for the most popular iOS and Android devices, as well as flexible settings for fine-tuning display parameters. This will help you optimize the user experience and ensure that your website looks attractive on all screens. Google Lighthouse is a powerful tool for evaluating web page performance. It provides detailed reports that help developers and website owners improve the quality of their resources. Lighthouse can analyze various aspects, including loading speed, accessibility, SEO, and best practices.

The tool helps identify issues that may negatively impact user experience and search engine optimization. Conducting an audit with Google Lighthouse not only helps optimize your site for fast display but also improves its visibility in search engines.

Using Google Lighthouse helps you create higher-quality content, which ultimately leads to increased traffic and conversions. Regular audits with this tool are recommended to keep your site up-to-date and in line with modern web development requirements.

In the summer of 2021, Google began phasing in a set of factors known as Core Web Vitals into its core search algorithm. Developed by Google, these metrics include metrics such as layout stability, loading speed, and interactivity time. Core Web Vitals are designed to evaluate the quality of user experience when interacting with a website. Optimizing these factors can significantly impact a site's ranking in search results and improve user satisfaction.

Google Lighthouse is a Chrome browser extension that provides quick and efficient reporting on Core Web Vitals metrics. Simply enter the URL of the desired site, and you can evaluate its performance, accessibility, and SEO optimization. Using Google Lighthouse, you can identify key areas for improvement, which will help improve your website's usability and search engine rankings.

GTmetrix is ​​a powerful website performance analysis tool. It allows users to evaluate page load speed and provides detailed reports on various performance aspects. With GTmetrix, you can identify bottlenecks that are slowing down your site and receive recommendations for eliminating them. The platform uses metrics such as load time, number of requests, and page size, allowing you to comprehensively assess the health of your resource. Optimizing your site with GTmetrix recommendations can significantly improve user experience and improve search engine rankings. Using this tool will help you create a faster and more efficient website, which in turn will lead to increased traffic and conversions.

The website speed testing service provides more accurate results compared to Google's PageSpeed ​​Insights. You will be able to get not only information on page load time but also detailed recommendations to help improve this metric. The report also contains links to files that, when optimized, can improve site speed. Using this service will allow you to effectively identify bottlenecks and implement the necessary improvements to improve the performance of your web resource.

Getting scanning results from a program is only half the battle. It is important to correctly interpret this data to achieve high-quality results. Effective analysis requires a combination of specialized tools and meticulous manual work. This will allow you to identify key aspects and make informed decisions based on the obtained data.

Checklist for a DIY SEO Audit

The list of items to check can include many items. Different specialists and agencies offer different options depending on the area of ​​analysis, the goals of the audit, and the specific features of a particular site. It is important to keep in mind that each site is unique, and the approach to its assessment should be individual. Proper analysis will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of the resource, which in turn will allow you to optimize it for better results in search engines.

I have added universal factors to my checklist that form the basis of any SEO audit. This basic list will be useful for those who conduct their own website analysis. It will help to identify key aspects that need to be taken into account to optimize search visibility and improve positions in search results.

• The page URLs are correct.
• There is a sitemap.xml and robots.txt, they are filled in correctly.
• If the site runs on HTTPS, then there is no duplication on HTTP (no mixed content).
• All pages have Title and Description meta tags, they are correct.
• The content is unique, especially on landing pages.
• The site structure (nesting levels, navigation logic) is optimized.
• There are no broken links on the site.
• Canonical pages and redirects (301 redirects) are configured.
• There is an hreflang attribute (how to use it, you can read here) for localized versions of pages.
• The site is easy to use on mobile devices.
• There are no duplicate pages, content or meta tags.
• Good website loading speed.
• The site is indexed in webmaster panels.
• No URLs returning a 404 error.
• No penalties in webmaster panels.
• The site has been checked for the main commercial ranking factors of Yandex.
• Pagination has been checked: it works correctly and is indexed, pagination pages are unique.
• The contents of the alt attribute for images have been filled.
• Images have been optimized for faster loading.
• The quality of the site's link mass and the anchors used has been checked.
• There is registration in Google My Business and Yandex.Directory (for local businesses).
• The resource pages contain external links to other sites, their number is sufficient.
• Content analysis has been performed: quality and completeness This list does not include basic steps, such as adding a site to Google Search Console and Yandex.Webmaster, or setting up web analytics. SEO audits are performed on existing sites where these basic steps have already been completed. Correctly completing these initial steps forms the basis for further analysis and optimization of the site. Conducting an SEO audit allows you to identify weaknesses in your current strategy, identify opportunities to improve your search engine rankings, and increase your overall online visibility.
  • Why SEO is needed and what it includes: an overview for beginners
  • 15 SEO tools for solving any problem: from collecting keywords to analyzing broken links
  • A guide to working with keywords: collecting semantics, filtering, distribution, content creation, meta tags
  • Step-by-step instructions: where to start promoting your website
  • Everything you need to know about SEO text analysis