SEO audit: find out exactly what's holding you back
A Gjethe SEO audit reviews your site's technical health, indexing, speed, content quality and intent match, internal linking, backlinks, structured data and AI search readiness, then turns the findings into a prioritised fix list ranked by impact and effort. It's a one-off engagement you can implement yourself, with your developers or with us.
- Free first consultation
- Written quote for your project
- Flexible payment milestones
At a glance
- Format
- One-off audit and roadmap
- Covers
- Technical, content, links, AI search
- Output
- Prioritised fix list
- Implementation
- By you, your team or us
Definition
What is SEO audit?
An SEO audit is a structured review of a website's ability to rank in search engines (covering how well pages can be crawled and indexed, how well content matches what people search for, and how much authority the site has) resulting in a list of recommended fixes.
Rankings drop, traffic plateaus or a new site never takes off, and the cause is rarely obvious. An audit replaces guessing with evidence. We crawl every page, compare what Google actually indexes with what you think is there, examine where content misses search intent, and check what competitors do better. The result isn't a 200-page export from a tool; it's a short, prioritised plan written for humans.
Who is it for?
Sites with falling traffic
Organic visits are dropping after an update, redesign or migration and you need to know why.
New sites that don't rank
Pages exist but barely appear in search; something technical or structural is likely in the way.
Before a redesign or migration
Knowing what currently ranks and why protects it during the change.
In-house marketing teams
You can implement fixes but need an expert outside view and clear priorities.
What's included, and what you keep
What's included
- Full site crawl
- Indexing analysis versus Search Console data
- Robots, sitemaps, canonicals and redirects
- Core Web Vitals and mobile experience
- Structured data review
- Content quality, duplication and thin pages
- Search intent match for priority keywords
- Internal linking and site architecture
- Backlink profile review
- Competitor comparison
- AI search readiness check
- Prioritised recommendations with effort estimates
What you receive
Handed over at the end. Yours to keep.
- Audit report written in plain language
- Prioritised fix list ranked by impact and effort
- Spreadsheet of affected URLs per issue
- Walkthrough call to discuss findings
- Optional implementation proposal
What does the audit cover?
Crawl
Every URL, status code and template
Technical
Indexing, speed, structured data, internal links
Content
Intent match, thin and duplicate pages
Authority
Backlinks and brand mentions
Prioritised plan
Fixes ranked by impact and effort
Common issues an audit uncovers
| Issue | Effect |
|---|---|
| Important pages not indexed | They can't rank at all, however good they are |
| Duplicate or near-duplicate pages | Search engines split signals or pick the wrong page |
| Pages that miss search intent | Content ranks poorly because it answers a different question |
| Weak internal linking | Important pages receive little authority from the rest of the site |
| Broken redirects after a migration | Lost rankings and backlinks pointing nowhere |
| Slow mobile pages | Worse page experience and more visitors leaving |
Why a prioritised list matters more than a long one
Automated SEO tools can produce hundreds of warnings, most of which don't matter. Teams that try to fix everything stall; teams that fix the wrong things see no change. The value of an audit is judgement: deciding which five or ten issues actually limit your rankings.
Each recommendation in our report explains the problem, why it matters for your site specifically, how to fix it and roughly how much work it is. That makes it easy to schedule with your developers, or to ask us to implement it.
What happens after the audit?
The audit ends with a walkthrough call where we go through the findings in order of priority and answer questions from your marketing and development teams. Most clients leave with a clear first sprint: the handful of fixes worth doing immediately.
From there you have three options. Your team implements the fixes using the URL-level spreadsheet and tickets; we implement them for a fixed quote; or we move into ongoing SEO, where the audit becomes the first month's roadmap. There's no obligation to continue with us, the report is yours either way.
How SEO audit works, step by step
Every step has a clear output you can review. Timing is agreed in your quote.
- 1
Access and goals
Search Console, analytics and your priority pages and markets.
- 2
Crawl and collect
Full crawl plus search, speed and backlink data.
- 3
Analyse
Technical, content and authority findings compared with competitors.
- 4
Prioritise
Issues ranked by impact and effort; noise removed.
- 5
Report
A clear written report and URL-level spreadsheet.
- 6
Walkthrough
A call to explain findings and plan implementation.
Tools, and what shapes your quote
Pricing is based on your project and agreed in your quote. These are the things that move it.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Site size | Thousands of URLs take longer to crawl and analyse than a small site. |
| Platform complexity | JavaScript-heavy sites need rendering checks. |
| Languages and markets | International sites need hreflang and per-market analysis. |
| Depth of content review | Reviewing intent for many keyword groups adds time. |
| Competitor analysis | More competitors compared means more analysis. |
| Area | Tools |
|---|---|
| Crawling | Screaming Frog, Sitebulb |
| Search data | Google Search Console, GA4, Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Authority | Ahrefs or Semrush backlink data |
| Performance | PageSpeed Insights, Chrome UX Report |
| Structured data | Rich Results Test, Schema Markup Validator |
Common mistakes to avoid
What we see go wrong most often, and how a good project avoids it.
Treating tool scores as goals
A perfect tool score doesn't mean better rankings. Focus on issues that affect real pages and queries.
Fixing low-impact issues first
Missing alt text matters less than important pages not being indexed.
Auditing without search data
A crawl alone can't show what Google actually indexes and ranks. Search Console is essential.
Never re-checking
Audit again after major changes such as redesigns, migrations or large content updates.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between an SEO audit and ongoing SEO?
An audit is a one-off diagnosis and plan. Ongoing SEO is the monthly work of fixing, creating content and earning links. Many clients start with an audit and decide afterwards.
What access do you need?
Read access to Google Search Console and analytics, and the URL of the site. CMS access helps but isn't required for the audit itself.
Can you implement the fixes?
Yes. After the audit we can quote for implementation, or provide tickets your developers can work from.
Do you check AI search visibility too?
Yes. We check crawler access, structured data and content structure, and test what major AI assistants say for a few priority questions.
Will you audit our competitors?
We compare your site with a small set of competitors on content, structure and authority, to show what you're up against.
How detailed is the report?
Detailed enough to act on, short enough to read. Each issue explains what, why, how and how much effort, with affected URLs in a spreadsheet.
Can you audit a site before it launches?
Yes, a pre-launch audit catches indexing, redirect and metadata issues before they cost you traffic.
Do you audit Shopify, WordPress and Webflow sites?
Yes, and we tailor recommendations to what each platform allows.
Will the audit tell us why traffic dropped?
It will show the most likely causes based on the data (technical changes, lost pages, algorithm updates or competitor gains) and what to do about them.
Is an audit useful for a small site?
Yes. Small sites often have a few high-impact issues that are quick to fix once identified.
Can the audit cover several languages or countries?
Yes. We check hreflang, regional URLs and per-market indexing, and review content quality separately for each language you choose to include.
Do you look at our content as well as technical issues?
Yes. We check whether priority pages actually answer what people search for, find thin or duplicated pages, and flag content that competes with itself for the same keywords.
Related services
SEO Services
Technical, on-page and off-page SEO for Google and AI search.
Website Speed Optimization
Faster pages and better Core Web Vitals.
Website Migration
Platform and host moves that keep your rankings.
GEO & AEO (AI Search Optimization)
Visibility in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
Website Redesign
Rebuild an outdated site without losing traffic.
Get your site audited.
Tell us what you need. You get an honest assessment, a clear plan and a written quote. The first consultation is always free.
- What happens next
- 1You tell us what you need
- 2We aim to reply within 24 hours with questions
- 3You get a written quote for your project