SEO Audit

Initial Assessment

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1. Site Context
   • What type of site? (SaaS, e-commerce, blog, etc.)
   • What's the primary business goal for SEO?
   • What keywords/topics are priorities?
2. Current State
   • Any known issues or concerns?
   • Current organic traffic level?
   • Recent changes or migrations?
3. Scope
   • Full site audit or specific pages?
   • Technical + on-page, or one focus area?
   • Access to Search Console / analytics?

Audit Framework

Priority Order

1. Crawlability & Indexation (can Google find and index it?)
2. Technical Foundations (is the site fast and functional?)
3. On-Page Optimization (is content optimized?)
4. Content Quality (does it deserve to rank?)
5. Authority & Links (does it have credibility?)

Technical SEO Audit

Crawlability

• Check for unintentional blocks
• Verify important pages allowed
• Check sitemap reference

• Exists and accessible
• Submitted to Search Console
• Contains only canonical, indexable URLs
• Updated regularly
• Proper formatting

• Important pages within 3 clicks of homepage
• Logical hierarchy
• Internal linking structure
• No orphan pages

• Parameterized URLs under control
• Faceted navigation handled properly
• Infinite scroll with pagination fallback
• Session IDs not in URLs

Indexation

• site:domain.com check
• Search Console coverage report
• Compare indexed vs. expected

• Noindex tags on important pages
• Canonicals pointing wrong direction
• Redirect chains/loops
• Soft 404s
• Duplicate content without canonicals

• All pages have canonical tags
• Self-referencing canonicals on unique pages
• HTTP → HTTPS canonicals
• www vs. non-www consistency
• Trailing slash consistency

Site Speed & Core Web Vitals

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): < 2.5s
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint): < 200ms
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): < 0.1

• Server response time (TTFB)
• Image optimization
• JavaScript execution
• CSS delivery
• Caching headers
• CDN usage
• Font loading

• PageSpeed Insights
• WebPageTest
• Chrome DevTools
• Search Console Core Web Vitals report

Mobile-Friendliness

• Responsive design (not separate m. site)
• Tap target sizes
• Viewport configured
• No horizontal scroll
• Same content as desktop
• Mobile-first indexing readiness

Security & HTTPS

• HTTPS across entire site
• Valid SSL certificate
• No mixed content
• HTTP → HTTPS redirects
• HSTS header (bonus)

URL Structure

• Readable, descriptive URLs
• Keywords in URLs where natural
• Consistent structure
• No unnecessary parameters
• Lowercase and hyphen-separated

On-Page SEO Audit

Title Tags

• Unique titles for each page
• Primary keyword near beginning
• 50-60 characters (visible in SERP)
• Compelling and click-worthy
• Brand name placement (end, usually)

• Duplicate titles
• Too long (truncated)
• Too short (wasted opportunity)
• Keyword stuffing
• Missing entirely

Meta Descriptions

• Unique descriptions per page
• 150-160 characters
• Includes primary keyword
• Clear value proposition
• Call to action

• Duplicate descriptions
• Auto-generated garbage
• Too long/short
• No compelling reason to click

Heading Structure

• One H1 per page
• H1 contains primary keyword
• Logical hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3)
• Headings describe content
• Not just for styling

• Multiple H1s
• Skip levels (H1 → H3)
• Headings used for styling only
• No H1 on page

Content Optimization

• Keyword in first 100 words
• Related keywords naturally used
• Sufficient depth/length for topic
• Answers search intent
• Better than competitors

• Pages with little unique content
• Tag/category pages with no value
• Doorway pages
• Duplicate or near-duplicate content

Image Optimization

• Descriptive file names
• Alt text on all images
• Alt text describes image
• Compressed file sizes
• Modern formats (WebP)
• Lazy loading implemented
• Responsive images

Internal Linking

• Important pages well-linked
• Descriptive anchor text
• Logical link relationships
• No broken internal links
• Reasonable link count per page

• Orphan pages (no internal links)
• Over-optimized anchor text
• Important pages buried
• Excessive footer/sidebar links

Keyword Targeting

• Clear primary keyword target
• Title, H1, URL aligned
• Content satisfies search intent
• Not competing with other pages (cannibalization)

• Keyword mapping document
• No major gaps in coverage
• No keyword cannibalization
• Logical topical clusters

Content Quality Assessment

E-E-A-T Signals

• First-hand experience demonstrated
• Original insights/data
• Real examples and case studies

• Author credentials visible
• Accurate, detailed information
• Properly sourced claims

• Recognized in the space
• Cited by others
• Industry credentials

• Accurate information
• Transparent about business
• Contact information available
• Privacy policy, terms
• Secure site (HTTPS)

Content Depth

• Comprehensive coverage of topic
• Answers follow-up questions
• Better than top-ranking competitors
• Updated and current

User Engagement Signals

• Time on page
• Bounce rate in context
• Pages per session
• Return visits

Common Issues by Site Type

SaaS/Product Sites

• Product pages lack content depth
• Blog not integrated with product pages
• Missing comparison/alternative pages
• Feature pages thin on content
• No glossary/educational content

E-commerce

• Thin category pages
• Duplicate product descriptions
• Missing product schema
• Faceted navigation creating duplicates
• Out-of-stock pages mishandled

Content/Blog Sites

• Outdated content not refreshed
• Keyword cannibalization
• No topical clustering
• Poor internal linking
• Missing author pages

Local Business

• Inconsistent NAP
• Missing local schema
• No Google Business Profile optimization
• Missing location pages
• No local content

Output Format

Audit Report Structure

• Overall health assessment
• Top 3-5 priority issues
• Quick wins identified

• Issue: What's wrong
• Impact: SEO impact (High/Medium/Low)
• Evidence: How you found it
• Fix: Specific recommendation
• Priority: 1-5 or High/Medium/Low

1. Critical fixes (blocking indexation/ranking)
2. High-impact improvements
3. Quick wins (easy, immediate benefit)
4. Long-term recommendations

References

• AI Writing Detection: Common AI writing patterns to avoid (em dashes, overused phrases, filler words)
• AEO & GEO Patterns: Content patterns optimized for answer engines and AI citation

Tools Referenced

• Google Search Console (essential)
• Google PageSpeed Insights
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Rich Results Test
• Mobile-Friendly Test
• Schema Validator

• Screaming Frog
• Ahrefs / Semrush
• Sitebulb
• ContentKing

Task-Specific Questions

1. What pages/keywords matter most?
2. Do you have Search Console access?
3. Any recent changes or migrations?
4. Who are your top organic competitors?
5. What's your current organic traffic baseline?

Related Skills

• programmatic-seo: For building SEO pages at scale
• schema-markup: For implementing structured data
• page-cro: For optimizing pages for conversion (not just ranking)
• analytics-tracking: For measuring SEO performance