SEO Audit Technical SEO Site Health Prioritization • SEO + Technical SEO

Site Audit 101: What’s in an Audit and What to Do With It

A useful site audit isn’t a pile of tool warnings—it’s a clear diagnosis and a prioritized plan. Here’s what a real audit includes (crawl/indexing, structure, on-page, performance, content, schema) and how to turn findings into fixes that actually move the needle.

What’s in an Audit Need an Audit?
Service: SEO + Technical SEO
Focus: Crawl/indexation, performance, content, prioritization
Tags: SEO Audit, Technical SEO, Site Health, SEO Strategy, WordPress

What a site audit is (and what it isn’t)

A site audit should answer one question clearly: what’s limiting performance right now, and what should be fixed first? The best audits are diagnostic, prioritized, and actionable—not a massive list of warnings.

A good audit is

  • Diagnostic: identifies the real constraints
  • Prioritized: separates urgent issues from noise
  • Actionable: turns findings into specific fixes

A site audit is not

  • A list of every possible SEO rule violation
  • A deck of screenshots from tools
  • A one-time “fix everything” checklist
  • A guarantee of rankings

Goal: clarity and direction—so you stop guessing and start improving the right things.

When you actually need a site audit

Audits are most valuable when:

  • Organic traffic or rankings have plateaued or declined
  • You’re planning a redesign, rebuild, or migration
  • The site has grown without a clear structure
  • Conversions are low despite solid traffic
  • Multiple vendors have touched the site over time
  • You “did SEO” before but can’t point to lasting gains

If nothing feels obviously broken—but performance isn’t improving—an audit usually reveals why.

The core sections of a high-quality site audit

A real audit looks across the full system: crawlability, structure, content, performance, and SEO hygiene. Here’s what’s typically included.

Crawl & indexation review

Confirms search engines can find and index the right pages (and not the wrong ones).

  • Search Console coverage, indexing status
  • XML sitemaps, robots.txt, canonicals
  • Redirect chains, duplicates, orphaned pages

Architecture & internal linking

Evaluates navigation, topic grouping, click depth, and whether important pages are supported by internal links.

  • Hierarchy, hubs, and supporting content
  • Underlinked pages and link distribution
  • Content silos and crawl paths

On-page fundamentals

Reviews titles, headings, intent alignment, and content quality to reduce cannibalization and improve relevance.

  • Title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure
  • Thin/duplicate content and intent mismatch
  • Keyword cannibalization patterns

Performance & Core Web Vitals

Uses real-user signals (where available) and key page testing to identify what’s slowing the site down.

  • LCP, CLS, INP on mobile
  • Render path issues, heavy media, script bloat
  • Third-party tools and layout instability

Content quality & gaps

Identifies missing pages, weak coverage, outdated content, and consolidation opportunities.

  • Topic coverage vs competitors
  • Content pruning and consolidation
  • Support content for services and campaigns

Schema & structured data

Checks whether structured data is valid, consistent, and aligned to page templates.

  • Organization/LocalBusiness, Article, Breadcrumbs, Service
  • Validation errors and conflicting markup
  • Opportunities for richer SERP appearance

SEO hygiene & risk factors

Finds issues that quietly drag performance or can trigger sudden drops.

  • Broken links, 404s, redirect hygiene
  • HTTPS/security misconfigurations
  • Index bloat and crawl traps

WordPress note: audits often uncover index bloat from archives/tags, parameter URLs, and duplicated templates—especially on older sites.

Turning an audit into an action plan

An audit is only useful if it produces a prioritized plan. The output should translate findings into: fix now / fix soon / monitor—with an impact vs effort lens.

What a good audit deliverable includes

  • Priority tiers: urgent, important, nice-to-have
  • Impact vs effort: what delivers ROI fastest
  • Quick wins: days
  • Structural fixes: weeks
  • Strategic initiatives: months

What to fix first (almost always)

If you’re overwhelmed, start here:

  1. Indexation mistakes (wrong pages indexed, duplicates, canonicals)
  2. Broken/missing redirects (especially after changes)
  3. Mobile performance on top traffic pages (LCP/INP/CLS)
  4. Cannibalization (multiple pages competing for the same intent)
  5. Orphaned high-value pages (no internal links)

Why this order works: it removes constraints and prevents wasted effort before you invest in new content.

How often should you audit?

  • Light audit: quarterly (sanity check)
  • Full audit: annually or before major changes
  • Focused audit: before redesigns, migrations, or SEO pushes

Audits aren’t one-and-done—they’re checkpoints that keep the site healthy as it evolves.

DIY vs professional audits

DIY tools are good for

  • Surfacing symptoms
  • Monitoring trends
  • Catching obvious issues

Professional audits add value by

  • Interpreting signals correctly
  • Prioritizing fixes based on business context
  • Understanding WordPress-specific edge cases
  • Turning data into an execution plan

Tools can find issues. Experience decides what matters and what comes first.

Quick self-audit questions

If you can’t confidently answer these, an audit is warranted:

  • Do we know which pages drive organic conversions?
  • Are the right pages indexed (and the wrong ones excluded)?
  • Are Core Web Vitals solid on mobile for key pages?
  • Do we have clear topic ownership (service hubs + support content)?
  • Could we rebuild tomorrow without losing rankings?

Want an audit that turns into real fixes?

A practical audit should give you a prioritized roadmap—not a pile of warnings. If you want a clear plan for what to fix now, what to schedule next, and what to ignore, I can audit your WordPress site and translate findings into a realistic execution plan.

See Fix-First Priorities Review Audit Sections