Website SEO audit: what should you check first?

Start with pages that support the business

A website has dozens of articles, yet its main service page does not appear in search. Publishing another article may not be the most useful next step. An SEO audit helps identify what is getting in the way before time and money go into less valuable changes.

List the pages that matter to the business: services, products, categories, and articles that help customers make decisions. Record the purpose of each page. Should a visitor request a quote, browse a catalogue, or understand their service options?

Prepare Search Console access where available, a URL inventory, and a record of website changes. This provides context. A drop in clicks after a URL change needs a different investigation from a new page that has not yet gained visibility.

Check access, response status, and indexing

Open important URLs directly. Confirm that their content is readable, active pages return status 200, and genuinely missing pages return 404 or 410. A “page not found” screen that still returns 200 needs attention.

Next, review indexing instructions, canonical tags, and the sitemap. Look for a service page with an accidental noindex, a canonical pointing to staging, or a sitemap containing redirected URLs. A canonical signals the preferred version, but Google can select a different one.

Use URL Inspection in Search Console to review selected URLs and the explanations provided. An accessible page is not automatically indexed. Correct technical instructions also cannot guarantee that a page will be selected for search results.

Read the page as a potential customer

Once access is working, read the page without looking at a tool report. A renovation service page should explain the work offered, service area, site-visit process, and how to request an estimate. A keyword in the title does little if this information is absent.

Compare the visitor’s needs with the actual content. Look for missing answers, repeated paragraphs, and unsupported claims. Check that the title and headings describe the page accurately. A meta description can summarise the offer, although Google may use a different snippet.

If several URLs address the same need, establish their roles. Two renovation-cost articles can complement each other when their scope differs. If they largely repeat the same information, consider consolidation and a redirect to a genuinely relevant page.

Follow internal links and test mobile use

Try reaching the service page from the homepage without using site search. A route that is difficult for you is likely to be difficult for a customer too. Important pages need sensible links from navigation or related content.

Check broken links, vague anchor text, and pages with no incoming links from elsewhere on the site. Our internal linking guide explains how to connect articles and services without filling every paragraph with links.

On a phone, test the menu, forms, contact buttons, text size, and images. Use performance measurements to identify problems, then confirm that the fixes help on real pages. A tool score is a clue; a failing form remains a problem even when the speed score looks good.

Turn findings into a work queue

A useful audit records the affected URL, evidence, proposed action, and person responsible. A hundred warnings without priorities often become a document nobody uses.

Priorities can change when an issue affects an entire template. A canonical problem on hundreds of pages should be assessed differently from one oversized image on an old article.

Decide how to verify the outcome

Save the starting conditions and implementation date. After a fix, repeat the relevant technical checks. For content changes, monitor queries, pages receiving clicks, and business actions over a period that allows useful patterns to emerge.

Avoid judging success from one day’s rankings. Demand, seasonality, and other website changes can affect results. If indexing is healthy but the page is still unhelpful, the next work is content and keyword mapping.

Use our SEO service scope as a starting point if you need support. Ask for an audit that produces actionable work, with reasons and a clear way to verify the changes.