SEO Audit Guide: 10 Things to Check on Your Website Today

Why It Matters

Title tags are the single most important on-page SEO signal. They tell Google what each page is about and appear as the clickable headline in search results.

How to Check

• Open each page of your site and look at the browser tab. That text is your title tag.
• Alternatively, right-click on a page, select "View Page Source", and search for <title>.
• Each page should have a unique, descriptive title under 60 characters.
• Include your primary keyword near the beginning of the title.

Why It Matters

Meta descriptions appear below your title in Google results. While they do not directly affect rankings, they heavily influence whether someone clicks through to your site.

How to Check

• In your page source, search for <meta name="description".
• Each page should have a unique meta description under 155 characters.
• Write it like a mini advertisement. Include a call-to-action.

Why It Matters

Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. Slow sites also have higher bounce rates. Every second of delay reduces conversions by roughly 7%.

How to Check

• Go to pagespeed.web.dev and enter your website URL.
• Check both Mobile and Desktop scores.
• Aim for 90+ on all four metrics: Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO.
• Common fixes: compress images, enable browser caching, reduce unused JavaScript.

Why It Matters

Google uses mobile-first indexing. This means Google primarily looks at the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing. If your mobile experience is poor, your rankings suffer everywhere.

How to Check

• Open your website on your phone. Can you read all text without zooming?
• Are buttons large enough to tap easily? Is the navigation usable?
• Use Google Search Console > Experience > Mobile Usability for a detailed report.
• Check that no content is hidden, cut off, or overflowing on small screens.

Why It Matters

For local businesses, your Google Business Profile is often the first thing potential customers see. An optimised profile can drive more calls and visits than your website.

How to Check

• Search your business name on Google. Does your profile appear on the right side?
• Check that your name, address, phone number, hours, and website URL are all correct.
• Add at least 10 quality photos. Businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests.
• Respond to every review. Post updates at least fortnightly.

Why It Matters

Schema markup (structured data) helps Google understand your content and can give you rich results in search, such as star ratings, FAQs, and business information.

How to Check

• Go to search.google.com/test/rich-results and enter your URL.
• At minimum, your site should have LocalBusiness or Organization schema.
• Service businesses should also add Service schema for each service page.
• FAQ schema on pages with frequently asked questions can trigger expanded results.

Why It Matters

Internal links help Google discover and understand the hierarchy of your pages. They also pass authority from strong pages to weaker ones.

How to Check

• Check that your homepage links to your main service pages.
• Each service page should link to related services and back to the main services page.
• Blog posts should link to relevant service pages (and vice versa).
• No page should be more than 3 clicks from the homepage.

Why It Matters

Google rewards original, helpful, expert content. Thin, duplicated, or AI-generated content without human review can actively harm your rankings.

How to Check

• Review each page. Does it genuinely answer the question a visitor would have?
• Check word count. Service pages should have at least 500 words. Blog posts should target 1,500+.
• Look for duplicate content (identical or near-identical text across multiple pages).
• Ensure content is written for humans, not stuffed with keywords.

Why It Matters

Backlinks (links from other websites to yours) are one of Google"s strongest ranking signals. Quality matters far more than quantity.

How to Check

• Use a free tool like Ahrefs Backlink Checker (ahrefs.com/backlink-checker) or Ubersuggest.
• Look at the number and quality of referring domains.
• Check for any toxic or spammy links that could be hurting your site.
• Compare your backlink profile to your top competitors.

Why It Matters

Without proper analytics, you are flying blind. You cannot improve what you do not measure, and you cannot prove ROI without data.

How to Check

• Check that Google Analytics 4 is installed. Go to your site, right-click, View Source, and search for "gtag" or "GA4".
• Verify Google Search Console is set up and your sitemap is submitted.
• Confirm conversion events are tracking (form submissions, phone clicks, bookings).
• Set up a monthly review cadence to actually look at the data.