What should an SEO audit include?

Record the starting point and the business priorities

Before running tools, list the services or products that matter, the locations served and the enquiry actions the website should create. An audit without commercial context can spend pages on low-value URLs while missing the service page the business actually depends on.

Record the visible baseline: index status, sitemap condition, important landing pages, known queries and current conversion measurement. When account access is unavailable, label the limits rather than presenting public estimates as complete data.

Check crawl access, indexability and canonical signals together

A page can be linked, allowed in robots.txt and still remain outside the index. Review response status, robots directives, canonical URL, sitemap inclusion and internal links as one system. Confirm that the canonical points to a real indexable page and does not contradict redirects or the sitemap.

Look for duplicate routes created by parameters, trailing-slash differences, old platforms or copied pages. Not every duplicate requires a redirect; the fix depends on whether the URL should remain available, consolidate to an equivalent page or disappear.

• HTTP status and redirect destination
• Robots.txt access and page-level robots directive
• Canonical target and protocol/hostname consistency
• XML sitemap inclusion and internal-link discovery
• Duplicate, orphaned and low-value indexable routes

Map each priority page to a distinct customer question

Titles and headings matter, but the audit should go beyond inserting phrases. Check whether the page identifies the service, audience, location and useful next step. Compare overlapping pages and decide which one should be the clearest answer for each search intent.

Evidence improves the page: actual scope, process, constraints, prices where publishable, project examples and direct answers. Generic claims such as ‘best quality’ or ‘leading provider’ occupy space without helping a customer evaluate the business.

Review technical quality in the context of real templates

Check mobile rendering, loading behaviour, semantic headings, metadata, structured data and accessibility across representative templates—not just the homepage. A problem affecting every service page deserves a different priority from one decorative image on an old article.

Performance measurements need interpretation. Identify the resource or component causing the problem, whether it appears for real users, and what trade-off a fix creates. Do not turn one lab score into a guarantee of ranking movement.

• Mobile layout, navigation, focus and readable controls
• Unique title, description, canonical and social metadata
• One clear H1 and meaningful heading order
• Valid structured data that matches visible content
• Image, font, script and server behaviour affecting load

Find pages that exist but are not properly connected

A sitemap is not a substitute for navigation. Priority pages should receive descriptive links from relevant pages that customers and crawlers can reach. Check whether guides link to services, services link to related services and portfolio pages support the claims made on commercial pages.

Avoid filling footers with every possible phrase. The link belongs where the reader needs the next answer. Descriptive anchor text should explain the destination without becoming a repeated list of target keywords.

Convert findings into a prioritised action plan

Every final issue should contain evidence, affected URLs, the recommended action and a reason for its priority. Separate confirmed problems from opportunities and observations. Name outside dependencies such as missing access, development work, business approval or new photography.

The first action should be implementable. ‘Improve content’ is not a task; ‘rewrite the local SEO page to separate profile work, website work and measurement, then link it from the homepage’ is. A useful audit remains understandable even if another person completes the fixes.