SEO Audit Playbook

1. Technical SEO: Crawlability

Robots.txt

• Check for unintentional blocks on important pages
• Verify all important sections are allowed
• Confirm sitemap reference is included
• Check that AI bots (GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot) are not blocked

XML Sitemap

• Sitemap exists and is accessible
• Submitted to Google Search Console
• Contains only canonical, indexable URLs (no noindex pages, no redirects)
• Updated regularly (last modified dates are current)
• Proper formatting and valid XML

Site Architecture

• Important pages are within 3 clicks of the homepage
• Logical hierarchy (homepage → category → product/post)
• Internal linking structure connects related content
• No orphan pages (pages with zero internal links pointing to them)

Crawl Budget (for sites with 1,000+ pages)

• Parameterised URLs are under control (filters, sorting, pagination)
• Faceted navigation isn't creating thousands of duplicate URLs
• Infinite scroll has a pagination fallback for crawlers
• Session IDs are not appearing in URLs

2. Technical SEO: Indexation

Index Status

• Run site:yourdomain.com in Google — compare indexed count vs expected
• Check Search Console Coverage report for errors and warnings
• Identify pages that should be indexed but aren't
• Identify pages that are indexed but shouldn't be (thin content, duplicates)

Common Indexation Issues

• Noindex tags accidentally left on important pages
• Canonical tags pointing to the wrong page
• Redirect chains (A → B → C → D) — keep under 3 hops
• Redirect loops
• Soft 404s (pages returning 200 status but showing error content)
• Duplicate content without canonical tags to consolidate

Canonicalisation Checklist

• Every page has a canonical tag
• Unique pages have self-referencing canonicals
• HTTP pages canonical to HTTPS versions
• www vs non-www is consistent
• Trailing slash usage is consistent

3. Technical SEO: Site Speed & Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals Thresholds

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): under 2.5 seconds — measures how fast the main content loads
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint): under 200ms — measures responsiveness to user interaction
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): under 0.1 — measures visual stability (elements jumping around)

Speed Factors to Check

• Server response time (TTFB) — should be under 800ms
• Image optimisation — are images compressed? Using WebP/AVIF?
• JavaScript execution — is render-blocking JS delaying page load?
• CSS delivery — is critical CSS inlined?
• Caching headers — are static assets cached properly?
• CDN usage — is a CDN serving static assets?
• Font loading — are fonts preloaded? Using font-display: swap?

Target scores: Mobile performance above 70, Desktop above 80 (PageSpeed Insights). Any page with a score drop of more than 10 points week-over-week needs investigation.

4. Technical SEO: Mobile, Security, URLs

Mobile-Friendliness

• Responsive design (not a separate m.domain.com site)
• Tap targets are at least 48px (fingers, not mouse pointers)
• Viewport meta tag configured correctly
• No horizontal scroll on any page
• Same content as desktop (Google uses mobile-first indexing)

Security

• HTTPS across the entire site
• Valid SSL certificate (not expired)
• No mixed content (HTTP resources loaded on HTTPS pages)
• HTTP → HTTPS redirects in place

URL Structure

• Readable, descriptive URLs (/gold-vermeil-earrings not /product?id=847)
• Keywords in URLs where natural
• Consistent structure across the site
• Lowercase and hyphen-separated (not underscores or camelCase)
• No unnecessary parameters in URLs

5. On-Page SEO: Title Tags

What to check

• Every page has a unique title tag
• Primary keyword appears near the beginning
• Length is 50-60 characters (visible in search results without truncation)
• Title is compelling enough to click (not just keyword-stuffed)
• Brand name at the end, separated by a pipe or dash

Common title tag issues

• Duplicate titles — multiple pages with identical titles (Google can't tell them apart)
• Too long — truncated in search results, losing the important parts
• Too short — wasting valuable SERP real estate
• Keyword stuffing — cramming multiple keywords makes titles unclickable
• Missing entirely — Google will auto-generate one (usually poorly)

6. On-Page SEO: Meta Descriptions

What to check

• Every page has a unique meta description
• Length is 150-160 characters
• Includes the primary keyword naturally
• Contains a clear value proposition (why should someone click?)
• Has a call to action (shop now, learn more, compare prices)

Common issues

• Duplicate descriptions across multiple pages
• Auto-generated descriptions that make no sense
• Too long or too short
• No compelling reason to click — just a dry description

7. On-Page SEO: CTR Optimisation

This is almost always the fastest SEO win available. Pages that rank well but get low clicks need better title tags and meta descriptions. No new content needed. No backlinks. Just rewriting the text that appears in search results.

How to find CTR opportunities

1. Pull your Search Console data for the last 90 days
2. Filter for pages with position 1-10 (already on page 1)
3. Filter for pages with 50+ impressions (enough data to matter)
4. Sort by CTR ascending — the lowest CTR pages are your biggest opportunities
5. Any page on page 1 with CTR below 3% is leaving clicks on the table

How to rewrite for better CTR

• Title tag: Put the exact search query near the start. Keep under 60 characters. Add brand at the end.
• Meta description: Answer the query in the first sentence. Add a CTA. Keep 150-160 characters.
• Prioritise by impressions — the page with 5,000 monthly impressions and 1.5% CTR is more valuable to fix than the page with 200 impressions and 1% CTR.

We run this analysis for every DTC client as the first step. It typically finds 3-5 pages where a title rewrite produces measurable traffic increases within 2-4 weeks.

8. On-Page SEO: Headings, Content, Images, Internal Linking

Heading Structure

• One H1 per page, containing the primary keyword
• Logical hierarchy: H1 → H2 → H3 (no skipping levels)
• Headings describe the content below them (not used for styling)

Content Optimisation

• Primary keyword appears in the first 100 words
• Related keywords are used naturally throughout
• Content depth is sufficient for the topic (better than what's currently ranking)
• Content answers the actual search intent (informational vs transactional vs navigational)

Thin Content Red Flags

• Pages with very little unique text
• Category/tag pages with no descriptive content
• Duplicate or near-duplicate content across multiple pages

Image Optimisation

• Descriptive file names (gold-vermeil-hoop-earrings.webp not IMG_4732.jpg)
• Alt text on every image that describes what the image shows
• Compressed file sizes (use WebP or AVIF formats)
• Lazy loading on below-the-fold images
• Responsive images (different sizes for different screen widths)

Internal Linking

• Important pages are linked from multiple other pages
• Anchor text is descriptive (not "click here")
• No broken internal links
• No orphan pages (pages with zero internal links pointing to them)
• Product pages link to related products
• Blog posts link to relevant product/category pages

9. On-Page SEO: Keyword Targeting & Cannibalisation

Per-Page Keyword Targeting

• Each important page has a clear primary keyword target
• Title tag, H1, and URL all align with that keyword
• Content on the page satisfies the search intent for that keyword
• The page is not competing with other pages on your own site

Keyword Cannibalisation

This is the single most common SEO problem we find on DTC sites. Multiple pages targeting the same keyword, splitting Google's signals between them. Neither page ranks as well as one consolidated page would.

How to detect cannibalisation:

1. Pull Search Console data grouped by query
2. For each query, check if multiple pages are getting impressions
3. If 2+ pages appear for the same query, you have cannibalisation
4. Fix by consolidating content into one definitive page and redirecting the others

10. Content Quality: E-E-A-T Assessment

Google's E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is how they evaluate content quality. Here's what we check:

Experience

• Does the content demonstrate first-hand experience with the topic?
• Are there original insights, data, or observations?
• Does it include real examples, case studies, or personal experience?

Expertise

• Are author credentials visible on the page?
• Is the information accurate and detailed?
• Are claims properly sourced?

Authoritativeness

• Is the author or brand recognised in this space?
• Is the content cited by other authoritative sources?
• Are there relevant industry credentials?

Trustworthiness

• Is there accurate, up-to-date information?
• Is the business transparent (about page, contact info, physical address)?
• Is there a privacy policy and terms of service?
• Is the site secure (HTTPS)?

11. Common Issues by Site Type

E-commerce / DTC Stores

• Thin category pages (just a heading and product grid, no descriptive content)
• Duplicate product descriptions (copied from manufacturer)
• Missing product schema markup (no rich results in Google)
• Faceted navigation creating thousands of duplicate URLs
• Out-of-stock pages returning 404 instead of showing alternatives
• No blog or educational content to capture informational queries

SaaS / Product Sites

• Product pages lack content depth (feature lists without explanation)
• Blog not integrated with product pages (no internal links between them)
• Missing comparison and alternative pages
• Feature pages with too little content to rank
• No glossary or educational content for top-of-funnel queries

Content / Blog Sites

• Outdated content never refreshed (posts from 2+ years ago losing rankings)
• Keyword cannibalisation from blogging without a keyword strategy
• No topical clustering (random posts, not organised by theme)
• Poor internal linking between related posts
• Missing author pages (hurts E-E-A-T)

Local Business

• Inconsistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across the site and directories
• Missing local schema markup (LocalBusiness schema)
• No Google Business Profile optimisation
• Missing individual location pages (for multi-location businesses)
• No local content (area guides, local partnerships, community involvement)

12. Audit Report Structure

Every audit we deliver follows this exact structure. If you're running this yourself, format your output the same way:

Executive Summary

• Overall health assessment (Good / Needs Work / Critical Issues)
• Top 3-5 priority issues
• Quick wins identified (things fixable in under an hour)

Findings (for each issue found)

• Issue: What's wrong (specific, with URLs)
• Impact: High / Medium / Low (effect on rankings and traffic)
• Evidence: How we found it (tool, data source)
• Fix: Exactly what to do (step-by-step)
• Priority: Fix this week / this month / this quarter

Prioritised Action Plan

1. Critical fixes — blocking indexation or causing active traffic loss
2. High-impact improvements — will produce measurable results in 4-6 weeks
3. Quick wins — easy to implement, immediate benefit
4. Long-term recommendations — strategic changes for sustained growth

13. Tools We Use

Free Tools

• Google Search Console — essential for keyword data, indexation status, and performance tracking
• Google PageSpeed Insights — Core Web Vitals and performance scoring
• Google Rich Results Test — validates schema markup (renders JavaScript, unlike crawlers)
• Bing Webmaster Tools — additional crawl data and indexation insights

Paid Tools (optional but recommended)

• Screaming Frog — comprehensive site crawler (free for up to 500 URLs)
• Ahrefs or Semrush — keyword research, backlink analysis, competitor data
• Sitebulb — visual site auditing with priority scoring

AI Layer

We use Claude Code to analyse crawl data and Search Console exports together. The AI cross-references technical issues against actual search performance, so fixes are prioritised by revenue impact rather than just severity. A duplicate title tag on a page with 5,000 monthly impressions gets fixed before a duplicate title on a page with zero impressions.