SEO Audit
Run a comprehensive SEO audit covering technical foundations, on-page optimization, content quality, link profile, and competitive positioning.
Before You Start
Gather this context (ask if not provided):
- Domain. What site are we auditing?
- Goals. What are you trying to achieve? (More traffic, better rankings, fix a drop, pre-launch check)
- Known issues. Anything you already suspect is wrong?
- Access. Do you have Google Search Console and Google Analytics data? (Improves the audit significantly)
- Scope. Full audit or focused on a specific area? (If unsure, run the full audit)
Audit Framework
A complete SEO audit covers five layers. Work through them in order — problems in earlier layers undermine everything that follows.
Layer 1: Technical Foundation
Check whether search engines can properly access, crawl, render, and index the site.
Crawlability
-
robots.txt— fetch and review. No critical paths blocked? Sitemap directive present? - XML sitemap — exists, valid XML, lists all important pages, excludes noindex/redirected pages?
- Site architecture — important pages reachable within 3 clicks from homepage?
- Orphan pages — any pages with zero internal links pointing to them?
- Redirect chains — any paths with 2+ redirects in sequence?
- HTTP status — all important pages return 200? No unexpected 301s, 404s, or soft 404s?
Indexability
-
noindextags — any important pages accidentally noindexed? - Canonical tags — self-referencing on all pages? No conflicting canonicals?
- Duplicate content — same content accessible at multiple URLs (www/non-www, HTTP/HTTPS, trailing slash)?
- Search Console index coverage — how many pages submitted vs indexed? Any excluded pages that should be indexed?
Performance
- Core Web Vitals — LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200ms?
- TTFB — < 800ms from major regions?
- Mobile-friendly — passes Google's mobile usability tests?
- HTTPS — enforced across the entire site? Valid certificate?
Rendering
- JavaScript-dependent content — is critical content in the initial HTML or loaded via JS?
- Content visibility — can search engines see the full page content?
Layer 2: On-Page Optimization
Check whether individual pages are properly optimized for their target keywords.
Title Tags
- Every page has a unique
<title> - Titles include the primary target keyword
- Titles are under 60 characters (avoid truncation)
- Titles are descriptive and click-worthy (not keyword-stuffed)
Meta Descriptions
- Every important page has a unique meta description
- Descriptions are 150-160 characters
- Descriptions include a value proposition and call to action
Heading Structure
- One H1 per page containing the primary keyword
- Logical heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3, no level skipping)
- Headings describe section content accurately
URL Structure
- URLs are clean, readable, and descriptive
- URLs use hyphens (not underscores)
- No excessive URL parameters or session IDs in indexed URLs
- Consistent URL structure across the site
Internal Linking
- Important pages have sufficient incoming internal links (3+)
- Anchor text is descriptive and varied (not all "click here")
- Hub-and-spoke structure exists for topic clusters
- No broken internal links (404 targets)
Image Optimization
- All images have descriptive
altattributes - Images use modern formats (WebP/AVIF) where supported
- Images are appropriately sized (not serving 4000px images in 400px containers)
- Decorative images use empty
alt=""
Structured Data
- Relevant schema markup present (Article, Product, FAQ, LocalBusiness, BreadcrumbList, etc.)
- Schema validates without errors in Google's Rich Results Test
- Schema matches visible page content (no hidden/misleading markup)
On-Page Scoring Rubric
For a detailed page-level audit, score each page across 8 sections:
Content Length Benchmarks (for full score on "sufficient length"):
Internal Link Count Guidelines:
Keyword density penalties: >3.0% = keyword stuffing (score 0); <0.5% = under-optimized.
Score grade scale:
Layer 3: Content Quality
Evaluate whether the content deserves to rank.
E-E-A-T Assessment
- Experience — Does the content demonstrate first-hand experience with the topic?
- Expertise — Is the content written with subject-matter depth? Does it go beyond surface-level?
- Authoritativeness — Does the site have a reputation in this topic area? Are authors credible?
- Trustworthiness — Are claims sourced? Is the site transparent about who publishes it?
Content Coverage
- Does each page have a clear target keyword and intent?
- Is the content comprehensive enough to fully satisfy the search query?
- Are there thin pages (< 300 words) that should be expanded or consolidated?
- Is content up to date? Any pages with stale data, broken examples, or outdated advice?
Content Gaps
- What topics do competitors cover that this site doesn't?
- Are there keywords with search demand that no existing page targets?
- Are there topic clusters that are incomplete (pillar page but missing spokes, or vice versa)?
Cannibalization
- Are multiple pages targeting the same keyword?
- If so, are they competing against each other in rankings?
- Resolution: consolidate, differentiate, or canonical the weaker page to the stronger one.
Layer 4: Link Profile
Assess the site's backlink authority and quality.
Backlink Overview
- Total referring domains
- Dofollow vs nofollow ratio
- Link acquisition trend (growing, stable, or declining?)
- Average authority of linking domains
Link Quality
- Any high-spam-score referring domains that could trigger penalties?
- Are links contextual (in-content) or low-value (sidebar, footer, comment)?
- Anchor text distribution — natural diversity or suspicious over-optimization?
Link Gaps
- Which competitor pages earn the most backlinks? What content type?
- Are there broken backlinks worth recovering? (404 pages that once had links)
- Are there linkable assets on the site that aren't being promoted?
Layer 5: Competitive Position
Understand where the site stands relative to competitors.
Keyword Overlap
- Which keywords do you share with competitors?
- Where are you winning vs losing?
- What keywords do competitors rank for that you don't?
Content Comparison
- How does content depth and quality compare to top-ranking competitors?
- What formats are competitors using that you aren't (video, tools, templates)?
- What unique angles or data could differentiate your content?
Authority Comparison
- How does your domain authority/rating compare?
- Do competitors have significantly more referring domains?
- Are there authority-building opportunities you're not pursuing?
Scoring
After completing all layers, assign a health score:
Scoring guide:
- 8-10: Strong — maintain and optimize
- 5-7: Needs work — clear improvement opportunities
- 1-4: Critical — fundamental issues blocking performance
Veto Conditions
These conditions cap the overall score regardless of how well other layers perform. A single veto prevents a site from appearing healthy when it has a fatal flaw:
Check veto conditions before scoring layers. If any veto fires, flag it prominently in the executive summary and cap the relevant score.
Output Format
SEO Audit: [domain]
Overall Health Score: [score]/10
Executive Summary 3-5 sentences covering: the site's biggest strength, the most critical issue, and the highest-impact opportunity.
Layer Scores
Critical Issues (fix immediately)
High-Priority Improvements (fix this month)
Opportunities (plan for next quarter)
Detailed Findings [Full findings organized by layer with specific evidence and recommendations]
90-Day Action Plan
Month 1: Fix the foundation
- [Critical technical fixes]
- [Quick on-page wins]
Month 2: Strengthen content
- [Content gaps to fill]
- [Pages to refresh]
- [Internal linking improvements]
Month 3: Build authority
- [Link building priorities]
- [Competitive positioning moves]
Pro Tip: Try the free SEO Audit and Domain Authority Checker at seojuice.com for a quick automated baseline. For ongoing monitoring, SEOJuice MCP users can run
/seojuice:seo-overviewfor live health scores with trends,/seojuice:site-healthfor technical topology, and/seojuice:competitor-analysisfor competitive gaps.
