When I first started doing SEO audits, I’d spend an entire day just going through a single website — checking everything manually and making pages of notes. Today, I can confidently audit a website for SEO in under 2 hours — and I’ll walk you through exactly how I do it. Whether I’m onboarding a new client or checking up on a large brand’s domain, I follow a clear, repeatable process using the right tools, so nothing falls through the cracks.
“According to HubSpot’s 2023 State of SEO report, 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing organic presence is their top inbound priority.” (HubSpot)
Speed matters, but so does depth. Here’s how I strike that balance.
Step 1: Technical Health Check (15–20 mins)
Before anything else, I start with the technical foundation. Without this, no amount of content or links will help your rankings.
I plug the domain into Screaming Frog SEO Spider and look for:
- Broken links (404 errors)
- Missing or duplicate title tags and meta descriptions
- Multiple H1s on the same page
- Pages blocked by robots.txt
- Canonical errors
Then I use Google Search Console to:
- Check indexing status
- Monitor crawl errors
- Look for manual actions or security issues
“Pro Tip: A healthy technical foundation ensures Googlebot can crawl, index, and rank your pages without friction.”
Step 2: Core Web Vitals & Mobile UX (10–15 mins)
Next, I check performance and usability. I run the domain through PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse to get:
- Core Web Vitals scores (Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, Cumulative Layout Shift)
- Mobile-friendliness
- Load speed breakdown by element
“Websites that load in 1 second have a conversion rate 3x higher than those that load in 5 seconds.” (Portent)
If performance is poor, I flag image compression, script optimization, and server response issues for the dev team.
Step 3: On-Page SEO Review (20 mins)
Now it’s time to look at how well the site is optimized for search intent. I use Ahrefs Site Audit and Yoast SEO (if it’s a WordPress site) to evaluate:
- Keyword targeting and placement
- Meta tags and structured data
- Internal linking strategy
- Header hierarchy (H1 > H2 > H3)
- Image alt tags
“Pro Tip: Every page should target one main keyword and support 2–3 related secondary keywords.”
Step 4: Content Quality & Relevance (15–20 mins)
I move to content analysis. This step is part SEO and part editorial judgment. I manually check 5–10 key landing pages and blog posts to answer:
- Is the content up-to-date and accurate?
- Is it well-formatted with subheadings and visuals?
- Does it answer user intent better than competitors?
I use Surfer SEO to compare content against top-ranking pages and identify content gaps or over-optimization issues.
“47% of buyers view 3–5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep.” (Demand Gen Report)
Step 5: Backlink Profile & Off-Page Signals (15 mins)
Even a technically perfect site won’t rank without authority. I use Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush to:
- Review the number and quality of referring domains
- Identify toxic backlinks that might need disavowing
- Spot broken or lost backlinks
- Check anchor text distribution
“Websites ranking on Page 1 of Google have an average of 3.8x more backlinks than those on Page 2.” (Backlinko)
Step 6: Competitive Benchmarking (10 mins)
Finally, I benchmark the site against its top 3 competitors. I compare:
- Domain Authority
- Organic traffic trends
- Keyword overlap
- Backlink volume
I use Similarweb for traffic comparison and Ubersuggest for quick keyword ideas.
“Pro Tip: Knowing what your competitors rank for is half the battle — reverse-engineer their strategy.”
Tools I Use to Audit Websites Fast
Here’s a roundup of tools that help me audit faster and more effectively:
- Screaming Frog: For site crawl and technical audit
- Google Search Console: Indexing and crawl diagnostics
- PageSpeed Insights: Core Web Vitals and mobile UX
- Ahrefs: Backlink and content analysis
- Surfer SEO: Content scoring
- Yoast SEO: WordPress on-page optimization
- Ubersuggest: Keyword and competitive research
- Notion: To document and organize the audit findings
- Semrush: To check site health
- Seobility: For detail audit, crawling and to find out on-page seo score.
Final Thoughts
When you learn to audit a website for SEO under pressure, time becomes your ally — not your enemy. This 2-hour audit workflow has helped me land new clients, improve rankings quickly, and build long-term strategies with clarity and confidence.
“Pro Tip: Don’t audit for the sake of auditing — audit with a plan to act. Every issue should have a fix and a timeline.”
If you want my full SEO audit checklist, or you’re ready for a professional review of your own site, check out my full SEO audit process where I break everything down in even more detail.
