What a proper SEO audit covers, and what free SEO checkers miss

An SEO audit is a structured check of everything that decides whether the right people find your website on Google: whether your pages can be read and stored, whether each one says clearly what you offer, how you appear to people searching nearby, and who is showing up in your place. It ends with a list of fixes in order of importance. A free SEO checker does something narrower. It tests one page against a list and gives it a score. Both are useful, and they are not the same job.

What is an SEO audit?

An SEO audit is an investigation of your website, and of how it appears in search, that ends in a prioritised list of fixes. It covers four areas: the technical state of the site, the content of each page, your local presence and your competitors.

Google describes the standard in its own words. Google’s advice on hiring an SEO says an audit “should be about giving you realistic estimates of improvement, and an estimate of the work involved”. That is a useful test of any audit you are offered.

What does a free SEO checker actually check?

A free SEO checker loads the page you give it and tests that page against a fixed list: is there a title, is there a description, is anything blocking search engines. It then turns the passes and fails into a score. It is quick, and it catches real faults on that page.

We use Google’s own free checker as the example here, because Google documents exactly what it tests. Google’s introduction to Lighthouse describes an automated tool: you give it a URL, it runs a series of audits against the page, and it produces a report on how the page did.

Three things about that design matter when you read a score.

It tests a page, not your site. The report is about the address you typed in. Even its indexing check, according to Lighthouse’s page on its indexing check, only looks for headers or elements that block all search engine crawlers. Your home page can pass every check while the service pages that should bring in enquiries go unexamined.

It tests whether something exists, not whether it is any good. Lighthouse’s page on its meta description check says the check fails if a page has no description or an empty one, and adds: “Lighthouse doesn’t evaluate the quality of your description.” A description that says “Home” passes. The same page says each SEO check is weighted equally in the score, apart from one manual check, so the score does not tell you which fault is costing you customers.

It cannot see what Google has recorded about you. Which searches you appear for, which pages Google has stored, and whether Google has taken action against the site all live in Search Console, and Google’s page on adding a property to Search Console says that to add a site to your Search Console account you must first prove that you own it, or have an owner grant you access. Of third-party tools in general, Google’s advice on hiring an SEO says they “don’t have access to Google’s internal ranking data”, and that Google doesn’t evaluate or endorse them.

None of this makes a free checker a waste of time. A failed check is worth fixing. But a high score tells you that one page passed a list, and nothing about whether the business is being found.

What do free SEO checkers miss?

Free checkers miss whatever cannot be read from a single page: which of your pages Google has stored, which searches bring people to you, how the site performs for real visitors, whether Google has acted against it, how you appear in local results, and what your competitors’ pages do better. They also cannot put the fixes in order.

The table sets the two side by side.

A note on the speed row. Google’s page about PageSpeed Insights says the simulated test is useful for debugging but “may not capture real-world bottlenecks”, and that good results in it do not necessarily mean real visitors will have a good experience. Our article on how to test your website’s speed explains how to read both kinds of figure.

If you would rather start with the free tools yourself, our guide to free SEO tools worth using covers which ones to run and what to do with the results.

What does a proper SEO audit cover?

A proper SEO audit covers four areas and ends in one list. The technical part asks whether search engines can reach and store your pages. The on-page part asks whether each page says what it offers. The local part looks at how you appear to people nearby, and the competitor part at who appears in your place.

Those are also the four parts of our own audit. Here is what each should contain.

Technical: can Google reach, read and store your pages?

Google’s explanation of how Search works describes three stages, crawling, indexing and serving results, and says not all pages make it through each stage. The technical part of an audit finds out where your pages stop.

The main evidence is Search Console’s Page indexing report. Google’s help page for the Page indexing report says it shows the indexing status of all the URLs Google knows about on your site, with the reason for each one that is not indexed. We read your Search Console data through read-only access. Reading it takes judgement. The same page says it is fine for a URL not to be indexed for the right reasons, such as a duplicate or a page you removed, and that a drop in indexed pages can mean existing pages are being blocked. If your whole site is missing, start with our article on why a website is not showing on Google.

The technical part also looks at the site on a phone. Google’s page on mobile-first indexing says Google uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking, so content that is missing or broken on a phone is missing as far as Google is concerned.

Then there is what Google itself has flagged, which we review too. Google’s help page for the Manual actions report says a manual action is issued when a human reviewer decides that pages break Google’s spam policies, and that most of the issues it reports result in pages or sites being ranked lower or left out “without any visual indication to the user”.

On-page: does each page say what it offers?

This part reads your pages the way a customer and a search engine would. For each page that matters, does the title say what the page is about, in the words your customers use? Google’s SEO starter guide says the title shown in a search result is generated from a few sources, including the page’s title element and its headings, and that a good title is unique to the page, clear and concise, and describes its contents accurately.

The evidence comes from the Performance report. Google’s help page for the Performance report says it shows which searches bring traffic to your site and which pages have the highest and lowest click-through rate. A page that appears often and is rarely clicked has a different problem from a page that never appears. Our guide to Google Search Console for business owners shows where to find these reports.

An audit also finds the pages that are missing, such as a service you sell that has no page of its own. Choosing the words to aim each page at is covered in our article on keywords and backlinks.

Local: how do you appear to people nearby?

Google’s tips to improve your local ranking say local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. The page says prominence is also based on information such as how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. It adds that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

So the local part of an audit checks whether your Business Profile exists, is verified and who manages it; its categories, rating, and name, address and phone details; whether it matches your website; your review count; and whether you appear in the map results for each area you target. Our local recommendations include a Business Profile checklist. Your Google Business Profile stays on your own Google account, and you add us to it. Our guide to local SEO for South African businesses goes into the detail.

Competitors: who appears where you want to be?

The competitor part of an audit looks at the businesses that appear for the searches you want, and at what their pages have that yours don’t: a page for each service, clearer answers, more sites linking to them.

Links need care. Google’s help page for the Links report suggests confirming that you recognise the sites that link to you. And Google’s spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. We review your backlinks and advise against paid links. An audit that recommends buying links to catch up with a competitor is recommending what Google calls spam. Our article on which backlinks help explains the difference.

The fix list: what to do first

Every finding from the four parts goes into one list, most important first, so that you can see what to do now and what can wait. Each fix comes with an estimate of the work involved, and each search you want to be found for is mapped to a page. We also read your site’s robots.txt to check that AI search tools can reach it, and check how your business appears in AI answers.

Which checker scores can you ignore?

You can ignore a warning about something Google says not to focus on. Google’s SEO starter guide has a section on exactly that, which names the keywords meta tag, keywords in the domain name, word counts and the order of headings. A low mark for one of these is not where to spend your effort.

The guide is specific:

• Meta keywords. It says Google Search doesn’t use the keywords meta tag.
• Word count. It says the length of the content alone doesn’t matter for ranking purposes, and that there is no magical word count target, minimum or maximum.
• Keywords in your domain name. It says keywords in the domain name or URL path alone have hardly any effect beyond appearing in breadcrumbs.
• The order of your headings. It says headings in order are good for screen readers, but from Google Search’s perspective it doesn’t matter if they are used out of order.

Google’s advice on hiring an SEO makes the general point: before making significant changes to your site based on a third-party tool’s audit, check its recommendations against official guidance from Google Search.

When is an SEO audit worth paying for?

An SEO audit is worth paying for when a decision depends on it: before a redesign, before you sign a monthly SEO contract, or when enquiries from search have fallen and nothing obvious has changed. If the site is small and new, Google’s free tools and its starter guide may be enough for now.

Before a redesign or a move. Google’s advice on hiring an SEO says a great time to hire one is when you are considering a site redesign, “the earlier, the better”, or planning to launch a new site. An audit done first tells the people building the new site which pages bring in visitors today and must not be lost. Our guide to website redesign covers how rankings are kept through a rebuild.

Before a monthly contract. Our article on what SEO costs in South Africa sets out what monthly work should include.

When enquiries have dropped. A fall over two or three months, with no warning in Search Console, is a question about the whole site, and a page checker only answers for one page.

Google’s page also says that if you run a small local business, you can probably do much of the work yourself. If you have the time, start there, and pay for an audit when you reach a question the free tools cannot answer.

What should you ask before you pay for an audit?

Ask what the audit covers, what you will receive at the end, what access is needed and who makes the fixes. Google’s advice is to grant read access only to Search Console at this stage, and to walk away from anyone who guarantees first place.

The questions to ask:

• What does it cover? All four areas, or only the technical checks a tool can run?
• What access do you need? Google’s advice is to “only grant read access to Search Console” for an audit, and not write access.
• What do I receive? A list in order of importance, with an estimate of the work, or a list of everything a tool flagged?
• Where do the recommendations come from? Google suggests asking whether the supplier cites official Google documentation as evidence for its recommendations.
• Are the fixes included, and is the price fixed? Know both before you start.

Google’s page also says to be wary of SEO firms that email you out of the blue. Our guide on how to choose an SEO company has the full list of questions for the monthly work.

What does our SEO audit cost, and what do you get?

Our SEO audit costs R6,500 incl. VAT, at a fixed price. It covers the four parts described above, and everything we find goes into one prioritised fix list. Making the fixes is not part of the audit. See a sample audit report (a fictional example).

The audit takes about a week and is scheduled when it is booked. If you start a monthly retainer within 30 days, half the audit fee is credited against your first month. If you don’t go on to a retainer, the list is yours to act on, with your own developer or with us: work outside a retainer is quoted per task before we start.

Our SEO service in Johannesburg page sets out the four parts of the audit, and what the monthly retainer costs and includes. Send us your website’s address and tell us what you are seeing: Book an SEO audit. We reply to new enquiries on the same business day.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free SEO audit tool?

There is no official best. Google’s advice on hiring an SEO says Google doesn’t evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools. Google’s own free tools are the place to start: Lighthouse tests one page against a list, and Search Console shows which of your pages are indexed and which searches bring visitors. Our guide to free SEO tools worth using compares seven.

How much does an SEO audit cost?

Ours costs R6,500 incl. VAT, at a fixed price, and the section above sets out what you get for it. When you compare quotes, compare what each audit covers and what you receive at the end, not only the figure: a list in order of importance, or everything a tool flagged. More in what SEO costs in South Africa.

What is the difference between a GEO audit and an SEO audit?

A GEO audit looks at how your business appears in AI answers, and an SEO audit at how it appears in search results. On Google, the second covers much of the first. Google’s page on AI features and your website says the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that there are no additional requirements to appear in them. More in our guide to getting cited in AI search.

How do I do an SEO audit?

Start with what Google gives you free. Read Google’s SEO starter guide, then open Search Console and look at which pages are indexed and which searches bring visitors. Check your main pages on a phone. Write down what you find, and put it in order of importance. Our guide to free SEO tools worth using takes you through it.