01 / Agree on the scope

Start with the questions the audit needs to answer

An audit should begin with your business and the reason for the review. Are important service pages missing from search results? Has traffic fallen? Are visitors reaching your website without making relevant enquiries? These questions help determine what needs investigating.

The scope should name the website or domains being reviewed, the main services, target markets and any recent changes. A small Edmonton service website may need close attention to local search and contact forms. An online shop may need deeper checks of product pages, filters and duplicate URLs.

Agree on the expected output before work starts. Will the review cover every accessible page, a sample of each page type or selected areas? Will it include local profiles, content, backlinks and measurement? Record exclusions so that “complete” has a clear meaning.

Access and background information

The reviewer may need access to Search Console, website analytics and relevant business information. Read-only access is usually sufficient for investigation. Website changes should be agreed separately. Share details of redesigns, migrations, service changes and tracking problems so the findings can be interpreted in context.

02 / Technical review

Check whether important pages can be found and indexed

The technical review examines how search engines discover, access and understand your pages. It should identify problems that affect important content and explain what needs to change.

A sitemap lists URLs for discovery; it does not guarantee indexing. Likewise, a page can be accessible without being selected for Google’s index. The audit should distinguish these situations rather than report every unindexed URL as an error.

Google’s URL Inspection tool can help investigate individual pages. Its live test checks aspects of the current page, but does not confirm that Google will index or rank it. Useful findings include the URL tested, the evidence observed and the proposed correction.

Structured data should also be checked where relevant. It needs to match visible content and meet the requirements for the feature being used. Adding markup does not guarantee a special search appearance.

03 / Pages and content

Review whether each page serves a useful purpose

A content review should assess what visitors need from a page and whether they can find it. Titles, headings and descriptions matter, but an audit that stops there misses the substance of the page.

For a service page, the reviewer should consider whether the offer, service area, process and next step are clear. For a product page, the relevant questions may involve specifications, availability and compatibility. Blogs should answer a distinct question without repeating material already covered elsewhere.

The review should flag unsupported claims, outdated details, confusing language and gaps that affect a decision. It should also identify useful pages that need a clearer title, stronger internal links or more complete information.

Handle overlapping pages carefully

Similar pages are not automatically a problem. They may serve different products, locations or customer needs. Where several pages have essentially the same purpose, the audit should explain whether to clarify their roles, combine them or make another change. Recommendations to remove pages need evidence and a plan for any affected links and URLs.

Use Google’s helpful content guidance to assess accuracy, originality and usefulness. There is no standard word count that makes a page good. The question is whether it gives the intended reader enough relevant information.

04 / Website experience

Test the pages people actually use

The audit should look beyond the homepage. Test the page types customers use to evaluate the business, browse products and make contact. Check them on mobile as well as desktop.

Review loading behaviour, responsiveness and unexpected movement while a page loads. Where real-user performance data is available, use it alongside diagnostic tests. A lab test can help investigate a problem, but its result represents a particular test environment.

Google’s page experience guidance makes clear that good performance scores do not guarantee top rankings. The goal is a usable website, so recommendations should describe the visitor problem as well as the metric.

Forms and phone links deserve practical checks. Can a visitor understand the required fields, submit an enquiry and receive confirmation? Does the message reach the business? These checks support the customer experience even when they are not direct ranking factors.

05 / Local information and external links

Review the business information outside your website

For an eligible local business, the scope may include its Google Business Profile and important directory listings. Check the business category, hours, contact details, location information and links to the website. Inconsistencies should be explained with examples.

The review should also consider whether local website pages describe real service availability. A business operating in several communities may need different information for each area. Repeated pages with only the city name changed deserve closer review.

Assess backlinks in context

A backlink review examines links from other websites and looks for relevant opportunities, broken destinations or patterns that warrant investigation. Link counts and third-party authority scores are not enough to establish the value of a link.

The audit should explain why a link-related action is needed. A low tool score alone is not a reason to remove links or submit a disavow file. Proposals to buy links for ranking purposes should be assessed against Google’s spam policies.

If local search is a main concern, ask whether the audit includes both the website and profile review. The scope of local SEO work should be clear before you agree to it.

06 / Reporting and evidence

Check what the current data can tell you

The audit should explain how search performance is being measured and where the information is incomplete. Search Console, analytics and enquiry records answer different questions. They should be reviewed together without assuming that every report will match exactly.

Relevant checks include whether important forms and calls are recorded correctly, whether test submissions are excluded where appropriate, and whether the business can distinguish suitable enquiries from spam or unrelated requests.

When investigating a traffic drop, compare affected pages, queries and dates. Check for website changes, tracking interruptions and seasonal demand before drawing a conclusion. A change that happens near a core update does not, by itself, identify its cause.

Use tool warnings as starting points

Automated crawlers can highlight patterns, but someone needs to verify their meaning. Google’s guidance on third-party SEO tools explains that their scores do not represent Google’s internal ranking data. A useful audit turns warnings into supported findings and separates confirmed problems from items needing further investigation.

07 / Decide what comes first

Turn findings into a realistic action plan

Each finding should state the problem, show the evidence, name the affected pages and recommend a response. It should also identify who can carry out the work and how completion will be checked.

Priority should reflect the consequence for the business, the strength of the evidence, the effort required and any dependencies. A large number of warnings does not necessarily mean a large number of urgent problems.

An example of a useful finding

Suppose a service page has a noindex instruction even though the business wants it to appear in search. The finding should identify the URL, confirm the instruction, recommend removing it if appropriate and assign the change to the website manager. The follow-up should verify the live instruction and monitor indexing. It should not promise a ranking once the setting is corrected.

This is an illustrative example. The appropriate action depends on why the instruction was added and whether the page should be public.

08 / Before you approve the work

Know what you will receive after the audit

A useful handover should include a readable summary, supporting evidence and an action list your team can use. Ask for the following deliverables:

• A record of the scope, data sources and review date.
• Findings with affected URLs and supporting examples.
• Priorities, recommended actions and implementation owners.
• A separate list of unresolved questions and access limitations.
• A process for checking completed changes and reviewing results.

Confirm whether implementation is included in the fee or quoted separately. Also ask whether a follow-up review is included, how urgent findings will be communicated and who will answer questions from your developer or content team.

An audit cannot guarantee rankings, traffic or sales. It can give you a clearer account of the website’s current condition and a reasoned order for the next steps. That is the basis for deciding whether to handle the work internally or seek ongoing support.

09 / Common questions

Frequently asked questions