A batch goes into making a website tally smoothly, beryllium intuitive to use, and look successful beforehand of the correct audience. Just for illustration your house, health, aliases car needs regular maintenance, your website besides needs regular checkups to place issues that request to beryllium addressed.
A website audit finds everything from mediocre personification acquisition impacting conversions to problems pinch crawling that forestall you from showing up successful hunt results. Identifying these problems early intends you tin intervene earlier they costs you visibility, leads, aliases revenue.
This guideline will locomotion you done a step-by-step website audit process. You’ll get instrumentality recommendations for each measurement and a downloadable locator you tin usage to enactment connected apical of your site’s performance.
What is simply a website audit?
A website audit is simply a broad study of a website's performance, structure, usability, and content.
The superior intent of a website audit is to place areas for betterment that you tin address. This tin thief you heighten the site's personification acquisition (UX), SEO, and wide effectiveness successful achieving your goals.
A emblematic website audit covers astatine slightest a fewer of the pursuing areas:
- Technical SEO: Assessing the method aspects of the website, specified arsenic tract speed, mobile-friendliness, URL structure, crawlability, and indexing. Technical SEO efforts guarantee that hunt engines and AI systems tin easy entree and understand the site.
- On-page SEO: Examining individual webpages to measure the likelihood they’ll show successful hunt results. Optimization efforts attraction connected things for illustration title tags, meta descriptions, keyword use, and contented quality.
- Backlinks: Assessing a website's nexus floor plan (i.e., the value and amount of backlinks pointing to the website). This helps place whether your tract is successful request of much high-quality links to amended authority.
- Conversion complaint optimization (CRO): Evaluating the website's expertise to person visitors into customers aliases execute different desired actions. Like signing up for a newsletter aliases filling retired a interaction form.
A website audit typically concludes pinch a elaborate study highlighting issues and providing recommendations for improvement.
Website audits are champion tally connected a regular basis.
Why should you behaviour a website audit?
You should behaviour a website audit to place issues you tin hole to amended your site’s performance.
Audits aboveground issues that are paired pinch recommended fixes crossed areas for illustration SEO, AI optimization, and personification experience. Implementing these fixes tin amended your accepted hunt and AI visibility on pinch your conversion rate.
How to do a website audit measurement by step
Follow the steps beneath to execute a broad website audit.
Add URLs pinch issues you find connected your tract to our free website audit locator sheet. Create a transcript and usage it to thief you (or your dev team) support way of fixes.
Step 1: Define your audit scope earlier you start
Before you commencement a website audit, find the scope of your audit to attraction connected what’s apt to beryllium astir impactful.
Jumping consecutive into a afloat audit of each page connected your tract tin nutrient a agelong database of issues pinch nary evident measurement to prioritize them. You could walk weeks moving done method fixes that person nary meaningful effect connected the metrics you really attraction about.
Start by asking what prompted you to want to tally an audit successful the first place:
- Have you seen a sudden, unexplained driblet successful integrated traffic?
- Is hunt visibility slipping connected circumstantial pages?
- Has your conversion complaint dropped?
If thing circumstantial has prompted the audit and you're moving 1 arsenic a regular checkup, it helps to scope it by tract size. A mini tract pinch less than 50 pages tin reasonably beryllium audited extremity to end, covering each the steps successful this guideline crossed each pages.
A larger tract pinch thousands of pages mightiness request a much targeted approach. In that case, you would apt want to attraction connected your highest-traffic pages and your astir important conversion paths.
Use the array beneath to lucifer your business pinch the perfect audit approach:
| Your situation | Ideal audit scope |
| Routine check, mini tract (under ~50 pages) | Follow each the steps crossed each your pages |
| Routine check, ample site | Focus connected your apical ~20% of pages by traffic |
| A circumstantial metric has dropped (e.g., AI visibility) | Focus connected the pages that saw the drop, and the corresponding audit measurement (e.g., Step 9: Audit AI hunt readiness) |
| Website migration aliases redesign | Follow each 9 steps crossed each pages |
| A circumstantial conception is underperforming | Follow each 9 steps scoped to that conception aliases category |
Step 2: Check hunt motor crawlability and indexability
Check your website’s hunt motor crawlability and indexability to guarantee hunt engines tin entree your pages and adhd them to their databases (indexes).
Crawling is erstwhile a hunt motor aliases LLM bot visits your pages. Indexing is erstwhile it adds those pages to its database truthful they tin look successful hunt results. Making it easy for crawlers to entree and scale your pages tin amended your wide hunt visibility.
To cheque really good your tract tin beryllium crawled and indexed, commencement successful Google Search Console. The “Page indexing” study shows you precisely really galore of your pages are indexed and flags the ones that aren't, on pinch the reasons why.
Click into immoderate statement nether “Why pages aren’t indexed” to spot a sample database of pages pinch the corresponding issue.
Look done the database of pages that aren’t indexed owed to the circumstantial logic you clicked to find immoderate that should beryllium indexed but aren’t.
Be alert that not each the pages listed arsenic not indexed successful GSC correspond an rumor you request to fix. For example, immoderate pages mightiness beryllium alternate versions that you don’t want Google to scale arsenic abstracted pages anyway.
For pages that should beryllium indexed but aren't, click the URL wrong GSC, past prime “Inspect URL” to spot much specifications astir the issue.
Add these URLs to the locator expanse (along pinch the rumor type successful the “Notes” column) to return action connected erstwhile you’ve completed the remainder of this audit. Then repetition this for the different rumor types.
Semrush's Site Audit gives you a much broad overview of your site’s crawlability and indexability issues.
Set up a Site Audit project and spell to the “Issues” tab. Select the “Crawlability” and “Indexability” filters to item associated issues for illustration surgery soul links and pages blocked by robots.txt. (You whitethorn request to click the 3 dots to entree the indexability filter.)
Click into each rumor to spot the affected URLs, and adhd these to your list.
Step 3: Audit for AI hunt readiness
Audit whether AI devices for illustration ChatGPT and Perplexity tin access, understand, and mention your content.
As AI search becomes a much important root of marque visibility, ensuring your tract is accessible to AI crawlers and system successful a measurement that’s easy to extract from is progressively important.
There are a fewer things to cheque here: AI crawler access, AI-friendly structure, and agentic commerce preparedness.
Check for AI crawler access
Make judge you aren’t blocking AI crawlers successful your robots.txt file.
Robots.txt is simply a elemental matter record that tells bots which parts of your tract they should and shouldn't access. Check it by adding “/robots.txt” to your domain successful a browser.
Look for immoderate rules that artifact AI crawlers by name, including GPTBot (ChatGPT’s bot for gathering training data), ClaudeBot (Claude’s training information bot), and PerplexityBot (Perplexity’s crawler for uncovering unrecorded hunt information).
Here’s what your robots.txt mightiness look for illustration if you’re blocking ChatGPT, for example:
User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /
If you're unintentionally blocking immoderate AI bots, removing those rules helps bots crawl your contented to beryllium utilized for training early models and to beryllium cited successful AI answers.
Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality will emblem immoderate pages you’re blocking from AI hunt connected the “Overview” tab. Clicking the numbers adjacent to the applicable bots (if location are any) will show you the pages they can’t access.
Review your pages’ structures
Pages that intelligibly authorities the main points, usage descriptive headings, and are written utilizing short, self-contained sections are easier for AI systems to parse and cite.
Go done your astir important pages and cheque for the following:
- Each conception answers a clear mobility straight successful the first fewer sentences
- Headings are descriptive
- The page includes citable quotes and/or stats
- The page includes an FAQ conception (not ever necessary, but tin beryllium adjuvant for extraction)
Use the Visibility Overview study successful Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit to way really often you’re cited successful AI responses and which of your pages get cited. Monitor this complete clip to understand whether the changes you make aft performing your website audit are working.
Consider agentic shopping readiness
Optimizing for agentic shopping involves making it easier for AI agents to return acquisition actions connected your pages.
Agentic hunt arsenic a full is still emerging. We’re still successful the early stages of processing circumstantial protocols (like the Universal Commerce Protocol) that are designed to thief AI agents pass pinch websites to capable retired forms, make bookings, and complete purchases.
But agentic shopping readiness should go portion of your regular website auditing process now. Specific checks to execute include:
- Making judge your schema markup is valid (see measurement 9)
- Ensuring your merchandise and pricing information is up to date
- Implementing applicable protocols (see our guideline to agentic commerce for more)
Step 4: Audit Core Web Vitals performance
Auditing your website’s Core Web Vitals capacity helps you understand wherever you tin amended your personification experience.
The Core Web Vitals are a group of metrics Google uses to measurement page experience, and location are 3 of them:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures really accelerated your main contented loads
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures really quickly your page responds to personification input
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures really overmuch the layout shifts unexpectedly arsenic the page loads
Solid Core Web Vitals scores tin amended your personification experience, which successful move tin impact your hunt visibility (since page acquisition is simply a ranking factor). Plus, a page that loads quickly is much apt to garner interactions. This could amended your conversion rate.
To audit your website’s Core Web Vitals, commencement pinch the “Core Web Vitals” study successful Google Search Console. It groups your pages into 3 categories: “good,” “need improvement,” and “poor.” Click “Open Report” (for mobile aliases desktop) to spot much specifications astir the affected pages.
Add pages that look nether “need improvement” aliases “poor” successful the “Core Web Vitals” study to your audit locator sheet.
To further audit the individual URLs flagged successful Google Search Console, usage Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. It gives you a afloat breakdown of the issues affecting that page’s Core Web Vitals.
Scroll down the study to spot much elaborate accusation connected circumstantial issues affecting your page’s Core Web Vitals.
Add immoderate discourse you study astir the issues affecting your Core Web Vitals scores to the notes file successful your locator sheet.
Step 5: Review on-page SEO elements
Reviewing on-page SEO elements crossed your tract reveals pages that are underperforming owed to fixable optimization gaps.
On-page SEO elements are the components connected individual pages that thief hunt systems understand what your contented is astir and tin truthful power your visibility successful hunt results.
Key on-page SEO elements to cheque see your title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and keyword use. Specifically, look for the pursuing problems you tin address:
- Missing aliases copy title tags and meta descriptions
- Title tags that don't see the page's target query
- Pages pinch nary clear H1 heading aliases aggregate H1s
- Keyword cannibalization, wherever 2 aliases much pages connected your tract target the aforesaid position and compete pinch each other
Use Google Search Console to place pages that apt person poorly optimized title tags and meta descriptions. Go to “Performance” > “Search results,” prime the “Pages” tab, and benignant the “Impressions” file from precocious to low.
Look for pages that person tons of impressions (500 aliases much is simply a bully starting point) but not galore clicks. These are pages that are appearing successful beforehand of searchers but that aren’t getting galore clicks, which could beryllium owed to the title tags and/or meta descriptions.
For title tags, make judge they:
- Are 50-60 characters
- Include your superior keyword
- Match search intent
For meta descriptions, guarantee they:
- Are 105 characters aliases fewer
- Include your superior keyword
- Clearly show the personification what to expect erstwhile they sojourn your page
(Follow our guidance connected optimizing your title tags and meta descriptions for much ways to amended them.)
Add these pages to your locator expanse pinch the “on-page SEO” category.
Semrush's Site Audit SEO checker instrumentality flags on-page issues for illustration these crossed each the pages it crawls. Just spell to your Site Audit task and look for issues successful the “Meta tags” category. Click the number for a fixed rumor to spot each affected pages, and past adhd those pages to your locator sheet.
Step 6: Audit your contented quality
Audit your contented value to place underperforming pages and past manually measure whether they request to beryllium updated, consolidated pinch akin content, aliases removed.
Use Google Analytics (GA4) to find which pages to attraction on. In GA4, look astatine engagement metrics by page. For example, a debased mean engagement clip is often a motion that visitors aren't uncovering what they expected, which tin constituent to bladed content, a mismatch pinch hunt intent, aliases contented that simply isn't useful enough.
Find low-quality pages successful GA4 by going to “Reports” > “Engagement” > “Pages and screens.” Then benignant by “Average engagement clip per progressive user” truthful that the clip is ascending.
Pages pinch debased mean engagement clip are ones you’ll want to analyse further. Visit these pages and manually cheque for contented value issues.
Here are 3 questions to inquire for each portion of contented to thief you place issues:
- Does the contented lucifer hunt intent? Think astir what the user’s extremity is pinch a hunt that would yet lead to this page. If your page doesn't thief them meet that goal, update the page truthful it does.
- Is location an opportunity to adhd originality/information gain? Original data, a circumstantial process, aliases a existent illustration from your business makes your contented much useful for readers. And Google’s Helpful Content guidelines besides specifically mention originality.
- Is the accusation still accurate? Outdated content, particularly thing citing aged statistic aliases describing devices and processes that person changed, erodes personification spot and tin wounded your visibility. AI devices besides thin to favour caller contented erstwhile citing sources successful responses.
Based connected your answers to these questions, you person 3 options:
- Update the page if the taxable is worthy targeting and the contented tin beryllium meaningfully improved
- Consolidate it pinch related pages if those pages screen akin crushed and nary of them are beardown capable connected their own
- Remove it if the page has nary traffic, nary backlinks, and nary realistic way to being useful
Add pages you scheme to update aliases consolidate to your locator sheet. Remove pages that are nary longer relevant, but see redirecting them to applicable alternatives.
Step 7: Review your backlink profile
Review your backlink floor plan to understand the value and amount of links pointing to your tract to place whether a deficiency of high-quality links whitethorn beryllium impacting your expertise to look prominently successful search.
To audit your site’s backlinks, spell to Semrush's Backlinks instrumentality and participate your domain. Then, look for pages pinch nary aliases fewer backlinks. These are pages that presently person constricted authority and are little apt to show successful hunt results.
Find pages pinch fewer incoming links by going to the “Indexed Pages” tab successful the Backlinks instrumentality and sorting by “Domains,” truthful that pages pinch the fewest (or zero) referring domains are astatine the top.
You won’t request to build links to each azygous page pinch fewer backlinks. For example, you don’t request your privateness argumentation page to rank well.
But it’s worthy going done the database and adding pages you do want to rank to your audit locator sheet. These are pages you tin past prioritize getting links to pinch link building campaigns.
Step 8: Check the personification experience
Good personification acquisition (UX) tin straight impact your conversion complaint and your hunt performance.
Check your site's UX to place pages wherever visitors are struggling to navigate, prosecute with, aliases enactment connected your content.
Three cardinal areas to cheque are your mobile usability, wide tract accessibility, and page layout.
Check these 3 areas utilizing the tips beneath and adhd immoderate pages pinch clear UX issues to your locator spreadsheet, on pinch specifications of the rumor to the “Notes” column.
Audit mobile usability
Audit really your tract performs connected mobile devices, since Google prioritizes crawling the mobile type of your tract to index.
Plus, over 62% of each website postulation is now connected mobile, truthful a bully mobile acquisition should beryllium a privilege for each tract owners.
Common mobile usability issues to cheque for include:
- Text that's excessively mini to read
- Clickable (tappable) elements placed excessively adjacent together
- Content wider than the surface (this tin impact the scrolling experience)
- A paper that’s difficult to entree aliases navigate
- Interactive elements (like forms aliases calculators) that activity connected desktop but not connected mobile
If you usage templates for areas of your tract (like blog posts), you mightiness spot the aforesaid rumor connected tons of pages. In these cases, conscionable adhd a sample URL, and past use the hole to the template truthful it rolls retired to each the affected pages.
Check your site’s accessibility
Audit your site’s accessibility pinch a instrumentality for illustration Lighthouse successful Chrome’s dev devices to guarantee your tract is usable for group of each abilities.
Just right-click connected your page, prime “Inspect,” and spell to the “Lighthouse” tab successful the model that opens. Make judge the container adjacent to “Accessibility” is ticked and click “Analyze page load” to audit the page.
Once the Lighthouse audit is complete, click the drop-downs to study much astir immoderate accessibility issues connected your page.
Analyze your page layout
Audit your page layout to guarantee it’s easy for users to navigate your pages and find what they need.
When analyzing pages, execute the pursuing checks:
- Is the astir important contented visible without scrolling? Visitors should beryllium capable to understand what the page is astir and what to do adjacent without having to scroll.
- Is the telephone to action clear and easy to find? If the extremity of the page is to get visitors to motion up, buy, aliases interaction you, that action should beryllium evident and accessible.
- Is the page easy to read? Short paragraphs, clear headings, and capable opposition betwixt matter and inheritance tin each impact really agelong personification stays connected a page.
- Are location immoderate elements that could beryllium interrupting the experience? Intrusive pop-ups, auto-playing videos, aliases slow-loading media tin each origin visitors to time off earlier they've had a chance to engage.
You tin usage a heatmap instrumentality for illustration Microsoft Clarity to spot really existent users are behaving connected your site. This shows you the places they click most, which is useful for spotting issues pinch CTA placements. You tin besides watch recordings to understand scroll behaviour and to spot areas wherever users mightiness beryllium getting stuck.
Further reading: How UX and SEO are related (& really to optimize for both)
Step 9: Audit your schema markup
Audit your schema markup (a type of system information that provides much accusation astir your pages) to cheque whether your cardinal pages are giving hunt engines the further discourse they request to show rich results for illustration prima ratings.
Schema markup whitethorn besides thief AI systems understand your content, which could power your LLM visibility. Enter a URL into Google's Rich Results Test, and it will show you whether the page has immoderate system data, what type it is, and whether it's valid.
Semrush's Site Audit instrumentality checks for system information issues crossed each page connected your tract that was crawled, which is much applicable than testing pages 1 by one. Especially for larger website audits.
Go to your Site Audit task and navigate to the “Markup” thematic study by clicking “View details.”
Scroll to the “Structured Data Items” conception and look for immoderate pages pinch a number successful the “Invalid” column. Click the number to position the affected pages.
Click the arrow successful the “Affected Fields” file to item the circumstantial schema rumor pinch each page. Then adhd these pages and statement the rumor successful your locator spreadsheet.
How to prioritize your audit findings
How you prioritize your website audit findings depends connected your goals and the scope of the audit you ran. You tin usage the locator spreadsheet to do this for you.
For a speedy attack to prioritization, usage Semrush’s Site Audit tool. It performs 140+ checks crossed crawlability and indexability, system data, on-page SEO, and more. And you tin group up the audit to tally automatically, letting you easy show your advancement aft applying fixes.
Semrush's Site Audit uses a three-tier severity exemplary that gives you a bully starting constituent for prioritizing these fixes:
- Errors are the astir superior issues and should beryllium fixed first
- Warnings are little captious but worthy addressing erstwhile errors are resolved
- Notices are lower-priority observations that are worthy fixing erstwhile clip allows
Run a website audit coming pinch a free proceedings of Semrush One.
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