What an audit is meant to tell you
A good audit answers three questions. Can search engines reach and understand your pages? Do those pages deserve a place in the results that bring you customers? And what should be fixed first, given the time and money you have?
Many automated reports skip the third question. They return hundreds of warnings with equal weight, and most of them do not affect your enquiries. We read the findings, discard the noise and tell you which issues matter for your business.
An audit is a snapshot. It does not promise a result, because rankings depend on competitors and on Google's systems as well as your site. What it gives you is a reliable basis for decisions.
What we check
The scope varies by site, but most audits cover these areas.
| Area | Questions we ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Crawling and indexing | Can Google reach key pages? Are important pages blocked or set to noindex by mistake? | Pages that are not indexed cannot appear in results |
| Duplicate and similar pages | Do several URLs show the same content? Is a preferred version declared? | Google chooses a version for you if you do not, and may not choose the one you want |
| Mobile experience | Does the phone version carry the same content as the desktop version? | Google uses the mobile version of a page for indexing and ranking |
| Speed and stability | How do key pages perform on loading, responsiveness and layout shift? | Google recommends good Core Web Vitals for success in Search |
| Content and intent | Does each page match what people searching for it expect to find? | A page can be sound technically and still answer the wrong question |
| Links and structure | Can visitors and crawlers reach every important page through clear links? | Google says it finds most new pages through links, so orphan pages are hard to discover |
| Local signals | Do your profile, listings and site agree about who you are and where you work? | Mixed details weaken how clearly Google can match you to searches |
How the audit runs
We keep the process simple so you know when to expect each stage.
- ScopeYou tell us the business goals, the services that earn most and any recent changes such as a redesign or domain move.
- CollectWe review your site from the outside and, where you can share it, the search data Google already holds about your pages.
- DiagnoseWe separate real blockers from harmless warnings and test our suspicions on the pages that matter.
- RankEach finding is scored by likely effect on enquiries, the effort to fix it and the risk of leaving it.
- Report and talk throughYou receive the report and a chance to ask questions, so nothing is left to guesswork.
Five checks you can run yourself today
You can learn a lot before paying for anything. These checks use free Search Console reports, and each one gives you a question to take to a developer or to us.
- Inspect your home pageThe URL Inspection tool reports whether Google has the page indexed, when it was last crawled and which canonical address Google picked. The verdict URL is on Google tells you the page is eligible to appear, nothing more.
- Inspect your best service pageCompare the canonical you declared with the one Google picked. If they differ, ask your developer why.
- Open the Performance reportLook at the queries and pages that bring impressions. Note any page you care about that has impressions but few clicks.
- View a service page on your phoneGoogle indexes the mobile version, so anything missing there is missing for indexing purposes.
- Test a page that should not existA deleted page should return a proper not-found response. Google removes indexed URLs that return 404 or 410, and flags error pages that return a success code as soft 404s.
The free SEO audit and the full audit
The free SEO audit is a modest offer. We look at your website and send back a short list of priorities in everyday language. It is enough to show whether something obvious is wrong and whether paid work would make sense.
A full audit goes further. It covers the whole site, draws on more data and produces a detailed report with recommendations for your developers or content team. Full audits are quoted individually because the effort depends on the size and complexity of the site.
What you receive
The report is written for owners and managers first, with technical detail kept in a separate section for developers.
- A summary page: The five or six issues most likely to be costing you enquiries, in order.
- Evidence for each finding: Examples and page addresses, so your developer can verify it.
- Clear fixes: What to change, who should do it and roughly how long it takes.
- A list of things to leave alone: Warnings that sound alarming but do not need action.
- A suggested order of work: A plan for the first three months, adjustable as you go.
What separates a useful audit from a template
Be sceptical of any audit that arrives within minutes and carries the same wording for every site.
A useful audit
- Reflects your business, services and customers
- Explains findings in plain language
- Orders the fixes by value and effort
- States clearly what it could not check
A template report
- Prints a score without saying what it means
- Lists every warning at the same priority
- Pitches a service for each finding
- Promises a ranking if you fix the list
When to commission an audit
Timing matters. These are the moments where a review pays for itself:
Before a redesign or move
Planning a new site or domain is far cheaper than repairing the damage afterwards. See our SEO migrations service.
After traffic falls
A drop has a cause, and finding it is the first step to recovery.
When the site is large
Shops and directories, such as those in ecommerce SEO, gather duplicate pages and thin content over time.
When trust matters
Firms that depend on credibility, like law firms, need accurate, well-structured pages.
Where an audit leads
Findings often point to a deeper job. Crawling and speed problems move into technical SEO. Pages that miss what people search for lead to keyword research. For a view of the complete menu, see our SEO services page.
An audit can also look at how your content may be read by AI features in search. We cover what Google says about that on our Google AI Overviews page. If you serve customers in the south of the city, our note on SEO for Tuggeranong shows how local context changes the picture.
Frequently asked questions
What is included in an SEO audit?
We review whether search engines can crawl and index your pages, how they are linked, how well each one matches its target search, how they load on a phone, and how your local presence looks. The output is a written report with fixes ranked by value and effort.
Is the free SEO audit really free?
Yes. It is a review of your website that ends in a short list of priorities, with no obligation. It is deliberately modest. If a deeper audit or ongoing work would help, we will explain why and quote separately.
How long does an SEO audit take?
Our first reply comes within a business day, and it states when the free review will arrive. Full audits depend on the size of the site and the access we have. We confirm a timeframe in writing before we begin.
Will an audit improve my rankings?
An audit alone does not change your rankings. It tells you what to fix. Rankings improve only if the fixes are made, and even then the delay before Google reflects a change can reach months. We do not guarantee results.
What access do you need?
For the free review, only your website address. For a full audit, read-only access to your Google Search Console data is helpful because it shows which queries and pages Google already associates with you. We never ask for passwords to unrelated accounts.
Do I need an audit if I just redesigned my site?
Often yes. Redesigns change addresses, headings, internal links and page speed, and any of these can affect search visibility. A post-launch check finds problems early, while they are still simple to fix.
Can my developer use the report?
Yes. Each finding includes the pages affected and the change we recommend, so a developer can act on it directly. We are happy to join a call with your developer to clarify anything.
Can I check the basics myself before booking an audit?
Yes. In Search Console, the URL Inspection tool shows whether a page is on Google, when it was last crawled and which canonical Google picked. The Performance report lists the queries and pages that already bring impressions. Those two reports answer the first questions an audit asks, and they make any later conversation with us faster and cheaper.
Sources and further reading
- Google Search Central: Introduction to robots.txt: robots.txt controls crawling, not indexing; noindex is the way to keep a page out
- Google Search Central: Consolidate duplicate URLs: Google picks a canonical if you do not specify one
- Google Search Central: Mobile-first indexing best practices: Google uses the mobile version for indexing and ranking; content should match
- Google Search Central: Understanding Core Web Vitals: Google recommends good Core Web Vitals for success in Search
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide: Google finds pages mainly through links; changes can take hours to months
- Search Console Help: URL Inspection tool: Indexed status, last crawl, user-declared and Google-selected canonical; URL is on Google means eligible, not guaranteed
- Search Console Help: Performance report: Queries, pages, clicks, impressions, CTR and position; default view covers three months
- Google Search Central: HTTP status codes, network and DNS errors: 404 and 410 removal from the index; soft 404 flagged when an error page returns 200; 5xx slows crawling