What Types of SEO Audits Are There
Before digging in too deeply, it is important to note that there are many types of audits, and which type you invest in depends on what you care most about. There are:
- Technical audits
- Local SEO audits
- Competitive audits
- Backlink audits
- GEO audits
- AI Visibility audits
Each of these serves entirely different purposes, and in order to understand which makes the most sense for you, you should speak to a professional SEO strategist to ensure you are spending your money wisely.
If you want to understand what each audit type will provide you with, head over to our article detailing each audit type.
What a Complete SEO Audit Actually Checks
You’ve likely heard of an “SEO audit” from every agency you’ve encountered, but what exactly are they? If you ask 10 different agencies what they actually include in their audits, you’d find 10 different answers. So, how do you know what to look for, and what is actually even a good deal in the first place?
Here is what an actual SEO audit looks like, and what you can do with that technical information once it’s completed.
Technical Health
Before anything else, an audit checks whether Google can actually find, crawl, and load your site the way it's supposed to. That means reviewing crawlability and indexability, so in other words, are important pages getting blocked, skipped, or accidentally hidden from search engines?
In addition to that, it also means checking Core Web Vitals to measure how fast and stable your pages are for your users, especially on mobile. It also means looking at overall site structure, so both users and search engines can navigate the site logically and easily.
If the technical side of your website is broken, nothing else in the audit matters much. Great content and strong backlinks can't help your website if Google can’t even see your content in the first place. If you’re curious about the importance of technical SEO, head over to our article walking you through exactly that.
On-Page & Content Gaps
Next, an on-page or content gap analysis looks at what's actually on each page. How are the title tags and meta descriptions? Does the content match the intent it is trying to rank for?
Another big focal point is whether or not there are obvious content gaps that exist between your website and those of your competitors. Oftentimes, a competitor only ranks higher because they cover your industry in a more comprehensive and thorough way.
Local SEO Signals
A huge audit type for local businesses is a local SEO audit. This type of audit focuses on GBP/GMB optimizations, NAP consistency, schema types, and other local signals that help users and search engines better understand your relevance to the service/location combination you are wanting to target.
Even small inconsistencies within these data points can cause both users and search engines to become confused, and that confusion will lead to lower conversions and lower rankings. A huge part of local SEO audits has to deal with consistency.
Backlink Profile Health
Backlink audits deal with the quantity and quality of your existing backlinks. A thorough backlink audit not only looks at your profile, but also the profile of your competitors. The goal is to understand what they have that you do not, and to also spot any gaps that exist that you can capitalize on to build an even stronger profile than your competitors.
What a Good Audit Deliverable Looks Like
A solid audit deliverable typically has multiple parts. You’ll have a primary spreadsheet that acts as a ‘dashboard’ where all audit documents and spreadsheets are contained in one easy to reference location.
For technical SEO deliverables you’ll have your crawl spreadsheet with all findings during the technical crawl, and there will typically be a Google document that contains the recommendations. In this Google document you’ll have more simple instructions for how to resolve each technical SEO item.
For content audits, you’ll have a content ideation spreadsheet accompanied with the GSC data and logic behind each content recommendation.
For backlink audits, you’ll have the competitive backlink spreadsheets walking through any backlink gaps or opportunities that exist.
For local SEO audits, you’ll have GBP optimization information, local competitor information, and various data sets related to local findings.
There are also GEO & AI visibility audits that will have spreadsheets and Google documents walking through any opportunities or findings as well.
At Spirra, every audit is documented in a shared Google Sheet, not a slide deck or a PDF that gets buried in an inbox. That means you can see exactly what was checked, what was found, and what's recommended, and you can refer back to it any time. Whether you're doing the work yourself, handing it to a developer, or working with us on it directly, you’ll know exactly what needs to be improved, and you’ll know the current state of each issue.
What to Actually Do With the Results
An audit is only as useful as what happens after it. The order matters. Technical issues that block crawling or tank page speed usually come first, because they're often the fastest to fix and they immediately improve everything that follows.
In reality, your SEO company should relay to you the order of priority. However, they should also provide explanations and the logic behind their recommended priority. They should be able to answer any questions you may have, and once you feel you have an understanding of what needs to be done, you can decide if you handle the issues, you hire developers, or you hire your SEO team to handle the issues.
Either way, what is most important is that you understand what the findings mean. A good SEO company won’t just provide recommendations, but they’ll relay to you exactly what those recommendations mean, and why they are important to the goals you have for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an SEO audit cost in Grand Rapids?
Pricing varies based on site size and scope, but a standalone audit is typically priced well below an ongoing SEO retainer. SEO audits can vary from $500-$2,000, but it depends on the size of your website. If you are wanting an SEO audit, head over to our audit page and book your audit today.
How long does an SEO audit take?
A thorough audit typically takes anywhere from a few days to two weeks, depending on how large the site is and depending on the types of audits performed. If you just want a technical audit, this will always be a quick turnaround.
However, if you want more complicated competitive gap analysis audits, local SEO audits, GEO or AI visibility audits, it will take more time to pull together an analysis thorough enough to provide real actionable steps toward improvement. You have to remember, these audits aren’t just about finding things. They are also about finding improvements and being able to back every finding up with actual data, and to do this type of analysis, it takes time.
Do I need an audit if I'm already working with an SEO agency?
In reality, a second-opinion audit is common, especially if progress has stalled. It's the fastest way to see exactly what's being done, what's being missed, and where the current strategy might be falling short.
Can I do an SEO audit myself?
Parts of it, yes. Free tools can flag some technical and on-page issues on their own. But a full audit that connects technical, content, local, and backlink findings into one prioritized action plan typically requires SEO-specific tools and experience to interpret correctly and turn into next steps.
Get a Free SEO Audit
Curious what an audit would actually turn up on your site? Head over to our SEO page and see what we can do for you.