Step by Step Guide on How to do a Website Audit

Websites don’t stay in top shape forever. Over time, they slow down, accumulate broken elements, and become less effective at doing what they’re supposed to—whether that’s ranking on search engines, converting visitors, or simply providing a smooth experience.

That’s why people do website audits. And considering how important it is for your website to be in top shape, website audits are such a big deal. It’s how you spot hidden issues, optimize performance, and make sure your site works for your business instead of against it.

In this extensive (🙈) guide, we’ll break down exactly how to audit your website step by step, what tools to use, and how to fix the problems you uncover.

Let’s jump into it.

What Is a Website Audit?

A website audit is like a full-body checkup for your site, but instead of a doctor, you’ve got analytics tools, performance tests, and SEO scanners. The goal? To find out what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs an overhaul.

At its core, a website audit helps you answer key questions:

Is my site fast enough? Slow loading times can send visitors (and Google rankings) into a free fall.
Are there any broken links or errors? Dead pages frustrate users and hurt SEO.
Is my content actually engaging? If visitors bounce immediately, something’s off.
Is my site optimized for search engines? Good rankings don’t happen by accident.
Am I tracking the right data? Without the right analytics, you’re flying blind.

Instead of guessing, an audit gives you clear, data-backed insights on how to improve your site’s performance, user experience, and search visibility.

But not all website audits are the same. Depending on your goals, you might focus on different aspects of your site.

But what are those aspects?

Let’s break down the key types of website audits before jumping into how to run one.

Types of Website Audits

Not all website audits are the same. SEO audits are pretty popular because of the benefits they bring. But depending on what you’re trying to fix or improve, there are different types of audits, each with a specific focus. Here are the main ones:

1. SEO Audit

This is all about search engine visibility. An SEO audit helps you identify issues that might be hurting your rankings on Google, such as:

Missing or duplicate meta tags
Slow page speed
Poor mobile optimization
Broken links
Weak internal linking structure

Why does it matter? If your site isn’t ranking well, an SEO audit helps you pinpoint why—and what to fix.

2. Performance Audit

Your website might look great, but if it takes forever to load, visitors won’t stick around. A performance audit checks things like:

Page load speed
Server response time
Image optimization
Caching and compression settings

Why does it matter? Well, because a slow website means lost visitors, lower conversions, and worse SEO rankings.

3. UX (User Experience) Audit

Ever been on a site that just feels... frustrating? A UX audit focuses on how easy and enjoyable your website is to navigate, so it does not feel frustrating to your users. This can be done by analyzing whether your website checks the following boxes:

Intuitive design and navigation
Mobile responsiveness
Readability and accessibility
Calls-to-action (CTAs) effectiveness

Why does it matter? If your visitors struggle to find what they need, they’ll leave—fast. If you want to keep them long enough on your site to do what you want them to do, them you need to check these boxes.

4. Technical Audit

This is the behind-the-scenes stuff that keeps your website running smoothly. A technical audit looks for:

Crawl errors (things that prevent Google from indexing your site)
Security vulnerabilities
HTTPS and SSL issues
XML sitemap and robots.txt problems

Why does it matter? A technically sound site ensures that search engines can properly crawl and index your pages. Sound site = sound business.

5. Content Audit

Even the best-looking, fastest website won’t perform well if the content is weak. A content audit evaluates:

The quality and relevance of your articles, blog posts, and landing pages
Duplicate or outdated content
Keyword optimization
Engagement metrics (time on page, bounce rate, etc.)

Why does it matter? Strong content keeps visitors informed, engaged and improves search rankings.

How to perform a website audit

Ready to get started with website audits? Here's how to perform a website audit:

Step 1: Start with a Clear Goal

Before jumping into a website audit, you need to define why you’re doing it. What’s the goal? What problems are you hoping to uncover? How will you measure success?

For this demonstration, we’re doing a full-blown website audit—covering SEO, content performance, technical health, and UX/UI. But your approach should be tailored to your needs.

Here’s how to define your goal:

Low traffic? → Focus on an SEO and content audit to check rankings, keyword optimization, and content gaps.
Slow website? → Prioritize a performance and technical audit to analyze loading speed, hosting, and code efficiency.
Low conversions? → Look into a UX audit to optimize user flow, navigation, and CTAs.

If you’re unsure, start broad and narrow down as you find issues. But having a clear goal ensures you’re focusing on the right areas instead of fixing things that don’t move the needle.

Action Step → Write down your primary goal for the audit. What’s the biggest issue you want to solve?

Once you’ve defined that, it’s time to gather the right tools—let’s cover that in Step 2.

Step 2: Gather the Right Tools

A website audit is only as good as the tools you use. If you’re trying to solve a problem, you need the right investigators. Think of a website audit like solving a mystery—without the right tools, you’re just guessing.

For this audit, we need tools that will help us analyze SEO, content, performance, and technical issues. Here’s a breakdown of must-have tools by category:

1. Analytics & Traffic Insights

Google Search Console → This should already be set up on your website. If it’s not, stop everything and set it up right now. This tool is non-negotiable—it helps you track search performance, indexing issues, and keyword rankings straight from Google itself. If you don’t have it, you’re flying blind.

→ Set up Google Search Console now.
Seline → A lightweight alternative to Google Analytics that gives you a clear, no-clutter view of your traffic, user behavior, and performance. Essential for uncovering what’s working and what’s not on your website.

→ Set up Seline Analytics.

2. SEO & Keyword Research

Ahrefs / SEMrush → Both are excellent for organic traffic analysis, backlinks, and keyword rankings. Personally, I lean toward Ahrefs because of its detailed keyword tracking and backlink insights, but any of these tools will work well.

→ Set up Ahrefs.

3. Performance & Speed Testing

Google PageSpeed Insights → Analyzes how fast your site loads and pinpoints what’s slowing it down. It provides specific fixes for mobile and desktop performance, helping you improve speed and user experience.

→ Test your website speed now.
GTmetrix → Breaks down why your site is slow using real-world performance data. It highlights server response times, image optimizations, and script issues that could be affecting your load speed.

→ Run a GTmetrix test now.

4. Technical & Security Audit

Screaming Frog → A powerful website crawler that scans your site for broken links, duplicate content, missing metadata, and overall site structure issues. If your website has hidden SEO or technical flaws, this tool will find them.

→ Download Screaming Frog.
Mozilla Observatory → A free tool for checking SSL security, HTTPS settings, and security best practices. It scans for vulnerabilities and gives you a clear security score.

→ Check your site’s security now.

5. UX & Content Audit

Seline → Helps track how users are navigating your website, which content sections are holding their attention, and how long they’re staying on key pages. This is crucial for understanding if your site’s content is actually engaging or if visitors are bouncing too quickly.
Google Lighthouse → Provides insights on user experience, accessibility, and site performance. If your site is difficult to use, Lighthouse will highlight where you need to improve.

Action Step: Set up Google Search Console, run a PageSpeed test, and check your site’s security now. The faster you do this, the sooner you’ll uncover the real issues affecting your website.

Now that we have the right tools, let’s start putting the tools to good use.

Get started with web analytics for free.

Get startedA Seline Joy

Step 3: Analyze Your Website’s Health

Now that we have the right tools in place, it’s time to start analyzing your website’s SEO health. This step is all about identifying issues that are preventing your site from ranking higher and improving its overall search visibility.

Here’s how we’ll approach this:

1. Check for Indexing Issues

Google Search Console → Go to the Coverage Report to see if Google is indexing all your important pages.

If pages are marked as "Excluded", check why.
If you see "Discovered – currently not indexed", it means Google found the page but hasn’t indexed it yet—this could be a sign of thin content or crawl budget issues.
Fix any pages with errors and submit them for reindexing.

→ Action Step: Open Google Search Console and check your Coverage Report here.

2. Evaluate Keyword Rankings & Traffic Drops

Ahrefs / SEMrush → Check your organic keyword rankings and identify any major drops in traffic.

Are there keywords you used to rank for but don’t anymore?
Is your site losing traffic after a Google algorithm update?
Compare your rankings to competitors—are they outranking you on key terms?

Action Step → Run a keyword analysis in SREF, Ahrefs, or SEMrush and note any major ranking changes.

3. Scan for On-Page SEO Issues

Screaming Frog → Crawl your site and check for:

Missing or duplicate title tags
Meta descriptions that are too short or missing
Broken internal links
Duplicate content that could be hurting rankings

Fixing these on-page SEO elements helps Google understand your content better and can lead to quick ranking improvements.

Action Step → Run a Screaming Frog crawl and fix any missing metadata, broken links, or duplicate pages.

4. Check for Site Speed & Performance Issues

Google PageSpeed Insights & GTmetrix → If your site is slow, Google will rank it lower.

Check for slow-loading pages and optimize images, scripts, and server response times.
Fix render-blocking resources that could be delaying content from loading.
Reduce Time to First Byte (TTFB)—a slow server can hurt rankings.

Action Step → Run a speed test on Google PageSpeed Insights here and fix any high-priority issues.

5. Analyze Content Performance & Engagement

Seline Analytics → See which content users engage with and where they drop off.

Are users staying on key pages or bouncing too fast?
Which of your content is actually being read?
Are visitors scrolling past important calls to action without engaging?

Understanding user behavior helps fine-tune your content strategy so you can focus on what works.

Action Step → Open Seline and check user engagement metrics on your top pages.

6. Check for Mobile-Friendliness & UX Issues

Google Lighthouse → A poor mobile experience can kill your rankings.

Run a mobile usability test to see if your site is responsive.
Identify text readability issues and tap target problems.
Ensure that pages are loading properly on all devices.

Action Step → Run a Google Lighthouse test and fix any mobile UX issues.

Final Action Steps

Check for indexing issues in Google Search Console.
Analyze keyword drops in Ahrefs, or SEMrush.
Fix on-page SEO errors using Screaming Frog.
Improve site speed with Google PageSpeed Insights & GTmetrix.
Optimize content engagement with Seline.
Ensure mobile-friendliness with Google Lighthouse.

Once you’ve completed these checks, you’ll have a clear picture of what’s holding your website back.

Audit Your Website Now

A website audit isn’t just a one-time task, it’s the foundation of a strong, high-performing site. By now, you’ve seen how crucial it is to analyze your SEO, performance, content, security, and user experience to uncover and fix hidden issues. Without these insights, you’re flying blind, and small problems could be costing you traffic, conversions, and revenue.

To get started, install the right tools immediately: Google Search Console, SREF or SEMrush, PageSpeed Insights, Screaming Frog, and others. These tools will give you real data on what’s wrong and where to improve. The sooner you set them up, the sooner you’ll see results.

Don’t wait, take action now! Set up these tools, run your audit, and start fixing issues today. Your website’s growth depends on it.