Updated: March 23, 2023.
Contemplating whether to hire an SEO expert to audit your website? Discover 24 compelling benefits of an SEO audit that you should consider.
With over a decade of experience as an SEO auditor, I’m fortunate that clients now seek me out, already understanding the immense value of SEO audits.
If you’ve stumbled upon this page still debating whether or not to have your website audited, let me be candid with you.
An in-depth SEO audit, when executed correctly, has the power to not only transform your business but also rescue it from potential financial ruin.
However, there’s a crucial caveat: the audit must be conducted by a seasoned SEO professional who truly knows their craft. A low-cost, run-of-the-mill audit from Fiverr simply won’t cut it.
To help you find the right SEO auditor for your needs, my list of essential questions to ask before an SEO audit will assist you in screening potential candidates.
Now, without further ado, let’s dive into the 44 benefits of an SEO audit, complete with real-life examples, to illustrate just how transformative an expertly conducted audit can be for your website.
44 SEO audit benefits
While the benefits of an SEO audit are vast, I’ve handpicked the top 44 benefits to showcase its remarkable potential. Bear in mind that individual results may vary, as each website’s circumstances differ.
It’s important to note that the following benefits pertain to a comprehensive, in-depth SEO audit that encompasses not only technical aspects but also content, on-page SEO, backlinks, and more. Such an extensive audit typically requires a commitment of 30-40 hours or even longer.
1. Improved search engine rankings
After an SEO audit identifies issues with keyword usage, a local bakery updates its website content to better target relevant keywords, resulting in higher search engine rankings and increased visibility.
2. Increased website traffic
An online clothing store conducts an SEO audit and optimizes its product pages, leading to a significant increase in organic traffic and potential customers.
3. Enhanced user experience
A travel blog uncovers navigation issues during an SEO audit and restructures its website menu to provide a more seamless experience for visitors, improving user engagement.
4. Higher conversion rates
By identifying and fixing a poorly designed call-to-action button during an SEO audit, an e-commerce website sees an increase in newsletter sign-ups and sales conversions.
5. Identifying technical issues
A digital marketing agency conducts an SEO audit for a client and discovers all of their blog posts return status code 404 (Not Found), which they promptly fix, improving the website’s overall performance in search results.
6. In-depth content analysis
A health and wellness website evaluates its content during an SEO audit, ensuring it follows E-E-A-T guidelines and provides valuable information to both users and search engines.
7. Uncovering content gaps
During an SEO audit, a tech news site identifies a lack of articles on an emerging technology, leading them to produce new content that attracts a new audience.
8. Effective keyword targeting
An SEO audit for a home improvement business highlights opportunities for better keyword targeting, leading to increased qualified traffic from potential customers searching for specific services.
9. Analyzing backlink profile
A personal finance blog conducts an SEO audit that identifies harmful backlinks they had been building for years, which they disavow, while also developing a strategy to acquire valuable backlinks from reputable sources.
10. Assessing website architecture
A local newspaper’s SEO audit uncovers a confusing website structure, prompting them to reorganize the layout, improving usability and search engine indexing.
11. Discovering duplicate content
An e-commerce site’s SEO audit reveals several duplicate product descriptions, which they rewrite to improve the site’s overall content quality and avoid search engine penalties.
A marketing agency updates the meta tags on a client’s website during an SEO audit, resulting in more relevant search snippets and improved click-through rates from search results.
13. Enhancing website security
An SEO audit uncovers security vulnerabilities on a law firm’s website, leading to the implementation of necessary measures to protect sensitive client information.
14. Monitoring competitors
A software company conducts an SEO audit and gains insights into competitor strategies, allowing them to adjust their marketing approach and gain a competitive edge.
15. Ensuring compliance with search engine guidelines
A food delivery service conducts regular SEO audits to stay informed about search engine algorithm updates and maintain compliance, avoiding potential penalties.
16. Reducing bounce rate
An SEO audit for an online magazine identifies slow-loading pages that contribute to a high bounce rate. By optimizing site performance, user engagement improves, and bounce rate decreases.
17. Establishing long-term SEO success
A new startup conducts an SEO audit, laying a strong foundation for their website’s ongoing search engine ranking success and attracting potential customers.
18. Providing actionable insights
An SEO audit for a photography website offers specific recommendations on improving image optimization, allowing the website owner to prioritize and implement impactful changes.
19. Identifying crawlability and indexability issues
During an SEO audit, a real estate portal uncovers issues with its XML sitemap, which they fix to ensure search engines can effectively crawl and index their gigantic site.
20. Analyzing website performance
An online gaming platform optimizes its load times after an SEO audit reveals performance issues, resulting in a more enjoyable experience for users.
21. Maximizing return on investment (ROI)
A small business conducts an SEO audit and reallocates marketing resources to focus on high-impact areas, maximizing the ROI of their marketing efforts.
22. Building brand credibility
An SEO audit helps a luxury watch retailer optimize its website, projecting a professional image that increases trust and credibility with potential customers.
23. Creating a solid URL structure
A tech news website conducts an SEO audit and discovers their URL structure is inconsistent and confusing. By creating a clear and logical URL structure, they improve both user experience and search engine indexing.
24. Ensuring HTTPS implementation
An online banking platform conducts an SEO audit and ensures that HTTPS is correctly implemented across the site, providing a secure browsing experience for their users and meeting search engine requirements.
25. Monitoring site redirects
An online magazine conducts an SEO audit and identifies inefficient redirects. By optimizing their redirect strategy, they improve site performance and maintain search engine ranking equity.
26. Boosting page loading speed
A streaming service conducts an SEO audit and discovers that their site is loading slowly due to large video files. By optimizing these files, they significantly improve page loading speed and user satisfaction.
An SEO audit for a fashion blog reveals that social sharing buttons are not prominently displayed on their pages. By adding easy-to-use sharing buttons, the blog experiences an increase in social media engagement and traffic.
28. Analyzing user-generated content
A local news site conducts an SEO audit and finds that their internal linking structure is suboptimal, leading them to improve it and enhance overall user navigation and search engine indexing.
29. Identifying outdated content
A health and wellness website conducts an SEO audit and identifies outdated content that no longer serves their audience. By updating or removing this content, they maintain a fresh and relevant website that attracts users and search engines.
30. Gaining insights on audience preferences
An online education platform conducts an SEO audit and gains valuable insights into the types of content that resonate with their audience, allowing them to create more targeted and relevant courses.
31. Monitoring mobile responsiveness
A travel agency conducts an SEO audit and discovers that their website is not mobile-friendly. By optimizing the site for mobile devices, they provide a better experience for users on-the-go and improve their search engine rankings.
32. Enhancing local SEO
A small restaurant conducts an SEO audit and identifies opportunities to improve its local SEO presence. By optimizing their Google Business Profile listing and local citations, they attract more customers from their local area.
33. Reducing site downtime
An e-commerce site conducts an SEO audit and discovers server issues causing downtime, affecting both user experience and search rankings. By resolving these issues, they improve site reliability and customer satisfaction.
34. Detecting and resolving canonicalization issues
An online retailer’s SEO audit uncovers canonicalization issues with product pages. By fixing these issues, they prevent duplicate content and improve their overall search presence.
35. Analyzing user behavior
An online bookstore conducts an SEO audit and gains insights into how users interact with their website. By using these insights, they optimize the site layout to improve user flow and increase the likelihood of making a purchase.
36. Optimizing image SEO
An art gallery’s SEO audit reveals that their images lack proper alt tags and file names. By optimizing image SEO, they make their site more accessible and improve search engine rankings.
37. Implementing structured data
A recipe website conducts an SEO audit and discovers the benefits of using structured data. By implementing schema markup, they increase the chances of their content being displayed as rich snippets in search results, boosting visibility and traffic.
38. Monitoring website crawl budget
An e-commerce website conducts an SEO audit and discovers issues affecting their crawl budget. By optimizing their site to be more search engine friendly, they ensure that important pages are crawled and indexed regularly.
39. Prioritizing page importance
A real estate portal conducts an SEO audit and discovers that important pages are buried deep within the site. By restructuring the site hierarchy, they make these pages more accessible to users and search engines.
40. Uncovering content cannibalization issues
An online education platform conducts an SEO audit and discovers multiple pages targeting the same keywords. By consolidating and refining their content strategy, they eliminate content cannibalization and improve search performance.
41. Utilizing video SEO
A fitness company conducts an SEO audit and optimizes their video content for search engines. By adding video schema markup, captions, and relevant metadata, they increase the visibility of their video content in search results.
42. Improving site accessibility
An online learning platform conducts an SEO audit, which reveals accessibility issues for users with disabilities. By addressing these issues, they make their website more inclusive and comply with accessibility regulations.
43. Identifying underperforming content
An SEO audit for a sports news website highlights underperforming content that can be optimized or removed to improve the site’s overall quality and search engine performance.
44. Monitoring site performance over time
A software development company conducts regular SEO audits to keep track of their website’s performance, allowing them to make data-driven decisions and ensure the site remains optimized and up-to-****.
I think I can stop at this point. You get the point… 😁
Top SEO audit mistakes
Throughout my years of auditing websites, I’ve encountered a plethora of unusual errors and oversights. The diversity and scope of these mistakes never cease to amaze me. If you’re curious to learn more about these intriguing findings, I invite you to explore further.
You can watch a video where I discuss these peculiar website mistakes with Dan Shure, a fellow SEO expert. Alternatively, delve into the article I’ve written, which details the most common SEO audit mistakes that I’ve come across in my extensive experience.
By understanding these mistakes, you’ll gain valuable insights into the potential pitfalls that can affect a website’s performance, and learn how to avoid them in your own online endeavors.
Final words of wisdom
In summary, the benefits of a comprehensive SEO audit are substantial. By examining the technical, content, on-page, and off-page aspects of your website, you can optimize its performance and improve search engine rankings.
This article has presented the top 44 benefits and real-life examples to emphasize the importance of an SEO audit. To fully capitalize on these benefits, it’s crucial to work with a skilled SEO professional who can provide valuable insights and guide you in implementing the necessary improvements.
If you are ready to take action and enhance your website’s potential, consider hiring an experienced SEO auditor like myself, or search for another qualified professional who aligns with your needs. The choice is yours – but remember, a thorough SEO audit is the first step toward online success.
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