How to Run Your First Technical SEO Audit: A Beginner’s Guide

Did you know 90.63% of web pages get zero organic traffic from Google? Many of these pages fail due to technical SEO issues. A technical SEO audit helps you identify and fix these problems to improve your site’s performance and visibility.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

• Core Elements of a Technical SEO Audit: Crawlability, site structure, page speed, mobile optimization, and security.
• Steps to Perform an Audit:
  1. Crawl your site to find errors.
  2. Fix indexing issues.
  3. Improve mobile usability and page speed.
  4. Optimize your site structure.
  5. Monitor and maintain technical health regularly.
• Key Tools: Google Search Console, Creeper, and PageSpeed Insights.

How to do a Technical SEO Audit (Easy with Creeper SEO Audit tool)

Step 1: Getting Ready for Your Audit

 

Before diving into your audit, make sure you have the right access and tools. Did you know that many SEO professionals rely on Google Search Console as their go-to tool for technical audits?

Website Access You’ll Need

To perform a technical SEO audit, you’ll require admin-level access to several platforms. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Access Type	Purpose	Priority
CMS Login	Make content and technical adjustments	High
Google Search Console	Track indexing and performance	High
Google Analytics	Analyze user behavior and traffic trends	High
FTP/Server Access	Modify critical technical files	Medium
CDN Dashboard	Manage content delivery settings	Medium

Tools for Beginners

Here are some beginner-friendly tools that can help streamline your audit:

• Google Search Console: Great for tracking index coverage and performance metrics.
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Free for up to 500 URLs, making it ideal for smaller websites.
• PageSpeed Insights: Helps analyze loading speed and Core Web Vitals.
• Creeper SEO Audit Tool: The free Lite plan audits up to 100 pages, while the Starter plan (€4/month) covers up to 3,500 pages across three sites.

These tools are reliable starting points for identifying and fixing technical issues.

Setting Goals That Matter

A typical audit for small to medium websites takes 2–6 hours. To stay focused, set clear, measurable goals. Here’s a helpful guide:

Goal Type	Example Target	Timeframe
Speed Optimization	Reduce load time to under 3 seconds	30 days
Error Resolution	Fix 90% of 404 errors	30 days
Mobile Performance	Achieve a “Good” Core Web Vitals score	45 days
Indexing	Resolve all critical indexing issues	1 week

For example, Wayfair‘s technical SEO strategy leveraged dynamic functionality and data-driven decisions to enhance site efficiency and visibility, leading to significant improvements in speed and search performance

With these tools, access, and clear goals, you’re all set to move on to analyzing your website’s crawl data in the next step. This preparation ensures you’re ready to tackle any technical issues that come your way.

Step 2: Website Crawl Analysis

It’s time to dive into your crawl analysis. Data reveals that 25% of websites struggle with duplicate content, and 68% have at least one broken internal link. A thorough crawl helps identify areas that need immediate fixes to improve your site’s performance.

Running Your First Website Crawl

For this, Creeper’s SEO Crawler is a user-friendly tool to get started. Follow these steps:

• Create a new project by entering the website URL and project name.
• Select the Chrome crawl agent to mimic real user behavior.
• If needed, set a crawl schedule for recurring scans.
• Click Add Project and wait for the crawl to finish—you’ll also receive an email notification once completed.

Common Technical Errors

Once the crawl finishes, focus on addressing the most frequent technical SEO issues:

Error	Impact	Priority
404 Errors	Hurts user experience, wastes crawl budget	High
Duplicate Content	Confuses search engines, weakens ranking power	High
Slow Page Speed	Impacts rankings and user experience	Medium
Missing Meta Descriptions	Lowers click-through rates in search results	Medium
Broken Internal Links	Disrupts site structure, wastes link equity	High

Reading Crawl Data

When analyzing your crawl results, focus on these critical areas:

• Crawl Depth Analysis: Check that key pages are easy to access from your homepage. Pages buried too deep may get overlooked by both search engines and users.
• Internal Link Distribution: Review how link equity is distributed across your site. Use the “Links Explorer” report to find pages that could benefit from additional internal links.

These insights will guide your next steps, helping you prioritize which technical fixes to tackle first.

Step 3: Fixing Website Index Issues

Indexing problems can seriously affect your site’s visibility. In fact, John Mueller says that 20% of web pages aren’t indexed by Google. This makes proper indexation a critical part of SEO.

Common Indexing Errors and Fixes

Google Search Console’s Coverage report is a great place to identify indexing issues. Here are some common problems and how to fix them:

Error Type	Impact	Solution
Noindex Tags	Prevents pages from being indexed	Remove the meta robots “noindex” tag
Robots.txt Blocks	Stops crawlers from accessing pages	Update permissions in your robots.txt file
Canonical Tag Issues	Creates duplicate content and indexing issues	Use correct canonical tags
Soft 404 Errors	Misleads search engines and wastes crawl budget	Add proper 301 redirects for moved/updated pages
Crawl Errors	Blocks indexing due to broken links or server issues	Fix broken links and update server settings

For pages you want indexed, make sure they include the correct meta robots tag:

<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">

Improving Site Structure

A well-organized site structure helps both users and search engines navigate your content. Here’s how to improve it:

• Link important pages from high-authority pages.
• Add schema-marked breadcrumbs for better navigation.
• Ensure all pages are no more than three clicks away from your homepage.

Optimizing Your Sitemap

While submitting a sitemap helps search engines discover your site’s URLs, it’s important to note that not all URLs listed in a sitemap are guaranteed to be indexed by Google. To address this:

• Regularly update your sitemap to remove outdated URLs and include key pages.
• Keep your sitemap under 50MB or 50,000 URLs.
• Use priority tags to highlight important content.
• Automate sitemap generation to ensure new content is included, and verify its submission in Google Search Console.

Example of Success: Moz shared a case where an e-commerce client saw a 50% boost in organic traffic – an extra 15,000 monthly visits – after fixing indexation issues. They removed noindex tags from category pages and updated their robots.txt file to allow JavaScript crawling.

Next up: focus on mobile and speed optimization to boost your site’s performance further.

Step 4: Mobile and Speed Optimization

With nearly 58% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, ensuring your site performs well on mobile is crucial. Let’s dive into how you can fine-tune your site’s mobile experience and speed.

Mobile Site Check

Google now uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily evaluates your mobile site for rankings. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to identify any mobile-specific issues. Here are some common problems and solutions:

Issue	Impact	Solution
Media Incompatibility	Users can’t access media	Replace Flash with HTML5
Faulty Redirects	Disrupt navigation	Ensure redirects point to equivalent pages
Intrusive Interstitials	Higher bounce rates	Remove or minimize intrusive pop-ups
Hidden Content	Reduced engagement	Display key information prominently
Small Tap Targets	Difficult navigation	Increase button and link sizes for touch use

Addressing these issues ensures your mobile users have a smoother and more enjoyable experience.

Speed Metrics Fix

Page speed is a critical factor for both user experience and rankings. Pay attention to these key metrics:

Metric	Good Score	How to Improve
Largest Contentful Paint	≤ 2.5s	Optimize images and remove unnecessary scripts
First Input Delay	≤ 100ms	Minimize JavaScript execution time
Cumulative Layout Shift	≤ 0.1	Set image/video dimensions to prevent content shifts

Here’s a real-world example: Carved.com reduced their mobile load time from 28 seconds to 9 seconds, which led to a 70% increase in conversions and a 33% drop in bounce rate.

To improve speed, try these tactics:

• Compress images with tools like TinyPNG.
• Use lazy loading and a content delivery network (CDN).
• Minimize and defer non-critical CSS and JavaScript.
• Enable browser caching.

Once these steps are complete, consider reviewing AMP implementation for additional performance gains.

AMP Page Check

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) can help your site load faster on mobile devices. To implement AMP:

1. Create AMP versions of your key pages using AMP HTML.
2. Validate AMP pages using the AMP Test tool or a browser extension.
3. Track AMP performance in Google Search Console.
4. Use proper canonical tags to link AMP and non-AMP versions.

Chrome DevTools’ Network panel can help you identify slow-loading resources. Keep in mind: pages that load within 2 seconds have a bounce rate of just 9%, while those taking 5 seconds see it spike to 38%. Regularly monitor your mobile performance through Google Search Console’s Mobile Usability report to stay ahead of potential issues.

Step 5: Monitoring and Maintenance

After implementing your technical fixes, it’s time to focus on keeping your site in top shape. This step ensures your technical SEO efforts continue to deliver results. Did you know that updating old content has been shown to nearly double traffic, with some reports indicating a 96% increase?.

Setting Up Progress Tracking

To measure your site’s performance, use reliable tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Keep an eye on these key metrics:

Metric Category	Key Indicators	Monitoring Frequency
Traffic Performance	Organic visits, bounce rate, time on site	Weekly
Technical Health	Crawl errors, index coverage, Core Web Vitals	Bi-weekly
Search Visibility	Click-through rates, average position, impressions	Monthly
Mobile Performance	Mobile usability issues, AMP performance	Monthly

To make tracking easier, consider creating a custom dashboard in Google Data Studio. This can help you visualize trends and spot potential problems before they hurt your rankings.

Audit Schedule Creation

Having a clear audit schedule tailored to your site’s size is essential. For small to medium-sized websites, here’s a basic framework:

Audit Type	Frequency	Key Focus Areas
Quick Health Check	Monthly	Crawl errors, server status, and critical page issues
Comprehensive Audit	Quarterly	Detailed technical analysis, like Core Web Vitals and indexation checks
In-Depth Analysis	Every 6 months	Strategic reviews, including competitive analysis and content evaluation

Take Shopify’s SEO team as an example. In 2022, they introduced weekly automated crawls. This allowed them to fix over 500 broken links and 200 duplicate meta descriptions, leading to a 15% boost in organic traffic within six months.

Plan your audits in advance and document every change to keep track of your progress.

Change Log Management

Keeping a detailed change log helps you monitor the impact of your updates and resolve issues faster. Here’s what to include:

Component	Description	Purpose
Date and Time	When the change was made	Tracks the timeline of updates
Change Details	Specific modifications	Documents what was updated
Implementation Team	Who made the changes	Ensures accountability
Impact Analysis	Resulting changes in metrics	Measures the success of updates
Recovery Plan	Steps to fix potential issues	Helps resolve problems quickly

Using tools like Google Sheets or project management software can simplify this process. Automated alerts can also notify you of major traffic or ranking changes.

Focus on metrics that align with your business goals. For example, track how organic traffic impacts conversions or revenue. This approach helps address a common challenge – 61% of marketers find it tough to prove ROI from their efforts.

“Regular monitoring and maintenance are not optional extras – they’re fundamental to maintaining and improving your site’s search performance. Without them, you’re essentially flying blind.”

Emily Thompson, Shopify’s SEO Manager

Keep your system straightforward but effective. Use automation for routine checks, but rely on human oversight for strategic decisions and complex problems. This balance ensures you catch issues early, keeping your site’s performance on track.

With monitoring in place, you’re set to take your SEO strategy to the next level.

Conclusion: Next Steps

Audit Steps Review

Technical SEO audits can increase organic traffic by 118% year over year. Here’s a quick breakdown of the key components for conducting your first technical audit:

Audit Phase	Key Actions	Expected Outcomes
Preparation	Set up tools, define goals	Clear plan for the audit process
Crawl Analysis	Run a site crawl, find technical issues	Prioritized list of fixes
Index Issues	Review sitemap, fix structural errors	Better search engine visibility
Mobile & Speed	Check mobile usability, improve speed	Better user experience
Monitoring	Set up tracking, plan for maintenance	Consistent performance improvements

Use this framework as a guide to kickstart your SEO improvements.

Getting Started Guide

Ready to dive into technical SEO? Start with these steps:

• Tool Setup
  Begin with Creeper’s free crawl tool (Start by signing up for a free Creeper SEO Audit to get an initial assessment.
• Initial Assessment
  Run a Creeper crawl to uncover major technical issues. Focus on these areas:
  

Area	What to Check	Recommended Tool
Crawlability	Robots.txt, XML sitemap	Google Search Console
Page Speed	Core Web Vitals, Load Times	PageSpeed Insights
Mobile Usage	Mobile compatibility problems	Mobile-Friendly Test
Technical Errors	404 errors, redirects, meta tags	Creeper SEO Audit

Technical SEO is an ongoing process. Start with these basics, and as your site grows, consider upgrading to advanced tools. For example, Creeper’s Enterprise subscription removes crawl limits, allowing you to crawl over 50,000 URLs, and SE Ranking‘s Website Audit provides detailed insights.

Take these steps to lay the foundation for your technical SEO strategy.

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