How to Do an SEO Audit Without Hiring an Agency

An SEO agency will charge you $500 to $2,000 for an audit that's mostly a checklist run against your site. The checklist isn't a secret. Here's how to run the same audit yourself, what each item means, and how to fix what you find.

Start with what Google can and can't see

Before anything else, confirm your pages are indexed: search site:yourdomain.com. If pages are missing, Google can't rank what it can't see. Then check for accidental blocks — a stray "noindex" tag or a robots.txt rule is the most common reason a good page never shows up.

Audit your titles and meta descriptions

Every page needs a unique title tag that says what the page is and, ideally, where you serve. "Home" tells Google nothing; "Bella's Pizzeria — Wood-Fired Pizza in Springfield" tells it exactly when to show you. Meta descriptions don't directly affect ranking but they affect whether people click.

Check your headings and content depth

One clear H1 per page, describing the page's topic in plain language. Then enough real content to answer what a visitor came for — thin pages struggle because there's nothing for Google to match. Write for the customer's actual question, not for a word count.

Look at the technical basics

Is the site fast and mobile-friendly? Google ranks the mobile version first. Is it on HTTPS? Do images have alt text? Is there structured data (schema) telling Google your business type, hours, and location? These are the boxes an agency audit ticks.

Check your internal links

Pages that nothing links to are hard for Google to find and rank. Make sure your important pages are linked from your navigation and from related content. This is free and most sites do it poorly.

Prioritize the fixes

An audit that lists 40 issues is useless without priority. Fix the things that block indexing first, then titles and content, then the technical polish. Don't try to fix everything at once — order matters more than volume.

Related: If your site isn't showing up at all, see the common reasons a site doesn't rank.