In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, having a beautifully designed website isn’t enough. If your site isn’t optimized for search engines, you’re missing out on a significant share of potential organic traffic. That’s where a comprehensive SEO audit comes in — an in-depth evaluation of your site’s SEO health to uncover technical, on-page, keyword-related, and competitive opportunities for improvement.
This guide breaks down a Custom SEO Audit Plan into essential categories:
- On-Page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Keyword Analysis
- Competitor Analysis
- CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) Checklist
- Conclusion
1. On-Page SEO Audit
On-page SEO focuses on optimizing elements within your website. This includes content, HTML tags, and internal linking structures to improve visibility and usability.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are snippets of code that help search engines understand what a web page is about.
Title Tags: Should be unique for each page and include primary keywords. Keep it under 60 characters for best visibility in search results.
Meta Descriptions: These should be clear and enticing, containing keywords and written like a call-to-action (CTA). Limit to around 155–160 characters.
Heading Tags (H1–H6)
Search engines use heading tags to determine page structure.
- Only use one H1 tag per page — usually your page title.
- Use H2, H3 to organize content into sections and subsections.
- Include target and LSI keywords naturally in headers.
Internal Linking
- Internal links help users and bots navigate your site.
- Link important pages more often (homepage, cornerstone content).
- Use descriptive anchor text (e.g., “custom SEO audit guide” instead of “click here”).
- Keep links relevant and limit excessive linking on a single page.
External Linking
- External links to trusted sources can improve your site’s credibility.
- Link to high-authority domains (e.g., Moz, Ahrefs, Google Docs).
- Use outbound links sparingly and ensure they open in a new tab (target=”_blank”).
- Use tools like Screaming Frog to audit outbound link quality and status.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider On-Page Check
- Screaming Frog is a powerful tool that crawls websites to provide on-page SEO insights.
- Identify missing or duplicate title tags and meta descriptions.
- Find long or short titles outside the character limits.
- Check for duplicate content, missing image alt tags, 404 errors, and redirect chains.
2. Technical SEO Audit
Technical SEO ensures that your site meets the technical requirements of modern search engines. Without it, even the best content may never rank.
1. Website Performance Server response time
- Unused JavaScript or CSS
- Image optimization
Caching
Goal: Ensure the website loads fast and performs efficiently.
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Lighthouse.
Look for:
- Server response time
- Unused JavaScript or CSS
- Image optimization
- Caching
Why It Matters: A slow site frustrates users and negatively impacts rankings.
2. Canonical Tags
Goal: Avoid duplicate content issues and consolidate ranking signals.
Each page should have a self-referencing <link rel=”canonical”>.
Pages with similar content (e.g., sorting or filtering options) should point to a preferred version.
Why It Matters: Google may penalize or ignore duplicate content. Canonicals help you control which version gets indexed.
3. Robots.txt File
Goal: Manage which parts of your site are crawlable by search engines.
Check for a properly formatted robots.txt at yourdomain.com/robots.txt.
Don’t block important pages or resources (like CSS or JS files).
Example:
- makefile
- Copy
- Edit
- User-agent: *
- Disallow: /admin/
- Allow: /
Why It Matters: A misconfigured robots.txt can block essential content from being indexed.
4. Broken Links (404 Errors)
Goal: Identify and fix internal and external broken links.
- Use Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or Sitebulb.
- Redirect broken pages (301) or fix the internal link if it’s a typo.
- Remove or replace broken outbound links.
Why It Matters: Broken links hurt user experience and crawl efficiency.
5. Alt Tags for Images
Goal: Improve accessibility and image SEO.
All images should include descriptive alt attributes.
Use relevant keywords naturally.
Example:
html
Copy
Edit
<img src=”seo-audit-tool.jpg” alt=”Technical SEO audit using Screaming Frog”>
Why It Matters: Helps visually impaired users and allows Google to understand your images.
6. Schema Markup (Structured Data)
Goal: Help search engines better understand your content and improve click-through rates with rich results.
Use types like:
- LocalBusiness
- Organization
- Product
- Review
- FAQ
Validate using Google’s Rich Results Test or Schema.org validator.
Why It Matters: Enhances your listings in SERPs with stars, prices, FAQs, etc.
7. Website Speed
Goal: Load your website in under 2.5 seconds.
Use performance tools to test both mobile and desktop.
Key actions:
- Use lazy loading
- Implement CDN
- Minify JS, CSS
Defer offscreen content
Why It Matters: Page speed is a core ranking factor and improves user retention.
8. Sitemap Check
Goal: Ensure search engines can discover all important pages.
Check your XML sitemap:
- Submit it in Google Search Console.
- Only include indexable, canonical, and live pages.
- Exclude pages like /thank-you/, /cart/, or /admin/.
Why It Matters: A sitemap acts as a roadmap for search engine bots.
9. Mobile-Friendliness
Provide a good experience on all devices.
Use Google Mobile-Friendly Test.
Check:
- Responsive layout
- Button tap targetsFont sizes
- Viewport settings
Why It Matters: Google uses mobile-first indexing, so mobile usability directly impacts rankings.
10. URL Structure
Create clear, readable, SEO-friendly URLs.
Best practices:
Use hyphens, not underscores (seo-audit, not seo_audit)
Avoid dynamic parameters (e.g., ?id=123)
Keep URLs short and relevant
Example:
https://example.com/seo-audit-services
https://example.com/page.php?id=34&track=seo
Why It Matters: Clean URLs are easier to index, share, and remember.
11. Core Web Vitals
Improve user experience and meet Google’s UX standards.
Key metrics:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – under 2.5s
- FID (First Input Delay) – under 100ms
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – under 0.1
Why It Matters: Google has officially made Core Web Vitals a ranking factor.
3. Keyword Check
Proper keyword usage ensures your content aligns with what your audience is searching for.
1. Keyword Density
Keyword density refers to the frequency of a target keyword in a piece of content.
Ideal density: 1–2%
Overusing a keyword can be seen as spammy.
2. How Many Keywords Per Page?
Focus on 1 primary keyword per page.
Support with 2–5 LSI keywords and long-tail variations.
3. Keyword Frequency
Spread keywords across:
- Title tag
- First 100 words
- Headings
- Image alt tags
- URL
- Meta description
4. Keyword Stuffing
Avoid repetitive and unnatural use of keywords, such as:
Our SEO audit services offer SEO audit plans with SEO audits from SEO audit experts.”
This is penalized by search engines.
5. LSI Keyword Check
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are semantically related terms that help search engines understand context.
Use tools like LSIGraph, Google Autosuggest, or AnswerThePublic.
Example for “SEO audit”: LSI terms include “technical SEO check,” “site audit tool,” or “crawl errors.”
4. Competitor Analysis
Understanding what your competitors are doing helps shape a stronger SEO strategy.
Check DA/PA
DA (Domain Authority) and PA (Page Authority) are metrics by Moz indicating backlink strength.
Compare your scores with competitors using MozBar or Ahrefs.
Organic Traffic Comparison
Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or SimilarWeb to measure competitors’ organic traffic.
Identify high-performing pages and replicate their strategy.
Content Quality & Gaps
Check the length, depth, and freshness of their top-ranking content.
Identify content gaps you can fill with more value, visuals, or expert insights.
Backlink Analysis
Review competitor backlink profiles.
Target sites linking to your competitors but not you — use this for outreach campaigns.
5. CRO Checklist (Conversion Rate Optimization)
SEO brings traffic, but CRO converts that traffic into leads or sales.
Clear CTAs (Call to Actions)
Every page should have a visible, action-oriented CTA.
Examples: “Get Your SEO Audit,” “Schedule a Call,” “Start Free Trial”
Form Optimization
Keep forms short and simple.
Remove unnecessary fields.
Page Layout and Readability
Use clear headings, bullet points, and visuals.
Avoid long paragraphs.
Trust Signals
Add client logos, testimonials, reviews, security badges, and certifications.
A/B Testing
Test headlines, CTA placements, button colors, and images.
Use tools like Google Optimize, VWO, or Optimizely.
Conclusion: Why a Custom SEO Audit Services Plan Is Essential
A custom SEO audit is more than just a technical review — it’s a critical step toward building a stronger, more competitive online presence. It helps identify unseen issues, enhances technical health, improves keyword strategy, and ensures your website is delivering both in performance and user experience.
Whether it’s fixing crawl errors, optimizing on-page elements, or aligning your site with Core Web Vitals, a detailed audit lays the groundwork for long-term success in organic search. It also enables you to benchmark your site against competitors and uncover opportunities they may have missed.
Search engine algorithms are always evolving. What worked a few months ago may not be effective today. That’s why regular, professional SEO audits are necessary — not just to keep up, but to stay ahead.
At YapaYup SEO Agency, we specialize in delivering comprehensive, custom-tailored SEO audit services that go beyond basic checks. Our team dives deep into your site’s architecture, content, and performance to create an actionable SEO plan designed specifically for your goals. We don’t just identify problems — we help you fix them, fast.
If you’re ready to unlock your site’s full potential and rise above your competition, Yapayup is here to help. Get in touch with us today and start your journey toward better rankings, more traffic, and greater digital impact.