What’s Included in an SEO Audit (And Why It’s Not Just a Fancy Report)
If you’ve ever heard someone mention an SEO audit and felt the immediate urge to lie down with a cold flannel, you’re not alone. Small business owners are regularly told they “need SEO”, but rarely does anyone explain in normal human language what that actually involves. Half the time it sounds like you’re being sold wizardry. The other half, it sounds suspiciously like someone pressing a button and emailing you a PDF they made in 2012.
But a proper SEO audit — the kind we do at Jorvik Web Dev — isn’t a buzzword, or a button, or a mysterious process carried out by someone stroking their chin in a candlelit room. It’s an incredibly practical deep dive into how your website is behaving, how search engines are interpreting it, and which bits need a tidy-up so your business can actually be found by people who want what you offer.
And because our whole thing is honesty, simplicity and training our clients rather than confusing them, I’m going to walk you through exactly what’s included in an SEO audit, why each part matters, and what it means for your business in the real world. Yes, even if you’re a self-described technophobe who panics when asked to “log into something”.
Grab a cuppa. This will be painless.
Why bother with an SEO audit in the first place?
Before we break down what happens inside an audit, let’s talk about why it’s worth doing. The short version is: your website can only help you if people can actually find it. And in a world where Google is basically everyone’s first stop for everything, visibility matters.
A lot of small business owners don’t realise they’re invisible online until it’s far too late. They assume Google will automatically “pick up” their site and show it to people. Meanwhile, Google is wandering around confused because half the pages don’t have titles, the images aren’t labelled, the site loads like dial-up internet in 1998, and the only keyword on the homepage is the owner’s first name.
An SEO audit is simply a way to identify these issues before they turn into bigger problems. When I complete an audit, I’m not hunting for perfection. I’m hunting for opportunities — the things that will make the biggest difference with the least amount of stress.
And because our values at Jorvik Web Dev are transparency, empathy and clarity, I always explain your results in a way you can actually understand. No more reports that make you feel like you’re reading the ingredients list on a bottle of bleach.
Let’s start with the technical side (don’t run away, it’s fine)
One of the first things we look at in an SEO audit is how your website is built behind the scenes. Think of this like checking the plumbing in a house. You can have the prettiest wallpaper in the world, but if the pipes are leaking, you’ve got problems.
A technical review looks at how your site loads, how the pages connect, whether anything is broken, and whether search engines can actually crawl and index everything. Most small business sites have at least one broken link, pages that aren’t properly indexed, or images so large they could double as a cinema screen. It’s normal. But fixing those things often gives you an instant boost.
We also look at responsiveness. Search engines hate websites that behave badly on mobile. And because most people browse on their phones while watching telly, stirring dinner and losing the remote, mobile-friendliness is now essential.
This is also where we check things like your sitemap, structured data, schema markup — all the nerdy stuff you don’t want to think about. Don’t worry. Thinking about it is my job.
Then we move onto on-page SEO: the bit most people think they’ve “done”
This is where we look at the actual content on your website and how it’s structured. And no, simply peppering your pages with keywords like you’re seasoning a roast dinner does not count as SEO.
A proper on-page review looks at whether your headings make sense, whether your pages have clear titles and descriptions, whether your images have alt text, and whether Google actually understands what each page is about. Most websites fail at this because small business owners are busy running their businesses, not writing like search engine librarians.
This is also where we can spot missing opportunities. Maybe your homepage never actually says what city you work in. Maybe your product pages don’t mention the key phrases people are actually typing. Maybe you’ve been trying to rank for something no one searches for. That happens more often than you’d think.
When we do SEO repairs at Jorvik Web Dev, this is the stage where we clean up those issues. We reorder headings, write proper metadata, add alt text, label things properly, fix pages that aren’t pulling their weight and leave you with a much healthier website. And because training is part of our values, we also explain how you can maintain that clarity long after the project is done.
But SEO isn’t just what’s on your site — it’s also what’s happening around it
This is where off-page SEO comes in. You can have the most beautiful, well-structured site in the world, but if Google thinks nobody cares about it, it won’t rank well. Off-page SEO covers things like your backlink profile, your presence across the web, the strength of your Google Business Profile, and how consistent your information is across platforms.
If you’ve ever wondered why your business isn’t showing up on Google Maps, or why your competitor appears for searches you feel you should be showing up for, this is usually the culprit.
Part of an SEO audit involves checking whether your business details are consistent, whether anything is confusing Google, and whether your site has any red flags — like spammy backlinks you didn’t ask for, or old directory listings with outdated information.
This is also where our Google Setup and Optimisation service comes in handy. If your Google Business Profile is a mess or your site hasn’t been indexed properly, we fix that. Because honestly, nothing is more frustrating than having a perfectly good website sitting invisible in a digital filing cabinet.
Content quality and relevance: does your site say what your audience needs?
A surprising number of small business websites say everything except the thing people actually come for. An SEO audit looks at whether your content is useful, clear, and relevant to your audience’s real questions.
This isn’t about being Shakespeare. It’s about being helpful.
If your content is vague, repetitive or trying too hard to be clever, search engines won’t know what to do with it — and your audience won’t either. The audit will usually uncover gaps you didn’t realise were gaps. Maybe you need a better services page. Maybe your homepage never mentions your location. Maybe your blog posts are floating around without any internal linking to help people navigate your site.
This is one reason our SEO Starter package is so valuable for small businesses. It doesn’t just fix errors; it strengthens your entire foundation so you can grow sustainably rather than scrambling to catch up later.
User experience: how painful is your site to use on a scale of 1 to “I give up”?
Google pays attention to user behaviour. If people click your site and immediately leave, that’s a sign something isn’t right. Maybe the layout is confusing. Maybe your buttons are hiding. Maybe your contact form requires the patience of a saint.
During an SEO audit, we check how your site feels to actual humans. Because while search engines matter, it’s real people who click “buy now,” book calls or decide you seem trustworthy.
If anything about your site feels clunky or confusing, we’ll spot it. If the layout doesn’t match your messaging, we’ll tell you. If your call-to-action buttons are so small they require a magnifying glass, we will absolutely bring that up.
And because we build clean, sustainable and easy-to-manage websites, this part of the audit naturally links back to our design process. We’re neurodivergent-friendly, clarity-obsessed and allergic to unnecessary complication. If something can be simpler, we’ll make it simpler.
Competitor and keyword insights: what’s everyone else doing, and how do you compete?
This isn’t about copying your competitors. It’s about understanding the landscape. If you’re trying to rank for terms dominated by national chains, we’ll tell you. If there’s an obvious keyword opportunity no one else in your area is using, we’ll highlight that too.
SEO is partly strategy, and a good audit helps you see the full picture instead of guessing.
This is also why many clients move on to our SEO Booster service once the audit and repairs are complete. Once the foundations are sorted, we can start strengthening specific pages to target higher-value keywords — the ones that actually bring in customers.
And finally: your personalised action plan
A proper SEO audit doesn’t just dump information on you and leave you with a pat on the head. It gives you a clear, prioritised action plan. You’ll know exactly what to fix first, what can wait, and what to ignore because it makes no meaningful difference.
This plan is written in normal language, not SEO jargon. If you want help implementing it, our SEO Repair service covers the whole lot. If you’d rather handle it yourself, the action plan tells you exactly how.
Because our goal is always the same: empower you so you understand your own website rather than feeling held hostage by it.
Final thoughts: is an SEO audit worth it? Absolutely — but only if it’s done properly
An SEO audit is the digital equivalent of taking your car in for a proper inspection instead of just turning the radio up so you can’t hear the rattling. It gives you clarity. It shows you what’s stopping your site from performing. And it saves you money by preventing bigger issues later.
If your site isn’t showing up, if you’re not getting enquiries, if Google seems to be ignoring you completely, or if you just have a nagging feeling something isn’t quite right, an SEO audit is the most sensible next step.
And if you want one that’s actually readable, useful and carried out by someone who won’t speak to you like a malfunctioning robot, you know where I am.
