SEO Audit Service

What is an SEO Audit Service and Why Do You Need It?

What exactly is a Search Engine Optimization Audit, which we also call a comprehensive technical review of your website? Or an SEO Audit? This is when a highly experienced SEO expert, such as myself, spends time looking at every single part of your website. They look at your website with a critical eye–spotting for any “issues” that may be prohibiting your website from ranking well in the search engines. Just like an accountant performs an review of your finances, a highly experienced SEO expert like myself can perform a technical review of your website and your overall online presence, an SEO audit service. After all, I have been actively practicing organic or natural Search Engine Optimization even before it was called “SEO”. I started back in 1996, with my first few websites.

seo audited

Did you know that there sometimes can be one very small “factor”, something that your website is doing, the way it is acting (if it’s a dynamic website), or even one small website coding error that could stop your website from being indexed properly in the search engines? All it takes is “one little change” sometimes. And it could be something that is often overlooked by even the most competent webmasters and even the best SEOs in the business. Or, on the other hand, it could be a large issue that is plaguing the whole entire site. Remember, only a qualified, trusted expert like myself can perform offer a reliable review of your website.

That’s where I can step in with my consulting services. I have the experience of looking at literally thousands upon thousands of websites over the years and have “seen it all” when it comes to problems with websites. I can properly offer you my consulting services and my SEO Audit Service. Sometimes it takes an experienced eye (or just someone else), someone who knows what they’re doing, to take a look at your website and figure out why it’s not ranking well in the search engines. I can perform a search engine optimization audit. And it’s worth noting that I don’t outsource any of the work–I do it all myself.

search engine optimization audit - scrabble pieces

Want more information about why you should audit your website? Read my article that list 8 reasons why you should perform a comprehensive technical review of your website.

Are You Doing Everything Possible?

Even if you think you have done everything possible when it comes to search engine optimization and you think you’re “doing fine” or even doing extremely well online. You need to have a search engine optimization audit performed at least once a year.

Sometimes you need someone to take a look at all of the work that your current search engine optimization agency is doing and make sure that they’re doing the right thing. Are they leading you on the right path?. I can provide a search engine optimization audit of your website. After all, who wouldn’t want technical review performed and find out that there’s nothing additional that can be done to increase your company’s revenue?

Watch me train others in the search industry about performing a highly technical review and technical investigation of a website. In the video below, I spoke in Portland, Oregon about technical SEO audits. This was in 2015, before I started offering audits as an independent consultant.



I will personally perform a full search engine optimization audit of a website that is currently up and running. (Hartzer Consulting does not outsource the work to others.) There are several things that I personally review, including:

  • Search Engine Reputation
  • Search Engine Exposure (against other keyword competitors)
  • Web Site Structure
  • Link popularity (I also do link audits.)
  • Internal Link Structure
  • Review of Site Meta Data
  • Review of Domain name issues

If you’re getting ready to launch a new website, or even perform a website redesign, it’s critical everything be looked at with an experienced eye–to make sure there are no issues that will arise when the site goes live. For website redesigns in particular, it’s important to have someone such as myself perform comprehensive technical search engine optimization review of the old (current version) of the site as well as the new version of the site. There are many issues that can arise when changing versions of your site, such as making sure that the old URLs redirect to the new URLs. That’s the type of details that I look for when I review your website.

Technically, Very Comprehensive


While providing these SEO auditing services, I leave no stone unturned. All of the potential website ranking issues are reviewed, personally by me. I don’t outsource this critical work to anyone else. I use my 18+ years of search engine optimization expertise to tell you why your website isn’t ranking in the search results as well as it should. Not many others in the search engine optimization industry have the amount of experience that I have. Recommendations are also made, whenever appropriate, should I find something on the website that needs to be addressed.

What’s Included in the Audit?


I include a lot in my search engine optimization services, as well as monthly SEO services. As someone who has been practicing organic search engine optimization since 1996, I have the experience needed to use search engine optimization best practices to bring more quality visitors to your website. Whenever I first begin a search engine optimization engagement, I recommend that for every website, SEO audits and “investigations” be performed first, to see where the site is now–and if there are any issues that need to be addressed right away.

The Process

Ongoing monthly search engine optimization is important–but there’s a specific process that is important. Comprehensive technical SEO audits are an important part of the overall search engine optimization process: you don’t know what to optimize unless you know what’s wrong and what you’re doing right. If you already have a lot of really good links pointing to your website but your on-page optimization is not done right, then why build more links to your site? Audit services are absolutely necessary. Here’s my process, especially if you’re doing ongoing monthly search engine optimization services:

  1. Crawl the website – gather data about the site. Multiple crawlers and tools are used.
  2. Review all content, both manually and via SEO tools.
  3. Analyze the data from the crawling activities and crawlers.
  4. Review backlink data (review links pointing to the site).
  5. Begin making recommendations, forming opinions on where to focus efforts.
  6. Make a task list of on-site and off-site issues. Prioritize the list.
  7. Work the task list into the ongoing monthly plan.

The list above is not a comprehensive one–but as you can see, it’s necessary to find out what’s wrong with the website and what’s working. This is all based on data from SEO audits of websites and of your website in particular. How could you possibly not perform these tasks and be successful with search engine optimization? Once these tasks are performed, we end up with a comprehensive action plan.

You Need a Comprehensive Plan


Usually, the recommended plan is to complete a full Search Engine Optimization Audit and technical review of your website and Link Profile analysis. This includes competitive research, keyword research, and other SEO-related tasks such as updating meta data (title tags, meta description tags, etc.) and content optimization, if needed. SEO auditing services also include an overall search engine optimization strategy and linking strategy that meets your company’s ROI goals.

There are several things that are reviewed during my technical website reviews, including:

  • Search Engine Reputation
  • Search Engine Exposure (against other keyword competitors)
  • Content Optimization and Review of Content
  • Review of Site Structure and overall design of site (includes page load speed, other factors affecting visits)
  • Link popularity (backlink data)
  • Internal Link Structure
  • Review and Writing of Website Meta Data (title tags, meta description tags)
  • Review of Domain name issues
  • Link Profile Analysis, including “clean up” bad and toxic links pointing to the website (if bad links are found)
  • Review of local citations, directory listings, etc. if the website is locally-focused (appeals to local customers)

During a tech review of your site, I leave no stone unturned. I use all the right tools to gather all of the needed data–and then come up with an extensive list of issues that can affect your Google ranking. It’s not just limited to Google, but also Bing and Yahoo traffic, rankings, and referrals from other websites. All of the potential website ranking issues are reviewed. Anything related to internet marketing, website traffic, and online visibility in general is included and reviewed. Recommendations are also made, whenever appropriate, should I find something on the website that needs to be addressed. Even if you are currently employing the services of a Search Engine Optimization firm, it is recommended that you have a full technical review of your website performed at least once every year.

After Your Website Audit


After the first set of search engine optimization recommendations are implemented during the first month, Mr. Hartzer can work with you on a monthly search engine optimization maintenance plan in order to keep your website at the top of the search engine results for those keywords that are helping to reach your overall website marketing and ROI goals.

SEO Deliverables


It’s taken over 10 years and hundreds of completed audits to come up with a comprehensive list of actual search engine optimization deliverables. These aren’t just scribbled notes that only the auditor can understand. It’s a lot more than that. the final SEO deliverables that are provided can actually be overwhelming for even the experienced search engine optimization specialist. These include a combination of documents, spreadsheets, and at least one follow-up phone call to go over the delivered documents and spreadsheets, and answer questions. But be assured that all of your questions are answered and you’ll be confident with the results. We even have some clients that contact us several months later and we’re happy to help. Sometimes it takes months to implement all of our recommendations.

Sample Table of Contents of a Technical Review

Below is a preliminary outline (Table of Contents) of a sample document that will be delivered, in the form of a Microsoft Word document or PDF. Typically, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are included, as well, which includes all of the gathered data.

Overview
Current Rankings And Analysis
Website Crawlability
404 Errors, 301 Redirects other server issues
Keyword Strategy
Content Strategy
On-Page Factors
Title Tag Issues
Meta Description Tags
Heading Tags
Image Alt Attributes
Miscellaneous Issues
Linking (backlink issues)
Internal Links
External Links
Overall Recommendations
Strategy Going Forward

When was the last time you received a full search engine optimization audit of your website? I recommend a full manual review from an expert, such as the one I offer, at least once each year. Talk to someone who has over 20 years of website marketing experience who can steer you in the right direction, not just someone who is going to try to “sell you” search engine marketing or website marketing services.

SEO Service

Whenever Hartzer Consulting takes on new clients, especially when it’s ongoing monthly SEO services, the first month is dedicated towards a comprehensive review of your website, and the second month typically is dedicated towards implementing what’s been discovered during the comprehensive review of your website. This is a necessary part of the search engine optimization process, as SEO isn’t something that’s template–only the high-level review of issues can be completed, and that high-level review is only the beginning.

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