Video summary

How to Do a Website SEO Audit | Step-by-Step Guide

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and concepts

What a website audit is

A website audit is a thorough analysis of a site to identify issues across:

  • SEO
  • User Experience (UX)
  • Design
  • Content
  • Technical factors

It’s framed as “deep cleaning” the site so it’s in its best shape for visitors.

Why audits matter

Audits help you:

  • Surface problems that can prevent higher rankings on SERPs
  • Improve SEO and conversion rates
  • Increase incoming traffic
  • Enhance/refine existing design
  • Support user acquisition over time

How often to audit

  • At least twice a year
  • If the site is updated frequently or publishes content monthly: about every quarter

DIY vs professional auditing

  • Professional auditors typically go deeper than a basic DIY walkthrough.
  • DIY audits can still be useful if you know what to look for.

Tooling overview

Tools mentioned include:

  • Moz
  • Ahrefs
  • SEMrush
  • Ubersuggest
  • Screaming Frog
  • SE Ranking

The walkthrough primarily uses Ahrefs (paid), and explains tradeoffs versus Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (free).

Detailed methodology / step-by-step process (as presented)

A) Choose the right SEO audit tool

Tools mentioned:

  • Moz
  • Ahrefs
  • SEMrush
  • Ubersuggest
  • Screaming Frog
  • SE Ranking

Ahrefs-specific guidance

  • Ahrefs Site Audit (paid)

    • Crawls websites for 100+ predefined SEO issues
    • Produces detailed “what’s right/wrong” results
    • Enables auditing competitor websites (not just your own)

  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (free)

    • Allows Site Audit and Site Explorer, but only for owned websites
    • Missing some capabilities like running audits on competitors

  • Additional Ahrefs modules needed for this approach:

    • Keyword Explorer
    • Content Explorer
    • (Not available in the free version per the video.)

B) Run the website crawl / site audit in Ahrefs

Steps described:

  1. Open Ahrefs
  2. Go to Site Audit
  3. Use an existing project or create a new project:
    • Click the orange button
    • Add your site
    • Choose scope
    • Verify ownership
    • Pick Site Audit specifics (including Rank Tracking and competitors)
    • Schedule crawls: daily / weekly / monthly
  4. Let the crawl run—results are saved per crawl.

C) Assess Design & UX (in parallel while crawl runs)

Compare design to a “book cover”:

  • First impression should attract visitors (example given: “Harry Potter, not Barry Trotter”).

Use heatmap/behavior tools to understand user behavior:

  • Smartlook
  • Crazyegg
  • Hotjar

UX assessment questions to answer:

  • Overall aesthetics: appealing or annoying?
  • Page structure / navigation clarity:
    • Headers, main body, footers
    • Titles
    • Sidebars
    • Topbars
  • Are design elements leading users to interactive elements?
  • Is media properly optimized and consistent in style?
  • Is the user journey free of frustration?

If problems exist, suggested “fix direction”:

  • Redesign if needed
  • Ensure consistency in fonts, styles, colors
  • Remove annoying pop-ups / distracting banners

Additional UX factors mentioned (not deeply covered):

  • Site speed
  • A/B testing
  • Funnel conversions

D) Review the Site Audit results (Ahrefs Overview)

What to look at in the overview:

  • Health Score
  • URL crawl data
  • Errors
  • Issues distribution

Explore issues by sections:

  • Use “View all issues” to see categories such as:
    • Internal pages
    • Indexability
    • Links
    • Redirects
    • Content visuals
    • Social tags
    • Sitemaps
    • Others

For each issue:

  • Use the question mark to see how to fix it
  • Prioritize using the importance filter:
    • Error / Warning / Notice
  • Click the issue count/number to view:
    • Affected URLs
    • Relevant details

Export and hand off:

  • Use Export to forward results to a dev team (or resolve yourself).

E) Check performance / page speed

In Ahrefs:

  1. Open the Performance tab
  2. Review visual breakdowns of page speed metrics
  3. Click sections to see lists of affected pages
  4. Identify slow pages and export CSV if needed

Also recommended:

  • Google PageSpeed Insights

Limitation noted:

  • It shows one page at a time, not bulk internal pages (can be annoying for large sites).

F) Conduct the SEO audit (indexability + keyword + SERP performance)

1. Indexability Report

Check:

  • Total internal pages
  • Indexable pages
  • Non-indexed pages

Note from the video:

  • Non-indexed pages aren’t necessarily “SEO jail,” just “grounded.”

Click numeric values to see why pages are and aren’t indexed.

2. Site Explorer → Organic Keywords

Identify keywords the site ranks for and review metrics such as:

  • Volume
  • Keyword
  • CPC
  • Traffic
  • Other important metrics

3. Keyword Explorer

Find new keyword opportunities.

  • Can search across platforms (per the video): Google, YouTube, Amazon, etc.

4. Top Pages

See which pages receive the most organic traffic and use that to:

  • Classify best-performing pages/keywords
  • Find keyword opportunities
  • Plan new content

G) Content assessment

Goal:

  • Remove low-quality underperforming content and elevate strong content.

In Ahrefs:

  • Content Tab

    • Review issues in:
      • Meta
      • Headings
      • Word count

  • Duplicates Tab

    • Remove content clones duplicating/stealing attention

Use Site Explorer to evaluate performance:

  • Top content
  • Top pages

Use Content Explorer for ideas/opportunities:

  • Find what article types get traffic and referring domains

Content-quality checklist (as stated):

  • Does it follow E-E-A-T / Double-EAT and other Google updates?
  • Should older content be repurposed/updated for new trends?
  • What content weaknesses exist compared to competitors?

Expected actions:

  • Alter, remove, or improve content

H) Backlink profile assessment

Rationale:

  • Backlinks are vital for ranking and authority.

In Ahrefs:

  1. Site Explorer → Overview

    • View:
      • Referring domains
      • Backlinks
    • Compare with competitors to estimate how many quality links you may need.

  2. Backlinks

    • View categories:
      • All
      • New
      • Lost
    • Filter by:
      • Dofollow vs Nofollow
      • Backlink type
    • Identify broken backlinks
      • Suggested remediation:
        • Ask host to change the link, or
        • Set up 301 redirects

  3. Anchors

    • Look for spammy/dodgy anchor text
    • If suspicious anchors appear:
      • Open the full report and investigate

  4. Best by links report

    • See pages attracting the most links from multiple domains
    • Also:
      • Generate similar reports for competitors
      • Detect “linkable content ideas” you may be missing

I) Wrap-up principles

  • Tool choice depends on:
    • Specific needs
    • Budget

Regardless of tool, the video emphasizes:

  • Frequent audits keep the site up to date, issue-free, and aligned with SEO standards.
  • You can do it yourself or hire a professional.

Speakers / sources featured

Speaker(s)

  • Not explicitly identified by name (the narrator/host speaks throughout the subtitles).

Tools / platforms referenced as sources

  • Ahrefs
  • Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
  • Moz
  • SEMrush
  • Ubersuggest
  • Screaming Frog
  • SE Ranking
  • Smartlook
  • Crazyegg
  • Hotjar
  • Google PageSpeed Insights
  • YouTube (as a keyword/platform mention)
  • Amazon (as a keyword/platform mention)

Brands/associations mentioned (indirect)

  • “Google updates” and E-E-A-T / Double-EAT (referenced conceptually, not as a separate source channel).

Original video