Your business website<\/a> is looking immaculate<\/em>.<\/p>\n The blog is stacked with high-quality content. Every product description<\/a> is finely tuned for search performance. You\u2019ve even added alt text<\/a> to your images and optimized your media for loading speed<\/a>. Bravo.<\/p>\n So, why are you not crushing your opponents in the search results?<\/p>\n It might be because your site has some unseen issues that make it more complicated for search engines to crawl your site or access your content.<\/p>\n Oh no. This sounds like a whole heap of headache to fix.<\/p>\n Actually, it\u2019s not. Running a technical SEO audit can help you find and fix the flaws pretty quickly.<\/p>\n And you\u2019re in the best place to learn how to audit your site.<\/p>\n A technical SEO audit is essentially a website health check. This testing process can reveal technical issues that might prevent search engines from crawling and indexing your site.<\/p>\n Performing a technical SEO audit on your website is important for business, because it directly affects your search ranking.<\/p>\n Fixing the problems means more clicks, hopefully leading to more sales\u2026leading to more money, money, money.<\/p>\n Your SEO Strategy Game Plan for 2025 <\/p>\n Read More <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n If you\u2019ve never performed a site audit, there\u2019s no time like the present. The same goes for any new website you set up, including when you redesign your existing site.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a good idea to review the technical aspects of your site every so often \u2014 perhaps quarterly, or every year if that sounds like a hassle.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s possible to check certain aspects of your site by hand, there\u2019s no need. Specialized tools are the way to go.<\/p>\n You can perform a solid audit using the following free tools from Google. We\u2019ll be introducing these throughout the post.<\/p>\n The only issue is that you have to work across multiple platforms to find the data you need. And it\u2019s not always obvious where to find it.<\/p>\n So, it might be worth grabbing one of these dedicated SEO tools.<\/p>\n Despite the name, you don\u2019t actually<\/em> need tech skills to run a technical SEO audit.<\/p>\n But like a mechanic doing a vehicle inspection test, you will need to follow a methodical process, just to make sure the wheels don\u2019t fall off.<\/p>\n Not sure where to start? To help you cover all bases, we\u2019ve prepared the perfect audit checklist \u2014 ordered by priority.<\/p>\n (Don\u2019t fancy wading through the whole thing? Skip to the end for a TL;DR version!)<\/p>\n Hmm, crawlability. Sounds like how spiders would rate your bathroom. But it\u2019s actually about whether search engines can fully access your website.<\/p>\n You see, search engines use crawlers (programs made for indexing) to scan your website and find your content. This information allows the search engine to direct relevant traffic your way.<\/p>\n To make sure that\u2019s happening, we\u2019ll need to run a few tests.<\/p>\n But before we dive into the technical stuff, it\u2019s worth taking a moment to Google your site.<\/p>\n Why? Because you can quickly see if major pages are missing from the search results.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the workflow.<\/p>\n The results will show you which pages on your site Google knows about. It will also tell you roughly how many pages are being crawled and indexed. You can see the number just above the results:<\/p>\n Note:<\/strong> You may have to click Tools<\/strong> to see these numbers.<\/p>\n Next, visit the Page Indexing report<\/a> in Google Search Console (GSC). This will give you a more comprehensive overview of pages that have been both crawled and indexed.<\/p>\n If any pages have been missed, the reasons will appear in the list at the bottom of this dashboard. You can click on each item here to see the individual URLs.<\/p>\n Here are some common causes:<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s dive a little deeper.<\/p>\n Download and install the Screaming Frog Spider tool<\/a> on your computer. Open the app and then:<\/p>\n Okay, you\u2019ve run the tests and found some crawlability issues. Don\u2019t sweat it! Here\u2019s a quick checklist of fixes.<\/p>\n Broken links (404 errors)<\/strong><\/p>\n Pages with redirects<\/strong><\/p>\n Server errors (5xx)<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat Is a Technical SEO Audit, Anyway?<\/h2>\n
When To Run a Technical Audit<\/h3>\n
Using Technical Audit Tools<\/h3>\n
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![\"Comparison](\"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/01_seo_tools_at_a_glance.webp\")
<\/figure>\nPerforming a Technical SEO Audit: Your 7-Step Checklist<\/h2>\n
Step 1: Check That Your Site Is Crawlable<\/h3>\n
![\"Flowchart](\"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/02_website_crawlability_how_search_engines_find_you.webp\")
<\/figure>\nStart With Google<\/h4>\n
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![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/03_google_search_results.webp\")
<\/figure>\nRun a Test With Google Search Console<\/h4>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/04_page_indexing_report.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n
Get More Detail With Screaming Frog<\/h4>\n
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![\"Screaming](\"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/05_screaming_frog.webp\")
<\/figure>\nAction Checklist: Troubleshoot Crawlability Problems<\/h4>\n
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![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/06_google_robots_checke.webp\")
<\/figure>\n