A website audit helps you find what\u2019s holding your site back. It highlights technical issues that affect your rankings and UX problems that hurt conversions.<\/p>\n
In this guide, I\u2019ll walk you through five essential steps to maximize your site\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
And to make it easier, I\u2019ve created a free website audit checklist<\/a> that you can refer to as you follow along.<\/p>\n A clear site structure and intuitive navigation help both users and search engines find what they\u2019re looking for. This means it can affect your rankings AND your bottom line.<\/p>\n After all, if your visitors can\u2019t find your products or services, how will they buy them?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to audit your site\u2019s architecture:<\/p>\n Check how easily users can move through your site. Your navigation menu structure should be intuitive, and your site architecture should be logical.<\/p>\n Here are some questions to ask about key areas of your navigation:<\/p>\n For example, this furniture store, Terra Outdoor, ticks all the boxes:<\/p>\n What do they do right?<\/p>\n The site has a clean drop-down design that organizes items by product groups, materials, and collections.<\/p>\n This kind of organization lets shoppers easily browse the products they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n Your content needs proper organization on each page so readers AND search engines can understand it easily.<\/p>\n Start with your heading hierarchy:<\/p>\n Your H1 tag<\/a> is the main title of your page. So it should be unique and properly describe the content of each specific page.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how an H1 tag appears on your page:<\/p>\n Meanwhile, H2s and H3s should logically break down your topic.<\/p>\n Internal links help readers navigate your site. They also signal to search engines that your content is all connected.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why proper internal linking can help boost your topical authority.<\/p>\n So, check if you link to:<\/p>\n One thing to consider: do you use descriptive anchor text<\/a> that includes relevant keywords naturally?<\/p>\n This tells readers where your link will take them. Plus, it gives Google helpful context about that page.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what useful internal linking looks like:<\/p>\n With a technical site audit, you can check how easily search engines can access, crawl, and index your pages.<\/p>\n You could have the best content in the industry, but technical issues could still hold your rankings back.<\/p>\n For example, a technical SEO<\/a> audit helped BetterVet, a mobile veterinary service, fix critical site errors affecting the crawling and indexing of their content. Which resulted in a 2,002%<\/a> boost in organic traffic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So this kind of audit can get REAL results for your business.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to do it:<\/p>\n First, you need to know if search engines can actually find and understand your pages.<\/p>\n To check this, head over to Google Search Console<\/a> and check if Google is indexing your important pages. You\u2019ll see this under \u201cIndexing<\/strong>\u201d > \u201cPages<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Next, make sure search engines can easily move through your site and find your content.<\/p>\n Look for broken links<\/a>, missing pages, and complex site structures.<\/p>\n Use Semrush\u2019s Site Audit<\/a> tool to identify crawled pages and the issues that might be blocking search engines from accessing them effectively.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n Head over to Site Audit and select your project to get an overview of your site\u2019s health.<\/p>\n Take a look at the \u201cCrawled Pages\u201d section. There, you\u2019ll see your pages broken down into the following categories:<\/p>\n Next, click the \u201cCrawled Pages<\/strong>\u201d tab:<\/p>\n This will show you a list of crawled pages on your website.<\/p>\n Click the number in the \u201cIssues\u201d column for any page\u2019s URL to see what you need to fix.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re unsure what one of the errors, warnings, or notices means, click \u201cWhy and how to fix it<\/strong>\u201d for more info.<\/p>\n Next, make sure it\u2019s easy for search engines to effectively navigate your site structure.<\/p>\n Start by checking your XML sitemap in Google Search Console to confirm you\u2019ve submitted it correctly.<\/p>\n Then review it manually to check for issues like missing or duplicate URLs.<\/p>\n A page speed audit helps you identify exactly what\u2019s slowing down your site and how to fix it.<\/p>\n Improving your site speed can potentially help you convert more customers.<\/p>\n How?<\/p>\n It\u2019s simple: a fast-loading website creates a smooth user experience.<\/p>\n When your site loads quickly, visitors can easily explore your content, interact with your site, and complete actions\u2014like clicking the buy button.<\/p>\n Want to see the real impact?<\/p>\n Take Agrofy, an agricultural marketplace. After identifying and fixing their performance issues through a page speed audit, their cart abandonment rate dropped by 76%<\/a>:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to check if your site is as fast as it could be:<\/p>\n Start by checking your page speed using Google\u2019s free PageSpeed Insights<\/a> tool.<\/p>\n This tool shows you detailed performance data and actionable insights, which can help you identify areas that you need to improve.<\/p>\n Pay special attention to the Core Web Vitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n These are part of Google\u2019s page experience ranking factors.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why they matter and how to improve them:<\/p>\n Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)<\/strong> reflects how quickly your main content loads for users. A good LCP score (under 2.5 seconds) means your visitors are less likely to abandon your page before it loads.<\/p>\n To improve your LCP, compress bulky resources like hero images or animations.<\/p>\n Interaction to Next Paint (INP)<\/strong> measures how quickly your site responds when users interact with it.<\/p>\n Keep INP under 200 milliseconds by minimizing JavaScript execution time. Also remove unnecessary third-party scripts that could slow down interactions.<\/p>\n Cumulative layout shift (CLS)<\/strong> tracks the visual stability of your page as it loads. For example, if ads load in and push content down the page as they do so, that will affect your CLS score.<\/p>\n Aim for a CLS score below 0.1 by setting proper image dimensions, reserving space for ads, and using consistent fonts.<\/p>\n When auditing your site\u2019s page speed, focus on changes that can bring the biggest improvements, like:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not sure where to start, follow the list of issues and fixes PageSpeed Insights suggests.<\/p>\n A backlink audit<\/a> helps you understand your site\u2019s backlink profile and identify opportunities for improvement.<\/p>\n Strong backlinks<\/a> from reputable sites can boost your rankings, while poor quality links (or a lack of links) might hold you back.<\/p>\n Let me show you how to evaluate your link profile:<\/p>\n First, get an overview of your backlink profile with a tool like Semrush\u2019s Backlink Analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Take a look at the total number of backlinks, referring domains, and overall toxicity score:<\/p>\n Watch out for any sudden spikes in new, low-quality backlinks. This could signal that you\u2019ve been attacked by spam, which could harm your SEO.<\/p>\n Next, use the Backlink Audit<\/a> tool to get a clear picture of your link profile\u2019s health.<\/p>\n Click through the numbers shown in red (toxic), orange (potentially toxic), and green (non-toxic) to review each category of backlinks:<\/p>\n This breakdown helps you spot opportunities in two ways:<\/p>\n Having a few toxic backlinks isn\u2019t necessarily alarming, and it\u2019s almost inevitable as your site grows. What does matter is the ratio between good and toxic links in your profile\u2014you want the vast majority to be high-quality links<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regularly monitor your backlink profile to maintain it in a healthy state.<\/p>\n Schedule monthly checks to catch harmful links before they tank your rankings.<\/p>\n A content audit<\/a> will uncover pages you need to update if you want to boost their traffic.<\/p>\n It reveals three key things:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to audit your content:<\/p>\n High-quality content keeps readers engaged and signals to search engines that your page is valuable and deserving of higher rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n But how do you evaluate content quality?<\/p>\n High-quality content is generally well-researched, up to date, and provides unique insights.<\/p>\n Other elements of high-quality content include:<\/p>\n Your title tags and meta descriptions<\/a> are your first chance to impress people in search results.<\/p>\n These elements can determine whether someone clicks through to your content\u2014or scrolls past it.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what they look like in search results:<\/p>\n But what should you look out for when auditing your titles and descriptions?<\/p>\n Great titles should:<\/p>\n And your meta descriptions should:<\/p>\n Use Google Search Console to see which pages get the most clicks from search. Then, analyze their meta elements to understand what\u2019s working well.<\/p>\n Look for pages with lots of impressions but not many clicks. These are pages with low click-through rates (CTRs), and likely ones you could optimize for better performance.<\/p>\n The goal of auditing your site\u2019s user experience (UX) is to identify friction points and optimize them so users can effortlessly find what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n A great UX keeps visitors engaged with your content and encourages them to take action (like making a purchase).<\/p>\n Plus:<\/p>\n Intuitive experiences also signal to search engines that your site is valuable to users. In fact, page experience<\/a> is a key ranking factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Website](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/website-audit-checklist.webp "\\"Website")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nStep #1: Review Your Site Architecture and Navigation<\/h2>\n
Analyze Your Site\u2019s Navigation<\/h3>\n
\n
![](\"https:\/\/embed-ssl.wistia.com\/deliveries\/075117aa3544683cb218d7a57de327f5b6916b95.jpg\")
<\/p><\/div>\nMap Your Site Structure<\/h3>\n
![\"H-tags](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/h-tags-structure.webp "\\"H-tags")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"H1](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/h1-tag-example.webp "\\"H1")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nCheck Your Internal Links<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Use](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/use-descriptive-anchor-text-to-link-pages.webp "\\"Use")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nStep #2: Check Technical Foundation<\/h2>\n
Check Your Site\u2019s Indexability<\/h3>\n
![\"GSC](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gsc-page-indexing-1.webp "\\"GSC")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nLook for Crawlability Issues<\/h3>\n
![\"Site](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/site-audit-backlinko-overview.webp "\\"Site")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n\n
![\"Site](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/site-audit-backlinko-crawled-pages.webp "\\"Site")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"Site](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/site-audit-errors-backlinko-crawled-links.webp "\\"Site")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nCheck Your XML Sitemap<\/h3>\n
![\"GSC](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/06\/gsc-sitemaps.webp "\\"GSC")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"Yoast](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/yoast-sitemap.webp "\\"Yoast")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nAnalyze Your Page Speed<\/h3>\n
![\"Improved](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/11\/improved-page-speed.webp "\\"Improved")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nMeasure Your Page Performance<\/h4>\n
![\"PageSpeed](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/page-speed-insights-backlinko-results.webp "\\"PageSpeed")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"PageSpeed](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pagespeed-insights-backlinko.webp "\\"PageSpeed")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"Core](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/core-web-vitals.webp "\\"Core")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"Cumulative](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2020\/07\/cumulative-layout-shift-example.webp "\\"Cumulative")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nPrioritize High-Impact Fixes<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"PageSpeed](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pagespeed-insights-diagnostics.webp "\\"PageSpeed")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nStep #3: Analyze Your Backlink Profile<\/h2>\n
Check Your Backlink Profile<\/h3>\n
![\"Backlink](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/backlink-analytics-backlinko-overview.webp "\\"Backlink")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nAnalyze Link Quality<\/h3>\n
![\"Backlink](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/09\/backlink-audit-backlinko-overview.webp "\\"Backlink")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n\n
Monitor Your Link Profile<\/h3>\n
Step #4: Evaluate Your Content<\/h2>\n
\n
Evaluate the Quality of Your Content<\/h3>\n
![\"Content](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/content-quality.webp "\\"Content")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n\n
Review Your Meta Elements<\/h3>\n
![\"On-Page](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/on-page-seo-title-meta-tags.webp "\\"On-Page")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n\n
\n
![\"GSC](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gsc-performance-data.webp "\\"GSC")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\nStep #5: Assess the User Experience<\/h2>\n
![\"UX](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ux-audit-process.webp "\\"UX")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"Mobile](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mobile-responsiveness-comparisson.webp "\\"Mobile")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/visual-hierarchy-and-readability.webp "\\"visual-hierarchy-and-readability\\"")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"CTA](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cta-design-best-practices.webp "\\"CTA")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"GSC](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2024\/03\/gsc-performance-report.webp "\\"GSC")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n![\"GSC](\"https:\/\/api.backlinko.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gsc-page-performance.webp "\\"GSC")
<\/source><\/picture><\/figure>\n