SEO audit
An SEO audit tells you why your site isn't bringing customers from Google and what to do about it, in order of money lost. I check the code, the content, your Google Business Profile and the businesses that outrank you, then walk you through the findings on a call.
Free: a 30-minute call, an action plan and a price range in writing.
Six areas,
one priority list
Automated tools spit out hundreds of warnings. I read them, discard the noise and keep the handful that actually cost you enquiries.
Indexing
Which pages Google has, which it ignores and why: robots rules, noindex tags, canonicals, sitemaps and duplicate addresses.
Mobile and speed
How the site behaves on an ordinary phone on mobile data. Slow templates, layout shifts and buttons too small to tap.
Content versus demand
Keywords people in your area type, matched against the pages you have. Gaps become a list of pages to write.
Titles and structure
Title tags, headings, internal links and whether your best service is buried three clicks deep.
Google Business Profile
Categories, services, photos, reviews and consistency with Apple, Bing and Canadian directories.
Competitors on page one
Who ranks above you, how many pages and links they have, and which of their strengths you can realistically match.
From access
to action list
Short call
Your services, area and goals. I ask for read access to Search Console, Analytics and the profile.
Crawl and review
I crawl the site, read the key pages myself and pull search data for your market.
Written report
Problems ranked by impact, each with a plain explanation and the fix.
Walkthrough
A Zoom call where I explain every point and answer questions.
Your choice
Fix it in-house, hand it to your developer or have me do the SEO work.
SEO audit
cost
Prices in Canadian dollars, final. A deep standalone audit of a large site is quoted after a short call because the size of the job varies a lot.
A first look at your site and profile before a free 30-minute call.
- Top three visible problems
- Is SEO worth it now?
- No obligation
The full audit is the first step of monthly SEO, and I then fix what I find.
- Complete written audit
- Fixes done by me
- No minimum term
SEO plus ads, website, CRM and budget in one written plan.
- All channels
- Priorities and budget
- Walkthrough call
Why most SEO audits end up in a drawer
A typical automated report has 140 warnings, a red score and no sense of priority. Missing alt text on a decorative icon sits next to the fact that your main service page isn't indexed at all. The owner reads three pages, feels bad and closes the file.
My SEO audit works the other way round. I start from your business: which services make money, where your customers are, how they search. Then I check whether the website and the Google Business Profile serve those searches. Every finding gets a simple question: does this cost you customers? If not, it goes to the bottom or out of the report.
What usually turns up
After many audits of small business websites, a pattern appears. The most common findings are surprisingly basic:
- Pages Google never indexed. A setting left over from development, a wrong canonical tag or a site section hidden behind a script.
- Two pages fighting for one keyword. A blog post and a service page both target "basement renovation", and neither ranks well.
- No page for a profitable service. People search for it in your city every month, and you mention it only in a list.
- Business details that don't match. The name, address and phone on the website, Google, Bing and YellowPages.ca differ slightly, which weakens local rankings.
- Slow mobile pages. Huge images or heavy plugins that make the page jump while loading.
None of this is exotic. It just needs someone to look carefully. You can check some of it yourself with my SEO audit checklist, and Search Console will show you a lot once you know where to look; this beginner's guide explains the reports.
Local businesses: the profile matters as much as the site
For a dentist, a plumber or a hair salon, the audit doesn't stop at the website. I review the Google Business Profile line by line: primary and secondary categories, services, service area, photos, how quickly reviews get answered, and whether Q&A is filled with useful information. I also check Apple Business Connect and Bing Places, which many owners have never claimed. Fixes here are often the fastest win, and they are covered in detail on the local SEO page.
Audit before a redesign or migration
If you're planning a new website, an audit is cheap insurance. It records which pages bring traffic today, which addresses have links pointing to them and which content Google trusts. That inventory becomes the redirect map for the new site. Skipping it is the most common reason traffic collapses after a launch; I describe the process on the SEO migration page.
How an SEO audit differs from a marketing audit
An SEO audit answers one question: why aren't you getting more customers from organic search and Maps? It doesn't judge your ad campaigns, your pricing or your CRM. If you suspect the problem is wider, for example ads eating the budget while the site converts poorly, a full marketing audit looks at every channel together and ends with a written strategy. On the first call I'll tell you honestly which of the two fits your situation, and sometimes the answer is neither yet.
What happens to the results
You get the document, the call and the decision. Some owners fix the content themselves over a few weekends. Some forward the technical part to a developer. Others ask me to take over the SEO, and then the audit becomes month one of the plan. In every case the data stays in your accounts and the report stays with you.
Where an audit
usually leads
SEO audit
questions
What do I get at the end of the audit?
A written document listing every problem that matters, ordered by impact, with an explanation in plain language and the specific fix. Then a Zoom call where I go through it with you. You can hand the list to any developer; it isn't written in a way that only I can follow.
How long does an SEO audit take?
For a typical small business site of up to a few dozen pages, about a week from the moment I get access. Large stores or sites with thousands of addresses take longer, and I'll give you a date in writing before I start.
Do I have to hire you afterwards?
No. Plenty of owners take the list to their own developer or fix the content themselves. If you'd like me to do the work, the audit becomes the first month's plan, so nothing is repeated.
What access do you need?
Read access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics, manager access to the Google Business Profile if you want it reviewed, and the website address. I never need your passwords; Google lets you add me as a user and remove me later.
Will you fix the problems on my current website?
Content, profile and settings that the platform allows, yes. I don't repair code someone else wrote. If the site's foundation is the problem, the audit will say so, and I can quote a new site that keeps your domain and content.
Find out what
Google sees on your site
Send the address and your main service. I'll reply within one business day with what I need and when you'll have the report.