SEO Audit
Run a comprehensive SEO audit covering technical foundations, on-page
optimization, content quality, link profile, and competitive positioning.
Before You Start
Gather this context (ask if not provided):
- Domain. What site are we auditing?
- Goals. What are you trying to achieve? (More traffic, better rankings, fix a drop, pre-launch check)
- Known issues. Anything you already suspect is wrong?
- Access. Do you have Google Search Console and Google Analytics data? (Improves the audit significantly)
- Scope. Full audit or focused on a specific area? (If unsure, run the full audit)
Audit Framework
A complete SEO audit covers five layers. Work through them in order — problems
in earlier layers undermine everything that follows.
Layer 1: Technical Foundation ← Can Google crawl and index the site?
Layer 2: On-Page Optimization ← Are pages optimized for target keywords?
Layer 3: Content Quality ← Is the content worth ranking?
Layer 4: Link Profile ← Does the site have authority?
Layer 5: Competitive Position ← How does the site compare to competitors?
Layer 1: Technical Foundation
Check whether search engines can properly access, crawl, render, and index the site.
Crawlability
Indexability
Performance
Rendering
Layer 2: On-Page Optimization
Check whether individual pages are properly optimized for their target keywords.
Title Tags
Meta Descriptions
Heading Structure
URL Structure
Internal Linking
Image Optimization
Structured Data
On-Page Scoring Rubric
For a detailed page-level audit, score each page across 8 sections:
| Section |
Weight |
What to Score |
| Title Tag |
15% |
Keyword presence, in first half, 50-60 chars, unique, compelling, intent match |
| Meta Description |
5% |
Keyword included, 150-160 chars, CTA present, unique |
| Header Structure |
10% |
Single H1 with keyword, logical hierarchy (no skipped levels), H2s cover subtopics |
| Content Quality |
25% |
Sufficient length, comprehensive, unique value, up-to-date, good formatting, E-E-A-T signals |
| Keyword Optimization |
15% |
Keyword in title/H1/first 100 words/URL, density 0.5-2.5%, semantic terms present |
| Internal/External Links |
10% |
Sufficient internal links, descriptive anchors, quality external links, no broken links |
| Image Optimization |
10% |
Alt text on all images, descriptive filenames, optimized sizes, modern formats |
| Page-Level Technical |
10% |
Clean URL, correct canonical, mobile-friendly, LCP ≤2.5s, HTTPS, schema present |
Content Length Benchmarks (for full score on "sufficient length"):
| Intent Type |
Target Word Count |
| Informational |
1,500+ words |
| Commercial investigation |
1,200+ words |
| Transactional |
500+ words |
| Local |
400+ words |
Internal Link Count Guidelines:
| Page Length |
Target Internal Links |
| <500 words |
2-4 links |
| 500-1,000 words |
3-6 links |
| 1,000-2,000 words |
5-10 links |
| 2,000+ words |
8-15 links |
Keyword density penalties: >3.0% = keyword stuffing (score 0); <0.5% = under-optimized.
Score grade scale:
| Score |
Grade |
Assessment |
| 90-100 |
A+ |
Exceptional — maintain |
| 80-89 |
A |
Strong — minor tweaks |
| 70-79 |
B |
Good — several areas need attention |
| 60-69 |
C |
Average — significant improvements needed |
| 50-59 |
D |
Below average — major issues |
| <50 |
F |
Poor — comprehensive overhaul required |
Layer 3: Content Quality
Evaluate whether the content deserves to rank.
E-E-A-T Assessment
- Experience — Does the content demonstrate first-hand experience with the topic?
- Expertise — Is the content written with subject-matter depth? Does it go beyond surface-level?
- Authoritativeness — Does the site have a reputation in this topic area? Are authors credible?
- Trustworthiness — Are claims sourced? Is the site transparent about who publishes it?
Content Coverage
Content Gaps
Cannibalization
Layer 4: Link Profile
Assess the site's backlink authority and quality.
Backlink Overview
- Total referring domains
- Dofollow vs nofollow ratio
- Link acquisition trend (growing, stable, or declining?)
- Average authority of linking domains
Link Quality
Link Gaps
Layer 5: Competitive Position
Understand where the site stands relative to competitors.
Keyword Overlap
- Which keywords do you share with competitors?
- Where are you winning vs losing?
- What keywords do competitors rank for that you don't?
Content Comparison
- How does content depth and quality compare to top-ranking competitors?
- What formats are competitors using that you aren't (video, tools, templates)?
- What unique angles or data could differentiate your content?
Authority Comparison
- How does your domain authority/rating compare?
- Do competitors have significantly more referring domains?
- Are there authority-building opportunities you're not pursuing?
Scoring
After completing all layers, assign a health score:
| Layer |
Weight |
Score (1-10) |
Weighted |
| Technical Foundation |
25% |
[score] |
[weighted] |
| On-Page Optimization |
20% |
[score] |
[weighted] |
| Content Quality |
25% |
[score] |
[weighted] |
| Link Profile |
15% |
[score] |
[weighted] |
| Competitive Position |
15% |
[score] |
[weighted] |
| Overall |
100% |
|
[total] |
Scoring guide:
- 8-10: Strong — maintain and optimize
- 5-7: Needs work — clear improvement opportunities
- 1-4: Critical — fundamental issues blocking performance
Veto Conditions
These conditions cap the overall score regardless of how well other layers perform.
A single veto prevents a site from appearing healthy when it has a fatal flaw:
| Condition |
Cap |
Rationale |
robots.txt blocks all of Googlebot or blocks / |
Overall capped at 1/10 |
Nothing else matters if Google can't crawl |
> 20% of important pages have noindex accidentally |
Overall capped at 3/10 |
Most of the site is invisible to search |
| All three Core Web Vitals are "Poor" |
Technical capped at 3/10 |
Google deprioritizes sites with terrible UX |
| Zero external backlinks (entire domain) |
Link Profile capped at 2/10 |
No external authority signal exists |
| Site serves HTTP without redirect to HTTPS |
Technical capped at 4/10 |
Google requires HTTPS for trust signals |
| Google manual action active |
Overall capped at 2/10 |
Penalty overrides all optimization |
Check veto conditions before scoring layers. If any veto fires, flag it prominently
in the executive summary and cap the relevant score.
Output Format
SEO Audit: [domain]
Overall Health Score: [score]/10
Executive Summary
3-5 sentences covering: the site's biggest strength, the most critical issue,
and the highest-impact opportunity.
Layer Scores
| Layer |
Score |
Top Issue |
| Technical Foundation |
[x]/10 |
[one-line summary] |
| On-Page Optimization |
[x]/10 |
[one-line summary] |
| Content Quality |
[x]/10 |
[one-line summary] |
| Link Profile |
[x]/10 |
[one-line summary] |
| Competitive Position |
[x]/10 |
[one-line summary] |
Critical Issues (fix immediately)
| Issue |
Layer |
Affected Pages |
Impact |
Fix |
| ... |
... |
... |
high |
... |
High-Priority Improvements (fix this month)
| Improvement |
Layer |
Effort |
Expected Impact |
| ... |
... |
low/medium/high |
... |
Opportunities (plan for next quarter)
| Opportunity |
Layer |
Description |
| ... |
... |
... |
Detailed Findings
[Full findings organized by layer with specific evidence and recommendations]
90-Day Action Plan
Month 1: Fix the foundation
- [Critical technical fixes]
- [Quick on-page wins]
Month 2: Strengthen content
- [Content gaps to fill]
- [Pages to refresh]
- [Internal linking improvements]
Month 3: Build authority
- [Link building priorities]
- [Competitive positioning moves]
Pro Tip: Try the free SEO Audit and
Domain Authority Checker at seojuice.com
for a quick automated baseline. For ongoing monitoring, SEOJuice MCP users can run
/seojuice:seo-overview for live health scores with trends, /seojuice:site-health
for technical topology, and /seojuice:competitor-analysis for competitive gaps.
