![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/seo-audits-and-tools-580px-1.jpg\")
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\u201cSEO audits\u201d can mean different things to different people.<\/p>\n
In general, an SEO<\/a> website audit identifies issues that hinder a site\u2019s ability to be found in search results and recommends changes to fix those issues.<\/p>\n The end goal of a technical SEO audit? To help you improve the site’s search visibility and bring in more organic traffic.<\/strong><\/p>\n But the approach to SEO audits varies across practitioners and agencies. Which approach fits you best depends on many factors.<\/p>\n TL;DR<\/strong>: Three levels of SEO audits exist. They all aim to uncover ways to improve a website\u2019s visibility in search. From free tools to an expert’s analysis, all audit types have their place. This article lists five auditing tools, explains the different approaches, and clarifies what you can expect to pay and to get from each level of SEO audit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Three levels of technical SEO audits exist today:<\/p>\n Of course, you may have different names for each of these levels of audits. Each serves a purpose.<\/p>\n However, when all three levels come together in one powerful and \u201cbest\u201d SEO audit<\/a>, you gain a solid understanding of where your website is today, where it can be tomorrow, and what needs to be done to get it there.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at these three levels in detail, starting with the \u201cgood.\u201d<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the most basic SEO audit.<\/p>\n Mostly automated, this type of SEO audit uses a software tool. The software examines your website against a set of SEO factors and generates a list of things to fix.<\/p>\n Most often, businesses themselves use these tools to do simple self-audits. But this type of audit tends to be superficial.<\/p>\n What\u2019s lacking here is the knowledge behind the recommendations. You might receive a brief explanation, but understanding the \u201cwhy\u201d behind the suggestion can be unclear.<\/p>\n Add to that the fact that every business and website is unique. The tool may say \u201cX\u201d is a problem \u2014 but is it really a problem for your site\u2019s situation? And how much priority should you give to it?<\/p>\nThe \u201cbest\u201d SEO audit\u2019s power lies in its expert analysis and strategic recommendations. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n For example, if you\u2019re seeing a traffic loss, a tool-generated report offers no understanding of why. Is there a search engine penalty involved? Could projects that your team is running, like a redesign, be affecting rankings?<\/p>\n The self-audit tool doesn\u2019t take into consideration any number of important things that could be impacting your SEO.<\/p>\n Still, it does serve the purpose of a quick-and-dirty website review. And you can send the recommendations to your developer team to make quick fixes.<\/p>\n Software tools generally contribute to any SEO audit procedure, though the more comprehensive audits give much more insight.<\/p>\n Below I\u2019ve listed five software products I like for SEO audit work. They have both free and paid versions, so the price can range from $0 to several hundred dollars per month for a tool subscription.<\/p>\n 1. Nibbler (My Favorite)<\/strong> Nibbler\u2019s free version limits you to three reports for five webpages per test. But it offers a paid version that opens up the report to 100-plus pages. This more comprehensive reporting comes in between $50 and $120 per month.<\/p>\n 2. SEO-Detective<\/strong> 3. SEOptimer<\/strong> Paid plans for SEOptimer run from $29 to $59 per month, and you can run a report for free and download the data when you sign up for a 14-day free trial.<\/p>\n 4. UpCity<\/strong> The report card is a free feature. It\u2019s wrapped into their paid SEO software aimed at agencies at $150 to $800 per month.<\/p>\n 5. WebPageTest.org<\/strong> As you can see, these five SEO auditing tools cover many best-practice SEO tactics. After accessing the data, you should make recommended changes where it makes sense for your website.<\/p>\n The downside is that these tools do not listen to your business and website problems, nor do they dive deeper into the data. That is the next level of auditing that I will cover.<\/p>\nIn an SEO audit, the human insights piece makes a great difference if you want to understand major SEO issues impacting the site. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n Level 2 SEO audits are better because they typically involve an SEO vendor or SEO practitioner.<\/p>\n The vendor or practitioner will likely use a software tool such as those I outlined in the previous section. In addition, they can:<\/p>\n This deeper dive can often result in problem identification, sometimes very quickly. You\u2019ll receive important explanations of what\u2019s behind the data uncovered in analytics and auditing tools.<\/p>\n Some of the things an audit like this may discover are:<\/p>\n Your content is not good enough.<\/em><\/strong> Software can only do so much to analyze content (for example, word count or reading score). A human can compare your website content to your competitors\u2019 pages that are ranking in the search results. Such an evaluation can pinpoint where you have room for improvement.<\/p>\n Your website design is bad.<\/em><\/strong> A software tool won\u2019t be able to tell you that you have an ugly, hard-to-navigate website. It won\u2019t notice that you have a bunch of junk code that\u2019s preventing search engine spiders from doing their job. Having expert eyes on the overall development and design to identify SEO problems is key.<\/p>\n Your inbound link profile is poisoned.<\/em><\/strong> There are many reasons why a link profile can go bad. A website that has been around for a while has probably had multiple webmasters. During that time, the rules of SEO may have changed, or those responsible may not have understood Google guidelines. Whatever the reason, it\u2019s the SEO auditor\u2019s job to interpret potential spam issues hurting the site.<\/p>\n Your server is way too slow.<\/em><\/strong> Google cares about how long it takes to get information from your webpage, and says it should display in 200 milliseconds or less<\/a>. An older study<\/a> found a correlation between an increased \u201ctime to first byte\u201d and decreased search rankings.<\/p>\n To clarify, a tool can certainly check page load time. But is the reported load time normal among your competitors? And have you lost traffic due to delays? An audit tool cannot tell you the answers. But they\u2019re crucial to deciding how to prioritize your slowness issues.<\/p>\n In a Level 2 SEO audit, the human insights piece makes a great difference<\/strong> if you want to understand major SEO issues impacting the site.<\/p>\n If you engage with an SEO vendor, know that the price varies greatly depending upon the issue prompting the audit, site complexity, and the size of the agency\u2019s SEO checklist.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the rub:<\/em> Most audits at this level are little more than a problem list without solutions.<\/strong> Those fixes are yours to research.<\/p>\n Normally, a reasonable \u201cbetter\u201d audit by a professional as described here ranges from $3,000 to $12,000 (USD). This covers a one-time review; afterwards, the engagement is typically over. You can compare this against the cost and the need to employ an SEO analyst in-house.<\/p>\nAt the end of the day, all three levels of SEO audits can be useful. Something is better than nothing. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n Each level of audit has its place based on a business\u2019s needs and budget. Luckily, you have options.<\/p>\n At the \u201cbest\u201d auditing level, you engage with an SEO vendor that has explicit knowledge of how to perform a thorough technical and strategic SEO website audit. You want to choose an agency that makes audits a core business specialty and has enough hours available to do it (up to 100 hours or more).<\/p>\n Commonly, a Level 3 audit takes advantage of the kinds of tools I\u2019ve mentioned for the other levels. Tools improve the process. But the \u201cbest\u201d SEO audit\u2019s power lies in its expert analysis and strategic recommendations.<\/strong><\/p>\n A technical SEO audit at this level uncovers everything in the first two levels of auditing, plus it delivers the following:<\/p>\n You can expect an SEO vendor at this level to spend a lot of time researching and analyzing \u2013 sometimes over 100 hours depending on the website \u2013 in order be as thorough as necessary.<\/p>\n At that level of labor, these audits often start at $20,000 and can exceed $50,000 for very large ecommerce sites. (Side note: You can learn more about the cost of SEO<\/a> and what goes into the price tags.)<\/p>\n Our search marketing agency mostly does the \u201cbest\u201d audits; we also run many auditing tools and tasks internally over the course of every project. Let us know<\/a> if we can help your business. At the end of the day, all three levels of SEO audits can be useful. In other words, something is better than nothing.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re deciding which type will work best for you, consider these factors:<\/p>\nThe 3 Levels of SEO Audits<\/h2>\n
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The \u201cGood\u201d SEO Audit<\/h2>\n
SEO Audit Tools I Recommend<\/h3>\n
\nNibbler<\/a> is my preferred auditing tool. It looks at everything from on-page factors to back-end considerations, breadth of content, mobile factors, freshness and more.<\/p>\n![\"Nibbler](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/audit-tools-nibbler-600px.jpg\")
\nSEO-Detective<\/a> is a free tool that analyzes a site one webpage at a time against more than 20 factors, including Alexa rank, server information, keywords and more.<\/p>\n![\"SEO-detective](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/audit-tools-seo-detective-600px.jpg\")
\nSEOptimer<\/a> audit data is available in multiple languages and covers everything from on-page SEO factors to usability and accessibility. It prides itself on speed (being able to analyze a site in 30 seconds or less), and allows users to customize and white label reports.<\/p>\n![\"SEOptimer](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/audit-tools-seoptimer-600px.jpg\")
\nUpCity<\/a> offers an SEO \u201creport card\u201d that covers things like ranking and on-site analysis including links, trust metrics and accessibility.<\/p>\n![\"UpCity](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/audit-tools-upcity.jpg\")
\nWebPageTest<\/a> is a free tool that is useful for verifying or identifying speed issues.<\/p>\n![\"WebPageTest.org](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/audit-tools-webpagetest-600px.jpg\")
The \u201cBetter\u201d SEO Audit<\/h2>\n
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What to Expect from a Level 2 Audit<\/h3>\n
The \u201cBest\u201d SEO Audit<\/h2>\n
What to Expect from the Best SEO Audit<\/h3>\n
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Summary<\/h2>\n
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