What is included in a Site Audit?
The main sections of a comprehensive site audit
What's included in a site audit at full scope generally breaks into four main sections. The technical section covers server and infrastructure: how your site is crawled, whether pages are indexed correctly, page load speeds, mobile friendliness, HTTPS, status codes, and structured data.
The on-page section covers what's on each page: title tags, meta descriptions, headings, content quality, internal links, and image optimisation. The off-page section covers external signals: your backlink profile, referring domain quality, and brand mentions. The content section assesses whether your pages cover topics thoroughly enough to compete for the queries they're targeting.
What isn't automatically included in a site audit
A standard site audit typically doesn't include conversion rate optimisation (whether visitors who do arrive take the action you want), user experience testing (whether real users find the site easy to navigate), competitive analysis (whether your competitors' pages are doing things yours aren't), or keyword strategy (whether you're targeting the right terms to begin with). These are separate but complementary analyses. Some audit tools include elements of conversion tracking or competitor comparison, but a traditional crawl-based site audit is focused primarily on technical and on-page SEO factors.
How to decide how deep to go
The depth appropriate for an audit depends on the size of the site and the specific questions you're trying to answer. A five-page brochure site can be comprehensively audited manually in a few hours. A five-hundred-page e-commerce site requires dedicated tools and a structured process to audit effectively. Rather than trying to decide upfront on the 'right' depth, many experienced practitioners recommend starting with an automated crawl to understand the scale of issues across the whole site, then going deeper on the pages that matter most.
Key Takeaways
- A full audit covers technical, on-page, off-page, and content sections.
- UX, CRO, and keyword strategy are separate from but complementary to a standard audit.
- Start with an automated crawl to understand scale, then go deep on the most important pages.
Related Questions
Frequently asked questions
What are the main sections of a full site audit?
A comprehensive site audit usually has four sections. The technical section covers server and infrastructure, including crawling, indexation, page load speed, mobile friendliness, HTTPS, status codes and structured data. The on-page section looks at what is on each page, such as title tags, meta descriptions, headings, content quality, internal links and image optimisation. The off-page section covers external signals including the backlink profile, referring domain quality and brand mentions. The content section assesses whether pages cover their topics thoroughly enough to compete for the queries they target.
What is not included in a site audit as standard?
A traditional crawl-based site audit focuses mainly on technical and on-page SEO. It typically does not include conversion rate optimisation, which looks at whether visitors take the action you want, or user experience testing with real users. It also usually leaves out competitive analysis of what rivals' pages do differently, and keyword strategy, which checks whether you are targeting the right terms in the first place. These are separate but complementary analyses. Some audit tools include elements of conversion tracking or competitor comparison, but they are not part of a standard audit.
How detailed should a site audit be?
The right depth depends on the size of the site and the questions you want answered. A five-page brochure site can be audited thoroughly by hand in a few hours, whereas a five-hundred-page e-commerce site needs dedicated tools and a structured process. Rather than deciding the depth upfront, many experienced practitioners recommend starting with an automated crawl to understand the scale of issues across the whole site. You can then go deeper on the pages that matter most, which keeps the effort proportionate and focused on the biggest gains.