So you’re trying to get your website to pull its weight on Google, right? Whether you’re a startup in Cornwall or a well-established agency in Manchester, knowing how your site performs in search is an absolute must. And let me tell you, guessing won’t cut it. That’s where a good old-fashioned SEO audit comes in. Not just ticking boxes, but actually discovering what holds your site back and how to fix it.

I’ve been working with UK businesses on SEO strategy since 2012, from scrappy ecommerce stores to established B2B firms. Some clients thought they were doing everything right… until we ran an audit and found broken pages, slow load times, or title tags from 2011 still kicking about. Trust me, even seasoned pros miss the basics sometimes. So don’t worry. This guide is for anyone who wants to clean house and climb the ranks.

Let’s break it down step by step. No fluff, just real talk and actionable points.

Step 1: Start With the Right SEO Tools (Yes, It Matters a Lot)

A decent audit without the right tools? That’s like changing your oil without a spanner. It’s doable… but painful.

Here are a few essentials I absolutely swear by:

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider (UK-based, which is a nice bonus): Perfect for crawling your site and spotting technical snags
• Ahrefs or SEMrush: For backlink profiles, keyword tracking and competitor peeking
• Google Search Console: Goldmine for insights into indexing issues and site performance
• Google Analytics 4: Helps with behavioural trends on your site
• Sitebulb: Another great UK-built tool that’s surprisingly intuitive
• PageSpeed Insights: To check how your site performs on mobile and desktop

Also, if you don’t have a checklist to guide your audit, you’re truly making life harder than it needs to be. I tend to create one in Notion or Google Sheets with these columns: Issue, Priority (High/Med/Low), Recommended Fix, Owner, and Deadline. Keeps things clean and trackable.

Step 2: Crawl Your Site Like Googlebot Would

Start with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb and let them rip through your URLs. Here’s what you’re hunting for:

• Broken links (404s)
• Orphaned pages: Pages with no internal links
• Duplicate content: Might be caused by messy URL structures or improper canonicals
• Redirect chains & loops: Not only annoying, but they also eat crawl budget
• Missing metadata like titles, descriptions, or image alt tags

One client I helped had 17 versions of the same blog post indexed under slightly different URLs. Why? Because of dodgy URL parameters that weren’t excluded via robots.txt or canonical tags. Once we sorted it, their crawl budget was freed up and rankings shot up within weeks.

Pro tip: Run a crawl monthly, or at least quarterly. Issues crop up faster than you think, especially if you’ve got a team adding content regularly.

Step 3: Check the Technical Foundations

Your site might look great, but behind the scenes? Things can get complicated. Here’s where I usually zero in:

• Mobile-friendliness: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Mobile-first indexing isn’t optional anymore
• Core Web Vitals: As of early 2024, these still play a clear role in rankings. Fix anything in the red zone
• HTTPS: Still shocked by how many small business sites aren’t fully secure
• Robots.txt and XML sitemap: Check that they’re clean, current, and submitted to Google Search Console

In late 2023, I reviewed a site for a London-based artist’s collective. Beautiful design, loads of curated content… but painfully slow loading times due to 5MB image files. Once we compressed the media and addressed lazy loading, bounce rates dropped 29% and average time on page soared. Quick wins like that really do exist.

Step 4: On-Page SEO Review. It’s Not All About Keywords

Let’s talk content. Here’s what you should comb through:

• Title tags & meta descriptions: Make sure they’re unique, compelling, and under character limits
• Header tags (H1, H2, etc.): Keep them structured logically. Avoid using multiple H1s per page
• Keyword use: Are you matching search intent naturally? Or stuffing keywords from 2006?
• Content freshness: Outdated content can drag your site’s perception down
• Internal links: Spread the SEO juice around, especially to newer or deeper pages

One of the most impactful audits I did involved updating old blog posts from 2018. We refreshed the info, added better internal linking, and reworked titles. Traffic doubled. Literally doubled. Within 45 days. Google really does reward relevance.

Also, keep in mind your UK spelling conventions. If your audience is primarily in the UK, use optimise, not optimize. Yes, it matters. Even culturally.

Step 5: Review Your Backlink Profile (and Spy on the Competition)

Backlinks still matter. A lot. But not just any links — relevant, clean, trustworthy sources count most.

I use Ahrefs for this, though SEMrush does a solid job too. Check for:

• Toxic or spammy links: Disavow these if they’re hurting you
• Top referring domains: Who loves your site already?
• Anchor text distribution: Too many exact-match anchors? That’s a red flag
• New and lost backlinks over time

Now, the fun part — competitive analysis. Look at who’s ranking above you:

• Which keywords do they dominate?
• Which sites link to them but not you?
• What type of content earns them the most links?

One of my clients, a Midlands-based SaaS brand, found that a key competitor was killing it with industry listicles. We created our own, made them more in-depth, and then did targeted outreach to industry blogs. Result? 33 new high-quality links in under a quarter.

Step 6: Prioritise Fixes and Track Improvements

An audit without action is just a report collecting dust.

Once you’ve flagged the issues, triage them immediately. Tackle the high-impact stuff first:

• Broken pages
• Duplicate content
• Missing metadata on key pages
• Speed and mobile fixes

Then go back and detail out the longer-term wins: content updates, backlink strategy, new internal linking patterns.

Tracking changes is the kicker. Use tools like:

• Google Search Console (to check indexing and impressions)
• GA4 (to analyse traffic trends)
• Rank tracking tools like AccuRanker (local UK tracking is decent)
• Manual date stamps in your checklist

And don’t forget to record what you changed and when. Otherwise, you’ll forget why rankings went up (or down). Been there. More than once.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I do an SEO audit?

For most UK-based businesses, once a quarter is plenty. If you’re making frequent site changes. Like publishing lots of new content or rebuilding pages. Consider monthly mini audits focused on key areas like crawl errors and meta data.

Do I need to hire an expert to do this?

Not necessarily. Many of the tools mentioned here are user-friendly, and with a bit of time and patience, you can spot and fix common issues yourself. That said, for larger or eCommerce sites, a professional audit might uncover deeper technical problems that DIY efforts could miss.

What’s the most common SEO issue for UK websites?

Honestly? Slow mobile page speeds and outdated metadata are near the top. But a close third is irrelevant or thin content that doesn’t match UK consumer intent. Especially for businesses using American-sourced content or reference points.

How do I know if Google penalised my site?

There’s no flashing neon sign, sadly. A sudden drop in organic traffic is one clue. Check Google Search Console for manual actions, and use ranking trackers to spot dramatic keyword shifts. No news usually means no penalty. Just algorithm updates to adapt to.

What’s the fastest SEO win I can implement today?

Compress those massive homepage images. Seriously. Mobile page speed is a massive ranking factor, and even just cutting a few megabytes can have a noticeable effect. Quick fix, big impact.

Doing a full-scale SEO audit isn’t reserved for digital agencies or technical wizards. If you’re running a UK site in 2025, it’s just smart business. Taking time to roll through these steps could mean the difference between page 9 oblivion and page 1 success.

So what’s stopping you? Open Screaming Frog, fire up your site, and get into detective mode. Your top rankings are waiting.

If you need help implementing these strategies or have questions about your specific situation, feel free to reach out directly for personalized assistance.