Step-by-step website SEO audit checklist for businesses in Kerala
What Is a Website SEO Audit?
A website SEO audit is a comprehensive analysis of your website’s health, structure, and performance in search engines. It helps you identify what’s working for your website, what’s broken, and what needs improvement. By understanding and addressing the issues found in the audit, you can rank higher on Google, drive more traffic, and convert more visitors into paying Customers.
Why Every Business Needs an SEO Audit
A website SEO audit is essential for any business that wants to succeed online. Search engines are constantly changing, competitors are optimizing their websites, and consumer behavior is evolving every day. Without regular audits, your website could be losing valuable traffic, leads, and sales without you even realizing it.
A well-executed SEO audit reveals hidden issues like slow page speed, poor mobile usability, broken links, and missing keywords. All of these directly impact your search rankings. For businesses in Kerala, where local competition is fierce, an audit ensures that your website is visible when potential customers search for your products or services. Think of it as a regular health check for your website. Keep it optimized, competitive, and ready to convert visitors into loyal customers.
Importance for Small Businesses
If you are a small business owner in Kerala or anywhere else, an SEO audit ensures that your website is not being overshadowed by your competitors. Since most customers search online before making a purchase, a healthy website is essential.
Role in managing organic traffic
Organic traffic is free, targeted, and long-lasting. An audit shows you which pages are attracting visitors and which pages need optimization to bring in more leads.
How it affects conversions and sales
A poorly optimized site means lost customers. By fixing SEO issues, you improve the user experience, reduce bounce rates, and ultimately increase sales.
Key Benefits of Conducting a Website SEO Audit
• Improved Search Rankings – Identify weaknesses that are preventing your site from ranking higher.
• Better User Experience – Fix broken links, slow load times, and improve navigation.
• Identifying Technical Issues – Spot crawl errors, duplicate content, and indexation problems.
• Competitive Advantage – Understand where your competitors are beating you and fix it.
Recommended Tools for a Website SEO Audit
• Google Search Console – Monitor indexing and coverage issues
• Google Analytics – Track traffic and conversions
• Screaming Frog – Crawl your website for technical issues
• SEMrush / Ahrefs – Analyze backlinks and competitors
• Ubersuggest
Different Types of SEO Audits
On-Page SEO Audit
- Title Tags
- Meta Descriptions
- URL Structure
- Internal linking
- Content Quality
- Image Optimization
Off-Page SEO Audit
Backlink Profile
- Use Ahrefs / SEMrush / Ubersuggest to check backlinks.
- Disavow spammy links if needed.
Social Signals
- Check if your social media pages link to your website.
- Share content regularly to increase brand visibility.
Technical SEO Audit
A Technical SEO Audit is a detailed process of analyzing your website’s technical elements to ensure search engines can efficiently crawl, index, and rank your pages.
Crawlability & Indexability
✅ Run a full site crawl using tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Ahrefs.
✅ Check robots.txt file for disallowed pages and make sure important pages are not blocked.
✅ Review meta robots tags (noindex, nofollow) and canonical tags for correctness.
✅ Submit and check XML Sitemap in Google Search Console
✅ Identify orphan pages and link them properly.
2. Site Architecture & URL Structure
✅ Ensure logical site hierarchy
✅ Use SEO-friendly URLs
✅ Avoid duplicate content by using proper canonical tags.
3. Site Speed & Core Web Vitals
✅ Test website speed using Google PageSpeed Insights & GTmetrix.
✅ Optimize Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
✅ Compress images, use next-gen formats (WebP/AVIF).
✅ Minify CSS, JS & HTML and enable browser caching.
✅ Consider a Content Delivery Network to improve global load times.
4. Mobile-Friendliness
✅ Run Google Mobile-Friendly Test.
✅ Ensure proper responsive design
✅ Avoid intrusive pop-ups or elements blocking content.
✅ Check font sizes, button sizes, and tap targets.
5. HTTPS & Security
✅ Verify SSL certificate is installed and all pages are served over HTTPS.
✅ Redirect HTTP to HTTPS with 301 redirects.
✅ Ensure no mixed content warnings (secure + insecure resources).
6. Internal Linking & Crawl Depth
✅ Create a strong internal linking structure to distribute PageRank.
✅ Check crawl depth
✅ Fix broken links (404s) and redirect to relevant pages.
7. Structured Data & Schema Markup
✅ Add schema markup for relevant pages (e.g., Organization, Breadcrumbs, FAQ, Product, Article).
✅ Test schema with Google Rich Results Test to ensure no errors.
8. Duplicate Content & Canonicalization
✅ Identify duplicate pages using a crawler or GSC.
✅ Use canonical tags or 301 redirects to consolidate duplicates.
✅ Check for URL parameters causing duplicate content.
9. Index Coverage & GSC Issues
✅ Review Index Coverage Report in GSC for errors
✅ Fix pages marked as Discovered – currently not indexed or Crawled – not indexed.
10. Log File Analysis (Advanced)
✅ Analyze server logs to see how Googlebot crawls your site.
✅ Identify wasted crawl budget and optimize internal linking to priority pages.
Local SEO Audit
Google Business Profile (GBP) Audit
✅ Claim & Verify your Google Business Profile (if not already done).
✅ Ensure NAP Consistency (Name, Address, Phone) matches across all platforms.
✅ Optimize Business Description with relevant local keywords.
✅ Add high-quality photos (interior, exterior, team, logo).
✅ Choose the right business categories (primary + secondary).
✅ Set correct business hours, including holidays.
✅ Post regular Google Posts (updates, offers, events).
Crawl & Inventory Your Content
✅ Use tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to crawl your entire website.
✅ Create a content inventory (URLs, titles, meta descriptions, H1s, word count).
✅ Group pages by content type (blog posts, service pages, product pages, landing pages).
✅ Check if content is unique, original, and valuable.
✅ Remove or rewrite thin content
✅ Improve readability (short paragraphs, bullet points, subheadings).
✅ Add multimedia (images, videos, infographics) to improve engagement.
✅ Ensure content is factually accurate and up-to-date.
Analytics & Tracking Audit
Google Analytics Setup
✅ Verify Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is installed on all pages.
✅ Check that only one GA4 tag is firing
✅ Ensure cross-domain tracking is set up
✅ Check data streams are correctly configured
✅ Review time zone & currency settings to match your business location.
2. Google Tag Manager (GTM) Audit
✅ Confirm the GTM container is correctly installed on every page.
✅ Review tags, triggers, and variables for accuracy and duplication.
✅ Remove unused or broken tags that may slow down the site.
✅ Test GTM setup using Preview Mode to ensure proper firing.
3. Conversion Tracking
✅ Define primary goals (form submissions, calls, purchases, downloads).
✅ Set up GA4 conversion events for each goal.
✅ Test conversions manually to confirm they are recorded.
✅ For e-commerce sites, ensure Enhanced E-commerce tracking is enabled (purchase data, product views, cart additions).
Conclusion
A website SEO audit is the foundation of a successful online presence. Whether you are a small business in Kerala or a global brand, a comprehensive audit can help you identify hidden issues, improve search rankings, and increase conversions.
If you need expert guidance to do it right, working with an SEO expert in Kerala can save you time and deliver fast, measurable results. They can analyze your site, implement best practices, and create a long-term SEO strategy tailored to the Kerala market.
