The SEO audit we actually run (and the one you should skip)

Most SEO audit deliverables are a 60-page PDF designed to justify the invoice. Here’s what’s actually in ours — and what we cut.

What we check first

1. Indexation reality vs. expectation. Site: queries + Search Console coverage. If 40% of your pages aren’t indexed, that’s the headline.
2. Core Web Vitals on real URLs. Not lab data. Field data, segmented by template.
3. Internal linking graph. One quick crawl tells us whether the site has clear topical hubs or a tangled mess.
4. Structured data coverage. Missing markup on review, FAQ, or product pages is low-hanging fruit.
5. Content gaps at the topic level. Not “keywords you don’t rank for” — topics your competitors cover fully and you don’t.

What we skip

• Bounce rate hand-wringing. It’s not a ranking signal and GA4 doesn’t even define it the way we used to.
• H1 count per page. Multiple H1s are fine in HTML5; this check has been obsolete for a decade.
• Generic “improve meta descriptions” notes. We’d rather rewrite the ten that actually matter.

The goal

A good audit is a punch list, not a report card. You should finish reading it knowing exactly what to do Monday morning.