SEO Audit

You Know You're Not Ranking.
An SEO Audit Tells You Why.

A ranking problem is never just one thing. It is a combination of technical signals Google cannot read, keywords you are targeting incorrectly, content gaps your competitors have filled, and backlink authority you have not built. An SEO audit examines every one of those layers — not as a crawl report full of errors, but as a plain-language explanation of what is holding your site back and what to fix in what order to change it.

Request Your SEO Audit
SEO audit — analytics dashboard showing keyword rankings and organic search performance
What We Audit

Six Areas. All of Them
Affect Your Rankings.

An SEO audit goes deeper than a surface crawl. Every layer that affects how Google reads, evaluates, and ranks your site is reviewed — with findings you can actually act on.

Technical SEO

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The foundation everything else depends on. If Google cannot crawl and index your site correctly, nothing else you do to improve rankings will work. We use Google Search Console alongside our own tools to surface every crawl and indexing issue.

Crawlability — what Google can and cannot access Indexing status — pages indexed, excluded, or incorrectly blocked Site architecture and URL structure Canonical tags and duplicate content signals XML sitemap and robots.txt accuracy HTTPS, redirect chains, and broken links

On-Page Optimization

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How well each key page signals its topic and relevance to search engines — and whether the pages targeting your most important keywords are actually optimized to rank for them.

Title tags and meta descriptions — presence, length, and keyword use Heading structure and keyword placement Image alt text and file naming Schema markup — what is implemented, what is missing Internal linking — how pages connect and pass authority Page-level keyword targeting and cannibalization

Keyword Analysis

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What your site currently ranks for, what it should rank for, and where the gap is between the two. Most sites are targeting the wrong keywords — or no keywords at all. This feeds directly into our local SEO strategy for service-area businesses.

Current ranking keywords and positions via Search Console Target keyword research for primary services and locations Search volume and difficulty assessment for each target Search intent mapping — informational vs. transactional Quick-win keywords — ranking on page two with easy upside Keyword-to-page mapping across the full site

Content Gaps

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The topics your clients are searching that your site does not cover — and the pages your competitors have that you do not. Content gaps are ranking opportunities waiting to be claimed. We surface these in our SEO copywriting work too.

Topics ranking in your industry that your site does not address Competitor content that ranks above you on shared keywords Thin or underperforming pages that could be improved or consolidated FAQ and supporting content opportunities for featured snippets Location and industry page opportunities for local SEO Content calendar recommendations prioritized by search volume

Backlink Profile

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The quantity, quality, and relevance of sites linking to yours — one of the strongest signals Google uses to assess authority and determine how competitive a ranking you can achieve. Domain authority is one measure of that strength; we look at the full picture.

Total backlink count and referring domain diversity Domain authority of linking sites Toxic or spammy links that may be suppressing rankings Anchor text distribution — over-optimized or too generic Lost backlinks — links that previously existed and no longer do Link building opportunities in your industry and location

Competitor Analysis

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Who is outranking you, why they are outranking you, and what the gap looks like across content, backlinks, and technical signals — so you know exactly what it takes to close it. Findings here also inform our ongoing SEO services.

Top three competitors identified for your primary keywords Competitor domain authority and backlink comparison Content coverage comparison — what they rank for that you do not On-page optimization comparison for shared target keywords Gaps you can realistically close versus long-term opportunities Estimated effort to outrank each competitor on priority terms
Which One Do You Need

SEO Audit vs.
Website Audit.

Both start with your site. The difference is depth versus breadth. If you already know rankings are the primary problem, an SEO audit goes deeper on the signals that affect search visibility — keyword analysis, backlink profile, and competitor positioning — than a broader website audit ever would.

If you are not sure whether the problem is SEO, performance, UX, or content, start with the website audit. It covers all four areas at the level needed to identify which is your biggest constraint. Once you know it is primarily an SEO problem, an SEO audit is the right next step.

Many clients do both — the website audit first for the full picture, then an SEO audit to go deep on rankings once the technical and UX issues are addressed.

Website Audit
SEO Audit
Technical SEO review
Technical SEO review
On-page optimization check
On-page optimization (in depth)
Content quality review
Full keyword analysis
Performance audit
Content gap analysis
UX & conversion review
Backlink profile audit
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Competitor analysis
The Real Problem

Most Sites Have Dozens
of SEO Problems. Three of Them Matter.

A standard crawl tool will hand you a list of four hundred issues — missing alt text, slow images, pages without meta descriptions, redirect chains — and leave you to figure out which ones are actually hurting your rankings and which ones are noise. That list is not an SEO audit. It is a to-do list with no context.

The value of an SEO audit is prioritization. Not everything Google can see on your site affects your rankings equally. A single indexing error on a key service page does more damage than fifty missing alt text attributes. Keyword cannibalization between two service pages can suppress both from ranking. A backlink profile dominated by low-authority domains limits how competitive a ranking you can achieve, regardless of how well your pages are written.

We identify the three to five issues causing the most damage, explain exactly why they are hurting you, and scope the fix. Everything else is ranked by impact so you know what is worth addressing next. If you want us to implement — through an ongoing SEO engagement or a focused sprint — we scope that work after the audit is delivered.

Request Your SEO Audit
SEO audit analysis — search data and keyword rankings reviewed on laptop
How It Works

Access In.
Clarity Out.

The SEO audit requires minimal time from you — Search Console access, a URL, and your three most important service pages. The rest is on us.

01

Access & Scope

You share access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics, and tell us your primary services, target locations, and the three to five keywords you most want to rank for. We confirm the scope and timeline before starting.

02

Audit

Full technical crawl, Search Console data pull, keyword research, backlink analysis, content gap review, and competitor comparison. The crawl data informs the findings; manual review provides the context a tool alone cannot give you.

03

Report Delivery

Written SEO audit report delivered within seven to ten business days, with all findings documented and prioritized by impact. You review it before the walkthrough call so you can come prepared with specific questions.

04

Walkthrough Call

A 60-minute call to go through the report together. We walk through every finding, answer every question, and help you decide what to tackle first — whether that is independently, with a developer, or with us.

Common Questions

Questions About
the SEO Audit

What most clients want to know before requesting one.

An SEO audit is a comprehensive review of every factor that affects how your website ranks in search engines — technical signals, on-page optimization, keyword targeting, content coverage, backlink profile, and competitor positioning. The output is a prioritized written report of what is holding your site back and what to fix first to see the fastest improvement in rankings. It is not a crawl report. It is an explanation of why your site ranks where it does and what needs to change.
A website audit covers the full picture — SEO, performance, UX, and content — at a breadth that identifies your biggest constraint across all four areas. An SEO audit goes deeper on search signals specifically: full keyword research, backlink analysis, competitor gap analysis, and a more thorough on-page review. If you already know rankings are the primary problem, an SEO audit is the right starting point. If you are not sure, start with the website audit.
Most SEO audits are delivered within seven to ten business days. Larger sites, more competitive industries, or audits that require more in-depth competitor analysis take longer. We confirm the scope and timeline before we start — and we do not adjust the deadline without telling you first.
A written SEO audit report with findings across all six areas — technical SEO, on-page optimization, keyword analysis, content gaps, backlink profile, and competitor comparison — plus a prioritized action list and a 60-minute walkthrough call where we go through every finding with you live. The report is yours to keep and act on independently or with our help implementing the fixes.
Yes. The SEO audit is a standalone deliverable — you own it regardless of what happens next. If you want us to implement the findings, we scope that as a separate engagement after the report is delivered. Many clients use the audit as the entry point into an ongoing SEO engagement, where we implement fixes and build on the audit findings month by month. Others pair it with SEO copywriting to address the content gaps the audit identifies.
Start with the Truth

Stop Guessing Why
You're Not Ranking.

An SEO audit gives you a complete picture of your site's search visibility — what is working, what is not, and exactly what to fix first. One report, one call, and a prioritized plan you can act on the same week.

Request Your SEO Audit

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Iron & Ember Studios specializes in custom website design and SEO services for personal brands and small businesses ready to get found on Google, AI search, and beyond.

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