SEO Audit in 2025: What It Is and What It Should Include

In this post, we’re going to explore SEO audits from an introductory perspective: we’ll define the concept and break down all the key elements a proper audit should include. In 2025, special attention should be paid to areas that were once secondary or are now emerging (usability, EEAT, AI). This guide can help you create a checklist if you’re doing your own audit, or identify critical points if you plan to hire an agency or SEO professionals. Let’s dive in:

What is an SEO audit?

An SEO audit is a process used to assess the current status of a website’s organic positioning. It can be defined as a set of analysis tasks to evaluate how well a website is optimized for organic search. By “website,” we refer to the full set of URLs — not just the homepage.

There are two main areas covered in any SEO audit: on-page SEO (within your site) and off-page SEO (external factors).

Key areas every SEO audit should include:

1) Indexation and crawlability

You need to check which pages Google crawls, what content it detects, and whether it encounters problems (broken links, duplicate content, etc.). Most of this data can be obtained via Google Search Console. You should also compare the pages you want indexed (as declared in your sitemap) with the ones Google has actually indexed. Use “site:yourdomain.com” to get a quick snapshot.

2) Redirect management

Review the number and type of redirects. Your site should redirect all variants to a single version (e.g., https://www). 301 (permanent) redirects transfer authority, while 302 (temporary) typically don’t. Google may assess whether the redirected page is relevant before passing link equity.

3) Technical SEO review

• Canonical tags: point to the preferred version when duplicate URLs exist.
• Mobile-friendly design: essential for both user experience and indexing.
• W3C validation: clean, semantically structured code improves site comprehension.
• Page speed: directly impacts UX and SEO. Use tools like PageSpeed Insights.
• Clean URLs: keep them short, keyword-rich, and free of special characters.
• Schema markup: use Schema.org tags to structure information and improve visibility in rich results.

4) Link analysis

Review inbound, outbound, and internal links. Identify broken links, check their quantity and attributes (follow/no-follow), domain authority, and thematic relevance. Tools like Ahrefs and Search Console are helpful here.

5) Other technical checks

• Images: no broken images, optimized sizes, and descriptive alt attributes.
• Meta tags: avoid duplicates, empties, or overly long/short entries.
• Server configuration: should be fast, secure, CMS-optimized, and geolocated near your target audience.
• Sitemaps and robots.txt: must exist and be correctly configured.
• Hreflangs: for multilingual/multiregional websites, hreflang attributes ensure correct language targeting.

6) Content quality and EEAT

Google increasingly values high-quality, original, trustworthy content. Your audit should evaluate whether:

• The content is written by credible, knowledgeable authors.
• It references reliable sources and evidence.
• The site shows clear author attribution and contact info.
• It meets the actual search intent of users.

7) User experience and SXO

SXO (Search Experience Optimization) blends SEO and UX to ensure not just visibility, but a frictionless experience. Audit criteria include:

• Clear layout and scannable content structure.
• Dwell time and bounce rate.
• Effective and visible calls-to-action (CTAs).

8) Optimization for AI models (LLMs)

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude are new entry points to online content. To gain visibility in this context:

• Create structured, complete, and clear content.
• Implement the llms.txt file to assist AI models in understanding your site.
• Get mentioned in reputable sources and platforms.

9) Off-page SEO audit

Evaluate all external factors that influence your rankings:

• Domain age: older domains with clean history tend to be more trusted.
• Domain authority: based on the quantity and quality of backlinks.
• Backlink profile:
  • Quality and topical relevance of linking domains.
  • Geolocation of IPs.
  • Type of anchor text.
  • Balance between follow and no-follow links.
• Brand mentions: unlinked brand mentions also help improve trust signals.

Use tools like Ahrefs, Majestic, Semrush or SE Ranking to gather insights and define future link-building strategies.

What’s next?

This concludes our updated guide on what an SEO audit should include in 2025. If you need expert help, La Teva Web is ready to assist with a tailored SEO audit for your website.