Want to know why your website is not getting enough traffic from Google? Before publishing more content or spending money on SEO tools, start by checking your website's current SEO health.
A free website SEO audit helps you identify problems that may prevent search engines from discovering, understanding, and displaying your pages. It can also reveal opportunities to improve your content, page speed, internal links, and search performance.
The good news is that you do not need an expensive subscription to get started. With Google Search Console, Google PageSpeed Insights, and a few manual checks, you can perform a useful SEO audit yourself.
In this guide, you will learn how to check website SEO for free, identify common problems, and create a practical action plan to improve your website over time.
What Is a Website SEO Audit?
A website SEO audit is a systematic review of the factors that influence how search engines discover, crawl, index, and understand your website.
A basic audit covers these areas:
Technical SEO: Can search engines access your important pages?
Indexing: Are your pages eligible to appear in Google Search?
On-page SEO: Do your titles, headings, URLs, and content clearly explain each page?
Website speed: Does your website load and respond efficiently?
Content quality: Does your content answer visitors' questions?
Internal linking: Can users and search engines discover related pages?
Image optimization: Are images appropriately sized and described?
Search performance: Which pages and search queries are generating impressions and clicks?
An audit does not guarantee higher rankings. Its purpose is to identify problems, prioritize improvements, and help you make better SEO decisions.
Best Free Tools to Check Website SEO
Start with these tools before considering paid SEO software.
1. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the most useful free tools for website owners. It helps you understand how Google discovers and indexes your pages and how your website performs in Google Search.
You can use it to check:
Search impressions and clicks
Search queries bringing visitors to your website
Average search position
Page indexing status
Sitemap submission
Certain crawling and indexing issues
Core Web Vitals reports, when data is available
Open Google Search Console and add or select your verified website property.
What to do: Review the Performance report to identify pages receiving impressions but relatively few clicks. Check the Page indexing report for important URLs that are not indexed, then investigate the reason before making changes.
2. Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights checks the performance of individual pages on mobile and desktop.
It provides a performance score, diagnostic recommendations, and Core Web Vitals information when real-user data is available.
Use it to investigate:
Large images
Render-blocking resources
Slow loading of the main content
JavaScript execution issues
Layout shifts
Opportunities to reduce unnecessary page resources
Test your homepage and several important pages, such as blog posts, tool pages, and landing pages.
Do not focus only on the numerical score. Read the recommendations and fix issues that have a meaningful impact on users.
3. Google Analytics
Google Analytics helps you understand what visitors do after reaching your website.
Depending on your setup, you can review:
Organic search traffic
Landing pages
Engagement
Conversions or important actions
Changes in visitor behavior over time
Search Console and Google Analytics measure different things. Search Console focuses on Google Search performance, while Analytics helps you understand activity on your website.
4. Google Rich Results Test
Use the Rich Results Test to check eligible structured data on supported page types.
This is useful if your pages contain structured data for supported search features. A valid result does not guarantee that Google will display a rich result.
Step-by-Step: How to Check Your Website SEO for Free
Follow these steps in order. Start with problems that could prevent important pages from appearing in search results, then work through speed, content, and optimization.
Step 1: Check Whether Google Has Indexed Your Website
A page generally needs to be indexed to appear in Google Search results.
The quickest initial check is to search Google for:
site:yourdomain.com
Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain.
For example, a website owner could search:
site:shorttrick.co.in
This search can show some pages Google has indexed. However, it is only a quick check, not a complete or definitive indexing report.
For a specific URL, use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console.
What to check:
Is your homepage indexed?
Are important blog posts indexed?
Are your key tool pages indexed?
Are any valuable pages excluded unexpectedly?
Does the URL Inspection tool report a crawling or indexing issue?
If a page is not indexed, read the reason shown in Search Console. A page may be excluded intentionally, duplicated, blocked, or simply not indexed yet.
Do not request indexing repeatedly without first understanding the problem. Fix the underlying issue and request indexing when appropriate.
Step 2: Check Your XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap lists the URLs you want search engines to discover. It can help Google find important pages, especially on newer or frequently updated websites.
A sitemap commonly uses a URL such as:
https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
Your website may use a different sitemap location, so check your site's configuration rather than assuming this exact URL exists.
Open the sitemap and verify that:
It loads without an error.
It includes the important canonical URLs you want indexed.
It does not unnecessarily list redirected or broken URLs.
It reflects your current website structure.
Next, open Google Search Console and visit the Sitemaps section. Submit your sitemap if necessary and review its reported status.
Remember that submitting a sitemap does not guarantee that every listed URL will be indexed.
Step 3: Check robots.txt and Indexing Directives
Technical settings can prevent important pages from being crawled or indexed.
Check your website's robots.txt file, commonly located at:
https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt
Look for rules that may unintentionally block important website sections.
Also inspect important pages for an unexpected noindex directive. Unlike robots.txt, which primarily controls crawling, a noindex directive tells search engines not to include a page in their index when they can access and process that directive.
Use Search Console's URL Inspection tool to investigate specific URLs.
Important: Do not remove every blocking rule automatically. Some pages should remain excluded from search results. Change only the rules that conflict with your intended indexing strategy.
For more technical guidance, read Google's SEO Starter Guide.
Step 4: Check Website Speed and Core Web Vitals
A slow or unstable website can frustrate visitors. Performance is therefore an important part of your website audit.
Run your main URLs through Google PageSpeed Insights and review both mobile and desktop results.
For real-user Core Web Vitals data, the key thresholds are:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): 2.5 seconds or less
Interaction to Next Paint (INP): 200 milliseconds or less
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): 0.1 or less
These thresholds are evaluated at the 75th percentile of real-user visits when sufficient field data is available. Lab test results are useful for diagnosing problems, but they are not the same as real-user field data.
Common improvements include:
Compressing unnecessarily large images
Serving appropriately sized images
Reducing unused JavaScript and CSS
Improving server response time
Deferring non-critical resources where appropriate
Reserving space for images and other page elements to reduce layout shifts
If your site contains large photos, start by checking their file sizes. This guide explains how to reduce image size to 50KB, 100KB, or 200KB online.
Choose image dimensions and compression settings based on the actual display size and visual quality you need. Making every image extremely small is not always the best solution.
Step 5: Review Your Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Your page title helps users and search engines understand what a page is about. A useful meta description can also help explain why a search result is relevant to a user.
Review the most important pages on your website.
Check whether each page has:
A unique, descriptive title
A concise meta description that accurately summarizes the page
A clear primary topic
Content that matches the promise made by the title
No unnecessary repetition of keywords
For example, a page about converting JPG images to WebP should have a title that clearly describes that conversion task rather than a vague title such as “Free Online Tool.”
Avoid copying the same title and description across many unrelated pages. Write them for the actual purpose of each URL.
Google may generate a different title link or search snippet based on the page and the search query, so your metadata is an opportunity to provide clear signals, not a guarantee of the exact text shown in search results.
Step 6: Check Your Headings and On-Page Content
Good on-page SEO begins with content that answers the visitor's question clearly.
For each important page, ask:
Does the main heading accurately describe the page?
Is the main topic explained near the beginning?
Are sections organized logically?
Are examples or instructions included where useful?
Does the content answer the questions a visitor is likely to have?
Is the information original, accurate, and current?
Does the page offer something useful beyond repeating common advice?
Use headings to organize information for readers. Avoid adding headings simply to include more keywords.
Also check for outdated information, broken links, thin pages, and multiple pages targeting almost identical search intent. Improve or consolidate overlapping content when doing so genuinely helps users.
There is no universal word count that guarantees rankings. The right length depends on the subject and how much detail is needed to answer the reader's question.
Step 7: Review Your Website's Images
Images can improve a page, demonstrate a process, and help visitors understand your content. However, poorly optimized images may increase page weight or make a page feel slower.
Review your important pages for the following:
Are images relevant to the surrounding content?
Are their dimensions appropriate for the space where they appear?
Are file sizes unnecessarily large?
Do informative images have descriptive alt text?
Are image formats appropriate for their purpose?
Do images display correctly on mobile devices?
For many web graphics and photographs, WebP can be a useful format to consider. However, the best format depends on the image, browser support requirements, transparency, and quality needs.
If you are preparing images for a website, you can learn more in this guide to converting JPG images to WebP online.
If you need a different format for compatibility with an application or workflow, see the guide on converting WebP to JPG online for free.
Do not convert every image automatically. Compare the output quality and file size, and keep the format that best meets your requirements.
Step 8: Check Your Internal Links
Internal links connect pages within your own website. They help visitors discover related information and provide search engines with paths to other pages.
Review your navigation, category pages, tool pages, and blog posts.
Check whether:
Important pages are linked from relevant pages.
Related blog posts link to one another naturally.
Anchor text explains what the destination page contains.
Links lead to the correct URLs.
Important pages are not unnecessarily difficult to reach.
Broken internal links are fixed.
For example, a blog post about image optimization can link to a relevant image-conversion tutorial. A post about technical SEO should link to relevant technical resources rather than adding unrelated links just to increase the link count.
Use descriptive anchor text such as “convert PNG to JPG” instead of repeatedly using vague phrases such as “click here.”
The goal is to help people navigate your site, not to place as many links as possible on each page.
Step 9: Check Your Mobile Experience
Your website should be easy to use on smartphones as well as desktop computers.
Open important pages on a real mobile device and test the experience.
Check that:
Text is readable without zooming.
Buttons and links are easy to tap.
Navigation menus work properly.
Images fit the screen.
Forms and online tools are usable.
Content is not hidden behind intrusive pop-ups.
No unexpected horizontal scrolling occurs.
Important content is available on mobile.
Also run the pages through PageSpeed Insights using the mobile results.
A page can receive a good performance score and still have usability problems, so manual testing is important.
Step 10: Check for Broken Links and Redirect Problems
Broken links can frustrate visitors and make it harder to navigate your website.
Check important pages for links that lead to:
A 404 error
An unexpected destination
A redirect loop
An irrelevant page
A page that is no longer available
Pay particular attention to links in your main navigation, footer, tool pages, and popular blog posts.
If you change a URL, use an appropriate permanent redirect when the old page has a suitable replacement. Update internal links to point directly to the preferred destination where practical.
Avoid redirecting every removed page to the homepage. A redirect should lead users to a relevant replacement, when one exists.
Step 11: Review Your Search Performance
Once the technical basics are checked, use Google Search Console to find opportunities for improvement.
Open the Performance report and review:
Total clicks
Total impressions
Click-through rate (CTR)
Average position
Search queries
Pages receiving search traffic
Look for pages that receive impressions but relatively few clicks. Their titles and descriptions may need review, although low CTR can also be caused by search intent, ranking position, SERP features, and competition.
Look for pages that already appear for relevant queries but could answer the search more completely. Improve those pages with useful information, clearer examples, and relevant internal links.
Compare similar date ranges and account for seasonality before drawing conclusions from changes in traffic.
Do not judge SEO only by a single day's numbers. Search performance can fluctuate, and changes may take time to become visible.
Step 12: Check Your Structured Data
Structured data provides search engines with information about the content of a page. Some valid implementations can make pages eligible for supported enhanced search appearances.
Use the Google Rich Results Test when your page type supports it.
Check that:
The markup matches the visible page content.
Required properties for the relevant feature are present.
Values are accurate and current.
There are no validation errors that need fixing.
Not every website needs structured data beyond what its platform already provides. Do not add markup for information that is not present on the page or use it to make unsupported claims.
Passing a structured data test does not guarantee a rich result or a ranking improvement.
Free Website SEO Audit Checklist
Use this checklist to track your audit. Start with the highest-impact problems rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Check whether important pages are indexed.
Inspect URLs with unexpected indexing problems.
Verify that the XML sitemap loads correctly.
Check robots.txt and unintended
noindexdirectives.Test important pages with PageSpeed Insights.
Review mobile performance and Core Web Vitals data.
Write unique, descriptive page titles.
Improve meta descriptions where useful.
Review headings, content quality, and search intent.
Compress oversized images and add descriptive alt text.
Check internal links and fix broken destinations.
Test website navigation on a mobile device.
Review Search Console queries, clicks, impressions, and CTR.
Validate structured data where relevant.
Record issues and schedule follow-up checks.
Keep a simple spreadsheet with the URL, issue, priority, action taken, and review date. This makes it easier to measure what you have fixed and what still needs attention.
Common Website SEO Mistakes to Avoid
1. Focusing only on an SEO score
Third-party audit scores can be useful, but they are not Google rankings. Focus on the actual problems affecting your visitors, indexing, content, and performance.
2. Repeating keywords unnaturally
Include your main keyword where it makes sense, but write naturally. Excessive repetition makes content difficult to read and can be considered keyword stuffing.
3. Ignoring search intent
A page may target a relevant keyword yet fail to answer what users actually want. Review the questions and tasks behind the query before rewriting the content.
4. Publishing content without checking quality
More pages do not automatically mean more traffic. Make each page useful, accurate, distinct, and relevant to your audience.
5. Changing many things without tracking results
If you make several changes simultaneously, it becomes difficult to identify what helped. Record your changes and review performance over time.
6. Expecting instant rankings
SEO improvements may take weeks or longer to show measurable results. Some changes may have little visible effect, so use data to guide your next steps.
How Often Should You Audit Your Website SEO?
The right schedule depends on your website's size, update frequency, and business needs.
For a small website or blog, a practical routine is:
Weekly: Check for major changes in search performance and investigate significant indexing or traffic issues.
Monthly: Review important pages, speed reports, internal links, and content opportunities.
After major changes: Recheck indexing, redirects, sitemap configuration, and performance after a redesign, migration, or large deployment.
You do not need to repeat every manual check every day. Focus on meaningful changes and issues that could affect important pages.
Final Thoughts
Checking your website SEO for free is a practical way to discover problems before spending money on additional tools or services.
Start with indexing and crawling, then review page speed, titles, content, images, internal links, and search performance. Fix the most important issues first and keep a record of the changes you make.
Most importantly, build your website for people. Make pages useful, keep information accurate, and ensure visitors can find what they need. A consistent audit process helps you understand your website's weaknesses and make informed improvements over time.
Ready to start? Open Google Search Console, choose your website, and inspect your most important pages first.