How to Do a Free SEO Audit for Your Website in 2026
A website SEO audit is the process of identifying what’s stopping your site from ranking on Google. This guide walks you through a complete audit in under 2 hours — using free tools.
What is an SEO Audit?
An SEO audit is a health check for your website. It looks at technical issues, content quality, backlink profile, and user experience to find what is hurting your rankings. According to Backlinko, websites that fix core technical SEO issues see an average 30% improvement in organic traffic within 90 days.
Step 1 — Check Google Search Console
Google Search Console is the first and most important free tool. It shows you exactly which pages Google has indexed, which keywords are driving traffic, and any critical errors.
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Check Coverage report — fix any “Excluded” or “Error” pages
- Check Performance → Queries to find keywords you’re ranking for
- Check Core Web Vitals report for page experience issues
Step 2 — Test Your Page Speed
Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. A slow website loses both rankings and visitors. Use PageSpeed Insights to test your homepage and key pages.
Target Scores
Mobile: 80+ | Desktop: 90+ | LCP under 2.5 seconds | CLS under 0.1
Step 3 — Check for Indexing Issues
Type site:yourwebsite.com into Google. The number of results shows how many pages are indexed. If key pages are missing, check your robots.txt and sitemap.
Step 4 — Audit On-Page SEO
For each important page, check: Does it have a unique title tag? Is the meta description compelling? Is there only one H1? Are images compressed and have alt text?
Step 5 — Check AI Search Visibility
In 2026, ranking on Google alone is not enough. You also need to appear in AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Ask ChatGPT: “Who are the best [your service] companies in [your city]?” — if your business isn’t mentioned, you have an AI search visibility problem.
Step 6 — Analyse Your Backlinks
Use Ahrefs Free Backlink Checker to see who is linking to your website. Low-quality or spammy backlinks can hurt your rankings.
Want a Complete 150-Point SEO Audit?
DIY audits find the obvious issues. A professional audit by Adexorb covers 150+ technical checks, analyses your competitors, and gives you a prioritised fix list — so you know exactly what to do next.