How To Run A Technical SEO Audit Properly | Lillian Purge

How to run a technical SEO audit properly

Running a technical SEO audit properly is less about tools and more about judgement. In my experience most technical audits fail because they become long checklists that highlight hundreds of issues without explaining what actually matters. The result is confusion, wasted effort and very little improvement in real performance.

A good technical SEO audit should answer simple but important questions. Can search engines crawl the site efficiently. Can they understand which pages matter. Are there technical barriers stopping strong content from performing. If your audit does not clearly answer those questions it is not doing its job.

In this guide I want to walk through how to run a technical SEO audit properly, focusing on clarity, prioritisation and outcomes rather than raw data.

Start with the purpose of the audit

Before opening any tools you need to be clear on why you are auditing the site. From experience this step is skipped far too often.

Are you auditing because rankings have dropped, because a site has grown, because a migration happened or because performance has plateaued. Each scenario changes what you should prioritise.

A technical SEO audit is not a generic health check. It is a diagnostic process aimed at solving a specific problem or preventing future ones.

Clarity at the start prevents noise later.

Look at crawlability before anything else

The first technical question is always whether search engines can crawl the site properly.

From experience issues like blocked resources, broken internal links, crawl traps and misused robots directives cause more damage than almost anything else.

You should confirm that important pages return a 200 status code, are not blocked by robots.txt and are reachable through internal links.

If search engines cannot crawl pages efficiently nothing else in the audit matters.

Understand how the site is being indexed

Crawling and indexing are not the same thing. A page can be crawled and still not indexed.

From experience indexation problems are common on large or messy sites. Too many low value pages can dilute overall quality signals.

Check which pages are indexable, which are noindexed and whether canonical signals are consistent.

A proper audit focuses on index quality not just index quantity.

Only pages that deserve to rank should be indexable.

Review site architecture and internal linking

Site structure plays a huge role in technical SEO.

From experience poorly structured sites confuse search engines about which pages are important. Key pages are buried too deep while low value pages receive too much internal link equity.

A technical audit should assess click depth, internal link distribution and whether priority pages are supported clearly.

Internal linking is how you communicate importance. If the structure is weak technical SEO will underperform regardless of content quality.

Check canonicalisation and duplicate signals

Duplicate content issues are rarely about copied text alone. They are usually about URL variations and canonical confusion.

From experience inconsistent canonicals cause ranking instability and crawl inefficiency.

A technical audit should verify that canonical URLs are correct, consistent and reflect the intended version of each page.

If search engines have to guess which URL is correct performance suffers.

Canonical clarity is foundational.

Assess page speed and performance pragmatically

Page speed matters but it should be assessed realistically.

From experience audits that obsess over perfect scores miss the point. What matters is whether pages load quickly enough to avoid frustration and crawl throttling.

Focus on major issues such as oversized images, excessive scripts and slow server response times.

Speed should support usability not chase benchmarks.

Evaluate JavaScript and rendering risks

JavaScript should be assessed based on impact not presence.

From experience technical SEO audits should check whether core content, internal links and metadata are available without relying entirely on JavaScript execution.

Rendering delays, inconsistent output and mobile specific issues are red flags.

If JavaScript hides important content technical SEO problems are real. If it enhances experience without blocking access it is usually fine.

Context matters more than technology choice.

Review mobile experience thoroughly

With mobile first indexing mobile performance is non negotiable.

From experience many technical audits look only at desktop views and miss mobile issues entirely.

Check layout stability, tap targets, load times and content availability on mobile devices.

If a site works poorly on mobile technical SEO will suffer regardless of desktop performance.

Mobile experience is technical SEO.

Analyse URL structure and parameter handling

URL structure influences crawl efficiency and clarity.

From experience messy URLs with excessive parameters often indicate deeper problems such as uncontrolled filtering or tracking.

A technical audit should identify which parameters generate valuable pages and which create noise.

Controlling URL proliferation is critical on large sites.

Clean URLs support better crawling and indexing.

Check XML sitemaps for accuracy and usefulness

Sitemaps should be reviewed as part of every technical audit.

From experience many sitemaps include non indexable URLs, redirects or error pages.

A proper audit ensures sitemaps contain only canonical indexable URLs and are updated correctly.

Sitemaps should reflect your best content not everything the site generates.

They are a communication tool.

Review structured data for accuracy not volume

Structured data is often overused.

From experience technical audits should focus on whether schema accurately reflects visible content and whether it validates consistently.

Incorrect or misleading schema creates risk without benefit.

Less accurate schema is better than more speculative schema.

Accuracy matters more than coverage.

Identify error patterns not individual errors

Large sites always have some errors.

From experience a good technical audit looks for patterns rather than chasing every isolated issue.

For example repeated 404 errors from one template or redirect chains affecting an entire section.

Fixing root causes produces far more impact than fixing symptoms.

Patterns reveal priorities.

Consider crawl budget on larger sites

On large sites crawl budget becomes a real concern.

From experience technical audits should assess whether search engines are wasting time crawling low value pages.

Log files, index coverage data and internal link analysis help here.

Improving crawl efficiency often unlocks performance without new content.

Search engines should spend time where it matters.

Align technical findings with business priorities

A technical SEO audit should not exist in isolation from business goals.

From experience fixing technically perfect pages that do not drive value is a waste of time.

Audit findings should be prioritised based on impact, risk and relevance.

Technical SEO supports outcomes not checklists.

Turn findings into a prioritised action plan

One of the most important steps is turning the audit into a clear action plan.

From experience a good audit produces a short list of high impact fixes rather than a long list of minor issues.

Each recommendation should explain why it matters and what success looks like.

If stakeholders cannot understand the actions the audit has failed.

Clarity drives execution.

Re audit after changes are made

A technical SEO audit is not finished when the report is delivered.

From experience changes should be re audited to confirm fixes and catch unintended consequences.

SEO is iterative not one off.

Each audit cycle should improve stability and performance.

Common mistakes that undermine technical audits

The most common mistake is over reliance on tools without interpretation.

Another is treating all issues as equal.

From experience audits fail when they overwhelm rather than guide.

Judgement matters more than data.

How I approach technical SEO audits in practice

I start with crawlability and indexation then move through structure performance and consistency.

I focus on issues that block growth rather than polishing edges.

This approach consistently delivers measurable improvements.

Technical SEO is about removing friction not chasing perfection.

Final thoughts from experience

Running a technical SEO audit properly is about understanding how search engines actually experience your site.

I think many audits fail because they prioritise volume of findings over value of insight.

From experience the best technical audits simplify complex sites, clarify priorities and enable better content performance.

When technical SEO works well it becomes invisible. Pages are crawled, indexed and ranked without friction.

That is the goal of a proper audit.