What a thorough audit checks
- Technical: is every important page indexed; are there noindex tags, redirect chains, 404s; does the sitemap match the site; is HTTPS complete; how do Core Web Vitals look on phones; is the software up to date and the site free of malware.
- On-page SEO: does each page have a unique, specific title and meta description; one H1 that says what the page is; content that matches what people search; internal links between related pages; schema markup that validates.
- Conversion: is the phone number visible on a phone; do forms work and deliver; how many steps to a quote or booking; does each service have a page; is there proof (reviews, photos) near each call to action.
- Accessibility: contrast, keyboard navigation, image alt text, form labels, heading order. Required for many organizations in Ontario; see does my website need to be accessible.
- Content and trust: outdated prices, dead team members still listed, the wrong year, pages that contradict each other, a missing or outdated privacy policy.
Free scans versus a real audit
Free online 'SEO audit' tools produce a score and a long list of generic warnings in seconds. They are fine for a first look and useless for deciding what to do, because they cannot tell a problem that costs you customers from one that does not matter. A real audit is a person looking at your site with your goals in mind and writing down, in order, what to fix and why. Expect a document, not a dashboard.
What happens after
The output is a list, grouped by impact and effort. Some items are an afternoon of a developer's time; others are a project. Many of the technical ones are exactly what a maintenance plan prevents in the first place. If the audit finds the site needs rebuilding, the list becomes the brief for the redesign. PrimaryDM runs an audit at the start of every SEO engagement and when taking over an existing site.