11-Step Tutorial: Simple WordPress Website SEO Audit Guide

WordPress is one of the most popular CMS, but even the best websites need regular checkups to ensure they’re running smoothly.

If you’ve been wondering how to perform an audit for your WordPress site without drowning in technical jargon, you’re in the right place.

In this 11-step guide, we’ll break it down SEO auditing so you can identify issues, fix them, and set your site up for success in 2025.

Why 11 and not 10? Apollo 11 was the first rocket to land people on the moon. 11: it’s a rocket thing!

Think of Your Website as Your Car — It Needs Regular Maintenance

Imagine your website is your car. If you’ve got a clunker, imagine your website is a Ferrari. You wouldn’t drive for years without checking the engine or changing the oil, right?

Just like that Ferrari, your WordPress site needs periodic audits to ensure it’s running smoothly. A well-maintained site is faster, more secure, and better optimized for search engines.

If your website doesn’t work, you can’t make any sales. A well-maintained website doesn’t break down. A well-maintained website is better.

The most successful SEO strategies aren’t about chasing algorithms. They’re about building a strong technical foundation and creating content that serves your audience’s needs.

Tools You’ll Need for Your WordPress Site Audit

Before diving into the nitty-gritty, let’s gather some essential tools. Many are free and beginner-friendly. Here are some of our faves:

Google Search Console and Microsoft Webmaster Tools: These are your go-to tools for understanding how search engines view your site. They highlight indexing issues, performance metrics, and more. Both tools are free. Google only has 85% of the market in the US, so use both of them.

WordPress Plugins: Plugins like Yoast and Rank Math are invaluable for spotting SEO and performance issues. WP-Optimize can help you with core web vitals. Antispam Bee helps keep the paparazzi away from that Ferrari you’re driving.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider: This is a powerful tool for crawling your website and uncovering technical issues from missing H1s to misplaced canonical tags. The free version does a lot!

PageSpeed Insights: Google’s free tool to analyze your site’s speed and suggest optimizations.

Semrush: Both paid and free versions are perfect for keyword research, site audits, and competitive analysis. The free version allows you one project so it’s a good place to start.

While paid tools can offer deeper insights, the fundamental health of your website can be assessed using free tools. Start there.

Step 1: Check Your Website’s Speed

No one likes being stuck in the slow lane. A slow website can frustrate visitors and hurt your search rankings. Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to assess your loading times. Focus on three things to start:

Enabling Caching: Plugins can speed up your site by caching pages. We include WP-Rocket for free!

Minimizing Code: Compress and clean up your CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.

Speed matters. A delay of even a few seconds can significantly impact user experience and conversions.

“Rocket.net handles the speed of the server. Caching plugins handle the experience, and how the browser is instructed to handle loading as your page is rendered.”
Rocket.net – Rocket Still Recommends Caching Plugins – Though It’s Really About Optimization

Step 2: Test Your Website’s Core Web Vitals

Google’s Core Web Vitals are about more than speed. They focus on the user experience. Once your page has loaded, make sure people stay for a while.

“Core Web Vitals are about more than just fast-loading websites – they are about websites that deliver. It all comes down to UX — having your websites load quickly so people can do what they need to.”
Rocket.net – Significance Of TTFB – The Most Important Metric That Nobody Thinks Of For Core Web Vitals

Step 3: Secure Your WordPress Site

Website security isn’t an option — it’s essential. Think of security as locking your car’s doors and taking the keys before leaving it in the parking lot. Here’s what to check:

Update Everything: Regularly. Keep your WordPress version, themes, and plugins up to date. Out-of-date software is a security risk.

Install a Security Plugin: Use plugins to scan for vulnerabilities and block threats. Ensure your hosting provider prioritizes security, too.

Use Strong Passwords: Ensure all users have secure, unique passwords that are regularly changed. Enable HTTPS: If you haven’t (really?) already, install an SSL certificate to encrypt data.

“Choose a website host who prioritizes security and protects your clients out of the box without any special configurations needed.”
Rocket.net – How To Ensure Security With Your Agency’s WordPress Hosting

Step 4: Review Your Website’s Structure

A well-organized website is easier for people to use. A well-structured website is at the heart of good SEO. It’s a win-win. Start with these basics:

Permalink Settings: Ensure your URLs are clean and descriptive (e.g., “/blog/seo-tips” instead of “/?p=123”).

Sitemaps: Use plugins like Yoast or Rank Math to generate an XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Indexing changes daily. Don’t submit and forget. Check-in once a week to see if pages need to be manually submitted.

Breadcrumbs: Enable breadcrumbs for better navigation and SEO benefits.

Orphans in the Storm: Are all your pages (except for Landing Pages) connected to another page?

Step 5: Evaluate (Mobile) Usability

With most users browsing on mobile devices, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly is non-negotiable. It’s 2025. The “mobile moment” happened a decade ago.

Responsive Design: Your site should look good and function properly on all screens.

Tap Targets: Buttons and links should be easy to click with a finger.

Readability: Ensure fonts are large enough, content is spaced well, and contrast is user-friendly.

Overall Accessibility and Sustainability: How does your site measure up?

“Web accessibility means ensuring everyone can access and use your website. It’s a legal requirement in many places. The ADA requires many websites to be accessible. An accessible website benefits everyone.”
Rocket.net – Comprehensive Accessibility for WordPress Agencies

Step 6: Audit Your Plugins and Themes

While plugins and themes add functionality, they can also slow down your site or introduce vulnerabilities. Review:

Inactive Plugins: Delete plugins you’re not using.

Quality Over Quantity: Avoid bloating your site with unnecessary plugins.

Theme Updates: Use a reliable, well-supported theme and keep it updated.

Page Builders: Are you using a page builder where blocks would do the same job? Why?

“WordPress is a platform for various websites, including niche blogs, online shops, portfolios, and lifestyle magazines. Each theme is tailored to cater to specific markets, and your selected theme should enhance your website’s content – not compete with it.”
Rocket.net – Top 5 Considerations For Picking The Best WordPress Theme

Step 7: Check for Broken Links

Broken links frustrate users and harm your SEO. Use tools like Broken Link Checker or Screaming Frog to identify where you’re bleeding traffic.

Internal Links: Fix or redirect broken links within your site. Internal links are SEO gold.

External Links: Replace or update outdated links to other websites.

“A quarter of all webpages that existed at one point between 2013 and 2023 are no longer accessible, as of October 2023.”
Pew Research

Step 8: Monitor Analytics

Data is your best friend when auditing a website. Use tools like Google Analytics or Matomo to understand who visits your website and what they do.

Traffic Sources: Where are your visitors coming from?

Behavior: Which pages are they visiting and how long do they stay?

Conversions: Are users taking desired actions, like filling out a form or making a purchase?

Step 9: Assess Your Content

Content is the heart of your website. But is it working for you? Here’s how to find out:

Check for Duplicate Content: Tools like Screaming Frog can identify duplicates that might confuse search engines. That said, duplicate content is better than no content.

Review Metadata: Ensure each page has a unique title tag and meta description that includes relevant keywords. Hot tip: Bing still uses the meta keywords tag. You should, too.

Update Old Posts: Refresh outdated content to keep it relevant.

Content isn’t just about keywords. It’s about creating value for your audience.

“Google is prioritising high-quality, original content over low-quality, unoriginal content. Websites that produce informative, in-depth, and trustworthy content are being rewarded, while those relying on thin, keyword-stuffed, or AI-generated content are being penalised.”
Rocket.net – What the Google March 2024 Core Update Taught Everyone

Step 10: Optimise Your Website for Keywords

Your keywords guide search engines to understand your content. They are kind of a big deal for your SEO, but they’re not the A&O of SEO. Don’t panic. Here’s how to incorporate keywords into your audit:

Keyword Placement: Use keywords naturally in titles, headers, and content.

Focus on Intent: Prioritise terms that align with what your audience is searching for.

Track Performance: Monitor keyword rankings to see what’s working and where you can improve.

The best keywords aren’t always the most obvious ones. Think about how your customers actually talk about their problems.

Step 11: Checking Your Site’s Visibility

Now that your website is ready, check to see if search engines can see it. For that, your sitemaps can help. Step 11 is the longest, because, well, visibility is kind of a big deal, right?

Create both XML and HTML sitemaps. The XML sitemap is like a blueprint for search engines, while the HTML sitemap helps human visitors find their way around. Make sure to:

Submit your XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing.

Keep your sitemaps updated as your site grows.

Include all important pages but exclude unnecessary ones.

The robots.txt File: Your Digital Welcome Mat

Think of robots.txt as instructions for search engine visitors. It tells them which rooms (pages) they can enter and which ones are off-limits. Place it in your root directory and keep it simple:

Block access to private areas.

Guide crawlers to your important content.

Point to your sitemap location.

Finding those Pesky Indexing Issues

Just because you published a page doesn’t mean it’s in Google’s or Bing’s index. Check your coverage and look for:

Pages marked as “not indexed”

Redirect chains that need cleaning up

Duplicate content issues

Mobile usability problems

Don’t panic if you see indexing issues — they’re normal. Focus on fixing the most important pages first and work your way down the list.

Wrapping Up Your WordPress Website Audit

Conducting an audit might seem daunting but breaking it into manageable steps makes it straightforward. Spend ten minutes daily, and you’ve done a weekly hour-long audit before you know it.

By addressing speed, security, structure, content, and usability, you’ll create a WordPress site that’s both user-friendly and search-engine ready. Now, that’s what we call SEO Auditing.

An SEO audit isn’t a one-time task. Regular checkups are key to maintaining a healthy, high-performing website.