Many people talk about SEO like it is only about keywords and backlinks. But in reality, if your website has technical problems, no amount of content or links will save it. This is where technical SEO comes in.
Learning how to conduct a technical SEO audit is important if you want your website to rank properly and stay stable during Google updates. Technical SEO is not exciting, not flashy, and honestly a bit boring for some people. But it is the backbone of your entire SEO work.
At SEO Company Jaipur, we see this almost every week. Websites look good, content is decent, but rankings are stuck. And when we audit them, technical issues are sitting quietly in the background ruining everything.
This article is written in a very practical way, not textbook style. It’s based on real audit experience, mistakes we see often, and fixes that actually work.
What Exactly Is a Technical SEO Audit?
A technical SEO audit is basically checking whether your website is healthy from a search engine point of view. It answers questions like:
Can Google access your pages?
Are pages loading fast enough?
Is the site mobile-friendly?
Are there errors blocking indexing?
Is your structure confusing Google?
Technical SEO does not mean coding all day. It means understanding how search engines see your website and fixing things that stop them.
If you are serious about SEO, knowing how to conduct a technical SEO audit is not optional anymore.
Why Technical SEO Is Often Ignored (And Why That’s a Problem)
Most website owners ignore technical SEO because:
It sounds too technical
They don’t see instant results
No one explains it properly
But ignoring it is risky. One small mistake, like blocking pages in robots.txt, can wipe out traffic overnight. We’ve seen this happen many times.
At SEO Company Jaipur, we always start SEO with a technical audit. Without that, everything else is guesswork.
Tools You Need for a Technical SEO Audit
You don’t need 20 tools. You just need the right ones.
Here are some commonly used tools:
Google Search Console (must-have)
Google Analytics
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
PageSpeed Insights
GTmetrix
Ahrefs or SEMrush (optional but helpful)
Even free tools can give you a lot of data if you know what to look for.
Step 1: Check If Google Can Crawl Your Website
This is the first and most basic step.
Robots.txt File
Check your robots.txt file carefully. Sometimes developers block folders during development and forget to remove it later.
Common issue:
Disallow: /blocking everything
This single line can destroy your SEO completely.
XML Sitemap
Your sitemap should:
Include only important pages
Be updated automatically
Be submitted in Google Search Console
Many websites have sitemap, but it includes useless URLs or broken pages. That creates confusion.
Step 2: Check Indexing Problems
Crawling and indexing are not the same thing.
Use Google Search Console and check:
Pages indexed
Pages excluded
Pages with errors
You might find:
“Crawled – currently not indexed”
“Duplicate without user-selected canonical”
“Alternate page with proper canonical”
These messages are very common and often ignored. But they matter a lot when learning how to conduct a technical SEO audit properly.
Step 3: Look at Website Structure
Website structure is how pages are connected.
A messy structure makes Google confused.
Good structure:
Homepage → category → service page
Clear internal links
No deep pages hidden 5 clicks away
Bad structure:
Random URLs
No internal linking
Important pages orphaned
SEO Company Jaipur often fixes structure issues and sees improvement without adding new content.
Step 4: URL Structure Check
URLs should be clean and readable.
Bad example:
example.com/page?id=458&ref=abc
Better example:
example.com/technical-seo-audit/
URLs are small things, but they send strong signals.
Step 5: HTTPS & Security Issues
If your site is not secure, it’s already behind.
Check:
HTTPS enabled
No mixed content warnings
SSL certificate valid
Some sites show HTTPS but still load images or scripts from HTTP. That creates security warnings and SEO problems.
Step 6: Website Speed & Performance
Slow websites don’t rank well. It’s that simple.
Use:
PageSpeed Insights
GTmetrix
Focus on:
Core Web Vitals
Image size
Unused JavaScript
Heavy themes or plugins
You don’t need perfect scores. You need acceptable performance.
Step 7: Mobile-Friendliness Audit
Google now uses mobile-first indexing. That means Google sees your mobile site first, not desktop.
Check:
Responsive design
Buttons easy to click
Text readable
No popups blocking content
Many websites look fine on desktop but terrible on mobile. That hurts rankings quietly.
Step 8: Duplicate Content Issues
Duplicate content does not always mean copied content. It can be technical.
Common causes:
HTTP vs HTTPS
www vs non-www
Filters
Pagination
Tag pages
Solution:
Canonical tags
Proper redirects
Parameter handling
At SEO Company Jaipur, ecommerce websites suffer most from this problem.
Step 9: Canonical Tag Audit
Canonical tags tell Google which version of a page is the main one.
Check:
Is canonical present?
Is it pointing to correct URL?
Is canonical indexable?
Wrong canonical can push the wrong page to rank or remove the right one.
Step 10: Find Broken Pages & Links
Broken links waste crawl budget and create poor user experience.
Check for:
404 pages
Broken internal links
Old URLs
Fix them by:
Redirecting
Updating links
Removing unnecessary URLs
This step is boring but important.
Step 11: Redirect Issues
Redirects are normal, but too many redirects are bad.
Check:
301 vs 302 usage
Redirect chains
Redirect loops
Best practice:
One redirect max
Use 301 for permanent moves
Bad redirect structure slows down crawling.
Step 12: Internal Linking Problems
Internal links help spread authority.
Check:
Are important pages linked?
Are anchor texts relevant?
Any orphan pages?
Internal linking is one of the easiest SEO wins.
Step 13: Schema & Structured Data
Schema helps Google understand your content better.
Check:
FAQ schema
Organization schema
Product schema
Breadcrumb schema
Errors in schema won’t always break SEO, but fixing them improves visibility.
Step 14: Advanced – Log File Analysis
This step is optional but powerful.
Log files show:
Which pages Google visits
Crawl frequency
Wasted crawl budget
This is mostly useful for large websites.
Step 15: Create a Clear Audit Report
An audit without explanation is useless.
Your report should include:
Issue description
Why it matters
How to fix it
Priority level
At SEO Company Jaipur, we focus more on fixes than fancy reports.
Common Technical SEO Mistakes We See Often
Some mistakes repeat again and again:
Blocking pages by mistake
Slow hosting
Ignoring mobile SEO
Not updating sitemap
Using too many plugins
Most of these are easy to fix if caught early.
How Often Should You Do a Technical SEO Audit?
It depends on your website.
General rule:
Small site: every 6 months
Medium site: every 3–4 months
Ecommerce or large site: monthly checks
SEO changes, websites change, problems appear.
Can You Do Technical SEO Audit Yourself?
Yes, basic audits are possible with free tools.
But for competitive industries, professional audits help a lot. A trained eye catches issues others miss.
SEO Company Jaipur offers technical SEO audits with step-by-step guidance and implementation support.
Final Words
If you really want SEO results, you must understand how to conduct a technical SEO audit. It’s not optional anymore. Technical SEO keeps your website stable, crawlable, and future-proof.
Content and backlinks work only when the technical base is strong.
At SEO Company Jaipur, we believe good SEO starts with fixing what’s broken, not adding more noise.
FAQs
Q1. Is technical SEO difficult to learn?
It looks difficult, but once you understand basics, it becomes logical.
Q2. Does technical SEO affect rankings directly?
Yes, very much. It affects crawling, indexing, and performance.
Q3. How long does a technical audit take?
From few hours to few days, depending on site size.
Q4. Should technical SEO be done before content SEO?
Yes, always fix technical issues first.
Q5. Does SEO Company Jaipur provide technical SEO audits?
Yes, we provide detailed audits and also help in fixing issues.