I thought my website was fine. I built it myself, I look at it almost every day, and it loads fast. Then I checked it the way I check my clients' websites, and I found things I had not noticed in months.
What I found on my own site
Nothing dramatic. The site worked and inquiries came in. But on a phone the cookie notice covered almost a third of the screen, so a new visitor first saw a legal text, not me and not my offer. On some pages the search engine could not tell straight away where the actual content starts. And in a few places the text on the dark background was too faint.
Each detail on its own is harmless. Together they mean the website works worse than it could.
Why owners don't see this
You don't see your own website through a visitor's eyes, you see it as its author. You know where the button is, so you don't notice when something covers it. You know what the page is about, so you don't ask whether Google understands it too.
A visitor on a phone, Google's crawler and an AI assistant like ChatGPT all look at your site differently. An audit is there to see it through their eyes.
What an SEO audit really is
Not a 200-page PDF nobody reads to the end. And not an automatic report an online tool spits out in five minutes.
A good audit answers three questions:
- What is holding the website back right now?
- What should be fixed first, and what can wait?
- Roughly how much work is behind it?
Tools do part of the work. The part that matters is done by a person who understands what the website is for and picks, out of a hundred warnings, the five that really count.
When an audit is worth it
- Before you run ads. Paying for clicks to a site with gaps hurts. More in my checklist before a Google Ads launch.
- After a relaunch or a move to a new system. That is exactly when things get lost most often.
- When inquiries drop and nobody knows why.
- When you pay an agency but are not sure what for.
What happened to my website next
I fixed what I found in one evening and then checked that nothing else broke. That is the whole point of an audit: not a nice report, but a short list after which the website works better.
If you want the same outside look at your own website, send me a note. I will take a quick look first and tell you honestly whether you need an audit at all. What SEO in Vienna costs overall is in a separate article.
SEO audit: frequently asked questions
How much does an SEO audit cost?
The price is fixed and depends on the size of the website. I name it before any work starts, so there are no surprises.
How long does an audit take?
Usually a few days to a week.
Do you need access to my website?
Access to Google Search Console helps, but it is not required.
Do I have to book ongoing support afterwards?
No. You can work through the list yourself or with your own developer.
Want an outside look at your website? Send me a short note. I will take a look and tell you honestly whether an audit is worth it for you.
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