Websites constantly evolve with new pages, updates, and technical changes – and so do search engine algorithms. Regular SEO audits ensure your site stays optimised and avoid any issues that could hurt your rankings.
But how often is “regular”? Too often can feel unnecessary, while too rarely lets issues pile up. Let’s explore the best frequency for SEO audits.
Ideally, you should audit your website for SEO every month. Regular checks help you catch and fix issues early, keeping your traffic and rankings on track. Also, running an audit right away is a good idea if you notice a drop in your CTR or rankings.
Monthly audits don’t have to be comprehensive. Comprehensive audits, which combine manual and automated checks, take significant time and money, making them impractical to do every month. You can use an automated tool for monthly SEO audits.
That doesn’t mean you should skip comprehensive audits entirely. You still need them, but they don’t have to be very frequent. We recommend doing a comprehensive audit at least once every quarter to catch issues automated tools can’t identify.
Most websites follow a routine of monthly and quarterly SEO audits. They use automated audit tools for monthly automated audits and schedule manual, in-depth audits every three months. This approach keeps websites’ SEO in top shape.
Keep in mind that this frequency applies only to SEO audits. Your website also needs other audits, like accessibility, performance, and competitive audits. Want to know how often to run those? Check out our guide on how often you should audit your website.
For most people, the best SEO audit tool is one that’s free and checks most of the factors affecting search engine rankings in one go. This includes the usual SEO elements, speed, and user experience metrics, all key Google ranking factors.
And if you ask us, we’d say the best free SEO audit tool is WebYes. Let us explain. It doesn’t just focus on SEO but also evaluates performance metrics like site speed, page load time, and Core Web Vitals (CWV). As you know, these performance factors also play a major role in your SEO rankings.
To learn more, check out our guide on website performance monitoring.
That said, there are other tools worth considering. Tools like Ahrefs, SEOptimer and SEOmator are great for quick SEO audits. However, most of these are paid tools and don’t evaluate performance or user experience metrics as WebYes does.
Now that you know you should audit your site for SEO every month, let’s see how to conduct an SEO audit with WebYes.
You can start by signing up for a free WebYes account. Once you’re in, simply enter your website URL when prompted and start the scan. When the audit is finished, you’ll see a dashboard like the one below.
Go to the SEO dashboard and scroll down – you’ll see a list of issues that could be holding your website back on the SERP. Tackle those issues, and you’ll be on your way to dominating the rankings (though it might take a bit of effort).
To learn what’s covered in our quick SEO audit, take a look at our 30-minute SEO audit guide.
Once you’ve tackled the SEO fixes, it’s time to turn your attention to performance issues – things that might be slowing down your site. Head over to the performance dashboard to find the listed issues. Address them, and you’re good to go.
What is an SEO audit, and why is it important?
An SEO audit is a process of analysing your website to identify issues that could affect its search engine rankings. It’s essential to ensure your site stays optimised, attracts traffic, and maintains visibility on search engines.
How to do a comprehensive SEO audit?
Earlier, we talked about comprehensive SEO audits – those that combine automated and manual checks and should be done every three months. If you’re wondering how to get started, check out our detailed SEO audit guide for step-by-step instructions.
Do I need technical knowledge to run an SEO audit?
Not necessarily. Automated tools like WebYes make it easy for anyone to audit their website, even without technical expertise. However, fixing the issues these tools detect requires technical knowledge or assistance from your developer.
Article by
Melwyn holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and has been writing professionally for over 4 years. He has a strong background in SEO and is certified in web accessibility from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). When he's not writing about website optimisation, you can find him enjoying a game of FIFA or exploring the open world of GTA.
