July 7, 2025
If you’re short on time but want to get a quick and effective snapshot of your website’s SEO health, this guide is for you. Whether you’re a digital marketer juggling multiple projects or a small business owner trying to boost your search visibility, a 2-hour SEO audit can reveal the most critical issues holding your site back – without the jargon overload.
Here’s a streamlined, step-by-step checklist to run a practical SEO audit in under two hours.
Start with the basics: is Google indexing your site properly?
Go to Google and type: site:yourdomain.com
This will show how many pages are indexed.
Compare this number to how many pages your site should have. Big gaps? Something’s off – maybe your robots.txt or noindex tags are blocking key pages.
Tool Tip: Use Google Search Console to see index coverage errors and submitted sitemaps.
Now let a crawler do the heavy lifting.
Use tools like Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs), Sitebulb, or Ahrefs Site Audit
Look for:
Fixing these technical issues improves crawlability and user experience – two things Google loves.
A slow website hurts rankings and bounce rates. Run a quick performance check:
Use PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix
Prioritise:
Pro Tip: Aim for a mobile load speed under 3 seconds.
Now look at individual pages – especially key landing pages and blog content.
Does each page have:
Use tools like Yoast (if on WordPress) or Semrush’s On-Page SEO Checker to speed this up.
Google is mobile-first – your audit should be too.
Make sure buttons are easy to tap, fonts are legible, and content scales properly.
A poor mobile experience can tank your rankings – even if your desktop version is solid.
See how your site is performing for relevant search terms.
Use Google Search Console → Performance tab
For a broader view, try Ubersuggest or Ahrefs to see keyword rankings and gaps.
Look for quick wins – pages ranking on page 2 that could be nudged to page 1 with a few tweaks.
A quality backlink profile boosts domain authority.
Use Ahrefs, Moz, or Semrush to:
If your link profile is thin, consider digital PR or guest blogging to build it up.
This SEO audit isn’t exhaustive – but in under 2 hours, it can give you a clear roadmap of what to fix, what to optimise, and what’s already working.
Do it quarterly and track your progress each time. Better yet, make it part of your ongoing marketing rhythm. Because in the world of SEO, it’s not about doing everything – it’s about doing the right things consistently.
If you have an idea in mind, feel free to reach out by submitting the form below to schedule a discovery call with us.
Candid Digital, Fenchurch House, 12 King St, Nottingham, NG1 2AS
Candid Creative, Innovation House, Cray Rd, Sidcup, DA14 5DP