Running a regular SEO audit should be at the top of your to-do list if you’re serious about growing your website traffic and staying competitive in search results. A site audit gives you a clear picture of what’s working, what’s holding you back, and how to fix it.
With so many technical details involved—like broken links, slow load times, and poor internal link structure—it’s easy to miss critical issues that affect your rankings. That’s why you must audit your website with SEMrush ‘s powerful tools. Known for their robust features, these tools help you analyze site performance, monitor your site health score, and uncover hidden problems affecting your visibility.
In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to run a site audit, interpret the results, and take action to improve your website’s technical foundation and search engine potential. Keep reading to unlock step-by-step insights that will help you take control of your SEO and make smarter decisions for long-term success.
To begin a website audit, you must create a new project in Semrush. This involves entering your domain name, naming the project, and connecting your site with Google Analytics or Google Search Console if desired. Once the project is created, you can access various tools, including Site Audit.
When configuring the audit, you can define the scope of the scan by choosing whether to audit the entire domain, a specific subdomain, or a particular subfolder. You can also limit the number of pages to crawl and choose the user agent (such as desktop or mobile bots) to simulate how different search engines interact with your site.
2. Key Features of Semrush’s Site Audit Tool Source: Canva & SEMRUSH
Crawlability and Indexability Issues Semrush’s Site Audit tool closely examines elements that can hinder search engines from effectively accessing and indexing your website content. Issues such as broken internal links, incorrect canonical tags, and blocked resources in the robots.txt file are flagged for review. It also identifies duplicate content and thin pages, which can confuse search engine crawlers and dilute your site’s SEO value.
Site Performance and Page Load Speeds Website speed is a crucial ranking factor, and Semrush analyzes your site’s performance. The audit pinpoints elements contributing to slow load times, including large image files, unminified CSS and JavaScript , excessive HTTP requests, and server response issues.
These insights help webmasters understand what’s slowing down their site and how it might negatively affect user experience, bounce rates, and rankings. Optimizing these areas can significantly enhance site usability and search engine performance.
Internal Linking Structure An efficient internal linking structure improves navigation, user engagement, and SEO by guiding search engines and visitors through your website. Semrush evaluates how pages are linked internally, identifying orphaned pages (those without any incoming internal links), deep-level pages that require many clicks to reach, and broken links that disrupt the flow of information.
A well-structured internal link system effectively distributes link equity and ensures that high-priority pages are easily accessible for users and crawlers.
HTTPS Implementation and Security Aspects Semrush also examines your site’s use of HTTPS , which is essential for securing data and building user trust. The tool flags problems such as mixed content (where secure and non-secure elements are used on the same page), expired or invalid SSL certificates, and insecure elements embedded in otherwise secure pages.
Addressing these issues improves your site’s credibility and prevents browser warnings that can deter visitors. Search engines also favor a fully secure website and contribute to better rankings.
International SEO Considerations A proper international SEO setup is essential for businesses that target multiple regions or languages. Semrush helps assess the accuracy of hreflang tags, which inform search engines about each page’s language and regional targeting. It checks for missing, incorrect, or conflicting tags and evaluates URL structures to ensure they align with international SEO best practices.
This helps prevent duplicate content issues across different language versions and ensures that users are served the correct version of your site based on their location and language preferences.
3. Interpreting the Audit Results Source: Canva
Understanding the Categorization of Issues Semrush classifies audit findings into three categories: Errors , Warnings , and Notices . Errors are the most critical issues that can significantly harm your site’s SEO and should be addressed immediately. Warnings indicate less severe problems that still need attention, while Notices are informational tips or minor issues that may improve performance if resolved.
Utilizing Thematic Reports for In-Depth Analysis of Specific Areas Thematic Reports in Semrush break down the audit results into focused sections such as crawlability, site performance, internal linking, HTTPS, and more. These reports allow users to dive deeper into specific aspects of their website’s health, making it easier to identify patterns, isolate root causes, and create targeted improvement strategies.
Prioritizing Issues Based on Severity and Impact on SEO Performance To improve your website efficiently, prioritize issues based on their severity and potential effect on search engine visibility. Semrush’s audit highlights which problems pose the greatest threat to your SEO, helping you focus on fixing high-impact errors before addressing warnings and notices. This structured approach ensures that your efforts lead to measurable improvements.
4. Addressing Common Issues Identified by Site Audit Source: Canva
Strategies for Fixing Broken Links and Resolving Crawl Errors To fix broken links, regularly scan your site for dead URLs and replace them with correct or updated links. Use 301 redirects for moved pages and remove outdated references. For crawl errors, review your robots.txt file, XML sitemap, and server logs to ensure search engines can access important content without restrictions.
Improving Site Speed Through Optimization Techniques Compressing images, minimizing CSS and JavaScript files, enabling browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN) can enhance loading times. Optimizing your hosting environment and reducing unnecessary plugins or scripts can also lead to faster performance.
Enhancing Mobile Usability and Ensuring Responsive Design Using responsive design frameworks ensures your website adapts well to different screen sizes. Improve mobile usability by using readable fonts, properly spaced buttons, and eliminating horizontal scrolling. Test your site using mobile-friendly tools to catch and fix user experience issues.
Implementing Proper HTTPS Protocols for Site Security Secure your site by installing an SSL certificate and ensuring all pages use HTTPS. Fix mixed content issues by updating internal resources (like images and scripts) to load over secure connections. Keep your certificates up to date to maintain browser trust and SEO credibility.
Correcting Duplicate Content and Optimizing Meta Tags Identify and eliminate duplicate pages by consolidating similar content or using canonical tags. Ensure each page has unique, relevant meta titles and descriptions that accurately reflect its content, which helps prevent confusion for search engines and improves click-through rates.
5. Monitoring Progress and Maintaining Site Health Source: Canva
Setting up Scheduled Audits to Regularly Monitor Website Health Semrush allows you to automate site audits by setting a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule to track your website’s health continuously. Regular scans help you catch new issues early, maintain SEO performance, and ensure ongoing site optimization.
Tracking Improvements Over Time Using the Progress Reports Feature The Progress Reports feature visually compares audit results across different time periods. It helps you track how fixes and changes have impacted your site’s health score and technical SEO , making it easier to measure the effectiveness of your optimization efforts.
Integrating Semrush’s Site Audit With Google Analytics for Comprehensive Insights Connecting Semrush with Google Analytics gives you deeper insight into how technical issues affect user behavior and site performance. This integration allows you to correlate SEO health with traffic data, helping you prioritize fixes that will have the greatest impact on user experience and conversions.
6. Leveraging Additional Semrush Tools for Comprehensive Auditing Source: Canva
Using the On-Page SEO Checker for Content Optimization Ideas The On-Page SEO Checker provides actionable suggestions to improve individual page performance based on target keywords. It analyzes factors like content relevance, backlinks, readability, and user experience, offering tailored recommendations to enhance SEO and align with best practices.
Employing the Backlink Audit Tool to Analyze and Manage Your Backlink Profile The Backlink Audit tool helps you evaluate the quality of your inbound links by identifying potentially harmful or toxic backlinks. To protect your site from search engine penalties, you can take steps to disavow risky links, strengthen your backlink profile, and maintain a healthy link environment.
Utilizing the Position Tracking Tool to Monitor Keyword Rankings and Visibility With the Position Tracking tool , you can monitor how your keywords perform in search engine results over time. It allows you to track daily ranking changes, compare performance against competitors, and assess your visibility across different devices and geographic locations.
Final Thoughts Now that you’ve seen how a Semrush website audit works and how to use its suite of tools, you’re in a great spot to take charge of your site’s health. If you’ve been wondering what’s holding back your organic traffic, this is your chance to find out. Semrush crawls your website and checks for over 140 technical and on-page issues, helping you improve your overall website performance.
Based on the audit, Semrush will analyze crawlability, speed, internal links, and more, giving you clear, actionable steps. Ready to see where your site stands? Run a Semrush audit today and keep your site running smoothly and efficiently.
Don’t miss out on more expert insights—dive into our other informative blogs and keep your knowledge sharp! Plus, subscribe now to unlock exclusive deals and discounts on top software. Stay ahead and save big!
FAQs What Is a Semrush Site Audit? A Semrush site audit is a comprehensive analysis of your website’s overall health. It identifies various issues, such as broken links, on-page and technical SEO problems, and provides recommendations to improve your SEO performance.
How Can I Run a Site Audit Using Semrush? To run a site audit using Semrush, log in to your Semrush account, navigate the Site Audit tool, and enter your website’s URL. You can customize the audit settings and initiate the audit process to receive the site audit report.
What Are the Benefits of Semrush in Conducting an SEO Audit? The benefits of Semrush include its ability to provide a detailed audit report that highlights critical issues affecting your website’s performance, such as site structure, health score, and SEO strategy optimization.
What Does the Site Audit Report from Semrush Include? The benefits of Semrush include its ability to provide a detailed audit report that highlights critical issues affecting your website’s performance, such as site structure, health score, and SEO strategy optimization.
How Many Pages Can I Audit with Semrush? The number of pages per audit with Semrush depends on your subscription plan. Each plan has a specific limit on the number of pages that can be crawled during a site audit.
Can Semrush Help Improve My SEO Performance? Yes, Semrush can significantly improve your SEO performance by identifying issues, suggesting fixes, and offering insights based on keyword research and competitor analysis, thus enhancing your overall SEO strategy.
What Aspects of SEO Does the Semrush SEO Audit Cover? The Semrush SEO audit covers both on-page and technical SEO aspects, including site speed, mobile responsiveness, metadata issues, and content quality, which are vital for optimizing your website.
How Often Should I Perform an SEO Audit Using Semrush? It is recommended that you perform an SEO audit using Semrush at least quarterly or whenever significant changes are made to your website to ensure ongoing optimization and address any emerging issues.
Is Semrush Suitable for SEO Experts and Beginners Alike? Yes, Semrush is designed to be user-friendly and offers various features that cater to SEO experts and beginners, making it a versatile tool for anyone looking to enhance their SEO efforts.
