Many SEO audits fail to deliver value for your investment. You might pay hundreds or thousands of dollars, but the advice you get is often basic. Many agencies use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, copy the results, and add their logo to them. They present a lengthy list of problems without offering genuine solutions.

I'm Kai Cromwell, and I can show you how to do a Shopify SEO audit that will help you grow. I'm the founder of NewSeas, an SEO agency specializing in large Shopify brands. When we begin working with a new brand, we utilize a specialized SEO audit that takes less than 72 hours to complete. This audit includes:

• Technical audit

• Money page audit

• Blog content audit

• Link audit

Let's break down each part of the audit.

Technical SEO Audit

You could spend months on technical SEO, such as optimizing your site for speed or implementing structured data (schema). Some people focus their entire careers on technical SEO. But for most e-commerce websites, you'll soon see that spending more time on it doesn't give you much more value. Sometimes, it can even hurt your site.

We focus on just 11 things:

1. Canonical URL structure: Make sure your URLs are set up correctly.

2. 404s: Find and fix broken links.

3. 301 redirects: Redirect old pages to new ones.

4. Orphan pages: Find pages that aren't linked to from anywhere else on your site.

5. Schema setup: Add structured data to help search engines understand your content.

6. Pagination setting: Set up pagination correctly for your product pages.

7. Tag pages to no index: Prevent tag pages from being indexed by search engines. This is a Shopify issue.

8. Merchant listings: Ensure your products are accurately listed in Google Merchant Center.

9. Unparsable structured data: Fix any errors in your structured data.

10. Breadcrumbs: Add breadcrumbs to help users navigate your site.

11. Existing manual actions in Search Console: Check for any penalties from Google.

Our developer, known for his speed and efficiency, handles all technical SEO issues within the first 72 hours. His expertise, gained from working with some of the fastest-growing Shopify brands, ensures that your site is in good hands. Additionally, numerous free tutorials are available online to guide you through each step. You can find these on Shopify forums and YouTube.

Many SEO audits stop after the technical SEO part. But at NewSeas, we believe that's not enough. A comprehensive audit, which we provide, is crucial for significant improvements in your organic traffic and sales. If you only fix the technical SEO issues, you might only see a 1% increase in your organic traffic. You should get more than that for the money you pay.

Money Page Audit

I want to help you double or triple your organic traffic and sales. That starts with the money page part of the audit. "Money pages" are your product and collection pages – the ones that make you money.

Here's what I look for on every product and collection page:

• Target keyword: Is there an explicit target keyword for each page? If not, that's a problem we'll fix during keyword research.

• Keyword placement: If there is a target keyword, is it in these places?

  • Page title

  • URL

  • Meta title

  • Meta description

  • Image alt text

  • First sentence of the page content

  • A few more times, naturally, in the page content

This takes time, especially if you have a large number of products. But you should do this for every product and collection page. You'll likely find pages that aren't fully optimized. This is your opportunity to achieve substantial wins that will significantly boost your traffic, far exceeding the typical 1% increase in traffic.

Want to improve your online store's SEO? Start by ensuring your target keyword is in all the key places on your product and collection pages.

Blog Content Audit

This part can be quick or take several hours, depending on whether you have blog content. If you don't have any blog content, we'll skip this part and go straight to keyword research.

If you do have blog content, we'll look for these five things:

1. Target keyword: Does each blog have a precise target keyword or topic?

2. Internal link to product or collection page: Does the content link to a product or collection page? Is it the first internal link in the blog?

3. Internal links to similar blogs: Are there at least three or four links to other similar blogs on the site?

4. Proper headings and subheadings: Is the content structured with headings (H2s and H3s) and bullet points? We don't want walls of text.

5. Well-written content: Is the content helpful? I'm okay with using AI content, but it should be edited to add value. Link to sources and use statistics to demonstrate the usefulness of the content.

This can take time, especially if you have a large number of blog posts. But it's worth it. If you can answer yes to all five questions for every blog post, you're in good shape.

Link Audit

I don't spend as much time on link audits as I used to, but it's still essential. I look for these things:

• Types of links: What kinds of links have they built in the past?

• Anchor text: What anchor text are they using?

• Target pages: Which pages have the most links?

• Negative SEO: Are any competitors using negative SEO against them? This is rare unless you're in a competitive niche.

• Link distribution: What is the ratio of incoming to outgoing links?

From there, I decide what our link-building strategy will be. I don't usually find major issues in this part, but it's worth checking.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can conduct a thorough Shopify SEO audit that examines your website's ranking and its potential for organic traffic. A comprehensive audit examines the technical aspects of your site, including the keywords you're targeting, the quality of your content, and your link profile, ensuring that no stone is left unturned.