Local SEO Specialist logoLocal SEO
Specialist
Laptop on a desk displaying charts and analytics
Paid SEO audit

SEO Audit

An SEO audit shows you exactly what's holding your website back on Google and what to fix first. I'm Caleb, a local SEO specialist with 7+ years' experience. My paid audit is a full, hands-on review of your website's technical health, on-page SEO, backlinks, competitors and AI search visibility. You get a prioritised action plan and a 30-minute video walkthrough, for a fixed price of $2,500 + GST.

Book your SEO auditCall +61 432 633 303
Caleb Johnstone

By Caleb Johnstone, Local SEO Specialist · Updated October 2026

What is an SEO audit?

An SEO audit is a detailed review of everything that affects how your website ranks in Google search. It checks whether search engines can crawl and index your pages. It looks at your site structure, speed and keywords. It compares your backlinks and Google Business Profile with competitors. And it shows what's stopping you from showing up in AI answers.

A good audit doesn't stop at a list of errors and warnings. It explains which issues actually affect your rankings and enquiries, and gives you a clear order to fix them in. That's the difference between an automated tool report and an audit done by a person who works on SEO every day.

Free SEO audit vs paid SEO audit

I offer both, and they do different jobs.

Free auditPaid audit
What it isA quick look at your site and your best opportunitiesA full review of your whole website and your market
Technical SEOTop issues onlyFull crawl with Screaming Frog and Ahrefs
On-page SEOMain pagesEvery main page checked against its target keywords
Backlinks and off-siteSummaryFull backlink, citation and Google Business Profile review
CompetitorsWho's ranking ahead of youSide-by-side analysis of 3 competitors, with a link gap list
AI searchNot includedVisibility in AI Overviews and ChatGPT, and what to change
What you getA short summaryWritten report, prioritised action plan and 30-minute video walkthrough
PriceFree$2,500 + GST

The free audit is the best place to start if you're not sure whether SEO is worth it for your business. The paid audit is for when you want the complete picture and a plan you can hand to anyone, whether that's me, your developer or your in-house team.

What's included in my SEO audit

Every audit covers six areas. I use professional tools like Screaming Frog and Ahrefs to collect the data, then review the findings myself so you only get recommendations that matter.

01

Technical SEO

A technical SEO audit starts with a full crawl of your website. I check crawlability, indexing, site speed, Core Web Vitals and mobile usability. I also check redirects, broken links, canonical tags, robots.txt, your XML sitemap and schema markup. This is the foundation of everything else, because if Google can't crawl or index a page, nothing else on it matters. Slow pages and layout problems also make your site harder to use, which costs you enquiries as well as rankings. See my technical SEO service for how these fixes get done.

02

On-page SEO and content

I check each main page against the keywords it should rank for: titles, headings, meta descriptions, content quality, duplicate content, internal linking and search intent. I also look for keyword cannibalisation, where two pages compete for the same search, and gaps where competitors have a page and you don't. More on this in my on-page SEO service.

03

Backlinks and off-site SEO

I check the quality of the websites linking to you and flag any spammy links that could be a risk. Then I compare your authority with the businesses ahead of you. Links from other websites help Google judge how much to trust a business, so this often explains a lot. I also check your local citations for consistent business details across directories.

04

Google Business Profile and local SEO

In my experience, the map results often bring local businesses more enquiries than the organic results. I look at your categories, services, service areas, photos, reviews and how your Google Business Profile compares with competitors in the map pack.

05

Competitor analysis

I compare your website with the 3 competitors ranking above you for the searches that bring in the most work. That covers their pages, content, keywords, backlinks and reviews, plus a link gap list of websites that link to them but not to you. It usually uncovers the clearest reasons they outrank you.

06

AI search visibility

Search is changing. Google's AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT now answer many questions directly. I check whether your business shows up in these AI answers for your main services, and which websites AI cites instead of yours. Then I show you how to make your content easier for AI search to understand and quote.

What you get at the end

01

A written audit report

I explain every finding in plain English. You'll see what the issue is, why it matters and which pages it affects. No 200-page tool export, just the issues that affect your rankings and enquiries.

02

A prioritised action plan

A list of every recommendation, ordered by impact and effort, so you know what to fix first. Quick wins go at the top. Bigger projects like new pages, content and link building become your to-do list for the next six to twelve months.

03

A 30-minute video walkthrough

I walk you through the findings, show you the most important issues on your own website and explain the order I'd fix them in. It makes the report easy to understand and easy to act on.

Example from an action plan

Here's the kind of detail the plan includes. These are typical findings, not from a specific client.

PriorityFindingRecommended fixEffortImpact
CriticalMain service pages set to noindexRemove noindex and resubmit in Google Search ConsoleLowHigh
HighTwo pages targeting the same keywordMerge into one stronger page and redirect the otherMediumHigh
HighNo location pages for the areas you serveCreate unique pages for your 3 main service areasHighHigh
MediumMissing LocalBusiness schemaAdd structured data with your business detailsLowMedium
MediumGoogle Business Profile missing servicesAdd all services with descriptionsLowMedium

How much does an SEO audit cost?

$2,500 + GST

The paid audit is a fixed $2,500 + GST. The price doesn't change based on what I find, and there are no ongoing fees or lock-in contracts.

Credit towards monthly SEO

If you sign up for monthly SEO with me within 30 days of receiving your audit, I credit the $2,500 towards your SEO retainer. If your monthly fee is less than $2,500, I spread the credit across your first few months. You get the full audit and the strategy behind it, and it doesn't cost you extra to get started on improving your rankings.

Want the bigger picture on SEO pricing? Read my guide to how much SEO costs in Australia.

Book your SEO audit

How it works

  1. 1

    Book your audit

    Get in touch and tell me about your business, your website and the services you want more enquiries for. I'll confirm the scope and next steps.

  2. 2

    Share access

    Read-only access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics helps me see your real traffic and search data. If you don't have them set up, I can still complete the audit with third-party data.

  3. 3

    I complete the audit

    I crawl your website, review your pages, backlinks, Google Business Profile, competitors and AI visibility, then write up the findings and action plan. I deliver most audits within 7 to 10 business days.

  4. 4

    Video walkthrough

    You get the report, the action plan and a 30-minute video walkthrough. From there, you can implement the fixes yourself, hand them to your developer, or have me do the work as part of monthly SEO.

Common issues I find in SEO audits

These come up on most websites I audit, from small businesses and trades to law firms:

  • Pages Google can't index. Noindex tags, blocked pages in robots.txt or broken canonical tags quietly remove important pages from search.
  • One page trying to rank for everything. A single services page can't compete with businesses that have a separate page for each service.
  • Slow pages on mobile. Large images and heavy scripts drag down Core Web Vitals and frustrate visitors.
  • Weak internal linking. Important pages buried several clicks deep, with very few links pointing to them.
  • An incomplete Google Business Profile. Wrong categories, missing services and no review process.
  • No tracking. Without call and form tracking, you can't see which pages and keywords bring in work.

The good news? Most of these are fixable. The report shows which ones are costing you the most and in what order to tackle them.

Google reviews

What clients say about working with me

Read all reviews on Google

Is a paid audit right for you?

  • Your website gets traffic but not enough enquiries.
  • Your rankings or organic traffic have dropped and you want to know why.
  • You're planning a new website and want to keep what's working.
  • You have a developer or in-house team and need a clear plan for them.
  • You want an independent review before committing to monthly SEO, so you know what you're paying for.
  • You're looking for an automated report for a few dollars.
  • You need the fixes done for you but don't want the report.
  • You expect guaranteed rankings from an audit alone.

SEO audit FAQs

The paid audit is $2,500 + GST. If you sign up for monthly SEO within 30 days, I credit the fee towards your retainer. I also offer a free audit that gives you a quick summary of your biggest opportunities.

I deliver most audits within 7 to 10 business days of getting access to your website data.

The free audit is a short summary of the main technical, on-page and off-site issues. The paid version goes much further. You get a complete crawl, page-by-page on-page analysis, backlink and competitor analysis and an AI search review. It comes with a prioritised action plan and a 30-minute video walkthrough.

Mainly Screaming Frog and Ahrefs, along with Google Search Console, Google Analytics and PageSpeed Insights where I have access. The tools collect the data, and I review it so you only get recommendations that matter for your business.

No. The audit and action plan are yours to keep. You can make the changes yourself, give them to your developer, or ask me to handle them as part of monthly SEO.

A report on its own doesn't change your rankings. Fixing the issues it finds does. That's why every recommendation is ordered by impact, so the first changes you make are the ones most likely to move your rankings and organic traffic.

Most businesses benefit from a full audit every 12 months, or after a big change like a new website, a platform migration or a sudden drop in traffic.

Yes. I'm based on the Gold Coast and audit websites for businesses across Australia. I do the walkthrough by video, so location doesn't matter.

Book your SEO audit

Tell me about your business and your website, and I'll confirm the timing. Not ready for the full audit? Start with a free audit and I'll show you the biggest opportunities first.

Book your SEO audit

See all my SEO services, or learn about keyword research and link building.