Perform a complete SEO analysis

When I do an SEO analysis then there are four main components I focus on to improve my website. These components are technical SEO, off-page SEO, UX and content. By optimizing these components regularly, I can improve the online visibility and findability of my website and generate more traffic and conversions.(1)

It is important to remember that SEO is an ongoing process and a one-time SEO analysis will not get everything done. In this article, I talk more about this SEO analysis and how I conduct one.

What is meant by an SEO analysis?

A complete SEO analysis of a website involves assessing all aspects of the website that may affect search engine optimization. Here you can think of:

  • Technical SEO: This looks at the technical aspects of the website, such as speed, coding, structure and crawlability.(2)
  • On-page SEO: This involves looking at website content, such as titles, meta descriptions, header tags, internal links, images, URL structure and keywords used.
  • Off-page SEO: This looks at the external factors that affect search engine optimization, such as backlinks, social media signals and the website’s online reputation.
  • Competitive Analysis: This involves looking at the competition in the market and analyzing what their strengths and weaknesses are.
  • Keyword Analysis: This involves looking at which keywords are relevant to the website and analyzing how well these keywords perform in the search engines.

Based on this analysis, a plan can be created to optimize the website for the search engines and improve online visibility and findability.

Read more about conducting a full SEO analysis

For me, this is SEO analysis

An SEO analysis is an evaluation of a Web site to determine how well it is optimized for search engines such as Google. The analysis can be performed using various tools and techniques and aims to provide insight into the website’s search engine optimization (SEO) strengths and weaknesses.

An SEO analysis can examine various aspects of a website, such as its technical structure, content, links, and so on. The analysis can help identify critical issues affecting the website’s performance in the search engines, and identify opportunities to improve findability and visibility.

Based on the results of the SEO analysis, recommendations can then be made to optimize the website for search engines. Such optimization can help improve the website’s organic search results and attract more traffic to the website.

Read more on this topic

My checklist for an SEO analysis

You can find my (global) checklist for an SEO analysis below. In practice, a full analysis will often require you to work with a specialist, but to get an initial idea of the state of the website yourself, you can do well to use this checklist.

SectionItemScore
Link BuildingQuality of inbound links1-100
Diversity of link profile1-100
Relevance of referring sites1-100
Number of unique domains1-100
Internal link structure1-100
Technical SEOWebsite speed1-100
Mobile-friendly1-100
XML sitemap presence and optimization1-100
Canonicalization and duplicate content1-100
Crawlability and indexability1-100
ContentUnique and valuable content1-100
Use of relevant keywords1-100
Content structure and readability1-100
Meta tags optimization (title, description)1-100
Regular updates and addition of new content1-100
SEO analysis checklist.

You can score each item at your own discretion. At the end, you can add up the scores and divide by 15. Thus, you have a figure from 1-100 of the current state of SEO, based on this global SEO analysis. Based on the results, it is possible to create an SEO strategy.

A complete SEO analysis at a glance

No time for a long article? No problem. Watch the video below for a summary of this article.

“SEO is free,” is this true?

SEO is basically free in the sense that it does not directly cost money to perform search engine optimization. However, SEO is a time-intensive and complex process that can require a lot of expertise and resources to execute properly. While there are no direct costs associated with performing SEO activities, there may be indirect costs, such as:

Performing SEO activities can take a lot of time and resources, especially when multiple aspects of SEO need to be addressed, such as writing content, performing technical optimizations and building links.(4)

What does an agency SEO analysis cost (approximately)?

The cost of an SEO analysis can vary depending on the complexity and size of the website, the quality of the analysis, and the experience and expertise of the person or company performing the analysis. In general, the cost of an SEO analysis can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars.

There are different types of SEO analyses available, ranging from basic analyses to comprehensive analyses that examine all aspects of search engine optimization. Costs may vary depending on the type of analysis being performed and the depth of results.

If you want a simple basic website analysis done, you can expect to pay between €200 and €500. A more comprehensive analysis, examining all aspects of the website and generating a detailed report, can cost between €1,000 and €5,000.

Can you do an SEO analysis yourself?

Certainly, with the nuance that it will not soon be of the level of a specialist. A specialist (like me), looks not only at a checklist, but also at the things that need to be assessed on “gut” feeling and a bucket of experience. Just those things we have seen in the past with a similar website. This part you will always miss.

A basic SEO analysis (or a standardized one, via a tool), that is certainly possible to perform yourself. If you do not have the required skills or time, hiring a professional can be a good investment to improve your website’s online visibility and findability. Tip: Use my SEO course to get started with this.

Another tip is to use tools that can print out standardized SEO analyses. Consider:

How do you create a roadmap from the SEO analysis?

Creating an SEO roadmap is an important part after performing the SEO analysis. Based on the results of the analysis, I will work on the following (roughly):

  1. define the target audience;
  2. Determine the purpose of the SEO journey;
  3. Determine the keywords you want to optimize for;
  4. Determine what you want to write per month (using keyword research);
  5. Determine what you want to pick up per month in terms of technical SEO (using a technical SEO analysis)
  6. determine what you want to do per month on link building (based on current backlinks and backlink profile);(5)
  7. Determine in what way you want to make the whole thing measurable;
  8. Get started and be consistent (SEO is of the long term).

What SEO tools do I use for an SEO analysis?

There are several SEO tools available that can help in performing an SEO analysis:

  1. Google Analytics: data regarding keywords + conversion.
  2. Google Search Console: data regarding organic performance and technical well-being of the website.
  3. SEMrush: data regarding what competitors are doing in terms of content and backlinks.
  4. Ahrefs: data regarding technology, content and link building (from the website itself and the competitor).
  5. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: data regarding website technology.

This is more of an indication of the tools I use / you can use. Not all tools are necessary to use in all cases (Screaming Frog, for example, is quite a complicated and heavyweight SEO tool).

Conclusion

By getting started with initial global SEO analysis, you can soon arrive at a complete SEO strategy. Be careful, though, if you do an SEO analysis yourself without knowledge or experience, you can be sure that there are also things you miss. For this, you can eventually hire expertise. Good luck!

Resources

  1. Team, D. (2023, Jan. 19). What Are the 4 Components of SEO? Demand Jump. https://www.demandjump.com/blog/what-are-the-4-components-of-seo
  2. Technical SEO Techniques and Strategies | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google for Developers. (s.d.). Google For Developers. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-started
  3. Search Engine Land. (2024, April 8). What is SEO – Search Engine Optimization? https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo
  4. Abouobaia, J. (2024, March 20). SEO pricing: What does SEO cost & what affects it? Semrush Blog. https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-pricing/
  5. Szymanski, K. (s.d.-h). Quality links to your site | Google Search Central Blog | Google for Developers. Google For Developers. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2010/06/quality-links-to-your-site
  6. Silva, C. (2024c, Feb. 22). SEO Strategy: How to Create One for 2024 (+ Template). Semrush Blog. https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-strategy/
  7. Dean, B. (2024f, April 19). 41 Best free SEO tools. Backlinko. https://backlinko.com/best-free-seo-tools
Senior SEO-specialist

Ralf van Veen

Senior SEO-specialist
Five stars
My clients give me a 5.0 on Google out of 78 reviews

I have been working for 12 years as an independent SEO specialist for companies (in the Netherlands and abroad) that want to rank higher in Google in a sustainable manner. During this period I have consulted A-brands, set up large-scale international SEO campaigns and coached global development teams in the field of search engine optimization.

With this broad experience within SEO, I have developed the SEO course and helped hundreds of companies with improved findability in Google in a sustainable and transparent way. For this you can consult my portfolio, references and collaborations.

This article was originally published on 19 April 2024. The last update of this article was on 10 July 2024. The content of this page was written and approved by Ralf van Veen. Learn more about the creation of my articles in my editorial guidelines.