SEO Audit Example: A Real Audit, and How to Read the Report
By Spencer Capron, founder of Capron Media. Published November 3, 2026.
An SEO audit example is easier to learn from than a template, because you can see real findings, real pages and real decisions. Below is an excerpt from an audit of our own website, capronmedia.com, from October 2026, followed by how to read any SEO audit report and the red flags to watch for.
What does an SEO audit report look like?
An SEO audit report is a short summary followed by a list of findings. Each finding names the pages affected, shows the evidence, rates how serious it is, and says what to change. A good report ends with the order to work in, and says plainly what it could not check.
Part of the report | What it says |
Summary | What was checked, when, with which data, and the few findings that matter most |
Findings | One row per problem: the pages, the evidence, the severity and the fix |
Order of work | Which fixes come first, and why |
What was not checked | Accounts that were not connected, pages that could not be read, data that was missing |
Next steps | Who can make each fix, and when to check again |
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An SEO audit example: excerpts from an audit of our own site
In October 2026, we audited our own website. This is the part that covered our 94 live blog posts and three of our main pages. We used Google Search Console, keyword data and a checklist of 107 items. The findings below are real. Severity is our own rating.
Summary. Site: capronmedia.com. Checked: 94 live blog posts, plus the Pricing, About and Blog pages. Data: Google Search Console, from July 30 to October 28, 2026, and keyword research data. Main finding: many posts were not aimed at a clear search, and some were aimed at the same search as another of our pages.
# | Finding | Pages | Severity | Fix |
1 | Our SEO audit guide was competing with our own SEO audit page for the same search | /the-ultimate-guide-to-seo-audit-services and /seo-audit-services | High | Give the guide its own target, "seo audit", and link it up to the service page |
2 | 22 posts were competing with another of our pages for the same or a very similar search, in 8 groups | For example, /what-does-a-search-engine-marketing-report-include and /search-engine-marketing-reporting-how-to-get-better-results | Medium | Choose one page per search; retarget, merge or link the others |
3 | 48 of the 94 posts had no recorded target search | Spread across the blog | Medium | Record one target search for every post before rewriting it |
4 | 10 posts had a recorded target that disagreed with the search our data measured for the page | Spread across the blog | Medium | Settle each post on one measured target |
5 | 1 post targeted a phrase that Google reads as a different topic | /what-is-a-search-engine-jumpstart | Medium | Choose a target whose results match the post |
6 | Three pages had no H1 heading | /pricing, /about, /blog | Low | Add one H1 to each page |
What we could not check. 30 of the 94 posts had no rows in Search Console for the period. No rows does not mean no searches: Search Console leaves out rare and anonymized queries, and many of those posts were new. We also did not count the sites linking to us in this audit.
Order of work. Every post was scored and put into one of five waves of about 20, starting with our SEO audit guide. The review gave each post one action: 69 to rewrite, 22 to retarget and rewrite, 2 to merge into another post, and 1 to change its angle. None was removed.
The audit tells you what to fix and in what order; the fixing is separate.
What we did after the audit, and what an audit does not include
The audit stopped at the list and the order. Everything after it was separate work, done by us. On October 30, 2026, we rewrote and republished 92 of the posts, gave 22 of them a new target, and merged the other 2 into related posts with permanent redirects. Our SEO audit guide went first and now has its own target. That is the part an audit does not do for you.
If you get an audit and want the same next step, you have three routes. Make the changes yourself with the SEO audit checklist. Have Starter make them: "The audit tells you what to fix. Starter makes the changes for you." Starter is five optimizations a week, made for you on the site you already own, at $297 a month, with no contract. Or, if the audit points to a larger piece of work, it can be quoted as a separate SEO project.
How do you read an SEO audit report?
Read an SEO audit report in four passes. First, check which pages each finding names. Second, look at the severity and fix the high ones first. Third, follow the order of work rather than the order of the list. Fourth, read what the audit could not check, so a gap is not mistaken for good news.
Named pages. A finding that names no page is a general warning, not a finding. In the example above, every row names its pages or says it is spread across the blog.
Severity. High means it affects a page that matters most to the business, or many pages at once. Low means it is real but can wait.
Order. Some fixes unblock others. We set a target for each post before rewriting it, because a rewrite without a target has nothing to aim at.
What was not checked. Our audit says 30 posts had no Search Console rows. A report that skips this line would let you read silence as a clean result.
What is an example of technical SEO in an audit?
A technical SEO finding is about whether search engines can reach and read a page, not about what the page says. Common examples are a page set to noindex, a redirect chain, a broken internal link, a page blocked by robots.txt, or a sitemap that lists pages that no longer exist. Each should name the pages affected.
What should every SEO audit report include?
Every SEO audit report should include the pages each finding affects, the evidence, a severity, the fix, an order of work, and a list of what it could not check. If any of these is missing, ask for it before you act on the report. The table shows what to look for.
It should include | What good looks like | Red flag if missing |
Pages named | Each finding lists the URLs | "Your site has duplicate content" with no pages |
Evidence | A screenshot, a count or a crawl result you can check | A score with no explanation |
Severity | High, medium or low, with a reason | Every finding marked critical |
The fix | What to change, in plain words | "Optimize your content" |
Order of work | What comes first, and why | Findings sorted by tool category only |
What was not checked | Missing accounts, blocked pages, data gaps | Nothing listed, as if everything was checked |
Date and data sources | When it was run, on which data | No date |
What are the red flags in an SEO audit report?
The red flags in an SEO audit report are hundreds of warnings with no order, findings with no pages named, a score with no evidence, and a promise of rankings. A report should make the next step obvious. If it leaves you with a long list and no idea where to start, it has not done its job.
Hundreds of warnings, no order. A crawler can flag hundreds of issues in minutes. The audit is the judgement that picks the few that matter.
No pages named. You cannot fix "thin content" without knowing which pages are thin.
No price for the fixes. If the report recommends work, ask what that work costs and who does it, before you agree to anything.
A ranking promise. No one controls where Google ranks a page. Be wary of a report that promises a position by a date.
Nothing about AI answers. A current audit should say whether AI Overviews and chat tools name you for your customers' questions.
How do you write an SEO audit report?
To write an SEO audit report, run the checks, then write one row per finding with the pages, the evidence, a severity and the fix. Put the rows in the order they should be worked, add what you could not check, and open with a three-line summary. Write it for the person who will make the fixes.
Run the checks in our SEO audit guide, or work through the SEO audit checklist.
Write one row per finding: pages, evidence, severity, fix.
Rate each finding high, medium or low, and say why.
Put the rows in the order they should be worked.
List what you could not check.
Write the summary last, at the top: what was checked, the dates, and the top three findings.
Doing it yourself or having it done
Option | What you get | Who reads the findings | Cost |
Do it yourself with free tools | Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and a crawler; you write the report | You | Free tools; your time |
An SEO suite's automated audit | A score and a long list of warnings, sorted by the tool | You | A paid subscription |
An agency or consultant | A written report; scope varies by provider | The provider | Quoted by the provider |
Capron Media (ours) | Full SEO Audit: a teardown of your site: where to look, what to change, and why. The report ends with what to do next. | A person approves every paid audit before it reaches you. | $250, paid once. Delivered in 3 to 5 business days. |
The full SEO Audit is the report. Making the changes is a separate step, by you, by Starter, or as a quoted project. If you want an outside read of your own site, see our SEO audit services.
Want to see your own site the same way? Our SEO audit guide explains what an audit checks and how to run one, and a content audit goes page by page through your posts. If you would rather start with a short, plain read, see your own site first, free.
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On Lite you can also order an SEO Audit, from your portal. Lite does not include the work on your site. Starter does.
Written by Spencer Capron, founder of Capron Media, a Middleborough, Massachusetts SEO service for small business owners. Spencer is HubSpot SEO II certified, holds CompTIA Security+, and has run recurring SEO programs for 30+ small-business clients. He wrote this post in collaboration with our AI agents, and he reviews everything published here.
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