4 Essential Stages to Run an Effective Ecommerce SEO Audit

Introduction

An ecommerce SEO audit is a complete review of your website’s search optimization, covering technical setup, on-page elements, site architecture, backlinks, and more. Think of it as a health check for your online store.
Instead of waiting for sales to drop, you can proactively spot and fix issues that hurt visibility and revenue. A thorough SEO audit can help you:

• Discover ways to improve rankings and user experience
• Detect problems impacting organic traffic
• Support long-term growth with a clear, data-driven strategy
  Below is a 4-stage process to run your ecommerce SEO audit, along with a free workbook to track findings and plan improvements.

Core Components of an Ecommerce SEO Audit

A strong ecommerce SEO audit focuses on five areas:

1. Technical SEO
   Makes sure search engines can crawl and index your site without errors like broken links or duplicate content.
2. On-Page SEO
   Optimizes titles, meta descriptions, headings, and internal linking so search engines understand your pages.
3. UX and Performance
   Evaluates mobile responsiveness, Core Web Vitals, and usability to keep visitors engaged.
4. Off-Page SEO
   Reviews backlinks, brand mentions, and trust signals that influence authority.
5. Competitive Analysis
   Benchmarks your performance against competitors to find growth opportunities.

Stage 1: Can Google Find My Store and Products?

Goal: Confirm your products are visible in organic search.
Tools: Sitebulb, Screaming Frog, Semrush Site Audit, Google Search Console
First, check that search engines can discover and index your pages. If they can’t, no optimization will drive results.

• Check Index Status: In Google Search Console, open the Pages report under the Index section to see which URLs are not indexed and why. Use the URL Inspection tool for details and request indexing if needed.
• Verify Sitemaps and Crawlability: Make sure your sitemap includes all important pages and updates automatically. Review your robots.txt file to confirm you’re not blocking essential sections.
• Fix 4xx/5xx Errors: Use Semrush Site Audit or Screaming Frog to find pages returning error codes. Remove outdated URLs or set up proper redirects to fix issues.
• Add Canonical Tags: Prevent duplicate content by setting canonical URLs for product variants. Tools like Detailed can help you check canonicalization across your catalog.

Stage 2: Do People Discover and Visit My Pages?

Goal: Drive more clicks from search results.
Tools: Semrush Site Audit, Google Rich Results Test, Google Search Console
Once your pages are crawlable, make sure they attract searchers:

• Optimize Titles and Meta Descriptions: Write clear, compelling titles (up to 60 characters) and meta descriptions (100–120 characters) that highlight benefits and match user intent.
• Add Structured Schema: Use schema markup for products, reviews, and FAQs so your listings display rich snippets like ratings and price. Validate markup with Google’s Rich Results Test.

Stage 3: Is My Website Easy to Use and Fast?

Goal: Improve user experience and site performance.
Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, Semrush Site Audit
Focus on factors that keep visitors engaged:

• Check Core Web Vitals (loading speed, interactivity, visual stability)
• Test mobile responsiveness across devices
• Simplify navigation and ensure key pages are easily accessible

Stage 4: How Does My Website Compare to Competitors?

Goal: Identify opportunities to outrank similar brands.
Tools: Semrush, Ahrefs, Moz
Evaluate competitors on metrics such as:

• Keyword rankings
• Backlink profiles
• Content strategies
• Site performance
  Benchmarking helps you discover gaps and build a plan to improve your rankings.

Next Steps

Download the free ecommerce SEO audit workbook to document your findings and create an action plan. Use this process regularly to protect your rankings and grow your organic traffic.