A technical SEO audit is an in-depth analysis of a website’s technical factors that affect search engine optimization and performance. An audit evaluates elements like site speed, mobile-friendliness, indexation issues, structured data implementation, and more.
So how long does a complete technical SEO audit take? The time required depends on several factors:
The Size and Complexity of the Website
A simple 5–10 page website can be audited in 2–4 hours. A medium-sized ecommerce site with 50–100 pages may take 6–10 hours. Large enterprise websites with hundreds or thousands of pages can take 25–40+ hours to fully audit.
The more complex the site architecture, the longer the audit will take. Factors like:
- Total number of pages
- Presence of multiple country/language sites
- Dynamic websites vs static sites
- Number of site integrations and dependencies
All add to the time required to thoroughly analyze a website.
Audit Scope and Components
The scope and components included in the audit also impact time. A core technical SEO audit would include checks like:
On-page optimization
- Page speed optimizations
- Mobile friendliness
- Meta tags (titles, descriptions, robots)
- Image optimization
- Structured data markup
- Content formatting best practices
- URL structure/hierarchy
Indexation
- robots.txt directives
- Canonicalization
- Indexation issues
- Duplicate content
Technical site performance
- Page speed metrics
- Server response times
- Site uptime
- CDN usage
Infrastructure
- Secure HTTPS
- Sitemap and robots.txt
- Valid markup and errors
- Redirection chains
- Site architecture
But audits can also dig deeper into elements like:
- JavaScript frameworks and libraries
- CSS delivery optimization
- Tracking code analysis
- Accessibility
- Site search performance
Adding extended components increases the effort required.
Audit Tools Used
The tools used in the audit also impact duration. An automated SEO crawler can audit on-page factors in a few hours. But supplementing it with manual checks via tools like Google Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights, ScreamingFrog, and Google Search Console adds time.
As does including custom JavaScript audits, controlled Google bot crawling, competitive analysis, and testing site performance across locations and devices.
The Expertise of the Auditor(s)
An experienced technical SEO expert or agency well versed in latest best practices will audit faster and more thoroughly. They know exactly what to look for to identify issues and optimization opportunities.
Total audit time also reduces when leveraging multiple auditors compared to a solo auditor.
Reporting and Analysis
The back-end analysis and reporting adds more hours to the audit timeline. After the actual audit, the auditor needs to:
- Analyze results and identify core issues/opportunities
- Prioritize technical fixes and changes
- Write up audit findings and recommendations
- Create visual charts and graphs
- Prepare report and presentation
This reporting process can take 15–25% of total project time.
What Does a Realistic Timeline Look Like?
So what’s a realistic timeline for a standard technical SEO audit? Here are some estimates:
Small Site Audit (up to 100 pages)
- Automated audit: 2–4 hours
- Manual review: 2–4 hours
- Analysis and reporting: 2–3 hours
Total time: 6–11 hours
Medium Site Audit (up to 500 pages)
- Automated audit: 4–8 hours
- Manual review: 8–16 hours
- Analysis and reporting: 6–12 hours
Total time: 18–36 hours
Large Enterprise Audit (1000+ pages)
- Automated audit: 12–24 hours
- Manual review: 25–50 hours
- Analysis and reporting: 15–30 hours
Total time: 52–104 hours
These estimates highlight how total audit time scales with site size and complexity. At a high level, plan for 1 to 2 weeks for a small business site audit, 1 to 2 months for a medium site, and 2 to 3 months for large enterprise websites.
The effort is well worth it for the SEO gains a proper technical audit brings.
Tips for Faster Technical SEO Audits
Here are some tips to help accelerate the audit process:
- Use automated audit tools to analyze on-page elements faster
- Focus manual checks on high priority issues and pages
- Involve multiple auditors to distribute effort
- Create an audit checklist to stay organized
- Reuse past audits as a template for site sections unchanged since the previous audit
- Prioritize critical issues impacting site visibility and speed
- Limit reporting to essential findings instead of nitpicking minor issues
Do I Need an Expert Agency for Technical SEO Audits?
While a skilled in-house SEO can perform audits, an expert agency brings:
- Broader audit experience across websites and verticals
- Knowledge of latest algorithm and best practice changes
- Ability to audit efficiently with teams and tools
- An unbiased outsider’s perspective on site issues
The investment is well worth the boost in organic traffic, conversions, and revenues an audit delivers. Some technical issues like security flaws and site migrations are best left to specialists as well.
For an in-depth technical SEO audit, having an experienced agency or consultant on the case can accelerate the process and maximize outcomes.
Focus on Core SEO Issues First
The audit provides a blueprint to improve technical SEO. While every identified issue needn’t be fixed at once, focus on tackling problems that most directly impact performance and organic visibility first.
For example, site security, indexation problems, and page speed should take priority over minor markup improvements. Fixing core issues produces the biggest traffic benefits soonest.
Over time, lesser SEO items can be addressed to further enhance optimization and take site performance to the next level. Just don’t let perfection become the enemy of good enough.
Take the First Step with an Audit Today
Every website needs a regular technical SEO health checkup. With Website Auditor, we take the pain out of technical SEO audits through comprehensive, expert analysis and clear recommendations. Get your custom audit proposal today.
Our audits follow a proven framework perfected across hundreds of projects to identify the optimization changes that will maximize your organic search visibility and conversion rates.
We take care of the heavy lifting so you can focus on execution. Reach out for a no-obligation quote to get started. The technical SEO gains will have a game-changing impact on your organic growth and revenues this year.
