If you're running a website, you already know the importance of conducting SEO audits to optimize it for search engines.

But what does SEO audit pricing look like in 2024?

In this blog post, we will get into the details of SEO audit pricing in 2024–from what services are included to which factors determine the cost.

But first, let’s look at the different elements of an SEO audit.

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Elements of an SEO Audit

An SEO audit is a process for evaluating the health and effectiveness of your website's search engine optimization. It can be used to identify opportunities and areas for improvement, as well as potential risks.

A comprehensive SEO audit report will include all aspects of your website that can impact its ability to rank high on search engines results pages (SERP}, including:

  • On-page factors (such as content and structure)
  • Off-page factors (such as link building and social media engagement)
  • Technical factors (such as site speed and mobile friendliness)

Let’s look at these elements of an SEO audit in some detail.

Technical Audit

A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive analysis of your website's technical aspects that can affect its search engine visibility. It covers everything from your website's architecture and code to its server configuration and security.

Here are some of the elements to check in a technical SEO audit:

  • Crawl errors
  • HTTPS status codes
  • XML sitemap status
  • txt file
  • Indexation
  • Site load time
  • Mobile-friendliness
  • Security

Here’s a sample security audit report from one the best SEO reporting tools out there that includes SSL, HTTPS redirect, and malware checks:

security result

Image via SEOptimer

Competitive Audit

A competitive audit is a comprehensive analysis of your website in comparison to your top competitors. It can help you identify areas where your site strong and areas where it needs improvement.

Competitive SEO audits can include on-page, off-page, and technical SEO audits.

competitive seo audit

Image via Slideshare

Some things that a competitive audit can help you with include:

  • Identifying your strengths and weaknesses in relation to your competition.
  • Determining which areas you need to focus on in order to improve your ranking.
  • Learning what techniques your competition is using that are working well for them.
  • Finding new opportunities for keyword targeting and link building.

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Content Audit

A content audit is a key part of an SEO audit. It involves reviewing all of the content on your website and assessing its quality, relevance, and usefulness.

This can help you to identify gaps in your content strategy and make sure that your website's content is helping you to achieve your SEO goals.

  • Tone and language
  • Readability and structure
  • Forms
  • Images
  • Meta description and titles
  • Date published/modified
  • Keywords
  • Word count
  • Page views

Here’s an example of a content audit report from Ahrefs, one of the best SEO reporting tools:

post-audit-recommendations

Image via Ahrefs

Here are a few key things a content audit helps you look for:

  • Is the content on your site relevant to your target audience?
  • Is the quality of your content good enough to engage and convert readers?
  • Is your content properly optimized for search engines?
  • Are there any gaps in your content strategy?

Social Audit

When you're running an SEO audit, one of the aspects you'll want to examine is how well it integrates with your social media accounts.

Here are some things to look for during a social media audit:

  • The ease with which people can find social sharing buttons on your site.
  • The amount of traffic directed towards your site from social media.
  • Your referral traffic and channel-specific metrics.

Link Audit

A link audit includes a review of the quality and quantity of all links pointing to your website to see how they impact your search engine optimization efforts.

Here are some of the elements of a link audit:

  • Positive and negative link velocity
  • Site-wide links
  • Contextual links
  • Natural links
  • Broken links and toxic backlinks
  • Backlinks from authoritative sites
  • Referring domains
  • Low-quality/spammy links

Here’s an example of a link audit report by Semrush.

Semrush backlink audit

Image via Semrush

Now, let’s look at the benefits of SEO audits before we discuss the factors that affect SEO audit pricing.

Benefits of SEO Audits

Like most things in life, your website needs regular maintenance to ensure it stays on top of search results. Ongoing SEO audits are investments that provide you with regular checks and updates.

An SEO audit helps you:

Boost User Experience

A comprehensive SEO audit report helps you assess your site’s technical infrastructure such as page load speed, content quality, and other elements that enrich user experience.

Navigate Algorithm Changes

Regular SEO audits also help you navigate changes in Google algorithms and webmaster’s guidelines.

For instance, Google announced its “core updates” in September 2022 that included changes to the way Google handles product reviews and content upgrades. The goal of this update is to ensure that content upgrades are high-quality and add value for users.

This upgrade affected a lot of sites in terms of search ranking and traffic. A regular SEO audit will help you navigate these changes and optimize your online visibility at all times.

Improve Your Website’s Performance

Conducting an in-depth SEO audit is key to elevating your site’s performance in terms of traffic, ranking, and other metrics.

For instance, at Attrock, we grew a client’s traffic to 120K/Month with the help of technical, link, competitor, social, and content audits. In addition, our audits helped us achieve these stellar results:

  • Our client’s website ranked for 53K+ keywords on Google in the U.S. and for 150K+ keywords globally
  • Organic traffic increased by 321% in just one year
  • Inbound leads increased by 52%
  • Impressions increased from 37.8 million to 66.3 million

Attrock

Image via Attrock

Now, let’s answer your question on SEO audit pricing. As SEO audit pricing can depend on multiple factors, we will look at what these factors are and how they affect the audit pricing.

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What Factors Influence SEO Audit Pricing?

SEO agencies take multiple factors into account when calculating the SEO audit pricing right from the site’s size, the complexity of the structure, to its current state.

Here are some of the most common factors that affect SEO audit pricing:

The Size of Your Website

The first and most important factor that affects SEO audit pricing is the size of your site.

If you have a lot of pages, it will take longer to go through them all and look for potential issues. Along with the number of pages, the type of issues your site has can also affect SEO audit pricing.

Generally, the SEO audit pricing can be anywhere from $650 to $14,000, depending on the size of your website.

The Current State of Your Site

The complexity of your site is another factor that influences SEO audit pricing. For instance,  if your site has a lot of intricate code or content, it will take longer to audit.

The number of visitors you get on your site can also play a role. If you have a high-traffic website, the SEO agency will need to take that into account when quoting their SEO audit pricing.

The current ranking of your pages and subpages will also play a key role in deciding the SEO audit pricing.

If a significant number of pages have low rankings, for instance, reaching the first page of Google results is bound to be a time-consuming and difficult process.

Competition

If you're in a highly competitive industry, you can expect to pay more for an SEO audit than what you’d pay if you were in a less competitive industry.

This is because it takes more work to rank if you are competing with tycoons such as eBay or Amazon.

If you want SEO services along with just an SEO audit, then an SEO agency will determine their pricing after analyzing your competitors:

  • SEO-rankings
  • Social media presence
  • Quality and quantity of backlinks
  • Website content and domain authority

Scope of the Audit

The elements of an SEO audit you choose will also influence the total SEO audit pricing.

While some of the best SEO reporting tools such as Semrush offer free SEO audit tools, others like WebFx offer an all-inclusive SEO audit service. When looking at the SEO audit pricing, check the features and reports that are included in the audit.

For instance, the SEO audit pricing of WebFx is $8600 that includes these features and reports:

Webfx price

Webfx pricingImage via WebFx

The pricing will be lesser if you opt for only a primary technical audit or a social audit.

Always look at what the agency includes in its audit and then assess if the SEO audit pricing is justified.

The SEO Agency

Right from the agency’s size and experience, to its pricing model, many factors can affect its SEO audit pricing.

Needless to say, when you choose to work with a reputed and experienced agency, the SEO audit pricing is higher than what a small startup charges.

However, the perks of working with an experienced team are also better. An established SEO agency with a proven track record is likely to employ the latest tools and techniques.

An experienced agency will also be able to provide valuable insights into how your website can improve its ranking.

The pricing model that agencies offer can also play a role. Some agencies offer a monthly package while others offer an hourly or annual SEO audit pricing model.

For example, Ahrefs offers these monthly pricing packages and features:

Ahrefs pricing

Image via Ahrefs

Netpeak Spider, on the other hand, checks 80+ SEO parameters for an affordable price of $7 per user per month.

Many SEO companies also offer other add-ons, such as implementation services, in addition to SEO audit to boost your site’s ranking and traffic. If you opt for these services, you can expect to pay extra.

The SEO audit cost also depends on whether you want a one-off audit or an ongoing website SEO audit service.

However, a one-time audit is not a cure-all solution for your website’s issues. Ongoing SEO audits can be a great way to keep your website ranking high and to ensure that you are making the most of your SEO efforts.

Timeline

In-depth SEO audits can take anywhere from 30 to 45 days to complete, although audits for a small website with no more than 10 pages can be completed in a week. If you want to accelerate the process, it will result in higher SEO audit pricing.

If you’re looking for a quick turnaround time, you may want to consider a basic SEO audit. These audits are typically less expensive and can be completed in a shorter timeframe.

However, if you need a more thorough analysis of your website’s SEO, you should opt for a comprehensive audit.

FAQs

Q1. How much should I pay for an SEO audit?

A. SEO audit pricing depends on factors like the complexity of the website, the number of pages to be audited, industry type, competition, and more.

Typically, SEO audit pricing ranges from $600 to $14,000 depending on the scope of work. But it can be outside this range, depending on the various factors explained in this post.

Q2. Are SEO audits worth it?

A. Absolutely! SEO audits are a great way to understand where your website stands in terms of its search engine optimization.

A thorough SEO audit can help you optimize your content, improve user experience and performance, and increase organic traffic.

Q3. How much does a content audit cost?

A. While the cost depends on the size of your site and the amount of content to be audited, you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 to $30,000.

Q4. Can I get a quality SEO audit for free?

A. You can use free SEO audit tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console. But these tools typically conduct only a basic SEO audit.

Paying for a professional SEO audit will also ensure that the suggestions provided are actionable and result in tangible improvements to your website’s online visibility.

Q5. What is included under SEO audit services?

A. SEO companies typically take an in-depth look into on-page and off-page factors that affect your SEO rankings.

You can get SEO reports on site structure, page speed, navigation, content optimization, keyword analysis, backlink analysis, and more.

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The Takeaway

Knowing what an SEO audit should cost in 2024 can help you make sure you get the most value out of your investment.

Researching different providers, understanding their pricing models, and asking the right questions will allow you to make an informed decision about which service works best for your needs and budget.

Need help with your SEO efforts?

We offer Search Engine Optimization services as part of our larger suite of digital marketing services, and we'll work with you to implement the changes needed to get your website ranking high on SERP.