How to Conduct a Technical SEO Audit for Your WordPress Site: Expert Tips

If your WordPress site isn’t ranking as well as you’d like, technical SEO may be the missing link. Sure, content is king. But even the best content can get buried in the search results if your site has technical flaws. That’s where a technical SEO audit can help. It’s the process of checking your website’s infrastructure to make sure everything is search engine-friendly. Think of it as giving your site a health check-up.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to conduct a complete technical SEO audit for your WordPress site step by step. Whether you’re a business owner, a marketer, or a WordPress developer, this article will give you the clarity and tools to boost your site’s visibility in search.

What is a Technical SEO Audit?

A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive review of your website’s backend elements that affect search engine crawling, indexing, and rankings. Unlike content audits, technical audits focus on performance, structure, and functionality.

Here’s what a good audit helps you uncover:

• Crawling and indexing issues
• Site speed bottlenecks
• Mobile usability problems
• Broken links and redirects
• Duplicate content
• Structured data errors
• Security and HTTPS issues

In short, a technical SEO audit ensures search engines can access, crawl, interpret, and index your content without issues.

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Why Technical SEO Matters for WordPress?

WordPress is SEO-friendly out of the box. But it can still develop problems as you install plugins, switch themes, or grow your content library.

Without regular technical audits, your site can become slow, disorganised, or even invisible to Google bots. Here’s why it matters:

• Better user experience: Fast, secure, and mobile-friendly websites convert better.

• Higher rankings: Search engines reward technically optimised sites.

• Reduced bounce rates: When your site loads fast and works properly, users stay longer.

• More traffic: Better rankings = more organic visitors.

Now that you know the “why,” let’s get into the “how.”

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Hire Experts for Technical SEO Audit

A technical SEO audit can be time-consuming and complex, especially if you’re not sure what to look for. At Seahawk Media, we specialise in identifying and fixing the technical roadblocks that hinder your WordPress site’s visibility.

Here’s how we help:

• Work With WordPress SEO Experts: At Seahawk Media, we live and breathe WordPress. Our technical SEO specialists understand the platform inside and out, which means faster results and fewer headaches for you.

• In-Depth Technical Analysis: We don’t just run basic scans. Our experts conduct a deep dive into your site architecture, crawl errors, speed metrics, and more. Every audit is custom-tailored to your site’s unique needs.

• Core Web Vitals Optimisation: Google prioritises sites that meet Core Web Vitals benchmarks. We optimise your WordPress site for faster load times, better interactivity, and visual stability, helping you meet Google’s performance standards.

• Mobile and UX Enhancements: With mobile-first indexing in full effect, a poor mobile experience can cost you rankings. We ensure your site is fully responsive, user-friendly, and performs flawlessly across all devices.

• Smart Fixes for Crawl and Index Issues: If your pages aren’t being crawled or indexed properly, your content won’t show up in search. We fix robots.txt problems and sitemap errors and resolve indexing issues that block visibility.

• Structured Data and Schema Setup: We add and correct structured data so search engines clearly understand your content. This boosts your chance of appearing in rich snippets and enhanced search listings.

• Actionable Reporting and Recommendations: You won’t just get a checklist. We provide a detailed audit report, prioritised fixes, and guidance, so you know exactly what’s been done and what to improve next.

How to Conduct a Technical SEO Audit for Your WordPress Site?

We’ll break this process down into actionable steps. Follow each one to spot issues and fix them.

1. Set Up the Right Tools for Technical SEO Audit

Before you start, make sure you have the right tools to audit your WordPress site:

• Google Search Console: To monitor indexing, mobile usability, and errors

• Google Analytics: For user behaviour and traffic insights

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider: A powerful crawler to detect technical issues

• Ahrefs / SEMrush / Moz: For backlink analysis and technical site audits

• GTmetrix / PageSpeed Insights: To assess site speed and performance

• Yoast SEO / AIOSEO: To help manage on-page SEO and sitemaps

Now, let’s use these tools to analyse each technical area.

2. Check Crawlability and Indexability

First, you want to make sure search engines can access and index your pages.

Crawlability: Search engines need to crawl your site before indexing it. Here’s how to check:

• robots.txt file: Visit yoursite.com/robots.txt to ensure important sections aren’t blocked. You should allow access to pages you want ranked.

• Crawl errors: Use Google Search Console ⟶ “Pages” report to find blocked or error pages. Fix 404s and address any “Blocked by robots.txt” warnings.

Indexability: Check how many pages Google has indexed by searching:

site:yoursite.com

Compare that number to your actual number of published pages. If there’s a mismatch, investigate in Google Search Console.

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3. Analyse Site Architecture and URL Structure

A clean site structure improves crawling, indexing, and user experience. Best practices include:

• Use a flat architecture (pages should be accessible in 3 clicks or less).

• Stick to SEO-friendly URLs – avoid numbers or meaningless strings.

• Include breadcrumbs for internal navigation.

• Avoid orphan pages (pages with no internal links pointing to them).

Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to crawl your site and map the structure.

4. Optimise Your XML Sitemap

Your XML sitemap helps Google discover and index your content. Use a plugin to generate and manage it. Make sure your sitemap:

• Includes only indexable URLs
• Doesn’t list redirects or 404s
• Is submitted to Google Search Console

Check for errors under Search Console ⟶ Sitemaps.

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5. Audit Site Speed and Performance

A slow website hurts rankings and user experience. Here’s how to check performance:

• Google PageSpeed Insights
• GTmetrix
• WebPageTest.org

Key metrics to look at:

• First Contentful Paint (FCP)
• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
• Time to Interactive (TTI)
• Total Blocking Time (TBT)

Tips to improve website speed:

• Use a lightweight theme (e.g., Astra, GeneratePress)
• Compress images using Smush or ShortPixel
• Use a caching plugin like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache
• Enable lazy loading for images and videos
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare

6. Ensure Mobile-Friendliness

Google uses mobile-first indexing, so mobile usability is critical. Test your site on:

• Responsive Test Tool
• Search Console ⟶ Mobile Usability

Next, fix issues like:

• Text too small to read
• Clickable elements too close
• Viewport not set properly
• Unresponsive design

Choose a responsive theme and test your site on multiple devices.

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7. Fix Broken Links and Redirects

Broken links create a poor user experience and can hurt SEO. Use tools like Screaming Frog or a broken link checker plugin to find broken links on your website. Next, fix or remove:

• 404 errors
• Outdated internal links
• Redirect chains or loops

Use 301 redirects for moved content and avoid 302s for permanent changes.

8. Optimise HTTPS and Site Security

Google considers HTTPS a ranking signal. If your site isn’t secure, it’s time to make the switch. Here’s what to check for:

• SSL certificate is active and valid
• All resources load over HTTPS (no mixed content)
• Redirects from HTTP to HTTPS are in place

Use Why No Padlock or your browser’s console to detect mixed content issues.

9. Audit Structured Data (Schema Markup)

Structured data helps search engines understand your content better and can lead to rich snippets.

• Google’s Rich Results Test
• Schema Validator by Schema.org
• Rank Math or AIOSEO plugins for adding schema

Common schema types for WordPress:

• Article
• Product
• FAQ
• Breadcrumb
• Local Business

Fix any missing or invalid markup shown in the test results.

10. Check Canonical Tags and Duplicate Content

Duplicate content confuses search engines and dilutes SEO value. Here’s how to fix it:

• Use Screaming Frog to detect duplicate titles, meta descriptions, and content

• Ensure proper canonical tags are set to tell Google which version to index

• Avoid multiple versions of the same page (e.g., with and without trailing slash, or with www and non-www)

• Plugins like Yoast SEO handle canonical tags automatically.

11. Review Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are part of Google’s ranking algorithm. Check them in:

• Search Console ⟶ Core Web Vitals
• PageSpeed Insights

Key metrics to check includes:

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Aim for under 2.5s
• FID (First Input Delay): Under 100ms
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Less than 0.1

Optimise images, fonts, and scripts to meet these thresholds.

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12. Evaluate Internal Linking

Internal linking improves crawlability and passes link equity. Here are some best practices to follow:

• Use descriptive anchor text
• Link to relevant pages within your content
• Update older posts to link to new content
• Avoid overloading pages with links

Tools like Link Whisper (a plugin) can automate internal link suggestions.

13. Manage Redirects Properly

Redirects are a part of website evolution, but they should be managed carefully. Use tools to:

• Detect redirect chains
• Avoid redirect loops
• Ensure only one redirect from old to new URL

Use 301 redirects for permanent changes. Plugins like Redirection help manage them in WordPress.

14. Optimise for Crawl Budget

If you have a large WordPress site, optimising crawl budget is important. Here’s how:

• Block low-value pages in robots.txt (like tag or archive pages)
• Use no-index for thin content
• Reduce duplicate pages
• Keep your sitemap clean

Google has a limited time to crawl your site, so make it count.

15. Use Pagination Correctly

Poor pagination can lead to duplicate content and crawl inefficiencies. As such, for blogs or product listings, use proper pagination tags (rel=”next” and rel=”prev”) or rely on WordPress themes/plugins that handle pagination SEO-friendly by default.

16. Limit WordPress Plugins

Too many plugins can slow down your site and cause conflicts. Therefore, keep only essential plugins and regularly audit them for performance and security. Plus, use well-coded, lightweight options wherever possible.

17. Enable GZIP Compression

GZIP compression reduces the size of your files, allowing them to load faster in browsers. You can enable GZIP via your hosting provider, a caching plugin, or by adding code to your .htaccess file if you’re using Apache.

Check out: Ultimate WordPress Website Maintenance Checklist

Summary

A technical SEO audit might seem overwhelming at first. But once you break it down, it becomes a manageable and highly rewarding process.

When your WordPress site is technically sound, it becomes easier for search engines to crawl, index, and rank your content. That means more visibility, more traffic, and ultimately, more conversions.

Start with the basics: speed, mobile usability, and crawlability. Then dive deeper into structured data, internal links, and site architecture. Use tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, and PageSpeed Insights to guide you.

And remember, SEO isn’t a one-time thing. Conduct technical audits regularly (at least once every quarter) to stay ahead of potential issues. Now it’s your turn. Run your first audit and start fixing those hidden issues.

FAQs About Technical SEO