How to Run an SEO Audit of Your Shopify Store
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An SEO audit is a systematic review of your store’s SEO — assessing what’s helping and hurting your search performance across technical health, content, on-page optimisation, and more — so you can identify and fix issues and find opportunities. Whether your SEO is underperforming, you want to improve it, or you just want to know where you stand, an SEO audit gives you the picture: the problems to fix, the opportunities to pursue, and how your SEO is doing. This pulls together the SEO topics (technical SEO, content, on-page, structure, measurement, as those discussions cover) into an auditing process — a systematic way to review your SEO comprehensively. Running an SEO audit (or having one done) is a valuable exercise for understanding and improving your Shopify store’s SEO. This piece covers how to run an SEO audit of your Shopify store: why audit, what to check, the tools to use, and how to act on the findings. (This connects to the technical-SEO-checklist, measuring-SEO, and various SEO discussions; this provides the auditing process.)
This piece covers why an SEO audit matters, what to check (the audit areas), the tools to use, and how to act on the findings. Because an SEO audit systematically reveals what’s helping and hurting your SEO, and running one helps you improve. Let me walk through it.
Why an SEO audit matters
An SEO audit matters because it systematically reveals your SEO’s state and issues. Reveals what’s helping and hurting — an audit systematically reveals what’s helping and hurting your SEO (the strengths, problems, and opportunities across your SEO), so you know where you stand and what to address (versus guessing) — the core value (a clear SEO picture). Finds issues to fix — an audit finds SEO issues (technical problems, content gaps, on-page issues, as those discussions cover) that are hurting or limiting your SEO, so you can fix them (versus unknown issues silently hurting you) — issue-finding. Finds opportunities — an audit finds SEO opportunities (content, optimisation, structure improvements, as those discussions cover) to pursue, so you know where to improve — opportunity-finding. Grounds SEO in a clear picture — an audit grounds your SEO efforts in a clear picture of your current state (versus working blind), so your SEO work is informed and prioritised — grounding (informed SEO). Useful for various situations — an audit is useful whether your SEO is underperforming (diagnosing why), you want to improve (finding how), you’ve made changes (checking impact), or you just want to know where you stand (assessing) — versatile value. Comprehensive review — an audit reviews your SEO comprehensively (technical, content, on-page, structure, as those discussions cover), so you get the full picture (versus checking one thing) — comprehensiveness. Prioritises your SEO work — an audit’s findings let you prioritise your SEO work (fixing the biggest issues, pursuing the best opportunities), so you focus effort effectively — prioritisation. And periodic auditing maintains SEO — periodic SEO audits (as part of ongoing SEO/maintenance, as those discussions cover) catch new issues and opportunities over time, maintaining and improving SEO — ongoing (periodic auditing). So an SEO audit matters because it reveals what’s helping and hurting your SEO (a clear picture), finds issues to fix and opportunities to pursue, grounds your SEO in your current state, is useful for various situations, reviews SEO comprehensively, lets you prioritise, and (periodically) maintains SEO — a valuable exercise for understanding and improving your SEO. So run (or have done) an SEO audit to understand and improve your SEO. The next section covers what to check. So an SEO audit systematically reveals your SEO’s issues and opportunities, grounding and prioritising your SEO improvement.
What to check (the audit areas)
An SEO audit checks your SEO across several areas (drawing on the SEO discussions). Technical SEO health — check technical SEO (as the technical-SEO-checklist discussion covers): indexability (are your important pages indexed, any indexing issues?), crawlability, site structure, sitemaps and robots.txt, canonical tags (as those discussions cover), redirects, HTTPS, and technical issues — the technical foundation (a key audit area). Core Web Vitals and performance — check Core Web Vitals and performance (LCP, CLS, INP, speed, as those discussions cover), since performance affects SEO — performance (an audit area). On-page SEO — check on-page SEO: titles and meta descriptions (present, good, unique), heading structure, URL structure (clean handles, as that discussion covers), on-page optimisation of key pages (products, collections, as those discussions cover) — on-page (a key area). Content — check content: quality and depth, targeting relevant keywords (as the keyword discussion covers), content gaps and opportunities, topical authority (as that discussion covers), thin or duplicate content (as the duplicate-content discussion covers) — content (a key area). Structured data — check structured data (schema — present, correct, valid, for products, etc., as the structured-data discussion covers), since it supports SEO and rich results — structured data. Site structure and internal linking — check site structure and internal linking (logical structure, good navigation, internal linking flowing authority, as those discussions cover), since structure affects SEO — structure/linking. Mobile — check mobile (mobile-friendliness, mobile performance, since mobile-first indexing, as the mobile discussion covers) — mobile. Search performance data — check your search performance data (Search Console — impressions, clicks, rankings, queries, issues; GA4 — organic traffic, conversions, as the measuring-SEO discussion covers), assessing your actual search performance — performance data (a key input). Duplicate content and indexation — check for duplicate content and indexation issues (duplicates, faceted-navigation issues, canonicalisation, as those discussions cover) — duplicate/indexation. International (if applicable) — check international SEO (hreflang, structure, if you sell internationally, as that discussion covers) — international (if relevant). And AI/GEO readiness — check AI-search readiness (content citability, AI-crawler access, as the GEO and optimizing-for-AI-search discussions cover), given AI-driven discovery — AI/GEO (increasingly relevant). So an SEO audit checks technical SEO health (indexability, crawlability, sitemaps, canonicals, redirects), Core Web Vitals and performance, on-page SEO (titles, metas, headings, URLs), content (quality, keywords, gaps, thin/duplicate content), structured data, site structure and internal linking, mobile, search performance data (Search Console, GA4), duplicate content and indexation, international (if applicable), and AI/GEO readiness — a comprehensive review across your SEO. So check these areas to comprehensively audit your SEO. The next section covers the tools. So an SEO audit checks technical health, performance, on-page, content, structured data, structure/linking, mobile, performance data, duplication, international, and AI/GEO — comprehensively.
The tools to use
Several tools support running an SEO audit. Google Search Console — Search Console (as the measuring-SEO discussion covers) is essential: it shows your search performance (impressions, clicks, queries, rankings), indexing status and issues (coverage/pages reports), Core Web Vitals, structured-data status (enhancements), and issues — a primary audit tool (Google’s direct data on your search performance and health). GA4 — GA4 (as the measuring-SEO discussion covers) shows your organic traffic, behavior, and conversions, so you can assess your SEO’s traffic and results — a key tool (the behavior/results side). SEO audit tools — dedicated SEO audit tools (crawlers and SEO platforms that crawl your site and report issues — technical issues, on-page issues, content issues, etc.) provide a comprehensive automated audit of many SEO factors, so an SEO tool is valuable for a thorough audit (surfacing many issues) — SEO tools (comprehensive auditing). PageSpeed Insights / Lighthouse — PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse (as the speed discussion covers) assess performance and Core Web Vitals, so use them for the performance part of the audit — performance tools. Rich Results Test / schema validators — Google’s Rich Results Test and schema validators (as the structured-data discussion covers) check structured data, so use them for the structured-data part — schema tools. Manual review — manual review (examining your pages, content, structure, on-page elements yourself or with an SEO’s expertise) complements the tools, catching things tools miss and assessing quality/relevance (which tools can’t fully judge) — manual review (important alongside tools). Keyword and rank tools — keyword research and rank-tracking tools (as the keyword discussion covers) help assess your keyword targeting, rankings, and opportunities — keyword/rank tools. And an SEO’s expertise — an SEO professional’s expertise (interpreting the data and tools, assessing quality and strategy, as the choosing-an-agency discussion covers) is valuable for a thorough, insightful audit (versus just running tools) — expertise (for a good audit). So the tools for an SEO audit are Google Search Console (essential — search performance, indexing, issues), GA4 (organic traffic and results), dedicated SEO audit tools (comprehensive automated auditing), PageSpeed Insights/Lighthouse (performance), Rich Results Test/schema validators (structured data), manual review (catching what tools miss, assessing quality), keyword and rank tools, and an SEO’s expertise (for interpretation and insight) — combining automated tools, Google’s data, manual review, and expertise. So use these tools (especially Search Console, GA4, SEO audit tools, and manual review/expertise) to audit your SEO comprehensively. The next section covers acting on the findings. So use Search Console, GA4, SEO audit tools, performance and schema tools, manual review, and expertise to audit your SEO.
How to act on the findings
An audit is only valuable if you act on it — turning the findings into improvements. Compile and prioritise the findings — compile the audit findings (issues and opportunities) and prioritise them (by impact and effort, as the prioritisation discussion covers), so you focus on the highest-impact fixes and opportunities (versus tackling everything at once) — prioritisation (act on the biggest first). Fix the technical issues — fix the technical SEO issues found (indexability problems, crawl issues, canonicalisation, redirects, performance, as those discussions cover), since technical issues can significantly limit SEO (fixing them removes limits) — technical fixes (often high-impact). Address on-page issues — address on-page issues (missing/poor titles and metas, heading structure, URL issues, on-page optimisation, as those discussions cover), improving your pages’ on-page SEO — on-page fixes. Improve content — improve content (addressing thin/duplicate content, content gaps, quality, targeting opportunities, topical authority, as those discussions cover), strengthening your content SEO — content improvement. Fix structured data — fix structured-data issues (missing, incorrect, invalid schema, as the structured-data discussion covers) — schema fixes. Improve structure and linking — improve site structure and internal linking issues (as those discussions cover) — structure/linking improvements. Pursue the opportunities — pursue the opportunities found (content opportunities, keyword targets, improvements, as the SEO discussions cover), not just fixing issues but capturing opportunities — opportunity pursuit. Prioritise high-impact, address fundamentals — prioritise high-impact fixes and the SEO fundamentals (technical health, content quality, on-page, as those discussions cover), since these most affect SEO — fundamentals-first. Use the right help — use SEO/developer help for the fixes and improvements (technical fixes, content, as the choosing-an-agency and team discussions cover), especially for technical or significant work — help (for effective fixes). Track the impact — track the impact of your fixes and improvements (via Search Console and GA4, as the measuring-SEO discussion covers), confirming they help (and learning) — tracking (measuring improvement). And re-audit periodically — re-audit periodically (as part of ongoing SEO, catching new issues and opportunities, as the maintenance discussion covers), maintaining and improving SEO over time — periodic re-auditing. So act on the audit findings by compiling and prioritising them, fixing the technical issues (often high-impact), addressing on-page issues, improving content, fixing structured data, improving structure and linking, pursuing the opportunities, prioritising high-impact fixes and fundamentals, using the right help, tracking the impact, and re-auditing periodically. The keys are prioritising the findings (highest-impact first), fixing the fundamentals (technical, content, on-page), pursuing opportunities, tracking impact, and re-auditing periodically. So act on the audit by prioritising and addressing the issues and opportunities (fundamentals-first, high-impact), tracking impact, and re-auditing periodically — turning the audit into SEO improvement. So an SEO audit, acted on (prioritised fixes and opportunities, tracked, periodically re-run), drives real SEO improvement. So run an SEO audit and act on it — prioritising and fixing issues, pursuing opportunities, and re-auditing periodically — to systematically understand and improve your Shopify store’s SEO.
The bottom line
An SEO audit is a systematic review of your store’s SEO — assessing what’s helping and hurting your search performance across technical health, content, on-page optimisation, structure, and more — so you can identify and fix issues, find opportunities, and know where you stand. It matters because it reveals what’s helping and hurting your SEO (a clear picture versus guessing), finds issues to fix (that may be silently hurting you) and opportunities to pursue, grounds your SEO efforts in your current state, is useful in many situations (diagnosing underperformance, finding improvements, checking changes, or assessing where you stand), reviews your SEO comprehensively, lets you prioritise your SEO work, and (done periodically) maintains and improves SEO over time. An SEO audit checks: technical SEO health (indexability, crawlability, sitemaps and robots.txt, canonical tags, redirects, HTTPS, technical issues), Core Web Vitals and performance, on-page SEO (titles, meta descriptions, heading structure, URL structure, on-page optimisation of key pages), content (quality, depth, keyword targeting, gaps, thin or duplicate content, topical authority), structured data (present, correct, valid), site structure and internal linking, mobile (friendliness and performance), your search performance data (Search Console for impressions, clicks, rankings, and issues; GA4 for organic traffic and conversions), duplicate content and indexation issues, international SEO (if applicable), and AI/GEO readiness (content citability, AI-crawler access) — a comprehensive review. Use these tools: Google Search Console (essential — your search performance, indexing, and issues), GA4 (organic traffic and results), dedicated SEO audit tools (comprehensive automated auditing of many factors), PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse (performance), the Rich Results Test and schema validators (structured data), manual review (catching what tools miss and assessing quality and relevance, which tools can’t fully judge), keyword and rank tools, and an SEO professional’s expertise (for interpretation and insight — for a thorough, insightful audit rather than just running tools). Then act on the findings — the point of an audit: compile and prioritise them (by impact and effort), fix the technical issues (often high-impact, since they can significantly limit SEO), address on-page issues, improve content (thin or duplicate content, gaps, quality, targeting), fix structured data, improve structure and internal linking, pursue the opportunities found (not just fixing issues), prioritise high-impact fixes and the SEO fundamentals, use SEO and developer help for the fixes (especially technical or significant work), track the impact of your changes (via Search Console and GA4), and re-audit periodically (catching new issues and opportunities over time). The keys are reviewing comprehensively with the right tools and expertise, prioritising the findings (highest-impact and fundamentals first), acting on both issues and opportunities, tracking impact, and re-auditing periodically. So run an SEO audit of your Shopify store (or have one done) to systematically reveal what’s helping and hurting your SEO, then act on it — prioritising and fixing issues, pursuing opportunities, tracking impact, and re-auditing periodically — to understand and continuously improve your search performance. It’s a valuable, grounding exercise that turns SEO from guesswork into a systematic, prioritised improvement effort.
Frequently asked questions
What is an SEO audit and why should I do one?
An SEO audit is a systematic review of your store’s SEO — assessing what’s helping and hurting your search performance across technical health, content, on-page optimisation, site structure, and more. You should do one because it reveals where you stand and what to address, rather than leaving you to guess: it finds SEO issues that may be silently hurting or limiting your performance (technical problems, content gaps, on-page issues), finds opportunities to pursue, and grounds your SEO efforts in a clear picture of your current state so you can prioritise your work effectively. An audit is useful in many situations — when your SEO is underperforming (to diagnose why), when you want to improve it (to find how), after you’ve made changes (to check the impact), or simply when you want to know where you stand. And running audits periodically catches new issues and opportunities over time, helping maintain and improve your SEO. In short, an SEO audit turns your SEO from guesswork into a systematic, informed, prioritised improvement effort.
What should an SEO audit check?
Your SEO comprehensively, across several areas. Technical SEO health: indexability (are your important pages indexed, any issues?), crawlability, site structure, sitemaps and robots.txt, canonical tags, redirects, HTTPS, and technical issues. Core Web Vitals and performance (since they affect SEO). On-page SEO: titles and meta descriptions (present, good, unique), heading structure, URL structure (clean handles), and on-page optimisation of key pages. Content: quality and depth, keyword targeting, content gaps and opportunities, topical authority, and thin or duplicate content. Structured data (present, correct, valid). Site structure and internal linking. Mobile (friendliness and performance, given mobile-first indexing). Your search performance data (Google Search Console for impressions, clicks, rankings, queries, and issues; GA4 for organic traffic and conversions). Duplicate content and indexation issues (including faceted-navigation problems). International SEO (hreflang, structure) if you sell internationally. And AI/GEO readiness (content citability and AI-crawler access) given the growth of AI-driven discovery. Checking these areas gives you the full picture of what’s helping and hurting your SEO.
What tools do I need for an SEO audit?
A combination of Google’s tools, dedicated SEO tools, and manual review and expertise. Google Search Console is essential — it shows your search performance (impressions, clicks, queries, rankings), indexing status and issues, Core Web Vitals, and structured-data status. GA4 shows your organic traffic, behavior, and conversions (the results side). Dedicated SEO audit tools (crawlers and SEO platforms) crawl your site and report many technical, on-page, and content issues, providing a comprehensive automated audit. PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse assess performance and Core Web Vitals, and Google’s Rich Results Test and schema validators check your structured data. Keyword and rank-tracking tools help assess your targeting, rankings, and opportunities. Crucially, complement the automated tools with manual review (examining your pages, content, and structure yourself, catching things tools miss and judging quality and relevance, which tools can’t fully assess) and, ideally, an SEO professional’s expertise for interpreting the data and assessing strategy. The combination of Google’s data, SEO tools, manual review, and expertise produces a thorough, insightful audit rather than just a list of automated flags.
How do I act on an SEO audit’s findings?
Turn the findings into prioritised improvements — this is the whole point of an audit. Compile the issues and opportunities and prioritise them by impact and effort, so you tackle the highest-impact items first rather than everything at once. Fix the technical SEO issues (indexability, crawl problems, canonicalisation, redirects, performance), since technical issues can significantly limit your SEO and fixing them removes those limits. Address on-page issues (missing or poor titles and meta descriptions, heading structure, URL issues), improve your content (thin or duplicate content, content gaps, quality, and targeting opportunities), fix structured-data issues, and improve site structure and internal linking. Pursue the opportunities the audit found (content opportunities, keyword targets), not just the fixes. Prioritise high-impact fixes and the SEO fundamentals, use SEO and developer help for the technical or significant work, and track the impact of your changes via Search Console and GA4 to confirm they’re helping. Then re-audit periodically to catch new issues and opportunities over time. The keys are prioritising, fixing the fundamentals, pursuing opportunities, tracking impact, and re-auditing — turning the audit into continuous SEO improvement.