You Don’t Need to Spend a Fortune to Get Started
The SEO tools industry has done a great job of convincing business owners that proper SEO requires expensive monthly software subscriptions. And while tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz are genuinely useful, they’re not essential for a foundational website audit.
This guide walks you through a practical SEO audit you can do yourself using free tools — giving you a clear picture of where your website stands and what needs attention.
Step 1: Set Up Google Search Console (If You Haven’t Already)
Google Search Console is the most important free SEO tool available — and it comes directly from Google. If you haven’t set it up for your website, do this first. It shows you:
- Which pages are indexed by Google
- Which search queries are bringing visitors to your site
- Any crawl errors or indexing problems
- Core Web Vitals performance data
- Manual penalties (if any exist)
Once set up, submit your XML sitemap (usually found at yourdomain.com.au/sitemap.xml) and wait 24–48 hours for data to populate.
Step 2: Check What’s Indexed
In Google Search Console, navigate to the Coverage or Indexing report. This shows which pages are indexed and which have been excluded — and why.
You can also do a quick manual check by typing site:yourdomain.com.au into Google. The results show every page Google has indexed on your site. Look for:
– Pages you don’t want indexed (old test pages, thank-you pages, duplicate content)
– Pages you do want indexed that aren’t showing up
Step 3: Audit Your Meta Titles and Descriptions
Use a free browser extension like SEO Meta in 1 Click to quickly view the meta title and description of any page. Go through your key pages and check:
- Does each page have a unique meta title?
- Does the title include the primary keyword for that page?
- Is the title under 60 characters?
- Does each page have a meta description?
- Is the description compelling and under 160 characters?
Any page missing these, or with duplicates, needs attention.
Step 4: Check Your Page Speed
Go to Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) and enter your website URL. Run the test for both mobile and desktop.
Pay particular attention to the mobile score — this is what affects your Google ranking most. Anything below 50 is a concern. The tool will give you a list of specific issues to fix, ranked by impact.
Common issues to look for:
– Images that aren’t compressed or aren’t in modern formats (WebP)
– Render-blocking JavaScript or CSS
– Missing browser caching
– Slow server response time
Step 5: Review Your Content
Go through your main service pages and ask honestly:
– Is there enough content here for Google to understand what this page is about?
– Does the content use the keyword I want this page to rank for?
– Is there a clear H1 heading? Are subheadings (H2, H3) used throughout?
– Is there a clear call to action?
– Is the content unique — or is it duplicated from elsewhere on the web?
For any page with fewer than 300 words, consider whether it needs expanding.
Step 6: Check Your Backlink Profile
Use Google Search Console (Links report) or a free account on Ahrefs Webmaster Tools or Ubersuggest to see which websites are linking to yours.
Look for:
– The total number of referring domains
– Any spammy or irrelevant websites linking to you (these can potentially hurt rankings)
– Whether your competitors have significantly more backlinks than you
Step 7: Review Your Google Business Profile
If you’re a local or service-area business, your Google Business Profile is critical. Check:
– Is all information accurate and complete?
– Are your business categories correct?
– Have you added all relevant services?
– Is there a description written with relevant keywords?
– Are you responding to reviews?
– Have you posted in the last 30 days?
Step 8: Test Your Mobile Experience
Open your website on your actual phone — not just in a desktop browser’s “mobile view.” Click through your pages, complete a contact form, and look at your content as a real user would.
Also use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool (search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly) for a quick technical check.
What to Do With Your Findings
Once you’ve worked through these steps, you’ll have a list of issues ranked roughly by impact. Start with the highest-impact, lowest-effort fixes — meta titles, image compression, and Google Business Profile updates are usually quick wins.
For more complex issues — technical errors, thin content across many pages, or a poor backlink profile — consider getting professional help to build a clear remediation plan.
At West Legacy Group, we offer detailed SEO audits that go well beyond the basics — giving you a complete picture and a prioritised action plan.
Book a professional SEO audit with West Legacy Group today.