How to do SEO analysis

SEO analysis starts with understanding what you're actually measuring. Most agencies approach this backwards by jumping to rankings, when they should first establish where the site currently stands across technical health, content quality, and competitive positioning. Use tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to crawl the site and identify technical issues—missing meta tags, duplicate content, crawl errors, broken internal links, and XML sitemap problems. These foundational issues will tank performance regardless of how well-optimized your content is. Check Core Web Vitals through PageSpeed Insights and CrUX data, as Google now treats site speed and user experience as ranking factors. Look at your internal linking structure to see if important pages are getting sufficient link equity. Then dive into Search Console data to see what queries you're already ranking for, what your click-through rate looks like for each position, and where you're losing impressions to competitors.

The next layer involves competitive and keyword research. Identify your top 10-15 organic competitors using tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz. Look at which keywords these competitors rank for that you don't, which gives you your content gaps. Analyze the top-ranking pages for your target keywords—not just their word count, but their structure, the types of content (guides, comparisons, tutorials), and what topics they cover. This shows you what Google actually wants to see for each query, not what you think it wants. Check their backlink profiles to understand what quality and quantity of links are earning those positions. Use keyword research tools to estimate search volume and difficulty, but prioritize keywords that have commercial intent aligned with your client's business goals.

Finally, audit your existing content to see what's working and what needs improvement. Track metrics like organic traffic per page, time on page, bounce rate, and conversion rates. Pages with decent traffic but high bounce rates often need content improvements or better user experience. Pages with low traffic might just need better internal linking or a title/meta description refresh. Look at historical ranking data to spot trends—are you gaining or losing visibility, and in which topic areas? This analysis reveals whether your SEO efforts are compounding or if something fundamental needs adjustment. Document all of this in a report that prioritizes fixes by impact, not difficulty.