Contents
Key Takeaways
- SEO audits range from free automated checks to manual audits priced as a project; the price follows the size of the site and how deep the audit goes.
- In Ahrefs' survey of SEO providers, the most common project price was $2,501 to $5,000.
- A free tool finds obvious page problems; a paid audit reviews your own data and ranks the fixes by their effect on leads.
- Ask for a sample report before you buy, and check that it ends in a prioritized fix list.
An SEO audit can cost nothing, if you run a free tool yourself, or anything from a few hundred to several thousand dollars for a manual audit by a specialist. The price depends on how large the site is, how deep the audit goes, and whether it ends in a prioritized plan or just a list of warnings. Below: what each level gets you, what drives the price, and what we charge.
What SEO Audits Cost
There is little survey data on audits alone, but they are usually sold as projects. In Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers, the most common project price was $2,501 to $5,000, chosen by 21.2% of providers, and agencies averaged $9,507.84 per project. Audits for small sites tend to sit below that, and large-site audits above it.
| Level | What you get | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Free tool | An automated check of one page or a small site against a rule list | Free |
| Automated site report | A crawler or SEO platform report on the whole site, no human review | A software subscription |
| Manual audit, small site | A specialist reviews a full crawl, Search Console and analytics, and writes a fix list | A small project fee |
| Manual audit, large site | The same for thousands of pages, often with log files, migrations or international sites | A larger project fee |
What Changes the Price
- Size of the site. A 30-page service site is quicker to audit than a store with 20,000 products and filters.
- Depth. A technical-only audit costs less than one that also covers content, keywords, links, local SEO and tracking.
- Data access. Reviewing your Search Console and Google Analytics takes longer than a crawl alone, and finds more.
- Complexity. Multiple languages, locations, JavaScript-heavy sites or a recent migration add work.
- The deliverable. A ranked fix list with a walkthrough takes longer to produce than a tool export.
Free Audit Versus Paid Audit
A free audit tool is a good first step. It shows problems on a page in seconds: missing titles, indexing blocks, slow loading, broken structured data.
What a free tool cannot do is look at your own data. It cannot see which pages are losing traffic in Search Console, which searches you nearly rank for, whether calls and forms are tracked, or which of 300 warnings are costing you customers. That judgment is what you pay for in a manual audit.
What a Paid Audit Should Include
Before you buy, ask for a sample report and check it includes:
- A full crawl of the site, not only the homepage.
- A review of Search Console: indexing, queries, positions and Core Web Vitals.
- A review of Google Analytics: landing pages, conversions and tracking gaps.
- Content and search intent: pages competing with each other, pages close to page one.
- A prioritized fix list, with who should fix each item.
- A walkthrough or call, so you understand the findings.
Our SEO audit checklist lists the 32 checks a full audit should cover, and what an SEO audit is explains the different types.
What We Charge
Our SEO audit includes a Screaming Frog crawl, a Search Console analysis, a GA4 audit, a ranked fix list with who does each fix, and a recorded walkthrough, delivered in 7 working days from access.
| Price | |
|---|---|
| The audit, launch price | $999 for the first 20 audits, then $1,500 |
| The audit plus a do-it-yourself strategy | $500 more |
If you hire us within 30 days, what you paid is credited to your first month. If the audit does not deliver, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of delivery. The terms are on the audit page.
What Happens After the Audit
An audit is only worth what you do with it. Plan for the fixes before you buy:
- Who will implement them? Some fixes need a developer (redirects, templates, speed), others a writer (content, titles) and some only the owner (Business Profile, tracking access).
- How much time will it take? A good audit estimates effort for each fix, so you can plan it.
- In what order? Blockers first, then the pages closest to page one, then everything else.
- Will anyone check the fixes? A re-crawl after changes go live confirms they worked.
If you do not have the people to implement it, an audit that comes with a strategy and help, or credit toward ongoing work, is usually better value than the cheapest report.
Questions to Ask Before Buying an SEO Audit
- Can I see a sample report?
- Will you review my Search Console and Google Analytics, or only crawl the site?
- Will the fixes be ranked by impact, with who should do each one?
- Is there a walkthrough so I understand the findings?
- What happens if the audit does not find anything worth fixing?
Is It Worth It?
Work out what one new customer is worth to you. If fixing what the audit finds brings even one extra customer from search, most audits pay for themselves. The calculator on our audit page does this sum with your own numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should an SEO audit cost for a small business?
For a small business site of a few dozen pages, a manual audit that reviews Search Console, analytics and a full crawl is usually priced as a small project. Large ecommerce or multi-location sites cost more because there is more to crawl and review.
What is the difference between a free and a paid SEO audit?
A free audit tool checks a page or a site automatically against a list of rules. A paid audit adds a person reviewing your real search and analytics data, judging which issues matter, and giving you a plan in priority order.
Is an SEO audit worth paying for?
It is worth it when fixing what it finds brings in more than it costs. For most businesses, one extra customer a month from search covers a small audit quickly, and the audit also stops you paying for SEO work you do not need.
Do I need an SEO audit before hiring an SEO agency?
It helps. An independent audit tells you what your site actually needs, so you can judge proposals on whether they address it. Some agencies, including ours, credit the audit fee if you hire them afterwards.