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Free SEO Audit vs. Paid SEO Audit Services

  • 25 November, 2021
Free SEO Audit vs. Paid SEO Audit Services

SEO is an ongoing process that requires constant tweaking. The more keywords you rank for, the more traffic you'll generate. But if your site isn't optimized for conversions, all of those clicks might not lead to sales. 

That's why SEO audits are so crucial. An audit will help you find holes in your website's structure and improve website SEO without spending a dime on ads or marketing campaigns.

It is an age-old debate, most likely to be settled by your pocketbook. As a small business owner, the question of whether to hire a free SEO audit service or a paid one can often seem like a no-brainer: When you work on a tight budget, "free" is always better than "paid." But as this article will demonstrate, there are advantages and disadvantages both ways.

What is an SEO Audit?

An SEO audit service is a comprehensive analysis of a website to identify potential issues, opportunities, and recommendations to help improve the site's SEO strategy. The service provides guidance to enhance page rankings, target specific keywords in search engine result pages (SERPs), or increase conversion rates. SEO audits help ensure there are no issues with a company's website that might hurt its search engine rankings.

The Importance of SEO Audit Services

As the digital world connects more people across the globe, website SEO Audit Services are becoming an integral part of any business that wants to get ahead. These services are essential for companies that are trying to stay up-to-date with new technologies and trends.

Free SEO Audit vs. Paid SEO Audit

affordable seo audit services

Free SEO audit services, as the name suggests, are free of charge. Many people might think that they’re better than paid audit services, but that's not always true! Most free service providers give "cookie-cutter" advice that’s not specific to an individual’s needs. On the other hand, paid an affordable SEO audit services will provide you with more personalized advice.

Free SEO audit services are very beneficial for new startups and businesses. Since most startups don’t have the money for paid website audits, free alternatives are the only viable options. Free audits can provide such startups with critical insights on optimizing their sites, that too without having to pay a single penny. 

On the other hand, Paid audits are ideal for businesses looking to get serious about their marketing efforts. Specifically, those companies that want to know all of their weaknesses and strengths before tackling them head-on. Paid professionals provide more in-depth analysis and better services than free audit service providers.

Free SEO Audit

With a free SEO audit, you can leverage the following services:

  • On-Page SEO: limited on-page SEO can help discover inconsistencies and lapses in your meta description, title page, tags, headings/subheadings usage, keyword count, keyword consistency, and bullet points. It will also cover a basic content analysis and provide free SSL validation of your on-page elements.


  • Keyword Rankings: Free keyword ranking will only paint a small picture of your keyword usage. In other words, you won’t get a detailed analysis of your keywords and their placement, but you can use it to make slight adjustments to your content.


  • Backlink Analysis: Incomplete info regarding your backlinks and usually takes longer to generate reports. Not that helpful in improving SEO, but it can help generate leads for your business. 


Overall, free SEO audit services will only provide limited information about your website’s performance. Additionally, you won’t gain access to premium features and will have to extrapolate recommended actions on your own. It’s an excellent way to gauge your SEO but won’t help improve it in a meaningful way. 


Paid SEO Audit


With a Paid SEO audit, you get access to all of the features below:

  • Detail On-page Analysis: with the page analysis report, you will get a comprehensive analysis of your on-page elements alongside various performance metrics such as:

    • URL validation and analysis

    • detailed SEO meta description

    • core web vitals, including user input analysis

    • complete information on site redirects

    • site crawling 

    • on-page SEO (see free SEO audit)

    • keyword rankings (see free SEO audit)

    • duplicate detection to discover repeated content

    • HREF links/internal links/external links 

  • Link Analysis: the link analysis report delves into the various links, sources, and elements used within your website. 


  • Link Opportunities: This service analyzes all of the keywords used within your site and automatically provides recommendations for internal links. You can link keywords to existing pages on your sitemap and drastically improve SEO. It also helps improve navigation and ensures you are linking according to the latest algorithm.


  • Site Structure Analysis: provides info regarding the structure of your website and helps pinpoint weaknesses that may impact your rankings. Structure analysis is excellent for improving loading time, site speed, organic traffic analysis, domain usage, crawled URLs, and other elements on your website. It also helps realize the sections of your site that are failing to be indexed. 


  • Ranking Analytics: provides real-time reporting of tracked keywords. Keyword composition is different on mobile devices and desktop computers. With the assistance of ranking analytics, you can visualize keyword ranking on several devices. You can also filter rankings according to location, position, tags, etc. Furthermore, it can also help determine your competitor’s top keywords, target low-difficulty keywords, and differentiate between organic and inorganic keyword ranking.


All in all, a paid SEO audit service is a much better option as it provides better features and more detailed information regarding site SEO and performance. Furthermore, paid services will tailor these features according to your business and provide recommendations that are particular to your brand. There’s no need to worry about cookie-cutter solutions. 


Why You Shouldn’t Opt for Free SEO Audit Services

Free SEO audit services are becoming commonplace. However, from personal experience with these services, some glaring mistakes can end up ruining your website: 

  • Most free services recommend you sign up for a paid package without providing an actual audit of your site’s SEO

  • They don’t offer all the information necessary for the website owner to understand their findings

  • The free service costs them nothing, so they can afford to be inefficient and unproductive in their work

  • They just want to target your business so they can charge you for premium services later down the line

  • They will give you tips on how to improve your site but won't implement changes themselves

  • The main issue with free services is that they are often scams funded by shady third parties who want to take advantage of new startups and businesses.

Many people believe that they can get by with free SEO audit services. However, the truth is that your budget will determine the quality of your SEO audit. If you want to receive quality service, it’s best to invest in paid SEO audit services to get more value for your money. 

The Benefits of Paid SEO Audit Services

website seo audit services

SEO audit services offer the advantages of thorough reporting, high-quality analysis, and instant insights. A paid SEO audit service includes not just a report but also an analysis of the site. 

It provides information on site errors, code problems, duplicate content, or anything else that could harm the site's ranking—allowing for faster fixes and improvements to be made directly to your site before any long-term damage.

There are many benefits associated with paid SEO audit services as compared to those that are free. Paid SEO audit services provide their clients with detailed reports and recommendations to improve their search engine rankings. They also guarantee to help you rank higher on search engine results pages. A lot of these recommendations may not be available on the web for free:

  • Paid SEO audit services have professional experts that understand search engine algorithms. 

  • Many free services don’t have professionals working on their side and instead hire amateurs and inexperienced freelancers. 

  • Paid SEO audit services outperform free services by providing more detailed insights, faster turnaround time, and better chances for success.

  • Paid services also offer more security than free audits 

  • Free audit service providers may give away sensitive information to hackers or cyber-criminals.


When You Should Perform SEO Auditing

seo audit services

A website that doesn't rank well in search engine results pages has yet to tap its full potential. It means that many of your site’s visitors are getting lost because they don't find you on SERPs.

Regular SEO audits are essential for websites to ensure they remain competitive in the market. Some of the signs that your website requires an SEO audit are:

  • You’ve been noticing a drop in traffic from Google and other search engines

  • You’ve seen a decline in rankings for keywords that were once relevant and popular for your business

  • Poor traffic and Fewer visitors

  • Higher bounce rates

  • Low rankings on SERPs for significant keywords

  • No linking back to your site or content from other sites.


Conclusion

Whether you’re looking to rank your website, increase your organic traffic, or both, getting a professional SEO audit is absolutely necessary. This is where we come in! We offer affordable and effective SEO packages tailored to meet your needs and help you reach your desired goals. 

When it comes to SEO audit services - TaskShift is one of the best service providers in the industry. We pride ourselves on providing high-quality services to our clients and would be delighted to provide you with a professional SEO audit of your website today!

If you have any questions about our SEO audit services, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to hearing from you.