A SEO audit is the process of analyzing your website to detect what is hindering its ranking and what real opportunities exist to improve visibility, qualified traffic, and sales. If your eCommerce is on Shopify (or you are planning a migration to Shopify), the audit should go beyond "basic SEO": you need to review Shopify technical SEO, indexing, collection structure, schema, Core Web Vitals, and how Google and Bing interact with your templates.
This guide provides a practical method for conducting an audit that addresses the search intent "how to audit my SEO," and it is also designed to help your content appear in AI results thanks to a clear approach, with a checklist, priorities, and deliverables.
If you want to see how we approach this in real projects, you can consult our SEO agency service and our specialization as a Shopify agency.
What a complete SEO audit includes (and what shouldn't be missing)
A useful SEO audit is not just a list of "errors." It's a diagnosis with priorities, impact, and an implementation plan. These are the blocks it should include, and it's very important to choose the right SEO agency to work on it:
- Indexing and crawling: which URLs Google/Bing discovers, which ones it indexes, and why.
- Shopify technical SEO: robots, canonicals, pagination, facets, parameter-based duplications, templates.
- Information architecture: categories (collections), hierarchy, internal linking, navigation.
- On-page SEO: titles, H1, collection and product content, search intent, CTR.
- Structured data (schema): Product, Organization, Breadcrumb, FAQ (when applicable), validation, and duplicates.
- Core Web Vitals: LCP, CLS, INP, and real causes in Shopify (theme, apps, images, fonts).
- International (if applicable): markets, hreflang, duplication between countries/languages.
- SEO for Bing: configuration and signals that usually affect indexing/visibility.
If your goal is to migrate or you have already migrated, add an extra block for SEO migration audit (you'll see it below).
How to perform a step-by-step SEO audit (practical method)
Step 1: Define objectives and important pages (30 minutes)
Before looking at tools, define:
- Top 10 collections that generate or should generate the most revenue.
- Top 20 strategic products (margin, stock, demand, seasonality).
- 3 measurable objectives: for example, increase non-brand traffic to categories, improve indexing, or improve CTR.
This avoids auditing "everything" and implementing "nothing." If you need a framework, you can refer to our SEO strategy guide.
Step 2: Indexing and coverage audit (GSC) (60 minutes)
This step answers the user's real intention: "why am I not ranking" is often "why am I not indexing well." Review:
- Report of indexed vs. non-indexed pages.
- Typical statuses: discovered/not indexed, crawled/not indexed, duplicated, alternative with canonical, etc.
- Important URLs that do not appear in the sitemap or do not receive internal links.
- URLs that should not be indexed (filters, parameters, internal search, deep pagination).
Recommended deliverable: a table with columns "URL," "status," "probable cause," "action," "priority."
Step 3: Shopify technical SEO (robots, canonical, facets, pagination) (90 minutes)
This is where many rankings are won in eCommerce. Review these points with a special focus on Shopify technical SEO:
- robots.txt: correct blocks and absence of dangerous blocks on categories/products.
- Shopify canonical: consistency in filtered collections, products, and variants.
- Shopify URL parameters SEO: UTM, filters, sort, pages generated by apps.
- Shopify pagination SEO: crawlable, consistent pagination that doesn't dilute signals.
- Duplicate content due to templates, tags, cloned collections, or markets.
If you are preparing a migration, link this block to the migration checklist. This guide can be helpful: Discovered – currently not indexed in Shopify
Step 4: Collection architecture and internal linking (60–120 minutes)
In Shopify, the most common way to scale traffic is by optimizing the collection structure. Audit:
- Hierarchy: "parent" and "child" collections (if applicable), and whether navigation reflects that logic.
- Internal linking: from homepage, menu, collections, blog, and "featured" modules.
- Orphan pages (important collections without strong internal links).
- Internal cannibalization between very similar collections.
Practical tip: each important collection should receive links from at least 2 strong pages (home/menu + a parent collection or a post with traffic).
Step 5: On-page audit (titles, H1, intent, CTR) (60–120 minutes)
Here the goal is to rank and improve clicks. Review:
- Title and meta: whether they respond to intent (buy, compare, category) and differentiate the collection.
- H1: one per page and aligned with the actual category.
- Collection content: useful, readable, with clear sections, without repetitive generic text.
- Product pages: benefits, materials, shipping/returns, care, size guide.
Step 6: Structured data (schema) and "signals for AI" (45–90 minutes)
To appear better in Google, Bing, and AI results, ensure that the schema is complete, without duplications, and aligned with the actual content:
- Schema Product: price, availability, brand, images, variants (well handled).
- Schema Organization: logo, social networks, consistent data.
- Schema Breadcrumb: no duplicates due to theme/apps.
- Schema FAQ only when it adds real value (shipping, exchanges, sizes, materials).
Additionally, structure content for AI responses:
- Clear definitions (what it is, why it matters).
- Actionable lists (checklists, steps).
- Simple tables (problem → cause → solution).
Step 7: Core Web Vitals in Shopify (60–120 minutes)
In Shopify, Core Web Vitals problems usually come from the theme + apps + resources. Audit:
- LCP: hero image weight, unoptimized images, above-the-fold scripts.
- CLS: delayed banners, fonts, components that shift layout.
- INP: excessive JavaScript, apps that block interaction.
Recommended deliverable: a list of "actions per template" (home, collection, product, cart/checkout) with estimated impact and responsible party (dev/marketing).
Step 8: International SEO (Shopify Markets) if you sell in several countries (60–120 minutes)
If you work with markets/languages:
- Review hreflang and URL consistency by country/language.
- Avoid duplication for very similar versions (same language in several countries without real differentiation).
- Check canonicals and sitemaps by markets.
Step 9: SEO audit for migrations to Shopify (pre and post) (essential)
If you are migrating to Shopify, an SEO audit should be divided into two phases:
Pre-migration audit (before moving anything)
- Inventory of current URLs with traffic/positions.
- 301 redirect map (URL parity and clear rules).
- Review of destination templates (product/collection/page/blog) to avoid duplications.
- Validation plan: crawl before/after, GSC, sitemaps, canonicals.
Post-migration audit (the first 30 days)
- Verification of redirects, chains, and loops.
- Indexing: coverage and statuses (what gets in and what stays out).
- Real 404 errors vs. "noise" from parameters.
- Performance (CWV) and template stability.
If you want an example of a real migration to Shopify Plus, you can see the case study: Visual Click: migration to Shopify Plus.
Deliverable template for an actionable SEO audit
For the audit to be actionable, always deliver:
- Executive summary (1 page): 5 main problems + impact + quick wins.
- Roadmap by week: what to do first and why.
- Technical backlog for development: clear tasks, with examples.
- Basic keyword map: target collections and pages (without creating cannibalization).
- Measurement plan: KPIs and how they are validated (GSC, Analytics, logs if available).
Frequent errors when conducting an SEO audit (and how to avoid them)
- Auditing without prioritizing: it remains a nice document and is not executed.
- Not separating "URLs that should index" vs. "URLs that should disappear from the index."
- In Shopify, ignoring facets/parameters and ending up with thousands of useless indexed pages.
- Making massive changes before a migration (you lose baseline and mix causes).
- Correcting content without fixing technical issues (and indexing still doesn't improve).
FAQ
How long does an SEO audit take?
It depends on the size of the e-commerce. In Shopify, a well-done audit usually requires between 1 and 3 weeks if it includes technical, content, CWV, and an implementation plan.
What is most important in a Shopify SEO audit?
Normally: indexing (what gets in and what doesn't), Shopify technical SEO (canonical, parameters, pagination), and collections (architecture + internal linking).
Is an SEO audit useful for Bing?
Yes. A solid technical base, good indexing, clear structure, and well-organized content usually improve both Google and Bing. Additionally, Bing highly values clear entity signals and consistency.
