How to Perform a Montreal SEO Audit: Step-by-Step Checklist for 2025

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Is your website underperforming in Google search results? If you’re a local business owner in Montreal, a well-structured Montreal SEO audit is the first step to identifying what’s holding your site back—and unlocking your full organic potential.

This 2025 step-by-step guide will help you uncover technical issues, optimize your on-page content, and improve user experience. Whether you’re handling SEO in-house or working with an agency, this checklist will keep you focused on what truly matters.

Start With a Crawl: Understand Your Site’s Foundation

Begin by running a full crawl of your website using tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Ahrefs. This will help you identify:

  • Broken links (404 errors)

  • Duplicate content

  • Redirect chains and loops

  • Missing or duplicate meta titles and descriptions

These foundational issues can seriously impact visibility.

Technical SEO Checklist: Fix Core Web Performance

Page speed, mobile usability, and crawlability are Google ranking factors in 2025. Pay attention to:

  • Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS)

  • Mobile responsiveness

  • HTTPS security

  • Sitemap and robots.txt configuration

  • Noindex or canonical tag errors

Use Google Search Console and Moz’s guide to resolving technical SEO issues to validate your fixes.

On-Page SEO Review: Are Your Pages Optimized?

Evaluate key on-page SEO elements:

  • Keyword placement in H1, H2, and content body

  • Internal linking between related pages

  • Image ALT text with relevant keywords

  • Meta titles under 60 characters with target keyword

  • Meta descriptions under 160 characters that entice clicks

For a complete optimization walkthrough, reference our Ultimate SEO Checklist for Small Businesses in Montreal (2025 Edition).

Content Quality Audit: Evaluate Intent and Depth

Google now emphasizes helpful, people-first content. Review your top-performing and underperforming pages to see if they:

  • Match search intent

  • Provide in-depth value with examples or FAQs

  • Include original insights or local relevance (for Montreal users)

  • Avoid thin content or AI-generated fluff

Use analytics tools to assess bounce rates and dwell time, and identify pages that may need rewriting or consolidation.

Site Performance Review: What Does Google Say?

Open Google Search Console and review:

  • Index coverage issues

  • Pages with low CTR

  • Core Web Vitals assessment

  • Mobile usability errors

  • Manual actions or penalties

Don’t ignore what Google is directly telling you—it’s often your clearest window into how the search engine views your site.

Competitor Benchmarking: How Do You Compare?

Search your primary keywords and analyze:

  • Who’s ranking above you?

  • What topics are they covering?

  • How fast are their sites?

  • What kinds of backlinks do they have?

Use this intel to identify gaps and opportunities in your own SEO strategy.

Action Plan: Fix, Improve, and Monitor

An audit is only useful if you act on it. Prioritize your action items:

  1. Fix all technical issues (errors, speed, mobile)

  2. Optimize your key pages and metadata

  3. Enhance internal linking and content depth

  4. Address underperforming pages with new content

  5. Track improvements monthly in Search Console

If your Montreal site isn’t ranking well, don’t guess. Learn why in our article on Why Your Montreal Business Website Isn’t Ranking on Google.

Final Thoughts

A thorough Montreal SEO audit is no longer optional—it’s your roadmap to staying visible, competitive, and trustworthy in an AI-driven search landscape. Make it a quarterly habit, not a once-a-year scramble, and you’ll always be ahead of the algorithm.