5 Warning Signs Your Small Business Website Needs an SEO Audit ASAP
Is your website more like a shiny sports car in a garage or a reliable vehicle that's actually getting you places? (I love this analogy because it's so true!)
Just like your car needs regular maintenance, your website requires ongoing care to perform at its best. Yet so many of us small business owners approach our websites with a "set it and forget it" mindset.
When website maintenance falls by the wayside, potential customers might miss your digital storefront entirely. I see this happen all the time with my clients: opportunities get missed, and before you know it, your competitors are pulling ahead while your website struggles to keep up.
Think of an SEO audit as a comprehensive inspection—identifying what's working, what needs attention, and what might cause problems down the road. It's like having a skilled mechanic check everything before a long road trip.
In this post, I'll walk you through five warning signs I frequently spot when working with small businesses. If any of these sound familiar, it's probably time to take a closer look at what's happening behind the scenes of your website.
Sign #1: Declining Visibility in Search Results
Remember that feeling when you'd Google your business and proudly find yourself at the top of the results? (Such a confidence boost, right?) If that memory is fading, or if your website inquiries have dropped, you might be experiencing declining search visibility.
I see this with my clients all the time—fewer phone calls, contact form submissions, or online orders compared to previous months. It's frustrating when you know your services are valuable, but people just aren't finding you online.
Here's a quick test you can try: Search for your main service or product plus your location (for example, 'accountant in Portland'). Do you show up anywhere on the first page of results? Now try searching for specific services you offer. If you're not appearing where you used to or where you expect to be, that's definitely a red flag.
Search engines like Google are constantly updating their algorithms (seriously, they make hundreds of changes yearly!). What worked for your website last year might not be effective anymore. Behind declining visibility often lurk issues that aren't immediately obvious: outdated content, technical problems, or missing elements that today's SEO requires.
The good news? You can generally fix these visibility issues—they can often be solved once they're properly diagnosed. But they typically don't resolve themselves—and the longer you wait, the more potential customers you might miss.
Sign #2: Slow Page Load Times
We've all been there—watching that loading circle spin before giving up and clicking away. If your website makes visitors wait, they're likely making a quick exit.
Google's PageSpeed guidelines state that 53% of people will abandon a mobile site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. That's like having potential customers walk out before they even see what you're selling!
For us small business owners, slow loading times often creep in unnoticed because your browser remembers elements of your site, making it seem faster to you than to new visitors. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "but it seems fast to me!" from clients.
Want to check your site's actual speed? I love using Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool. If your score is in the red or orange zones, your website definitely needs some performance tuning.
Common culprits I find behind sluggish websites include oversized images (those beautiful high-res photos can be killers!), too many plugins, outdated coding practices, or hosting issues.
Google has explicitly stated that page speed affects your search rankings—meaning a slow site not only frustrates visitors but also potentially hurts your visibility. The good news? Many speed issues can be addressed without a complete website overhaul.
Sign #3: Mobile Experience Issues
Pull out your smartphone and visit your website. Is everything easy to read? Can you navigate without zooming or squinting? Do forms work properly? If not, you've got mobile experience issues.
This matters so much because over 60% of searches now come from mobile devices. If your site isn't mobile-friendly, you're potentially turning away the majority of your visitors.
Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site to determine rankings. A poor mobile experience can directly impact your search visibility—even for desktop searches.
Common mobile issues I spot include:
Text that's too small to read (My “mid-forties” eyes are squinting just thinking about it!)
Buttons or links placed too close together (the dreaded "fat finger" problem)
Content wider than the screen requiring horizontal scrolling
Unplayable videos or other content
Pop-ups that cover the main content (my personal pet peeve!)
These problems might not be obvious if you typically manage your site from a computer. An SEO audit will evaluate your mobile experience across different devices and identify specific improvements to make your site work well for all visitors.
Sign #4: Website Errors or Broken Pages
Have you ever clicked a link only to land on a page with a "404 Error" message? Or noticed images not loading properly? I cringe every time I see these on a client's site because I know these kinds of errors frustrate visitors and signal to search engines that your site isn't well-maintained.
For us small business owners, these technical issues often multiply over time as websites grow and evolve. You might add new content, remove old products, or change your site structure without realizing you're creating broken links or orphaned pages. I've seen sites with hundreds of errors that the owners had no idea existed!
Broken elements do more damage than you might think:
They create dead-ends in the user journey (and nobody likes a dead end!)
They waste your "crawl budget" (the resources search engines allocate to reviewing your site)
They damage your site's credibility and professionalism
A basic check you can do: click through your main navigation paths and make sure everything loads correctly. But many errors lurk on pages you rarely visit. An SEO audit will comprehensively identify these technical issues so you can fix them before they impact your business.
Sign #5: Local Competitors Consistently Outranking You
This one hits close to home for many of us. For local businesses, showing up in local search results is crucial. If you've noticed competitors consistently appearing above you for local searches, it's time to investigate why.
Try this experiment I do with my local clients: Search for your type of business plus your location and pay close attention to the map results (that 'local pack' with three listings). Are you appearing in that map section at all? How does your listing compare to competitors in terms of reviews, photos, and highlighted information? If your competitors consistently appear in those top map results while you're missing or ranked lower, there's likely a local SEO issue to address.
Local rankings depend on many factors, including:
Your Google Business Profile completeness and accuracy
Consistency of your business information across the web (you'd be surprised how often there are discrepancies!)
Quality and quantity of reviews (yes, they really do matter!)
Local content relevance
On-site optimization for local terms
Many small business owners don't realize that local SEO requires specific strategies different from general SEO. An audit will identify gaps in your local presence and provide actionable steps to improve your visibility to nearby customers—the people most likely to actually visit your business.
Conclusion
Just like regular maintenance keeps your car running smoothly, proactive attention to your website prevents small issues from becoming major problems. The five warning signs we've discussed are signals that your website could benefit from a comprehensive SEO audit.
The good news? I've seen firsthand that most SEO issues can be fixed once they're properly identified. Taking action now can improve your visibility, enhance user experience, and ultimately drive more business through your digital front door.
Not sure where to start? I'd love to help! A professional SEO audit provides a clear roadmap for improvements, prioritized by impact. Because when your website works as hard as you do, the results speak for themselves.
