Our customers often inquire about the results of a free SEO audit tool they’ve utilized on their website. Usually, these audits report numerous issues, from improper setup to sluggish performance, all demanding immediate attention. The way that these tools present their insights with an authoritative tone often convinces users that they are all indeed valid concerns. However, the strategies that these tools use are not always honest. The underlying issue normally lies in the tool’s maker, driven not by altruism but by a profit motive. Their strategy is clear: they attempt to overwhelm their users with data, and then offer to fix the myriad of perceived problems for a fee.
These experiences with our customers have lead us to be skeptical of these tools by default. As a way to better understand these experiences, and in an attempt to provide you (our readers) with some relevant insights, we decided to delve into three of the most popular free SEO audit tools available online. We ran the same website through each tool and meticulously compared the results. Here’s what we discovered: Not only did these three audits fail to concur on the overall assessment of the site, but they also contradicted each other on fundamental points. If these reports are to be trusted, one would expect them to agree on basic and easily quantifiable metrics like, for example, the presence of an SSL certificate.
You can read our detailed review of each report on these previous blog posts:
Here are some of the glaring contradictions we uncovered:
Overall Grade
While one might assume these tools would provide somewhat similar evaluations, our findings were quite the opposite. This suggests that rather than objective assessments, these reports reflect subjective opinions.
Report from SEOmator
Report from SEO Site Checkup
Report from SEOptimer
Use of HTTP/2 Technology
Despite being adept at detecting specific text or tags, these tools couldn’t even agree on the presence of basic metrics like HTTP/2.
Report from SEOptimer
Report from SEOmator
Report from SEO Site Checkup
HTTPS Redirect / Use of SSL
Detecting whether a site renders on HTTP or HTTPS is a straightforward task. Yet, these tools couldn’t reach a consensus on this fundamental feature.
Report from SEO Site Checkup
Report from SEOptimer
Title Tag and Meta Description Length
Determining the optimal length for title tags and meta descriptions isn’t an exact science. While there are recommended character limits for display purposes, exceeding them doesn’t necessarily render the content ineffective. This discrepancy underscores the subjective nature of these tools’ assessments.
Report from SEOmator
Report from SEO Site Checkup
Report from SEOptimer
Canonical Tag
Despite the simplicity of detecting the existence of a canonical tag in HTML, these reports couldn’t agree on its presence.
Report from SEOmator
Report from SEO Site Checkup
In conclusion, while these SEO audit tools may offer insights, their accuracy and reliability are questionable. Relying solely on their assessments could lead to misguided decisions. It’s essential to approach such tools with a critical mindset and, when possible, seek expert guidance to ensure the best outcomes for your website’s SEO strategy.
