WordPress SEO Audit
The only SEO audit tool that not only finds problems but fixes them — directly on your WordPress site via REST API. No plugin, no FTP, no developer needed.
Audit Your WordPress SiteOne-Click WordPress Integration
Connect your WordPress site using an Application Password (no plugin required). Run an audit, review recommendations, and apply meta title, description, and OG tag fixes with a single click. Supports Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, and SEOPress.
Meta Tags
Fix titles, descriptions, and OG tags directly in WordPress.
Sitemap Check
Verify your WordPress sitemap is properly configured.
Plugin Compatible
Works with Yoast SEO, Rank Math, AIOSEO, and SEOPress.
No Plugin Needed
Connects via built-in WordPress REST API and Application Passwords.
How It Works
Connect Your Site
Enter your WordPress URL and Application Password. We encrypt all credentials.
Run the Audit
AI scans your entire WordPress site for SEO issues across all 16 checkpoints.
Review Issues
See prioritized issues with estimated impact and effort for each fix.
Apply Fixes
Click 'Apply' to push meta tag changes directly to WordPress. Or 'Apply All' for bulk fixes.
What Our WordPress SEO Audit Checks
Permalinks & URL Structure
- Post slug keyword richness and hyphen formatting
- Category and tag base prefix optimization
- Trailing slash consistency across all URL patterns
- Legacy numeric slugs from migrations or default settings
- WooCommerce product permalink structure validation
- Author archive URL exposure and noindex status
Sitemaps & Indexing
- XML sitemap coverage against actual published posts and pages
- Draft and pending post exclusion from sitemaps
- Paginated archive and taxonomy sitemap entries
- Media attachment page indexing status
- Sitemap ping frequency and lastmod accuracy
- Breadcrumb sitemap cross-referencing
Plugin Conflicts & Overlaps
- Duplicate meta tag output from multiple SEO plugins
- Conflicting canonical URL generation between plugins
- Schema JSON-LD duplication or rejection by search engines
- RSS feed meta tag inconsistencies
- Open Graph tag conflicts across social sharing plugins
- Robots directive overrides from security or maintenance plugins
REST API & Security Exposure
- Public author enumeration via REST API endpoints
- Revision post data exposure through API routes
- Application password endpoint accessibility checks
- OEmbed endpoint data leakage assessment
- WP REST API user enumeration and data exposure
- CORS header configuration for API endpoints
Image Optimization
- Missing alt text across media library uploads
- Oversized image files degrading Core Web Vitals LCP
- WebP and AVIF format adoption opportunities
- Lazy loading conflicts with above-the-fold hero images
- Responsive image srcset attribute correctness
- Theme image size variant mismatches causing layout shifts
Database & Performance Health
- Orphaned post meta rows bloating the wp_postmeta table
- Transient option buildup from unused plugins
- Autoloaded options exceeding recommended size thresholds
- Post revision history creating database bloat
- Comment spam entries inflating database size
- Plugin deactivation residue and orphaned data left in the database after removal
WordPress SEO Audit vs Yoast/Rank Math Analysis
Yoast and Rank Math are excellent on-page SEO plugins, but they operate inside WordPress and analyze individual posts. AuditMe crawls your live site from the outside — the same way search engines see it — and adds WordPress-specific checks that plugins cannot perform.
| Capability | AuditMe | Yoast SEO | Rank Math |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scan approach | Crawls live site via REST API + public pages. Real-time analysis of what search engines see. | On-page analysis within WordPress admin. Shows SEO score per post but no full-site crawl. | On-page analysis within WordPress admin. Content AI scores individual posts, not site-wide technical issues. |
| Plugin conflict detection | Detects duplicate schema, overlapping meta tags, and conflicting canonical output across all installed plugins. | Does not detect conflicts with other plugins. Only reads its own fields. | Limited conflict detection. Flags issues within Rank Math fields only. |
| REST API exposure checks | Audits all public REST API endpoints for data leakage, author enumeration, and security misconfigurations. | Not applicable. Does not interact with REST API endpoints. | Not applicable. Does not audit REST API exposure. |
| One-click fixes | Applies meta tags, OG tags, canonicals, and schema directly to WordPress via REST API. No admin login needed. | Requires manual editing in WordPress admin for each post. Bulk edit available but limited to titles and descriptions. | Requires manual editing in WordPress admin. Bulk editor available for meta fields. |
| Core Web Vitals audit | Measures LCP, INP, CLS, FCP, TTFB with element-level attribution and fix recommendations. | Does not measure Core Web Vitals. Relies on separate PageSpeed Insights checks. | Integrates with Google PageSpeed API for basic scoring. No element-level attribution. |
| WooCommerce SEO checks | Audits product schema conflicts, category page thin content, faceted navigation URLs, and out-of-stock handling. | WooCommerce add-on provides product schema and basic category optimization. | WooCommerce module handles product schema and basic SEO fields. |
| Sitemap quality validation | Cross-references sitemap entries against actual published content. Flags drafts, empty taxonomies, and media pages. | Generates sitemaps. Does not validate quality or flag low-value entries. | Generates sitemaps with some exclusions. No quality validation against indexed content. |
| Database health analysis | Checks for orphaned meta rows, autoloaded options bloat, post revision buildup, and plugin residue in the database. | Not applicable. Does not access or analyze the WordPress database. | Not applicable. Does not perform database health analysis. |
Common WordPress SEO Issues We Find
Duplicate Schema Markup from Plugin Overlaps
When Yoast and a theme both output JSON-LD Article schema, or Rank Math and a social plugin both generate Organization schema, search engines receive conflicting structured data signals. Google may ignore all schema output from the page. Our audit detects every instance of duplicate or overlapping schema and recommends which plugin should own each schema type.
Taxonomy Pages Wasting Crawl Budget
WordPress auto-generates archive pages for every category, tag, and custom taxonomy. A site with 500 posts and 80 tags can produce thousands of thin-content archive URLs that consume crawl budget. Pages with fewer than 300 words of unique content competing with your money pages for Googlebot attention. We flag every taxonomy page that should be noindexed, redirected, or consolidated.
REST API Author Enumeration
The WordPress REST API exposes /wp-json/wp/v2/users by default, allowing anyone to discover all author usernames and profile data. This creates a security risk through brute-force login attempts and exposes author URLs that generate additional thin archive pages. Our audit identifies open user endpoints and recommends restriction strategies.
Theme Heading Hierarchy Violations
Many WordPress themes hardcode H2 and H3 tags inside template files for navigation menus, widget titles, and footer sections. This breaks the logical heading hierarchy that search engines use to determine page topic structure. When your main content H1 competes with five template-injected H2 tags, the page topic signal becomes diluted. We map every heading across your site and identify hierarchy violations.
Image Oversizing Impacting Core Web Vitals
WordPress generates multiple size variants of every uploaded image, but themes often reference the full-size original. A 4000x3000 pixel image displayed in a 600x400 pixel container wastes bandwidth and directly degrades Largest Contentful Paint scores. Missing width and height attributes cause Cumulative Layout Shift. We measure every image across your site and flag specific files with optimization recommendations.
Stale Sitemap Entries from Draft and Deleted Posts
SEO plugins generate sitemaps by querying the WordPress database, but the entries often include draft posts, trashed items awaiting permanent deletion, and pages that were published then unpublished. Search engines that crawl these URLs encounter 404 errors or noindex directives, wasting the crawl budget allocated to your domain. Our audit validates every sitemap URL against the live site and identifies entries that should be removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a WordPress SEO audit check?
A WordPress SEO audit analyzes your site across multiple dimensions: meta tags (titles, descriptions, Open Graph), Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS), XML sitemap validity, robots.txt configuration, schema markup, image optimization, permalink structure, internal linking, content quality, plugin conflicts, REST API exposure, and database health indicators. Our audit goes beyond generic checks to flag WordPress-specific issues like taxonomy bloat, theme template heading violations, and SEO plugin field overlaps.
Do I need to install a plugin for the audit?
No. AuditMe connects to your WordPress site through the built-in REST API and Application Passwords system — available in every WordPress installation since version 4.7. You generate an application password in your WordPress admin under Users, paste it into the tool, and the audit runs remotely. No plugin download, no FTP access, no developer required.
How does the one-click fix work?
After the audit identifies issues, each fixable item has an Apply button. When you click it, AuditMe sends a REST API request to your WordPress site that updates the meta title, description, OG tags, or schema markup directly in your SEO plugin's database fields. The tool detects whether you use Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, or SEOPress and writes to the correct fields. Changes take effect immediately — no manual WordPress admin edits needed.
Which WordPress SEO plugins are supported?
AuditMe fully supports Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO (AIOSEO), and SEOPress. The tool automatically detects which plugin manages your metadata when you connect via the REST API. It reads existing meta values, schema output, and sitemap configuration from your plugin, and writes fixes back using the plugin's native fields. You can use AuditMe alongside any of these plugins without conflicts.
What SEO issues can be fixed automatically?
Automatically fixable issues include missing or thin title tags, empty meta descriptions, absent Open Graph tags, missing or incorrect canonical URLs, incomplete schema markup for articles and pages, missing image alt text on uploaded media, noindexed pages that should be visible, and redirect creation for broken URLs. Content-level improvements like heading restructure and keyword optimization are provided as actionable recommendations rather than auto-applied changes.
Is my WordPress data secure?
Yes. All communication uses HTTPS encryption. Application passwords are transmitted once for authentication and never stored on our servers. Each audit runs in an isolated session that is deleted after the report generates. We never crawl password-protected pages or access your WordPress admin beyond the specific REST API endpoints needed for the audit. You can revoke the application password at any time from your WordPress admin dashboard.
Can I audit multiple WordPress sites?
Yes. The free plan allows 1 free audit per day across any WordPress sites. The Pro plan offers unlimited audits, bulk apply across multiple posts, and the ability to save site profiles so you can re-audit with one click. Each site uses its own application password credentials, and all connections are managed independently.
WordPress SEO Resources
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