A technical SEO audit should tell you what needs fixing, why it matters, and how to check that the fix worked. Before comparing prices, check whether the quote covers diagnosis only, small fixes, or implementation as well.
IndexLane's focused diagnostic work is scoped at $500–$750 when one problem can be investigated within that first phase. A wider migration, application review, or implementation project needs a separate scope. The number of URLs alone is not enough to price the work.
What affects the price?
A large static site may use a handful of repeated templates. A much smaller site can have several applications, a headless CMS, CDN rules, and tracking integrations that behave differently. Access, repeatability, and the number of systems involved affect the work as much as page count.
| Factor | Less work to investigate | More work to investigate |
|---|---|---|
| Problem | One affected page type or conversion | Several unrelated symptoms |
| Website | One CMS and a consistent setup | Multiple applications, CDN rules, and third parties |
| Available information | Reproducible examples and useful history | Missing history or conflicting reports |
| Environments | One live setup to inspect | Preview, staging, and production differences |
| Implementation | One person can make the changes | Several teams or vendors are involved |
| Verification | The result can be checked immediately | Later recrawling or downstream data is needed |
Choose the investigation that matches the problem
A specific problem
Use a focused diagnostic when something identifiable has changed: traffic fell after a migration, important pages stopped being indexed, WordPress became slower, or recorded conversions stopped matching real leads.
The report should show what was reproduced, what the available information supports, and which correction to try first. It should say when the cause remains uncertain.
A page type
If product pages behave differently from articles, compare affected and working examples. Check responses, content, canonicals, robots directives, internal links, and the templates producing those pages. The useful finding explains the difference between the groups.
A release or migration
This work includes more than reviewing the current site. Agree which URLs and functions will be checked before launch, which will be checked on production, and who can correct or roll back a problem. Redirects, rendering, canonicals, sitemaps, and tracking may all change together.
What the report should contain
Each important finding should be usable by the person making the change:
| Item | What you should receive |
|---|---|
| Affected pages | Exact URLs and the page types involved |
| Problem | A clear description of the behaviour that needs correction |
| Supporting material | Responses, screenshots, logs, or reports showing the problem |
| Proposed fix | The change, its dependencies, and who can make it |
| Priority | Why this should happen before or after other work |
| Check after release | The live test that confirms the correction |
Crawler exports are useful supporting files. A long list of warnings, without these explanations, leaves the buyer to do the diagnosis.
Agree what implementation includes
Some small corrections can be included in the first phase. Others involve routing changes, template edits, tracking work, or coordination with another developer. The quote should make that distinction before work begins.
Ask for findings to be marked clearly: fixed, ready for your developer, waiting on another change, requiring a separate quote, or still unconfirmed. Also agree what post-release checks and revisions are included. Additional pages or unrelated problems should be scoped separately.
The technical fix and the later search result are different things. A corrected canonical or redirect can be checked immediately; Google's next crawl and indexing decision happen later. A useful audit explains both without promising a ranking increase.
Questions to ask before buying
- Which problem or parts of the website will you investigate?
- What access do you need, and what happens if it is unavailable?
- Will the report include exact examples and instructions for the developer?
- Which fixes, revisions, and post-release checks are included in the price?
- What can you verify immediately, and what will need later observation?
For an initial inquiry, send your website URL and describe what has changed or what you need to improve. Add an example and the approximate date if you have them. You do not need to identify the technical cause before asking about an audit.