Do I need an e-commerce-specific SEO audit?
The featured-snippet answer, in plain language.
If you sell products online through a category-product hierarchy with more than around 30 SKUs, yes; the e-commerce audit reviews category page architecture, product schema, faceted navigation, and conversion UX on transactional pages, none of which a standard audit covers in depth. If you sell one or two products through a brochure-style site, the standard audit is the better use of the same 52 checks, because the product and catalogue sections would have little to review.
What you get in each audit
The foundations are shared and both audits reach 52 checks. The e-commerce audit gets there by swapping general sections out for store-specific ones.
| E-commerce SEO audit | Website SEO audit | |
|---|---|---|
| Check count | 52 | 52 |
| Price | ||
| Sections covered | 8 e-commerce-adapted sections | 8 general sections |
| Local SEO | No; the section is replaced by Product and Catalogue SEO | Yes; Google Business Profile, NAP, citations, reviews, local schema |
| Category page review | Yes; intro copy, internal linking, faceted navigation | No; general on-page only |
| Product page review at scale | Yes; schema, content depth, image SEO, reviews | No; basic on-page only |
| Product schema validation | Yes; Product, Review, Offer, BreadcrumbList |
Basic schema check only |
| Faceted navigation strategy | Yes; URL parameter handling, canonical strategy | No |
| Cart and checkout SEO impact | Yes | No |
| Platform-specific checks | Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce and others | No platform layer |
| E-commerce competitor positioning | Yes; top 3 competitors, plus Shopping carousel and SERP feature presence | Top 3 competitors, general positioning and top-pages comparison |
| Off-site authority | Digital PR, product review surface, marketplace cannibalisation | Wider; referring domains, toxic links, anchor text, links lost and gained, link gap |
| Delivery time | 5 to 8 business days | 5 to 8 business days |
* Discount offered to the first clients 10 clients in exchange for a review on clutch.co. 9 offers left
When the e-commerce audit is the right framework
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01
You sell through a category-product hierarchy with more than 30 SKUs.
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02
Your store runs on Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, or Squarespace Commerce, and platform-specific quirks are likely involved.
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03
Page speed and Core Web Vitals matter to you (and they should; 70.5% of online stores are rated "needs improvement" on Lighthouse performance).
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04
Product schema and rich-result eligibility are a current concern, or you have noticed star ratings and pricing not appearing in your search snippets.
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05
You compete on organic CTR against marketplaces and need every fractional improvement you can get.
The full breakdown is on the e-commerce SEO audit page.
When the standard website audit is enough
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01
You sell one or two products through a brochure-style site, with simple buy-now buttons rather than a full catalogue.
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02
You sell services with optional products as a small add-on (consultancy, training, courses).
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03
You trade from a physical location or a defined service area. The website audit is the only one with a local SEO section (Google Business Profile, NAP consistency, citations, reviews, local schema); the e-commerce audit drops it entirely.
The full breakdown is on the website SEO audit page.
So which one should you actually pick?
For a store with more than 30 SKUs on a real e-commerce platform, the e-commerce audit consistently finds platform-specific issues that the standard audit cannot. A single fixed faceted navigation strategy, a single corrected product schema field, or a single resolved canonical issue can recover more revenue in a quarter than the audit costs.
For a store with five products on a Webflow or custom-coded site, the case is weaker; the foundational SEO work covers most of the surface, the product and catalogue sections do not have enough to review, and you would be giving up the local SEO section for nothing.
If you are not sure where your store sits, send the URL and we will recommend honestly.
Common questions when deciding
Can I run both audits on the same website?
Although possible, we don't really recommend that. We are happy to adapt to our customers, you can always tell us what exactly do you need. We can always customize the audit so it fits your needs exactly.
My store is on Shopify. Will the standard audit catch Shopify-specific issues?
On a foundations level, partially. Platform-specific patterns (Liquid templating quirks, rigid URL structure, theme-level SEO defaults, robots.txt customisation limits, and the tag and filter pages Shopify generates automatically) are covered in the e-commerce audit only.
Why do the two audits cost the same?
Because they are the same amount of work. Both run to 52 checks, and both share the technical, on-page, competitor, backlink, conversion, and AI search foundations. The e-commerce audit does not add sections on top; it drops local SEO in favour of a dedicated Product and Catalogue SEO section, and re-cuts the keyword, competitor, and UX sections for stores. The price reflects scope, not branding.
What if my site has both content and a small product line?
If the products are a meaningful revenue source, the e-commerce audit is the safer call. If they are an afterthought to a content or services business, the standard audit covers the surface.
See the full pricing page for all audits.
Still deciding?
Send the store URL; we will recommend which audit fits.
Contact us