Technical SEO audits for international ecommerce
Resolve the technical issues restricting organic growth across markets
A founder-led technical SEO audit for ecommerce and product businesses operating in one or more countries. The review connects crawl data, indexation evidence, site architecture, rendering, structured data and performance into a practical implementation roadmap.
When a technical audit is useful
Organic traffic changed after a redesign, migration or platform update
Important products or categories are missing from search results
Several domains, languages or regional storefronts send conflicting signals
Apps, filters and parameters create uncontrolled crawl paths
Developers need a clear, prioritised specification rather than another tool export
Cross-market aware
Consider domains, subfolders, languages, currencies and regional storefront relationships.
Evidence led
Combine crawler output with Search Console, analytics and manual validation.
Commercially prioritised
Give revenue-driving templates and high-value landing pages the greatest attention.
Developer ready
Define the problem, affected scope, recommended action and validation method.
Technical signals must work together
A strong storefront can still underperform when search engines receive conflicting instructions
Modern ecommerce websites often combine a core platform with themes, applications, content systems, regional settings, analytics and third-party services. Each layer can create URLs, alter page output or change how search engines reach and interpret important content.
The audit maps those interactions. It compares the URLs the site publishes with the pages search engines crawl, index and select as canonical, then investigates where the signals diverge. Running a small Shopify store and not sure you need this yet? Start with our Shopify store audit guide.
Recommendations are ranked by likely organic and commercial impact, not by the number of warnings produced by a crawler. The result is therefore a practical order of work for internal teams, agencies or developers.
Founder led
Technical analysis informed by operating and rebuilding ecommerce stores
Cape Wired draws on direct experience with Shopify, WooCommerce migrations, custom Liquid, large catalogues, structured data, content systems and international ecommerce operations. Recommendations account for platform constraints and the effect that changes can have on customers, merchandising and day-to-day management.
Areas reviewed
Nine technical systems that influence discovery, indexation and international search visibility
Crawl access and indexation
Review robots rules, noindex directives, blocked resources, crawl failures and Search Console evidence for pages that should or should not appear in search.
Canonical URL selection
Test canonical tags, redirects, internal links and sitemap signals to identify where search engines may select an unintended product, category or regional URL.
Redirects and historical URLs
Find broken destinations, redirect chains, loops, temporary mappings and legacy URLs left behind by migrations, redesigns or catalogue changes.
Sitemaps and URL discovery
Compare crawled, submitted, indexed and traffic-generating URLs to reveal sitemap errors, orphan pages and important content missing from internal navigation.
Architecture and faceted navigation
Assess category depth, collections, pagination, filters, sort orders and parameter combinations that can dilute signals or create unnecessary crawl demand.
Mobile and JavaScript rendering
Compare source and rendered output to confirm that key content, links, metadata and product information remain available to mobile search crawlers.
Structured product information
Validate product, offer, organisation, breadcrumb, article and other relevant schema against visible content, platform data and rich-result requirements.
Core Web Vitals and page speed
Investigate template-level causes of slow loading, delayed interaction and layout movement, including images, scripts, fonts, applications and third-party services.
International targeting
Screen hreflang, country domains, language variants, regional canonicals and storefront relationships, identifying configurations that need deeper international analysis.
Audit deliverables
A decision document, technical worklist and evidence pack built around verified findings
Executive technical report
- Overall technical condition and material constraints
- Highest-priority risks and recommended order of work
- Scope, methodology, assumptions and access limitations
- Clear explanation for commercial and technical stakeholders
Implementation findings register
- One trackable entry for every verified issue
- Priority, impact, effort, confidence and affected templates
- Example URLs and platform-specific corrective action
- Acceptance criteria for checking completed work
Supporting technical evidence
- Focused crawl, indexation and sitemap comparisons
- Redirect, canonical and internal-link examples
- Template-level performance and rendering observations
- Relevant exports without unfiltered crawler noise
Priorities walkthrough
- Review of critical and high-impact findings
- Clarification of technical recommendations
- Discussion of ownership, dependencies and sequencing
- Options for implementation or developer handover
Technical SEO audit pricing
Defined pricing for standard audits, with separate scopes for complex environments
Standard audit
Technical SEO Audit
£950 fixed fee
For one conventional website within the standard scope described below.
- Crawl, indexation and sitemap investigation
- Canonical, redirect and architecture review
- Rendering, performance and schema checks
- Report, findings register and evidence pack
- Walkthrough call
- Typical delivery within five working days
Complex environment
Complex Technical Audit
From £1,500
For sites where scale, regional structure or technical history requires wider sampling and investigation.
- Large catalogues or extensive indexation
- Multiple countries, languages or storefronts
- Large filter and faceted-navigation systems
- Headless or heavily scripted architecture
- Historical migration or domain-change problems
After diagnosis
Technical SEO Implementation
Quoted separately
Cape Wired can complete suitable fixes or translate the findings into a detailed specification for your existing team.
- Redirect and canonical corrections
- Structured data and template changes
- Internal-link and architecture improvements
- Performance optimisation
- Post-deployment validation
What the £950 scope covers
Typical £950 scope: one live domain, one primary country and language, one Google Search Console property, a conventional CMS or ecommerce platform, up to approximately 2,500 indexable HTML pages and up to approximately 10,000 total discovered URLs. The fee excludes implementation, log-file analysis, backlink or penalty investigation, malware or security forensics, manual review of thousands of individual pages, multiple domains, substantial migration recovery and enterprise-scale international SEO. These requirements are scoped separately. No rankings, traffic, revenue or rich-result outcomes are guaranteed.
Audit process
Five stages from business context to a validated implementation roadmap
Define the environment
First, confirm the platform, markets, domains, recent releases, known losses and commercially important templates.
Collect reliable data
Connect Search Console, analytics and relevant platform information, then create the audit URL universe.
Crawl and test
Examine URLs, templates, directives, links, rendering and performance, manually checking material patterns.
Assess impact
Separate genuine search constraints from intentional exclusions, platform behaviour and low-value warnings.
Deliver the worklist
Finally, receive the report and findings register before a call covering priorities, responsibility and validation.
Relevant experience
Technical recommendations shaped by migrations, large catalogues and long-term ecommerce management
RUNESILK, LowCostBeer and TENGA UK were founded, acquired or operated by Cape Wired's founder, not third-party clients.
Acquired business · WooCommerce to Shopify
LowCostBeer
Moving the store to Shopify involved redirect planning, catalogue restructuring, troubleshooting and the resolution of legacy malware-related reputation problems.
Read the case study →
Founded brand · Custom templates
RUNESILK
Technical work has included custom Liquid, product and collection templates, internal linking, structured data and connected content clusters.
Read the case study →
Operated & sold · Joomla to Shopify
TENGA UK
Rebuilding from Joomla to Shopify and managing the business over several years provided practical experience across URLs, analytics, catalogue structure and cross-border ecommerce.
Read the case study →
Related services
Continue from technical diagnosis into broader organic growth or platform work
Ecommerce SEO
Address product targeting, category content, internal linking and authority after the technical foundations have been assessed.
Shopify migrations
Plan product data, design, redirects, tracking and launch testing together when moving an established store to Shopify.
Shopify Opportunity Audit
Review technical SEO alongside storefront experience, conversion, catalogue structure, applications and operational opportunities.
Technical SEO audit FAQ
Questions about international scope, access and implementation
What is included in the £950 audit?
The standard audit covers one conventional website within the stated URL and market limits. It includes crawlability, indexation, sitemaps, canonicals, redirects, duplicate URLs, internal architecture, mobile rendering, Core Web Vitals, relevant structured data, an executive report, a findings register, supporting evidence and a walkthrough call.
What makes an audit complex?
Complex scope commonly applies to very large catalogues, extensive faceted navigation, headless builds, several countries or languages, multiple domains, difficult hreflang configurations, severe indexation loss or substantial migration recovery.
Can you audit several regional storefronts?
Yes. Regional domains, subdomains, subfolders and Shopify Markets can be reviewed, but the number of storefronts and languages affects the required sample size and audit fee. The scope is therefore confirmed after an initial review.
What access is required?
Viewer access to Google Search Console and analytics is normally requested. Relevant CMS, theme, platform or application access may also be needed to inspect templates and configuration. Access should be granted through user invitations rather than shared passwords.
How is this different from the Shopify Opportunity Audit?
The Opportunity Audit reviews the wider commercial storefront, including customer experience, merchandising, conversion, operations and SEO. By contrast, the Technical SEO Audit is narrower and deeper, concentrating on crawling, indexation, rendering, performance, structured data and architecture.
Will Cape Wired implement the recommendations?
Implementation is not included in the audit fee. Suitable fixes can be quoted separately, or the findings register can be used as a specification for your internal team or existing developer.
How quickly is the standard audit delivered?
A standard audit is normally completed within five working days after the agreed access and information have been received. Large, international or technically unusual websites, however, require a separate delivery schedule.
Does the audit include backlinks or manual penalties?
No. Backlink analysis, detailed manual-action investigations, malware forensics, server-log analysis and substantial migration recovery are separate specialist scopes unless specifically included in the proposal.
Can technical fixes guarantee improved rankings?
No. Correcting technical constraints can improve crawling, indexation and eligibility for search features, but rankings and commercial outcomes also depend on relevance, content, authority, demand, competition and implementation quality.
Start with a technical review
Need a clear technical plan before the next SEO or development project?
Share the website, platform, catalogue size, countries served and any recent migration or visibility concerns. Cape Wired will then confirm whether the standard or complex audit scope is appropriate.
You send a short message about the store and the problem.
Daniel replies personally to arrange a first conversation.
You get a clear recommendation: an audit, a project or nothing at all.