Site-wide on-page SEO audit with a report for each page

Site-wide on-page SEO audit with a report for each page

An n8n workflow that audits up to 100 pages of a website from one form. Firecrawl maps the site, DataForSEO loads each
page in a browser and checks it, and a Code node writes an HTML report for every page into Google Drive. Google Sheets
gets one summary row for each page, with its issue count, the fix to start with and a link to the report.

What is inside

• workflow.json: the workflow as n8n exports it, ten nodes and no sticky notes. It holds no credential.
• README.md: these notes.

What we changed from the original copy

• The author's Drive folder is gone. Create file from text asks for YOUR_FOLDER_ID.
• The author's sheet and its tab id are gone. Google Sheets asks for YOUR_SHEET_ID and finds the tab by the name
  Page SEO Audit.
• The Firecrawl header read Bearer <api_key>. It now reads Bearer <YOUR_FIRECRAWL_KEY>.
• The DataForSEO, Drive and Sheets credentials are gone, along with the author's account names on them.

Before you start

• An n8n instance, on n8n Cloud or your own server.
• A DataForSEO account with funds. Its dashboard shows an API login and an API password, apart from the password you
  sign in with.
• A Firecrawl API key.
• A Google account, a Drive folder for the reports and a Google Sheet with the tab below.

Set it up

1. In n8n, create a workflow, open its menu and choose Import from File. Pick workflow.json.
2. Make a Drive folder and copy its ID: the last part of its address, after /folders/.
3. Make the sheet with a tab named Page SEO Audit and the headers below, then copy its ID: the long part of its address
   between /d/ and /edit.
4. Add a Google Drive OAuth2 credential, select it in Create file from text and replace YOUR_FOLDER_ID with the
   folder's ID.
5. Add a Google Sheets OAuth2 credential, select it in Google Sheets and replace YOUR_SHEET_ID with the sheet's ID.
6. Add an HTTP Basic Auth credential with your DataForSEO API login as the user and the API password as the password,
   and select it in On Page SEO.
7. In Get Map, replace <YOUR_FIRECRAWL_KEY> in the Authorization header with your key. The brackets go too, so the
   header reads Bearer, a space and the key.
8. Lower limit in the body of Get Map to 3 for the first run.
9. Save, open the test address of Submit Form and send a site's address. Press Publish when the rows look right.

The sheet

Row 1 of Page SEO Audit holds these 23 headers, spelled as here:

| Group | Columns |
|---|---|
| The page | Date, URL, On Page Score, Status, Meta Title, Meta Description |
| Content and speed | Readability Score, Load Time, Word Count, Misspelling, Page Size (mb) |
| Checks, each Yes or No | ALT Missing, Broken Links, Broken Resources, Has H1, Has Title, Has Description, Has Canonical, SEO Friendly url, Passes core web vitals |
| The verdict | Issues, Priority Fix, Full Report |

How a run goes

1. Submit Form shows the Internal Links Check form with one field, Page URL. Type the full address with https. It
   confirms at once.
2. Get Map asks Firecrawl's v2/map for up to 100 addresses on the site, from its links and its sitemap, without
   subdomains. Split Out turns the links it returns into one item each.
3. Loop Over Items hands the addresses on one at a time.
4. On Page SEO sends the address to DataForSEO's on_page/instant_pages with browser rendering, JavaScript, resources
   and a spelling check, and asks for an answer even after a timeout.
5. Page Data keeps about 70 fields from the answer: the score, the title and description, the headings, word count,
   readability, the page timings, sizes, links and the checks. Each falls back to null, 0 or false when it is missing.
6. Code in JavaScript builds the report: the score cards, Core Web Vitals, a priority action, performance, a checklist,
   issues, resources, links, meta and social tags, and an action plan. It names the file seo-audit- and a timestamp.
7. Create file from text saves it in your folder. Wait pauses one second, the amount in the file with the seconds
   that Wait 1.1 uses when no unit is set.
8. Google Sheets appends the row. Full Report is a Drive download address made from the new file's id. The loop
   then takes the next address.

Code in JavaScript, Create file from text, Wait, On Page SEO, Page Data and Google Sheets are all set to
carry on when they fail. A page DataForSEO could not load still gets a report and a row, mostly zeros.

Change the look

• How many pages: limit in the body of Get Map. includeSubdomains and sitemap sit beside it.
• What DataForSEO runs: the body of On Page SEO. Turning off browser rendering lowers the price and loses the timings.
• The report: the HTML and CSS in Code in JavaScript, including the colors and the sections.
• The sheet: the mapping in Google Sheets. Status comes from the score (90 and up excellent, 70 good, 50 needs
  improvement, below that poor), and Issues counts eleven checks.

Good to know

• DataForSEO charges for each call, and its documentation says browser rendering, JavaScript and resources add to the
  price. One form means a call for every page Firecrawl finds. Firecrawl counts the map against your credits. Try a small site first.
• The report's Priority Action and the sheet's Priority Fix test problems in different orders. The report starts with
  thin content and speed, the sheet with a missing title, so one page can get two different first fixes.
• The pass mark for Core Web Vitals still tests First Input Delay. Google replaced it with Interaction to Next Paint as a
  Core Web Vital on 12 March 2024, according to web.dev, so read that column as a rough guide.
• A page that failed shows a score of 0 and empty fields, not an error. Check On Page Score before you trust a row.
• Anyone with the form's address can start an audit on your DataForSEO funds once the workflow is published.
• A Full Report link works only for people who can see the file in your Drive.
• The addresses go to Firecrawl and DataForSEO. The reports stay in your Drive.
• The Firecrawl key sits in a header, so take it out before you share the workflow.