SEMrush Site Audit - Technical SEO Analysis with Auto-Cleanup

Run comprehensive technical SEO audits using SEMrush's Site Audit API. Automatically creates a project, runs a full crawl, extracts all issues categorized by severity, and optionally deletes the project to save your quota. Perfect for agencies running one-off audits without using up project slots. BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) - use your SEMrush API key.

Features

• Health Score - Overall site health 0-100 based on issue count
• Error Detection - Critical issues: 5xx, 4xx, broken links, mixed content
• Warning Detection - Important issues: missing meta, slow pages, redirect chains
• Notice Detection - Minor issues: multiple H1s, thin content, low word count
• Auto-Cleanup Mode - Delete project after audit to save quota slots
• Existing Project Support - Use existing project instead of creating new
• Configurable Crawl - Set page limits (100-20,000) and subdomain options
• Wait or Fire-and-Forget - Wait for completion or return immediately
• Issue Prioritization - Issues sorted by impact and fix difficulty
• SEMrush Unit Tracking - Know exactly how many API units you consumed
• Batch Auditing - Run multiple domains in sequence
• Webhook Support - Async delivery for automation pipelines
• Demo Mode - Test with sample data before going live

Who Should Use This Actor?

SEO Agencies

Run technical audits for multiple clients without filling up your 10-project quota. Auto-cleanup means unlimited audits with one SEMrush subscription.

Freelance SEO Consultants

Deliver professional technical audit reports to clients. Get the same data as enterprise SEO tools at fraction of the cost.

In-House SEO Teams

Run pre-launch audits and post-migration checks. Catch technical issues before they impact rankings.

Web Development Agencies

QA websites before client handoff. Verify technical SEO implementation meets standards.

E-Commerce Teams

Audit product pages at scale. Identify crawlability and indexability issues affecting traffic.

DevOps Teams

Integrate technical SEO checks into CI/CD pipelines. Catch issues before they reach production.

Quick Start

Demo Mode (Free Test)

{
  "demoMode": true
}

Basic Site Audit

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "pageLimit": 500,
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "waitForCompletion": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Full Site Audit (Large Site)

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "ecommerce-site.com",
  "pageLimit": 5000,
  "crawlSubdomains": true,
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "waitForCompletion": true,
  "maxWaitMinutes": 60,
  "demoMode": false
}

Use Existing Project

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "existingProjectId": "1234567",
  "waitForCompletion": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Errors Only (Quick Check)

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "pageLimit": 100,
  "issueTypes": ["errors"],
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Fire and Forget (Webhook)

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_semrush_api_key",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "pageLimit": 1000,
  "waitForCompletion": false,
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/...",
  "demoMode": false
}

How to Get Your SEMrush API Key

1. Log in to SEMrush
2. Go to your profile (top right) → Subscription Info
3. Find your API key in the API section
4. Copy the key and paste it in the semrushApiKey field

Note: API access requires a SEMrush Business plan or higher. Site Audit feature requires a plan that includes Site Audit.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
semrushApiKey	string	-	Your SEMrush API key (required for real data)
domain	string	-	Domain to audit (e.g., "example.com")
projectName	string	auto	Custom project name (auto-generated if blank)
existingProjectId	string	-	Use existing project ID instead of creating new
pageLimit	number	500	Pages to crawl (100-20,000)
crawlSubdomains	boolean	false	Include subdomains in crawl
deleteProjectAfter	boolean	true	Delete project to save quota
waitForCompletion	boolean	true	Wait for audit to finish
maxWaitMinutes	number	30	Max wait time for completion
issueTypes	array	["errors", "warnings", "notices"]	Filter issue types
demoMode	boolean	true	Return sample data for testing
webhookUrl	string	-	Webhook URL for results delivery
webhookPlatform	string	"custom"	Platform: zapier, make, n8n, custom

Page Limit Guidelines

Site Size	Recommended Limit	Typical Audit Time
Small (< 100 pages)	100-200	2-5 minutes
Medium (100-1000)	500-1000	5-15 minutes
Large (1000-5000)	2000-5000	15-45 minutes
Enterprise (5000+)	10000-20000	45-120 minutes

Output Format

{
  "domain": "example.com",
  "projectId": "12345678",
  "auditId": "87654321",
  "summary": {
    "healthScore": 78,
    "pagesCrawled": 487,
    "pagesWithIssues": 156,
    "totalErrors": 23,
    "totalWarnings": 89,
    "totalNotices": 234
  },
  "errors": [
    {
      "id": "broken_internal_links",
      "title": "Broken Internal Links",
      "description": "Pages linking to 4xx status codes",
      "count": 12,
      "severity": "high",
      "category": "crawlability",
      "fixDifficulty": "medium",
      "affectedPages": [
        {
          "url": "https://example.com/old-page",
          "issue": "Links to https://example.com/deleted-page (404)"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "5xx_errors",
      "title": "Server Errors",
      "description": "Pages returning 5xx status codes",
      "count": 3,
      "severity": "critical",
      "category": "crawlability",
      "fixDifficulty": "requires-dev"
    }
  ],
  "warnings": [
    {
      "id": "missing_meta_description",
      "title": "Missing Meta Description",
      "description": "Pages without meta description tags",
      "count": 45,
      "severity": "medium",
      "category": "on-page-seo",
      "fixDifficulty": "easy",
      "affectedPages": [
        {"url": "https://example.com/about"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "slow_load_time",
      "title": "Slow Load Time",
      "description": "Pages taking > 3 seconds to load",
      "count": 28,
      "severity": "medium",
      "category": "performance",
      "fixDifficulty": "medium"
    }
  ],
  "notices": [
    {
      "id": "multiple_h1",
      "title": "Multiple H1 Tags",
      "description": "Pages with more than one H1 tag",
      "count": 67,
      "severity": "low",
      "category": "on-page-seo"
    }
  ],
  "categories": {
    "crawlability": {"errors": 15, "warnings": 12, "notices": 8},
    "on-page-seo": {"errors": 3, "warnings": 45, "notices": 156},
    "performance": {"errors": 5, "warnings": 32, "notices": 70}
  },
  "apiUnitsUsed": 487,
  "projectDeleted": true,
  "auditCompletedAt": "2026-01-28T10:45:00.000Z"
}

Issue Severity Levels

Severity	Description	Action
Critical	Breaks crawling/indexing	Fix immediately
High	Major SEO impact	Fix within 1 week
Medium	Moderate SEO impact	Fix within 1 month
Low	Minor/cosmetic issues	Fix when convenient

Pricing (Pay-Per-Event)

Event	Description	Price
audit_started	Per audit initiated	$0.10
audit_completed	Per successful audit	$0.25
project_cleanup	Per project deleted	$0.05

Example costs:

• Basic audit (500 pages) with cleanup: $0.10 + $0.25 + $0.05 = $0.40
• Large audit (5000 pages) with cleanup: $0.10 + $0.25 + $0.05 = $0.40
• Audit without cleanup: $0.10 + $0.25 = $0.35
• Demo mode: $0.00

Note: You also consume your SEMrush API units (billed separately by SEMrush). Typically 1 API unit per page crawled.

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Agency Client Audit

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_key",
  "domain": "clientsite.com",
  "pageLimit": 1000,
  "crawlSubdomains": false,
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "waitForCompletion": true,
  "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/...",
  "demoMode": false
}

Run one-off audits without using project slots.

Scenario 2: Pre-Launch Technical Check

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_key",
  "domain": "staging.newsite.com",
  "pageLimit": 500,
  "issueTypes": ["errors", "warnings"],
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Catch critical issues before going live.

Scenario 3: Competitor Technical Analysis

{
  "semrushApiKey": "your_key",
  "domain": "competitor.com",
  "pageLimit": 2000,
  "deleteProjectAfter": true,
  "demoMode": false
}

Analyze competitor site health without permanent tracking.

Webhook & Automation Integration

Zapier / Make.com / n8n

1. Create a webhook trigger in your automation platform
2. Copy the webhook URL to webhookUrl
3. Set waitForCompletion: false for async processing
4. Route audit results to reports and dashboards

Popular automations:

• Audit results -> Google Sheets (client report)
• Critical errors -> Slack alert (immediate attention)
• Weekly audits -> Email digest (monitoring)
• Health score -> Airtable (portfolio tracker)

Apify Scheduled Runs

Schedule weekly or monthly audits to track technical health.

SEMrush Audit Suite Comparison

Actor	Best For
Site Audit	Comprehensive technical SEO analysis
Domain Overview	Quick domain metrics
Position Tracker	Keyword ranking monitoring
Backlink Analyzer	Link profile analysis

FAQ

Q: How does auto-cleanup save my quota?

A: SEMrush limits projects (typically 5-10). By deleting after audit, you can run unlimited audits without hitting the project limit.

Q: How long does an audit take?

A: Depends on page count: 100 pages ≈ 2-5 min, 1000 pages ≈ 10-20 min, 5000+ pages ≈ 30-60 min.

Q: Can I audit competitor sites?

A: Yes. SEMrush Site Audit works on any publicly accessible website.

Q: What's the difference between errors, warnings, and notices?

A: Errors are critical (fix now). Warnings are important (fix soon). Notices are minor (fix when convenient).

Q: Can I use an existing SEMrush project?

A: Yes. Use existingProjectId to run new audits on an existing project without auto-cleanup.

Common Problems & Solutions

"Project limit reached"

• Use deleteProjectAfter: true to free up slots
• Delete old projects in SEMrush dashboard
• Upgrade SEMrush plan for more project slots

"Audit taking too long"

• Reduce pageLimit for faster audits
• Increase maxWaitMinutes for large sites
• Use waitForCompletion: false with webhook

"Invalid API key" error

• Verify your API key from SEMrush dashboard
• Ensure your plan includes Site Audit feature
• Check for extra spaces when copying the key

"Incomplete crawl"

• Site may have robots.txt blocking
• Pages may require authentication
• Try increasing pageLimit

"Demo data showing"

• Set demoMode: false
• Provide a valid semrushApiKey

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📞 Support

• Actor Arsenal: Full Actor Catalog
• Developer: John Rippy

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal