According to Internetlivestats, a staggering 3.5 billion internet searches happen each day. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a critical role in gaining more traffic to your website—it is an essential tool that helps digitally transform your business.
A BridgeEdge report indicated that 53% of website traffic comes from organic searches. But even with search results numbering in the millions, how many people do you think go beyond Google’s first page? Data insights reveal that fewer than 1% of people click on the second page of results.
Optimizing your website should be your top priority, no matter which industry you are in. For instance, when someone is searching for an injury attorney, they would probably check any possible friend or family recommendations first. If no quality leads emerge from that, they would likely search and inspect the top results on Google. The person searching probably considers businesses on the first page to be more reliable than the professionals on later pages.
Just as the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the journey to site optimization begins with a deep SEO audit. To learn more about SEO audits and how you can perform them hassle-free, keep reading.
What is an SEO audit?
An SEO audit is the analysis and evaluation of various website elements. It helps determine the “how” and “why” of search engine rank. The audit will help determine which site elements are liabilities to better performance.
Performing an SEO audit will help ensure that your subsequent SEO strategy is flawless. Only after site problems are revealed can they be resolved. Here are some of the key outcomes you can achieve through performing an SEO audit:
- Detect website errors
- Discover the strategies of competitors
- Identify technical and on-page issues
- Resolve harmful or negative SEO practices
- Identify potential gaps in content structure
- Identify backlinks
An SEO audit makes it easier to build a winning content strategy. In this guide, you’ll find the 10 crucial steps of an SEO audit. Read this ultimate checklist and learn how you can optimize your website for search engines.
How to perform the audit
- Check if your website is mobile-friendly
According to Statista, there are more than 6 million mobile phone users in the world. The evolution of technology has changed the way we function and operate. With the advent of smartphones and innovative 5G technologies, people are now more dependent on their smartphones than ever.
Searches on mobile devices are increasing more than ever. Data even reveals that 57% of users will not recommend a business if the website is poorly designed or unfriendly for a mobile device. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly.
2. Ensure that only one version of your website is browsable
The following are the four different versions of the same website:
- http://yoursite.com
- https://yoursite.com
- http://www.yoursite.com
- https://www.yoursite.com
This may not seem like a big deal, but Google will consider these domain names as four different websites. The crawlers won’t be able to discover the correct address, which will negatively impact your SEO. One should simply redirect the users to that one address if needed.
3. Fix indexing issues
When Google is unable to index your website, there are no chances of ranking high. Simply check the pages that Google is unable to index and fix them. You can use the website ScreamingFrog to crawl and understand the issues.
4. Site speed test
The next step that you should take is performing the speed test to analyze any factors that could be impacting your loading speed. Images, HTML coding, and many other factors can cause a potential slowdown. When users visit any website, they generally expect a seamless experience and are displeased with anything else. Everyone wants a professional who is trustworthy, loyal, and smooth in all their communication platforms. This is the place where great SEO shines—you can communicate to potential customers the value you bring to their lives.
5. Check and detect your on-page issues
On-page factors greatly impact your site’s whole performance. Be it content, speed, structure, or images, different elements have different roles. It is necessary to evaluate the errors that are impacting the on-page experience.
If there are issues with the content and image optimization, rework it and make it as tight as you can. From title tags to content structuring and meta descriptions, you need to ensure that keywords are well-placed. Don’t overlook that the keywords should be fully in sync with the content. Always consider how your website content can be more informative or valuable.
6. Analyze your backlinks
Don’t miss this key step: you must analyze every single one of your backlinks. Use Ahrefs or another tool to identify the links. Ensure that the backlinks are coming from authentic websites and not shady websites. If there are any unsavory links, you should get rid of them. It can be a huge detriment to your SEO and, ultimately, your site ranking.
7 . Competitor analysis
How can you create a solid strategy without having any idea what your competitors are doing? For this step, analyze the site of the competitors and find the keywords in which they are ranking. You can use reputable tools to keep an eye on your competitors and get data-driven insights. These insights will help you determine your SEO plan for the next few months. Discover what your competitors are doing well with, as well as where they might be lacking. Learn from their practices and weak points to create an even better plan.
8. Broken Links and errors
A broken link can impact the user experience which can then negatively impact SEO. Therefore, it is critical to fix these errors and ensure there are no broken pages. You can use Google Console’s Index Report or another tool to identify the broken links.
9. Analyze organic search results
An SEO audit is incomplete without studying the previous organic search results. Leverage Google Analytics to identify the pages that are bringing the most traffic. Be sure to also list down the pages that are not well-optimized or performing well. Check the data of the last 6-8 months to determine how the number of visitors has fluctuated with time. The goal of this is to understand the loopholes and improve the SEO plan.
10. Site structure
The design and the overall structure surely impacts your search ranking in a big way. When your structure is not well-defined, you won’t be able to achieve your goals—no matter how much effort you put in, you’ll just be spinning your wheels.
For instance, when the site is cluttered with too many elements, a user may get confused or bogged down with a longer loading time. It can be overwhelming for the user. This increases the “bounce rate,” or when people leave the site after only a few seconds. Therefore, it is necessary to structure the website seamlessly.
As a professional, you likely know how great SEO can attract more clients to your website. By hiring a reputable, results-driven SEO company in Philadelphia, you’ll boost the visibility of your website more than you ever thought possible.