The SEO audit of a website is one of the most important aspects of Search Engine Optimization. The audit allows website owners and developers to assess the effectiveness of their website’s SEO strategy and make necessary changes to improve it.
An effective SEO audit should be conducted regularly to ensure that the website is visible to search engines and potential customers alike. The audit should cover all aspects of the website’s SEO, including its content, structure, keywords, and backlinks. By conducting an SEO audit, website owners can identify areas where their website needs improvement and make the necessary changes to improve their website’s ranking in search engines.
Key tools to do the SEO audit
You can use the following tools for your website’s audit to boost your Google rankings.
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- Google Structured Data Testing Tool
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
- Copyscape
- SERP Simulator
- Web Page Word Counter
Steps to SEO Audit Process
1. Ensure that only one version of your website is browseable
It’s important to ensure that only one version of your website is browsable by Google. If you have multiple versions of your website – for example, a www and non-www version – Google may become confused and not know which one to index. This can result in lower rankings or even no rankings at all.
Consider all the ways someone could type your website address into a browser (or link to it).
For example:
- http://yourbrandname.com
- http://www.yourbrandname.com
- https://yourbrandname.com
- https://www.yourbrandname.com
You must ensure that only one of these is accessible in a browser.
To avoid this issue, you need to set a preferred domain in Google Search Console. This tells Google which version of your website is the correct one. Once you’ve done this, Google will only index and rank the preferred version.
2. Start a website crawl
Starting a website crawl is one of the most important steps in auditing your site for SEO. This process allows you to analyze your website’s structure and find any issues that could be holding back your ranking on Google.
Crawling your website also allows you to find and fix any broken links, which can improve both your user experience and your SEO. In addition, a crawl can help you identify duplicate content, thin content, or other problems that could be hurting your chances of ranking well on Google.
Overall, starting a website crawl is an essential part of any SEO audit. By taking the time to do this regularly, you can ensure that your site is in good shape and help improve your chances of ranking well in search engines.
3. Check Google for indexation issues
Google is the most popular search engine by far, handling over 3.5 billion searches per day. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your website is properly indexed by Google and appears in search results.
One way to check if there are any issues with your website’s indexation is to do a simple Google search for your website. If you see any strange results or your website is not appearing at all, then there may be some indexation issues that need to be addressed.
4. Check that you rank for your brand name
As a business owner, you must rank for your brand name. If you don’t, you could be losing out on valuable traffic and customers.
There are a few different ways to check if you’re ranking for your brand name. The first is to simply do a Google search. If you see your website listed on the first page of the results, you’re in good shape.
Another option is to submit your website to directories and review sites. This can help to improve your visibility and get you back on the first page of Google.
Finally, you can also use paid advertising to improve your ranking. This involves bidding on keywords related to your brand name and running ads.
5. Manually perform some basic on-page SEO checks
As a website owner, it’s important to regularly perform some basic on-page SEO checks to ensure that your site is as visible as possible on search engine results pages.
Following is a checklist to ensure your site is properly optimized for both users and search engines.
- Usage of feature-relevant keywords
- Have a clean site structure
- Feature substantial content
- Use of relevant title tags
- Add alt tags
- Optimize the site for mobile
- Enable fast load times
- Ensure your website and URL are secure
6. Dig deeper into on-page issues
Post completing the above steps, it’s time to dig deeper into other on-site concerns by navigating to Site Audit > Project > Internal Pages > HTML Tags using the Aherfs Site Audit tool.
Here, you can filter out the important errors, and further move on to “Warnigs” and “Notices” to fix all the issues.
7. Run a check for duplicate and thin content
Google can’t stand duplicate content.
Duplicate content is defined as content that appears on the web in more than one place. This can be a problem for SEO because it can confuse search engines and make it difficult for them to determine which piece of content is the original. As a result, your content may not be ranked as highly as it should be.
Also, if you’re like most people, you probably tend to write content that is either too short or too long. This can be a problem when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
8. Check that your site loads fast
Several factors play a role in how fast a website loads. A site’s speed is determined by its file structure, coding, content, and server response time. In order to ensure that your site loads quickly, you need to pay attention to all of these factors.
One reason why your site needs to load quickly is that users are less likely to stick around if they have to wait too long. Another reason for why speed matters is that search engines take loading time into account when they are ranking websites.
9. Check for structured data errors
One of the most important aspects of SEO is structured data. This refers to the organizational structure of your website’s content. It is important to have a well-organized website so that search engines can easily index and rank your pages. However, if there are errors in your website’s structured data, it can negatively affect your SEO.
You can use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to find and fix errors. Simply enter your website’s URL and click “Test.” The tool will then scan your website and report any errors.
10. Analyze organic search traffic
As part of any SEO audit process, it’s crucial to analyze organic search traffic to understand where improvements can be made. By understanding which keywords and phrases are bringing users to your site, you can better target your content and improve your chances of ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
There are several different ways to analyze organic search traffic, but one of the most effective is through Google Analytics. By setting up goals and conversion tracking in Google Analytics, you can get a detailed picture of which keywords and phrases are driving traffic to your site and which ones are resulting in conversions. Another way to analyze organic search traffic is through keyword research.
By proper analysis and selecting the low hanging fruits efficiently, you can drive traffic to your website easily.
11. Check that your rankings are heading in the right direction
The importance of conducting a regular SEO audit cannot be understated. By regularly auditing your website’s SEO, you can ensure that your rankings are heading in the right direction and identify any potential problems that could impact your ranking.
An effective SEO audit will consider all aspects of your website’s SEO, from on-page factors such as titles and meta descriptions, to off-page factors such as link building and social media engagement. Ahrefs’ Site Explorer is the perfect tool for conducting an effective SEO audit, as it provides detailed insights into all aspects of your website’s SEO.
12. Find page rankings on the first page for high-volume keywords
Google’s search algorithm is constantly changing, which means that SEO best practices also change on a regular basis. However, one thing remains true: if you want your website to rank highly for high-volume keywords, you need to make sure that your website is optimized for search engines.
Ranking on 5-10 positions on the Google search engine sounds good. Using Ahref, you can search some high-volume keywords and aim for some quick wins using the following options.
- Update & relaunch the content
- Add internal links to the pages
- Build a few fresh backlinks to the pages
13. Analyze your backlink profile
There are a few different ways to go about this analysis. One is to use tools like Moz’s Link Explorer that allow you to see the anchor text, PageRank, and other information for each of your backlinks.
Another way to analyze your backlink profile is to use Google’s Search Console. This tool provides you with data about your website’s links, including the anchor text and destination URL.
Once you have this information, you can start to improve your link-building strategy. For example, if you notice that most of your links are coming from low-quality websites, you can focus on building links from high-quality websites.
14. Find and fix broken links to & from your site
One of the most important steps in SEO is analyzing your backlink profile. This helps you understand where your links are coming from, and how they’re affecting your website’s ranking.
If you want your website to be successful, it’s important to make sure that all of your links are working properly. That means not only having working links to other websites but also having working links within your own site.
There are a few different ways to check for broken links. One is to use a tool that crawls your website and checks all of your links for you. Another option is to manually check each link yourself.
If you find a broken link, there are a few different things you can do to fix it. One is to simply delete the link. Another option is to try to find another website that has similar content and link to that instead.
Of course, it’s also important to make sure that your website doesn’t have any broken links itself. If you do have broken links on your site, visitors will likely get frustrated and leave. To avoid this, make sure to regularly check your own links and fix any that are broken.
15. Find content gaps
If you want to make sure your website is ranking high on Google, you need to find and fill any content gaps. Here’s how:
- Use a keyword research tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to find keywords that are relevant to your business.
- Plug those keywords into Google and see what comes up.
- Take a look at the content that is ranking for those keywords and see if there are any gaps.
- If you find a gap, create content to fill it!
- Rinse and repeat until you’re ranking at the top of Google.
By following these steps, you can be sure that your website is ranking high on Google and getting the traffic it deserves.
16. Conduct a full content audit
A content audit is a comprehensive review of all the content on your website. It helps you to understand what content is working well and what needs to be improved.
Conducting a content audit is an essential part of any SEO strategy. It enables you to identify opportunities to improve your website’s ranking in Google search results.
A content audit also allows you to assess the quality of your content. This is important because Google’s algorithms are designed to surface high-quality content in its search results.
To conduct a content audit, you will need to examine all of the content on your website. This includes your blog posts, product pages, category pages, and any other pages with written content.
As you review each piece of content, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is this content relevant to my target audience?
- Does this content provide value to my readers?
- Is this content well-written and free of errors?
- Is this content optimized for SEO?
Once you’ve reviewed all of your content, you can start to make changes. For example, you may decide to delete some old blog posts that are no longer relevant. Or, you may want to update some of your product pages with new information.
The Takeaway
High Google positions are crucial to your business’ success. Once you reach the top of the search engine ranking, you can attract many potential customers. While doing SEO, you also get to learn about the expectations and needs of internet users which lets you stay competitive in the market. Making the above kinds of changes will help to improve your website’s ranking on the Google search engine and give a transform it needs.
