SEO website audits can be a great way to find out where your website stands when it comes to search engine optimization. As an SEO consultant, I often recommend that business owners audit their website on a regular basis – at least once every six months.
In this blog post, we will discuss the steps involved in conducting an SEO website audit. We will also provide tips on how to improve your website’s ranking in search engines. Let’s get started!
SEO Audit Step One: Audit your current keyword rankings
The first step in conducting an SEO website audit is to assess your website’s current ranking in search engines. You can do this by using a tool like Google’s Keyword Planner or Moz’s Keyword Explorer. Once you have a list of keywords, you can use these tools to find out where your website ranks for each keyword.
This is also an opportunity to identify other keyword opportunities. Including other keywords your competitors are not ranking for but could also generate high quality traffic. Some ways of identifying these keyword opportunities include using Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner, conducting a competitor analysis, or using a tool like SEMrush.
SEO Audit Step Two: On Page Optimization
After you have assessed your website’s current ranking in search engines, it is time to take a look at your website’s on-page optimization. This includes factors such as your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and content. You will want to make sure that each of these elements are optimized for your target keywords. If they are not, you may want to consider making some changes.
Google’s standards are always changing, but it’s safe to follow a general rule of thumb: Optimize for your customers, not Google. It seems counter intuitive, but Google is incredibly sensitive to spam. So, if you’re over-optimized for specific keywords, it may actually work against you in the end.
SEO Audit Step Three: Off Page Optimization
Once you have reviewed your website’s on-page optimization, it is time to take a look at your off-page optimization. Not only do you want to look for opportunities, but you’ll also want to assess what your current off-page optimization picture looks like. To audit your backlink profile, use tools like Moz’s Open Site Explorer or Majestic’s Site Explorer. These tools will allow you to see who is linking to your website, what the anchor text of those links are, and the quality of those links.
If your links look like they are from legitimate websites, you’re in good shape! If your backlinks look spammy or are overly keyword stuffed, you may want to consider a backlink removal campaign.
As for social media engagement, it is important to make sure that you are active on relevant platforms and that you are sharing content that is interesting and engaging. This will help to increase your brand awareness and build relationships with potential customers.
SEO Audit Step Four: Technical SEO
The next step is to identify the areas of your website that need improvement. This can be done by looking at your website’s analytics data or by conducting a competitor analysis. Once you have identified the areas that need improvement, you can start working on making changes to your website.
Some of the basics of a technical website audit include:
-Crawling: You will want to use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl your website and identify any errors that may be holding you back from ranking higher in search results.
-Indexation: This is a check to make sure that all of the pages on your website are being indexed by search engines. You can do this by using the Google Search Console.
-Mobile-friendliness: With more and more people using mobile devices to access the internet, it is important to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. You can test your website’s mobile-friendliness by using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
-Site speed: Site speed is a factor that can impact your website’s ranking in search results. You can test your website’s speed by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
-Security: This is a check to make sure that your website is secure and that there are no vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers.
SEO Audit Step Five: Content
After you have completed your technical SEO audit, it is time to begin an SEO content audit. This includes both the text on your website as well as any images or videos that you may have. You will want to make sure that all of your content is high quality and relevant to your target audience.
If you find that there are some areas of your content that need improvement, you can start working on making changes. This may include adding new content, optimizing your existing content, or both.
Some common changes that are made during an SEO website audit include optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags. Other changes that may be made include adding alt text to images, improving the website’s internal linking structure, and creating more compelling content.
Once you have your SEO Audit findings
Our recommendation is to just take each item step by step. There’s no need to rush and tackle every item within a week unless you find severe crawl issues. Improving your website over time will serve you better than finding yourself overwhelmed and not doing anything at all.
Remember: the key to SEO success is knowing which direction to point your ship then heading in that direction. With that said, don’t skip any of these steps. Even if you think it’s not necessary to look at specific keyword categories, when you identify those categories you identify competitors and get the beginnings of your technical to do list.
If you want to be an SEO Master, make sure you audit your website regularly!
Do you have any other questions about auditing your website for SEO? Leave a comment below and let us know! We would love to help you out.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!