The ultimate objective of conducting the SEO audit is to improve your overall website performance. SEO audits refer to the process of conducting an assessment on your SEO campaign and strategies. It is an opportunity to identify which elements of your SEO process are successful and which elements require improvements.
As SEO takes time to show results, you can consider conducting quarterly SEO audits. This allows your SEO efforts some time to nurture. At the same time, you are able to regularly monitor the issues that may crop up in your digital marketing efforts.
In this article, we highlight to you the important aspects to analyse when you conduct your SEO audit.
1. Google Analytics Tracking Code
Correct implementation of Google Analytics Tracking Code is essential to track your website’s performance. If any page on your website does not have the tracking code, you will not be able to track any statistics about it. Proper implementation of the tracking code also acts as a full catalog of every page on your website.
Critical statistics such as page visitors, time on page, bounce rate and other metrics are important indications of website performance. Therefore, this is an integral first step when conducting your SEO audit.
2. Robots.txt file
The robots.txt file is an important file that you should never neglect. This is the file that search crawlers depend on for instructions on how to read your website. For example, you may have pages on your website that you do not have to index. These may be sensitive pages that contain personal information on your customers. The robots.txt file informs the crawlers which pages to block from being publicly indexed.
3. Page Speed
Page speed is a very important factor for search engines when ranking your website. This is because search engines want their users to have a positive experience. Therefore, if your page takes too long to load, you will lose out to your competitors. Optimising for page speed is an integral component to providing your visitors with a good experience.
4. Mobile-friendliness
Mobile-friendly sites are prioritised highly by search engines. In fact, Google has announced that websites with mobile-friendly capabilities will be indexed first. This means that websites that are mobile-friendly will be ranked higher in the search engine results page. The biggest reason for this is that millions of users all around the world are accessing web pages on their mobile. Thus, to provide the best experience for users, utmost priority is placed to ensure websites are mobile-friendly.
5. Security
In line with providing the best user experience, Google also wants their users to feel safe when browsing the web. This is why priority is also given to websites that encrypt their data and provide complete security for their sites. This is especially important if you are running an e-commerce platform where users are providing you with sensitive information. Always ensure that you have purchased an SSL certificate and have it implemented properly on your website. This SSL certificate will convert your HTTP website to a HTTPS website. It also provides a visual indication to users that your website is safe and secure.
6. Backlinks
Backlinks are one of the most important factors determining the success of your SEO efforts. Ensure that your backlinks are from trusted domains. This ensures that your backlink sources are credible and trusted by Google. Also ensure that your backlinks come from diversified sources, which is a great attribute to the quality of your website’s content.
7. SEO Audit Your Competitors
Since you are taking the time to conduct the SEO audit on your website, you’ll also want to consider analysing your competitors too. This will help you determine where you stand amongst your competitors.
For example, you might discover that your competitors are purchasing the same set of keywords. This would signal to you to re-strategise on your keyword planning. Rather than competing on short-tail keywords, you might consider focusing on long-tail keywords instead.
We have listed some elements for you to take note when conducting competitive analysis:
- Identify who your strongest competitors are
- Compare site performance
- Analyse the common keywords you share
- Identify the gaps in backlinks
- Analyse their content
Conclusion
Conducting SEO audits are a great way to ensure that your SEO efforts are bringing you the best possible results. It helps to maintain and even increase visibility for your website on Google’s search results page. A good frequency to conduct SEO audits is every quarterly to ensure relevancy of your website.
Looking for a comprehensive SEO audit for your website? Watch your rankings improve as we work with you to rectify the issues on your website. Get in touch with us and we will generate a full SEO report, highlighting critical points of improvement.
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