An SEO audit is basically a process of analyzing how well your website is optimized for search engines. It uncovers all the missing pieces your site may have to rank higher in SERPs.
SEO audits cover different aspects such as technical SEO, on-page SEO, content, backlinks and more.
It not only analyzes your website for SEO issues but also provides recommendations on how to fix them.
Simply put, SEO audits assist you in determining what needs improvement on your site to reach its full potential.
How To Use Site Audit Report
Once you’re done auditing your site either manually or using one of the free SEO tools we’ve mentioned below, you’ll get an SEO audit report.
This report is basically everything you need to know about where your website lacks and what can be improved.
Here’s how to use the report you get after an SEO site audit:
- First off, go through your SEO audit report and identify and fix major issues first such as site speed, mobile usability, broken links, and duplicate content.
- After you’ve identified your SEO issues, make an action plan. Break down your to-do list into small actionable tasks.
- Assign responsibilities (if you’re not working alone) and set deadlines so that you can track what still needs to be done and what’s already completed.
Pro tip: You should always keep auditing your website and tracking your progress to make sure you don’t fall behind with your SEO.
Types of Audits
Technical SEO Audit
This type of SEO audit uncovers technical aspects of your website such as crawlability, site speed, URL structure, mobile optimization and more.
Essentially a technical SEO audit checks if search engines can access your site and read your code.
On-page SEO Audit
On-page SEO audit on the other hand evaluates your web pages for on-page SEO factors.
Such factors include but are not limited to keyword usage and density, meta tags, content quality, page structure, internal linking and more.
Content Audit
Content audit involves reviewing your website’s content for several factors. These may include keyword optimization, relevancy, uniqueness, readability, structure and if the content is satisfying the users’ search intent.
Backlink Audit
SEO isn’t complete without good quality backlinks. Backlinks help determine where your website ranks.
A backlink audit will help you identify toxic backlinks as well as opportunities where you can acquire high quality backlinks.
Mobile SEO Audit
With mobile-first indexing now live, GoogleBot crawls and indexes websites the way mobile users see them.
A mobile SEO audit helps you uncover how well your website performs on mobile devices.
Local SEO Audit
Local SEO is essential if you’re getting customers from specific geographic areas. Local SEO audit helps you identify how well you’re optimizing for local searches.
Benefits of an SEO Audit
Running an SEO audit provides you with several benefits such as:
- Higher Rankings: An SEO audit helps uncover issues on your site that may be preventing it from ranking higher on search engines. By fixing such issues your site will be able to outrank your competitors.
- Better User Experience: Many fixes an SEO audit brings up help improve your website’s user experience. These include site speed, mobile usability, easy navigation and more.
- Increased Conversions: Search is where most audiences spend most of their time. By attracting more traffic to your site and providing users with a better experience on your website, you’ll be able to convert more visitors to customers.
- Identify Content Opportunities: Content audits allow you to know which areas of your website are lacking in fresh quality content. You can then produce content that will satisfy what users are looking for and rank better than your competitors.
- Stay Ahead of Competitors: By knowing how your site is performing, you’ll be able to beat what your competitors are doing.
8 Steps to Doing an SEO Audit
Now that you know what an SEO audit is, and why you should run one for your website, here are steps to doing one:
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Website Crawling
Use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl your website and identify issues on your site such as broken links, missing alt tags, duplicate content and more.
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Technical SEO
Check your site for technical SEO aspects such as page loading speed, mobile usability, crawlability and more. Tools like Google Pagespeed Insights or GTMetrix will help you here.
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On-Page SEO
Review your web pages for on-page SEO. Check if title tags, meta descriptions and headers are properly optimized for your target keywords. You should also ensure that your content is relevant to what users are searching for.
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Backlinks
Run a backlink audit to see the quality and quantity of sites linking to your website. Identify toxic backlinks and also find opportunities on where you can get high-quality links from.
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Content
Perform a content audit on your website. Check if your pages are optimized for target keywords. Your content should also be relevant, provide value and answer users’ questions.
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Mobile SEO
Test how your website performs on mobile devices. Google offers a mobile-friendly test tool to help you with this.
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Local SEO
If your business targets local customers run a local SEO audit. Check if your Google My Business is optimized and your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) is consistent across the web.
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Monitor Your Site’s Performance
You can use tools like Google Analytics to monitor how your site is performing. You can then track improvements after you make the necessary changes recommended by your SEO audit.
What an SEO Audit Should Be
- Extensive: Cover all areas of your website. An SEO audit should check every nook and cranny of your website for issues.
- Actionable: Recommendations from an SEO audit should be straight to the point. They should be prioritized so that you can know what to fix first on your website.
- Based on Data: Site audits should be run using tools and data. Recommendations on an SEO audit should be based on real data from tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other third-party SEO software.
What an SEO Audit Should NOT Be
- SEO Checklist: An SEO audit shouldn’t just look at certain aspects of your website such as keywords rankings. It should dig deeper and check every single area that could affect your site’s performance.
- A One-Time Thing: SEO audits shouldn’t be something you do once and forget about. Websites and SEO change and evolve constantly. You need to regularly run SEO audits in order to keep your site up to par.
- Overwhelming: While an SEO audit should be extensive, it shouldn’t leave you feeling overwhelmed. Your SEO audit should be easy to read and follow. Don’t go overboard with complicated data and terms that you don’t understand.
What Gets Checked in an SEO Audit
- Website Structure: URL structure, internal linking, site navigation, hierarchy etc.
- Meta Tags: Title tags, meta descriptions and header tags are checked for keyword optimization and relevancy.
- Site Speed: How long it takes your website to load.
- Mobile Optimization: Checks if your website is mobile friendly and runs smoothly on mobile devices.
- Backlinks: Backlinks are checked to see the quantity and quality of websites that are linking to your site.
- Content: Your site’s content is evaluated to see if it’s keyword optimized, relevant, unique and satisfies the users’ search intent.
- User Experience: Various factors that affect the overall user experience on your website are analyzed. This includes site design, easy navigation and more.
- Competitors: Competitor websites are analyzed to see how they rank compared to you.
Websites To Audit Your Website
Here are some great websites that you can use to audit your website:
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Google Search Console
Google offers a free tool that allows you to run a SEO site audit. It provides you with tools you need to know how your site is performing on Google search.
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SEMrush
SEMrush is one of the best SEO tools out there. It offers various features like site audits, backlink analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis and more.
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Ahrefs
Known for its backlink analysis tool. Ahrefs allows you to run a site audit to uncover SEO issues on your website. It also has great keyword research tools.
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Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog is a website crawler that helps you uncover SEO issues on your site. Such issues include broken links, duplicate content, missing meta tags and more.
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Moz Pro
Moz has various SEO tools that you can use to audit your site. Moz Pro offers tools such as site audits, keyword tracking, backlink analysis and more.
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GTMetrix
GTMetrix is a website tool that analyzes your site speed and shows you ways you can improve your site to load faster.
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Google Pagespeed Insights
Similar to GTMetrix, Google pagespeed provides you with ways to help improve your site speed.