What is an SEO Audit?
An SEO audit is a thorough review of your website's ability to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs). During an audit, we examine your site's architecture, content, and backlinks to identify any issues that could be damaging your website's visibility and performance.
An SEO audit typically involves:
Technical Analysis: Examining your site's structure, speed, and crawlability.
On-Page Assessment: Evaluating content quality, keyword usage, and metadata.
Off-Page Review: Analysing backlink profiles and online reputation.
User Experience Evaluation: Assessing how visitors interact with your site.
Competitive Analysis: Benchmarking your site against competitors.
These components work together to provide a comprehensive view of your website's SEO performance, identifying areas for improvement and opportunities for growth.
What Does an SEO Audit Include?
Let's break down the main components of an SEO audit:
Technical SEO Audit
This checks your website for any technical issues that might prevent search engines such as Google from properly exploring your site. It includes:
Broken Links: Identifying frustrating links which lead nowhere.
Incorrect Redirects: Confirming that when pages are moved, proper redirects are in place.
Site Speed: Checking if your website loads quickly enough to keep visitors engaged.
Indexation: Verifying the number of indexed pages in Google Search Console.
Security: Ensuring HTTPS is implemented correctly.
XML Sitemap: Confirming the sitemap is updated and submitted to search engines.
Robots.txt: Checking it's correctly configured to guide search engine crawlers.
On-Page SEO Audit
This reviews parts of your website that you can directly influence:
Meta Tags: Examining the hidden text that tells search engines what your page is about.
Headings: Checking proper use of H1, H2, and other heading tags.
Keyword Usage: Verifying that pages are optimised for relevant keywords.
Internal Linking: Checking for a logical and beneficial internal link structure.
Image Optimisation: Confirming that images have alt tags and are compressed for speed.
Off-Page SEO Audit
This looks at factors outside your website that can affect your ranking:
Backlink Profile: Analysing the quality and quantity of links from other websites to yours.
Anchor Text Distribution: Reviewing if anchor texts are varied and relevant.
Social Signals: Evaluating your social media presence and engagement levels.
SEO Content Audit
This evaluates the quality and relevance of your website's content:
Content Quality: Assessing for relevance, readability, and engagement, which are key components of our content marketing strategy.
Duplicate Content: Checking for content that appears in more than one place on the internet.
Content Gaps: Identifying topics that haven't been covered but are relevant to your audience.
User Experience (UX) Audit
This assesses how easy and enjoyable your website is to use:
Mobile Responsiveness: Ensuring your site looks good and works well on phones and tablets.
Navigation Structure: Evaluating the ease of navigation and logical site structure.
Conversion Paths: Reviewing if ‘calls to action’ (CTAs) are clear, and conversion paths are intuitive.
SEO Competitor Analysis
This looks at what your competitors are doing well online and where you might have opportunities to do better:
Benchmarking: Comparing your site's performance against main competitors.
Content Strategy: Analysing competitors' content to identify gaps and opportunities.
Keyword Strategy: Looking at competitors' keyword targeting to find potential areas for improvement.
Why are SEO Audits Important?
SEO audits are crucial for several reasons:
Identify Issues: Uncover technical problems that may be hindering your site's performance.
Improve Rankings: Address factors that affect your search engine rankings.
Enhance User Experience: Identify and fix issues that may be frustrating visitors.
Stay Competitive: Understand how you measure up against competitors in your industry.
Adapt to Algorithm Changes: Ensure your site aligns with the latest search engine updates.
SEO audits are a critical first step in any SEO strategy because they provide a roadmap for improvements and optimisations to help your website perform better in search results. By regularly conducting SEO audits, you can maintain and improve your site's visibility and in turn, drive more organic traffic and potential conversions.
What are Effective SEO Audit Techniques?
To conduct a thorough SEO audit, consider these techniques:
Crawl the Website: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Semrush to identify crawl errors.
Technical SEO Analysis: Use Google Search Console to check indexation, crawl errors, and site speed.
On-Page SEO Review: Analyse your content for keyword optimisation, meta tags, and header structure.
Backlink Profile Evaluation: Assess the quality and quantity of your backlinks using tools like Ahrefs or Semrush.
Content Audit: Evaluate your content for relevance, freshness, and alignment with user intent.
Mobile-Friendliness Check: Ensure your site performs well on mobile devices using Small SEO Tools’ Mobile-Friendly Test.
Site Structure Analysis: Examine your internal linking structure and URL format.
Page Speed Optimisation: Use Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and address loading time issues.
It's important to note that SEO best practices evolve with search engine algorithms. Staying informed about updates, such as Google's Core Web Vitals, is crucial for effective SEO auditing.
How Can Applied Digital Marketing Help with my SEO audit?
SEO audits require expertise and time to be truly effective.
Our team of experts can:
Conduct comprehensive technical SEO audits to identify and resolve issues
Perform in-depth content analysis to improve your on-page SEO
Analyse your backlink profile and develop strategies for improvement
Assess your site's user experience and provide recommendations for enhancement
Benchmark your site against competitors and identify opportunities for growth
Provide detailed reports and actionable insights to develop your SEO strategy
We use industry-leading tools like Google Search Console and GA4 (Google Analytics), alongside our own in-house strategies, to ensure your SEO audit is thorough and effective. Our goal is not just to identify issues but to provide practical solutions that drive real results.
Ready to uncover your website's full potential? Contact our team of experts at hello@applieddigital.co.uk or call 01484 302010 for a comprehensive SEO audit that will set the foundation for your online success.
