What is an SEO Audit and Why Do You Need It?
What exactly is a Search Engine Optimization Audit, which we also call a comprehensive technical review of your website? Or an SEO Audit? This is when a highly experienced SEO expert, such as myself, spends time looking at every single part of your website. They look at your website with a critical eye–spotting for any “issues” that may be prohibiting your website from ranking well in the search engines. Just like an accountant performs an review of your finances, a highly experienced SEO expert like myself can perform a technical review of your website and your overall online presence, an SEO audit service. After all, I have been actively practicing organic or natural Search Engine Optimization even before it was called “SEO”. I started back in 1996, with my first few websites.
Did you know that there sometimes can be one very small “factor”, something that your website is doing, the way it is acting (if it’s a dynamic website), or even one small website coding error that could stop your website from being indexed properly in the search engines? All it takes is “one little change” sometimes. And it could be something that is often overlooked by even the most competent webmasters and even the best SEOs in the business. Or, on the other hand, it could be a large issue that is plaguing the whole entire site. Remember, only a qualified, trusted expert like myself can perform offer a reliable review of your website.
That’s where I can step in with my consulting services. I have the experience of looking at literally thousands upon thousands of websites over the years and have “seen it all” when it comes to problems with websites. I can properly offer you my consulting services and my SEO Audit Service. Sometimes it takes an experienced eye (or just someone else), someone who knows what they’re doing, to take a look at your website and figure out why it’s not ranking well in the search engines. I can perform a search engine optimization audit. And it’s worth noting that I don’t outsource any of the work–I do it all myself.
Want more information about why you should audit your website? Read my article that list 8 reasons why you should perform a comprehensive technical review of your website.
Unveil the Power of SEO in Digital Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) stands as the backbone of digital marketing, its primary objective being to increase a website’s visibility in search engine results. By unraveling the complexities of algorithms and leveraging strategic keywords, SEO bridges the gap between businesses and potential customers. A fully optimized online presence not only attracts more traffic but also enhances user experience, ultimately catalyzing business growth.
The Anatomy of an SEO Audit
An SEO audit dissects various elements that contribute to a website’s search engine performance. This comprehensive analysis inspects technical SEO, which encompasses website architecture, mobile-friendliness, and loading speeds. Content is scrutinized for relevance, quality, and keyword optimization; while off-page SEO evaluates inbound links and the site’s authority. On-page optimization review ensures that meta-data, images, and headers work in concert to support ranking potential.
The Pivotal Role of Regular SEO Audits
Frequent and thorough SEO audits give businesses the leverage to remain ahead in the fiercely competitive digital arena. As search engines evolve their algorithms, a stagnant website risks losing rank to more proactive competitors. Systematic audits identify and amend inefficiencies, adapt to the latently changing SEO landscape, and align with emerging industry practices. This sustained vigilance empowers continuous improvement and preserves a dominant online posture.
Are You Doing Everything Possible?
Even if you think you have done everything possible when it comes to search engine optimization and you think you’re “doing fine” or even doing extremely well online. You need to have a search engine optimization audit performed at least once a year.
Sometimes you need someone to take a look at all of the work that your current search engine optimization agency is doing and make sure that they’re doing the right thing. Are they leading you on the right path?. I can provide a search engine optimization audit of your website. After all, who wouldn’t want technical review performed and find out that there’s nothing additional that can be done to increase your company’s revenue?
Website Analysis: Uncovering Opportunities
A meticulous website analysis reveals a plethora of opportunities for enhancing SEO performance. By systematically reviewing website infrastructure and content, certain adjustments can markedly improve a site’s visibility and user engagement. Websites often possess untapped potential; thus, identifying and acting upon these opportunities is a critical step in an SEO audit service.
How Website Analysis Contributes to SEO Success
A website’s analysis delves deep into understanding the essential elements that search engines value. This information informs strategic improvements that align with search engine algorithms, fostering a better chance of achieving high rankings. Through careful scrutiny, analysts can identify discrepancies between current site practices and optimal performance benchmarks.
Reviewing Website Structure and Content for Optimization
Examining the website’s architecture clarifies how easily search engines can crawl and index its pages. Simultaneously, content assessment ensures that quality, relevancy, and keyword optimization are upheld across all published materials. A robust site structure coupled with high-caliber content forms the foundation of an effective SEO strategy.
Addressing Common Issues Found During Website Analysis
- Broken links disrupt user navigation and harm link equity, requiring prompt resolution.
- Duplicate content poses a significant risk to search engine rankings; thus, measures to rectify it are imperative.
- Improper use of meta tags may lead to suboptimal communication of page content to search engines, which necessitates adjustments for clarity.
- Poorly optimized images can slow down page loading times, an issue which, when corrected, enhances user experience.
- Missing or incorrect schema markup must be addressed to improve a site’s machine-readability and to facilitate rich snippet creation in search results.
- Inaccessible pages thwart search engines from indexing valuable content, making the identification and resolution of these barriers a priority.
Confronting these prevalent issues raises a website’s overall health and SEO performance. Continual improvements on these fronts lead to increased organic traffic and user engagement. Acknowledging the scope of work identified by website analysis guides subsequent steps in an SEO audit’s process.
On-Page Optimization: Maximizing Page Potential
On-page optimization contributes significantly to a website’s search engine visibility and ranking potential. By refining elements like page titles, meta descriptions, and headers, businesses can enhance their relevance for targeted search queries, leading to improved rankings.
The Role of On-Page Optimization in SEO
On-page optimization involves adjusting various elements on a website to send clear signals to search engines about the content’s theme and relevance. This practice directly influences how search engines interpret and index each page, thereby impacting search rankings.
Techniques for Optimizing Page Titles, Meta Descriptions, and Headers
- Effective page titles succinctly convey the core topic of the page and incorporate primary keywords near the beginning.
- Engaging meta descriptions offer a concise summary of the page’s content and motivate users to click through from search engine result pages.
- Well-structured headers (H1, H2, H3) organize content hierarchically, with H1 tags reserved for the main page title and subsequent headers used for subheadings.
Content Optimization for Improved Google Rankings
To enhance content alignment with search queries, focusing on keyword-rich, informative, and fully elaborated topics within the copy will enhance relevance. Including synonym phrases and related keywords ensures comprehensive coverage of a subject matter. Ensuring the optimal use of internal linking strategies, images with descriptive alt-text, and responsive multimedia content further bolsters on-page SEO efforts.
Technical SEO: The Backbone of Your Website
Technical SEO lays the foundation for websites to be comprehensible and accessible by search engines. A site’s architecture affects its visibility; thus, the infrastructure must be meticulously configured. Search engines must be able to navigate and index the site efficiently, which is assessed through evaluations for indexability and crawlability. Websites need to facilitate a smooth mapping through their pages to ensure content is found and ranked appropriately by search engine algorithms.
Regular analysis highlights any barriers to indexation, such as improper use of robots.txt or meta tags, which can inadvertently block search engines. It also scrutinizes website loading times, mobile responsiveness, and secure connections to ensure user experiences that align with best practices. Issues in these areas can trigger penalties from search engines, leading to a decline in search rankings.
The goal is to establish a robust framework that search engines can traverse with ease. Aspects like structured data markup improve content representation in search results, while sitemaps guide search engines through the website’s content structure. Evaluating and modifying these elements transform the technical architecture into one that search engines not only understand but also prefer.
- Evaluation of site architecture ensures efficient navigation by search engines.
- Detection and correction of redirect chains or loops maintain the flow of link equity.
- Implementation of secure protocols like HTTPS enhances user trust and conformity with search engine guidelines.
Technical agility translates to an amplified presence in search results. Servers respond swiftly; downtime is rare; pages load without delay. Adherence to this aspect of SEO dictates the site’s ability to compete within its niche, as search engines prioritize websites that offer exemplary technical performance. Hence, a technical SEO audit cements the infrastructure that supports all other SEO activities.
Technical SEO Audit – Customized
I will personally perform a full search engine optimization audit of a website that is currently up and running. (Hartzer Consulting does not outsource the work to others.) There are several things that I personally review, including:
- Search Engine Reputation
- Search Engine Exposure (against other keyword competitors)
- Web Site Structure
- Link popularity (I also do link audits.)
- Internal Link Structure
- Review of Site Meta Data
- Review of Domain name issues
If you’re getting ready to launch a new website, or even perform a website redesign, it’s critical everything be looked at with an experienced eye–to make sure there are no issues that will arise when the site goes live. For website redesigns in particular, it’s important to have someone such as myself perform comprehensive technical search engine optimization review of the old (current version) of the site as well as the new version of the site. There are many issues that can arise when changing versions of your site, such as making sure that the old URLs redirect to the new URLs. That’s the type of details that I look for when I review your website.
Technically, Very Comprehensive
While providing these SEO auditing services, I leave no stone unturned. All of the potential website ranking issues are reviewed, personally by me. I don’t outsource this critical work to anyone else. I use my 18+ years of search engine optimization expertise to tell you why your website isn’t ranking in the search results as well as it should. Not many others in the search engine optimization industry have the amount of experience that I have. Recommendations are also made, whenever appropriate, should I find something on the website that needs to be addressed.
What’s Included in the Audit?
I include a lot in my search engine optimization services, as well as monthly SEO services. As someone who has been practicing organic search engine optimization since 1996, I have the experience needed to use search engine optimization best practices to bring more quality visitors to your website. Whenever I first begin a search engine optimization engagement, I recommend that for every website, SEO audits and “investigations” be performed first, to see where the site is now–and if there are any issues that need to be addressed right away.
The Process
Ongoing monthly search engine optimization is important–but there’s a specific process that is important. Comprehensive technical SEO audits are an important part of the overall search engine optimization process: you don’t know what to optimize unless you know what’s wrong and what you’re doing right. If you already have a lot of really good links pointing to your website but your on-page optimization is not done right, then why build more links to your site? Audit services are absolutely necessary. Here’s my process, especially if you’re doing ongoing monthly search engine optimization services:
- Crawl the website – gather data about the site. Multiple crawlers and tools are used.
- Review all content, both manually and via SEO tools.
- Analyze the data from the crawling activities and crawlers.
- Review backlink data (review links pointing to the site).
- Begin making recommendations, forming opinions on where to focus efforts.
- Make a task list of on-site and off-site issues. Prioritize the list.
- Work the task list into the ongoing monthly plan.
The list above is not a comprehensive one–but as you can see, it’s necessary to find out what’s wrong with the website and what’s working. This is all based on data from SEO audits of websites and of your website in particular. How could you possibly not perform these tasks and be successful with search engine optimization? Once these tasks are performed, we end up with a comprehensive action plan.
Content Evaluation: Crafting Quality Content
An SEO audit service meticulously scrutinizes the content on a website as a determinant of search engine performance. Content serves as both a resource for users and a signal to search engines of a site’s relevance and authority. Hence, the thorough analysis and enhancement of content relevancy, quality, and uniqueness forms a critical component of the SEO auditing process.
Analyzing and Improving Content Relevancy
High-quality content addresses the needs and queries of users, aligning with their intent. An evaluation begins with a detailed examination of existing content to ascertain its success in meeting these parameters. Ensuring that content corresponds with user intent and that it reflects current search trends shapes the foundation for devising a strategy aimed at content refinement.
Quality and Uniqueness of Content
Quality is paramount; search engines favor content offering value, demonstrated through in-depth information and well-researched material. A thorough content evaluation entails checking for duplicate content issues, a practice that can dramatically hinder a site’s performance in search results. Unique and engaging content not only appeals to search engines but also fosters reader engagement, potentially leading to better rankings and increased website traffic.
Strategies for Aligning Content with User Intent and Search Trends
Effective content strategies stem from an understanding of the evolving landscape of user search behavior. They involve inserting targeted keywords naturally within high-quality content, utilizing multimedia elements to complement text, and appropriately structuring content to improve readability and engagement. Regularly updating content to keep pace with changing search trends sustains a website’s relevancy and competitive edge.
- Determine if the content serves the needs and interests of target audiences by analyzing user interactions and feedback.
- Examine keyword integration to ensure it enhances, rather than disrupts, the natural flow of content.
- Deploy analytical tools to track how modifications to content affect overall site performance.
- Study alterations in search patterns and refine content accordingly to maintain its effectiveness.
Keyword Research
Keywords play an instrumental role in shaping page rankings and determining SEO success. A meticulous approach to keyword research involves identifying terms that are not only relevant but also carry a high likelihood of conversion. By targeting the right keywords, you can connect with your intended audience, address their inquiries, and elevate your content’s visibility in search engine results.
The Role of Keywords in Page Rankings and SEO
Keywords serve as the bridge between user queries and your website content. Search engines use these terms to understand and index pages, which in turn influences how your site ranks. Selecting appropriate keywords, therefore, is synonymous with creating a beacon for search algorithms, potentially leading to improved rankings and increased organic traffic.
Methods for Identifying High-Impact Keywords
Several strategies exist for pinpointing impactful keywords. Examining search volume, understanding keyword difficulty, analyzing search intent, and studying long-tail keyword opportunities represent some of these methods. Advanced SEO audit services often employ a combination of sophisticated tools and analytics to uncover keywords that promise maximum engagement and ROI.
Incorporating Keywords into Your Content Strategy Effectively
Once high-impact keywords are identified, embedding them into your content strategy can commence. It goes beyond mere insertion; strategic placement in titles, headers, meta descriptions, and throughout the body text helps fortify relevance. Remember, successful keyword integration is subtle, enhancing readability and value rather than detracting from it.
- Strategic keyword placement leads to better user engagement and retention.
- Continuous keyword performance monitoring ensures sustained relevance and adaptability in ever-shifting search landscapes.
- Relevant keyword integration enhances a website’s authority and expertise in its niche.
Backlink Analysis: Building a Strong Link Profile
Search engines analyze backlinks as a measure of a website’s authority and trustworthiness. A robust backlink profile can substantially increase a website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results. Therefore, conducting a thorough backlink analysis is a standard portion of a comprehensive SEO audit service.
Understanding the Value of Backlinks in SEO
Backlinks function as endorsements from other websites, signaling to search engines that the content is valuable, credible, and useful. Each quality backlink acts like a vote of confidence, potentially improving the site’s ranking.
Assessing Current Backlink Quality and Relevance
An evaluation of the current backlinks identifies which links positively contribute to the site’s SEO health. The assessment focuses on the relevance, authority, and trustworthiness of the linking domains. Backlinks from high-quality, reputable sites significantly bolster a website’s profile, whereas links from low-quality sites can harm its reputation and rankings.
Planning for Healthy Backlink Growth
Formulating a strategy for acquiring new, quality backlinks is necessary to enhance a site’s SEO. This plan involves targeting reputable sites within the same industry or niche for link-building efforts. Future growth relies on consistent analysis and adjustment, ensuring that the website’s link profile continues to evolve with SEO best practices.
- Understanding the metric of link diversity can inform strategies such as content marketing that attract organic backlinks from a variety of domains.
- Recognizing that strategic partnerships and guest blogging opportunities can result in high-quality inbound links.
- Utilizing tools to monitor backlink profiles helps to quickly identify and disavow harmful backlinks that might attract penalties.
Competitor Analysis: Staying Ahead of the Game
Benchmarking your website against competitors provides a clear perspective of where you stand in your market. This comprehensive compare-and-contrast approach pinpoints what competitors are doing right, where they are falling short, and, more critically, uncovers gaps that you can exploit. The insights gained through this process are integral to crafting a strategic roadmap that ensures your SEO efforts are not in vain.
Learning from Competitor Analysis to Inform Your SEO Strategy
Peering into the strategies of your competitors can reveal trends and techniques you might not be utilizing. As rivals target similar audiences and goals, understanding their tactics can inspire changes to your SEO approach that may lead to significant improvements in both on-page and off-page elements.
Discovering Opportunities to Outperform in the Search Engine Rankings
An in-depth competitor analysis goes beyond surface-level observation and delves into the nuts and bolts of their SEO practices. By identifying their weaknesses and areas where your site can provide better value or information, you effectively discover opportunities to surpass them in search engine rankings. Strategies that may emerge from this analysis include optimizing for keywords that are underexploited by competitors or enhancing content quality to earn more backlinks.
You Need a Comprehensive Plan
Usually, the recommended plan is to complete a full Search Engine Optimization Audit and technical review of your website and Link Profile analysis. This includes competitive research, keyword research, and other SEO-related tasks such as updating meta data (title tags, meta description tags, etc.) and content optimization, if needed. SEO auditing services also include an overall search engine optimization strategy and linking strategy that meets your company’s ROI goals.
There are several things that are reviewed during my technical website reviews, including:
- Search Engine Reputation
- Search Engine Exposure (against other keyword competitors)
- Content Optimization and Review of Content
- Review of Site Structure and overall design of site (includes page load speed, other factors affecting visits)
- Link popularity (backlink data)
- Internal Link Structure
- Review and Writing of Website Meta Data (title tags, meta description tags)
- Review of Domain name issues
- Link Profile Analysis, including “clean up” bad and toxic links pointing to the website (if bad links are found)
- Review of local citations, directory listings, etc. if the website is locally-focused (appeals to local customers)
During a tech review of your site, I leave no stone unturned. I use all the right tools to gather all of the needed data–and then come up with an extensive list of issues that can affect your Google ranking. It’s not just limited to Google, but also Bing and Yahoo traffic, rankings, and referrals from other websites. All of the potential website ranking issues are reviewed. Anything related to internet marketing, website traffic, and online visibility in general is included and reviewed. Recommendations are also made, whenever appropriate, should I find something on the website that needs to be addressed. Even if you are currently employing the services of a Search Engine Optimization firm, it is recommended that you have a full technical review of your website performed at least once every year.
After Your Website Audit
After the first set of search engine optimization recommendations are implemented during the first month, Mr. Hartzer can work with you on a monthly search engine optimization maintenance plan in order to keep your website at the top of the search engine results for those keywords that are helping to reach your overall website marketing and ROI goals.
Crafting an SEO Strategy: Your Roadmap to Success
A meticulously crafted SEO strategy stands as the foundation for achieving desired results in digital visibility. Seamlessly aligning SEO efforts with a firm’s overarching marketing goals enables a symbiotic relationship that drives success. In the realm of SEO, each component intertwines to form a comprehensive, resilient strategy, tailored specifically for longevity in the competitive landscape.
The Significance of a Tailored SEO Strategy
Unlike one-size-fits-all solutions, a custom SEO strategy addresses the uniqueness of your business. It scrutinizes the distinctive elements of your brand, product, or service while considering the intricate algorithms of search engines. This dynamic approach not only enhances online presence but also caters to the evolving demands of both users and technology.
Aligning SEO Efforts with Overall Marketing Goals
Integrating SEO with broader business goals ensures a unified front in marketing endeavors. By synchronizing objectives, a business can channel the strengths of SEO to bolster brand awareness, establish thought leadership, and accelerate growth through increased traffic and potential conversion opportunities.
Components of a Successful Long-Term SEO Plan
To forge a sustainable path, a robust SEO plan comprises several key elements:
- Continuous keyword research to adapt to market trends and user behavior.
- Regular content updates and expansions to secure relevance and authority.
- Tactical backlink acquisition to consolidate domain authority and trustworthiness.
- Rigorous evaluation of the technical aspects of one’s website to ensure it remains efficient and accessible.
Collaborating these elements within the structure of a cohesive SEO plan not only elevates your digital standing but also secures a competitive advantage. High-ranking positions on search engines as a result of such strategies can significantly increase visibility and organic reach. Engaging with professionals can provide a comprehensive SEO audit service, ensuring every aspect of your online presence is harmonized and bound for success.
Insights and Recommendations: Translating Analysis into Action
After a meticulous SEO audit, the data unearths substantial opportunities for elevating online performance. Effective translation of this analysis into actionable steps ensures that the insights have a tangible impact on a website’s search engine optimization strategy. The next phase involves a systematic approach to implementing recommendations that promise to bolster the site’s visibility and user engagement.
Generating Actionable Insights from SEO Audit Findings
Fine-tuned analysis of audit reports pinpoints specific areas demanding attention. From optimizing meta tags to refining site architecture, each insight has the potential to propel a site’s ranking on search engines. Insights extend beyond mere observation, transforming into strategic tasks capable of rendering measurable outcomes.
Prioritizing Recommendations Based on Potential Impact
Not all audit recommendations carry equal weight. Consequently, prioritizing is about investing efforts where they have the highest likelihood of returns. High-priority issues usually include those that directly affect site performance and user experience, such as page load speeds and mobile responsiveness, while less critical tasks might involve aesthetic changes that have a more subtle effect on user behavior.
Building a Plan for Continuous SEO Improvement
SEO is not a one-off project, but an ongoing journey. Post-audit actions should be the inception of an enduring strategy that embraces continual refinement and adjustment. To sustain a competitive edge, the strategy must be receptive to evolving industry standards, algorithm updates, and shifts in user search behavior. Embracing such dynamism in SEO ensures the long-term success and resilience of a website in the digital marketplace.
SEO Deliverables
It’s taken over 10 years and hundreds of completed audits to come up with a comprehensive list of actual search engine optimization deliverables. These aren’t just scribbled notes that only the auditor can understand. It’s a lot more than that. the final SEO deliverables that are provided can actually be overwhelming for even the experienced search engine optimization specialist. These include a combination of documents, spreadsheets, and at least one follow-up phone call to go over the delivered documents and spreadsheets, and answer questions. But be assured that all of your questions are answered and you’ll be confident with the results. We even have some clients that contact us several months later and we’re happy to help. Sometimes it takes months to implement all of our recommendations.
Sample Table of Contents of a Technical Review
Below is a preliminary outline (Table of Contents) of a sample document that will be delivered, in the form of a Microsoft Word document or PDF. Typically, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are included, as well, which includes all of the gathered data.
Overview
Current Rankings And Analysis
Website Crawlability
404 Errors, 301 Redirects other server issues
Keyword Strategy
Content Strategy
On-Page Factors
Title Tag Issues
Meta Description Tags
Heading Tags
Image Alt Attributes
Miscellaneous Issues
Linking (backlink issues)
Internal Links
External Links
Overall Recommendations
Strategy Going Forward
When was the last time you received a full search engine optimization audit of your website? I recommend a full manual review from an expert, such as the one I offer, at least once each year. Talk to someone who has over 20 years of website marketing experience who can steer you in the right direction, not just someone who is going to try to “sell you” search engine marketing or website marketing services.
SEO Service
Whenever Hartzer Consulting takes on new clients, especially when it’s ongoing monthly SEO services, the first month is dedicated towards a comprehensive review of your website, and the second month typically is dedicated towards implementing what’s been discovered during the comprehensive review of your website. This is a necessary part of the search engine optimization process, as SEO isn’t something that’s template–only the high-level review of issues can be completed, and that high-level review is only the beginning.