Are you curious about what makes up a complete technical SEO audit? Wondering what factors contribute to your website’s search engine ranking?
In this blog post, we’ll break down the key elements of a technical SEO audit and explain why they are important. We’ll also provide tips on how to get the most out of your audit. So, whether you’re just starting out in SEO or you’re looking for ways to improve your current strategy, read on for insights into completing a technical SEO audit that will help your website rank higher in search results.
What’s A Technical SEO Audit And Why Is It Important?
A technical SEO audit is a process of assessing your website against a set of standards to identify any areas that may be impeding your site’s ability to rank in search engines. It’s important because it can help you identify and fix any technical issues that may be holding your site back from achieving its full potential in search.
There are a number of factors that can impact your site’s ranking in search engines, and a technical SEO audit can help you identify any areas that may need attention. But it’s also a little tough as compared to the other SEO audits like On-Page SEO Audit and Off-Page SEO audit.
A technical SEO audit can be a helpful tool for any website owner, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the game for a while. If you’re serious about improving your site’s ranking in search engines, a technical SEO audit is a great place to start.
How To Complete A Technical SEO Audit?
A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive analysis of your website’s technical aspects that can impact your organic search visibility. It encompasses everything from site architecture and code to on-page elements like title tags, meta descriptions, and keyword targeting.
There are a variety of tools you can use to conduct a technical SEO audit, but at its core, the process is relatively simple:
1. Make Sure Your Website Is Crawlable
Most search engines use bots, or web crawlers, to discover and index new content. But in order for them to do that, your website needs to be properly configured so that they can access and understand your site’s structure and content.
There are a few technical elements that you’ll need to check to ensure that your website is crawlable:
- Robots.txt file tells search engine bots which areas of your website they are allowed to crawl and index. If your robots.txt file is blocking access to important pages on your site, it could be negatively impacting your SEO.
- A site map is a list of all the pages on your website. It helps search engine bots find and index your content.
- Meta tags provide information about your website’s pages, such as the page title and description. Including relevant keywords in your meta tags can help improve your site’s SEO.
2. Check Your Website’s Code
The code that makes up your website plays a big role in its SEO. Search engine bots index websites based on their code, so it’s important to make sure that your code is clean, well-organized, and free of any errors.
There are a few things you’ll want to check when auditing your website’s code:
- HTML tags are used to structure your website’s content. Using the correct tags can help improve your site’s SEO.
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is used to style your website’s content. Having well-organized and error-free CSS can help improve your site’s SEO.
- JavaScript is a programming language that can be used to add interactivity to your website. If your JavaScript code is poorly written, it can negatively impact your site’s SEO.
3. Check Your Site Indexability
Search engine bots index websites so that they can be included in search results. But in order for your website to be indexed, there are a few things that need to be in place:
- Your website needs to be accessible to search engine bots.
- Your website’s pages need to be properly linked together.
- Your website’s pages need to contain relevant and keyword-rich content.
If any of these factors are not in place, it could impact your website’s indexability and, as a result, your SEO.
4. Evaluate Your Website’s Content
Your website’s content is one of the most important factors in its SEO. Search engines use the content on your website to determine what your website is about and whether or not it is relevant to a user’s search query.
When conducting an audit of your website’s content, there are a few things you should examine:
- Keywords are words or phrases that describe your website’s content. Targeting relevant keywords can help improve your site’s SEO.
- Title tags are the HTML tags that contain your website’s title. Including relevant keywords in your title tags can help improve your site’s SEO.
- Meta descriptions are the short descriptions that appear beneath your website’s title in search results. Including relevant keywords in your meta descriptions can help improve your site’s SEO.
- The body content on your website should be keyword-rich and relevant to your website’s topic. Having well-written and informative body content can help improve your site’s SEO.
5. Analyze Your Website’s Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They play a big role in SEO because they help search engines determine the quality and relevance of your website.
When looking at your website’s backlinks, keep the following in mind:
- The quality of a backlink is determined by many factors, such as the website it comes from, the anchor text, and the target page.
- The relevance of a backlink is determined by how closely related the linking website is to your website.
- The linking pages are the pages on other websites that contain the backlinks to your website.
If any of these factors are not in place, it could impact your website’s backlink profile and, as a result, your SEO.
6. Monitor Your Website’s Search Rankings
Search engine algorithms are constantly changing, which means that your website’s search rankings can fluctuate.
Monitoring your website’s search rankings can help you identify any potential issues that could be impacting your SEO.
7. Check Your Website For Mobile-Friendliness
With more and more people using mobile devices to access the internet, it’s important to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly.
When auditing your website for mobile friendliness, keep the following criteria in mind:
- A responsive design is a design that is adaptable to different screen sizes. This means that your website will look good on all devices, from desktop computers to mobile phones.
- Mobile-friendly URLs are easy to read and understand on mobile devices. They should be short and to the point, and they should avoid using unnecessary characters.
- Page speed is the amount of time it takes for a page to load. Pages that load quickly are important for a good user experience, especially on mobile devices.
8. Speed Up Your Website
The speed of your website is important for two main reasons: users and search engines.
Users expect websites to load quickly, and if yours doesn’t, they’re likely to leave before they even get a chance to see what you have to offer.
Search engines also take website speed into account when determining search rankings. So, if your website is slow, it could be impacting your SEO.
Below few things you can do to speed up your website:
- Use a content delivery network (CDN) (is a network of servers) that delivers content to users based on their location. Using a CDN can help improve your website’s speed, especially for users who are located far from your server.
- Images can take up a lot of space and make your website slow to load. Optimizing your images can help reduce their file size without affecting their quality.
- HTTP requests are made when a user tries to access a website. The more HTTP requests your website makes, the slower it will be. Minimizing HTTP requests can help speed up your website.
9. Improve Your Website’s User Experience
The user experience on your website plays a big role in SEO. If users have a bad experience on your website, they’re less likely to visit again, and this can hurt your SEO.
There are a few things you can do to improve your website’s user experience:
- Make sure your website is easy to navigate.
- Use the clear and concise text on your website should be easy to read and understand.
- Using engaging visuals such as images, videos, and infographics can help keep users interested in your content.
So these were a few of the most important SEO tips that you need to keep in mind for your website. Implementing these tips can help you improve your website’s SEO and, as a result, its search engine rankings.
Final Thoughts
Now that you’ve understood how to complete a technical SEO audit for your website, it’s time to start putting these tips into practice. Remember, SEO is an ongoing process, so don’t expect to see results overnight.
But if you’re patient and you keep at it, you’ll eventually start to see your website move up in the search rankings. And when that happens, you’ll be glad you took the time to improve your SEO.
