How to Complete a Technical SEO Audit in 8 Steps
In order to ensure that a website is optimized for search engines and performing at its best, conducting a technical SEO audit is essential.
This audit involves a thorough examination of various technical aspects of the website to identify any issues that may be affecting its search engine visibility and user experience.
- 8 Steps to Complete an SEO Audit
- Step 1: Setting up the Website’s Main Mirror
- Step 2: Checking robots.txt
- Step 3: Availability of a Correct Site Map (sitemap.xml)
- Step 4: Mobile Rendering
- Step 5: Page Response Code
- Step 6: Canonical Pages and Their Alternate Versions
- Step 7: Page Loading Speed
- Step 8: Presence of Duplicates and Broken Links
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
- 1. What is a technical SEO audit, and why is it important?
- 2. What are the key components of a technical SEO audit?
- 3. How do you assess website accessibility and crawlability during a technical SEO audit?
- 4. What steps can you take to evaluate URL structure and internal linking?
- 5. How can you assess site speed and performance as part of a technical SEO audit?
- 6. What techniques can you use to evaluate mobile-friendliness and responsive design?
- 7. How can you assess indexation and canonicalization issues during a technical SEO audit?
- 8. What steps should you take to evaluate HTTPS and website security?
- 9. How can you assess structured data markup and schema.org implementation?
- 10. What techniques can you use to identify and address technical errors such as 404 errors and redirect chains?
- 11. What tools can be used to perform a technical SEO audit?
- 12. How can you identify and fix duplicate content issues during a technical SEO audit?
- 13. How can you optimize XML sitemaps as part of a technical SEO audit?
- 14. How can you improve website speed and performance based on audit findings?
- 15. What are some common pitfalls to avoid when conducting a technical SEO audit?
8 Steps to Complete an SEO Audit
In this article, we will outline the eight steps to complete a technical SEO audit.
Step 1: Setting up the Website’s Main Mirror
The first step in a technical SEO audit is to ensure that the website has a main mirror set up correctly.
This involves checking that the preferred version of the website (www or non-www) is specified and that the appropriate redirects are in place to ensure that all traffic is directed to the preferred version.
Step 2: Checking robots.txt
Next, it is important to review the website’s robots.txt file.
This file instructs search engine crawlers on which pages to crawl and which pages to exclude.
It is vital to ensure that the robots.txt file is properly configured to allow search engines to access important pages while blocking any sensitive or duplicate content that should not be indexed.
Step 3: Availability of a Correct Site Map (sitemap.xml)
A sitemap is a file that provides search engines with a roadmap of all the pages on a website. It is crucial to have a correct and up-to-date sitemap.xml file in place.
This helps search engines discover and index all relevant pages, ensuring better visibility in search results.
Step 4: Mobile Rendering
In today’s mobile-first world, it is crucial to ensure that a website is mobile-friendly and renders correctly on different devices.
This step involves checking the website’s mobile responsiveness and usability to provide a seamless experience for mobile users.
Step 5: Page Response Code
Page response codes indicate the status of a web page and are essential for search engine crawling and indexing.
It is important to check for any pages returning error codes (such as 404 or 500) and address them accordingly. Proper response codes help search engines understand the status of a page and ensure that it is being indexed correctly.
Step 6: Canonical Pages and Their Alternate Versions
To avoid duplicate content issues, it is crucial to implement canonical tags correctly.
Canonical tags indicate the preferred version of a page when there are multiple versions available. Checking for proper implementation of canonical tags helps search engines understand which version of a page to prioritize in search results.
Step 7: Page Loading Speed
Page loading speed is a critical factor for both user experience and search engine rankings. Slow-loading pages can lead to higher bounce rates and lower search engine visibility.
It is important to analyze the website’s loading speed and identify any factors that may be slowing it down, such as large image files or excessive scripts.
Step 8: Presence of Duplicates and Broken Links
Finally, it is essential to identify and address any duplicate content or broken links on the website.
Duplicate content can confuse search engines and dilute the visibility of a website, while broken links can negatively impact user experience.
Conducting a thorough scan of the website helps identify and fix these issues, improving overall search engine performance.
Conclusion
By following these eight steps, you can effectively complete a technical SEO audit and ensure that your website is optimized for search engines.
Regularly conducting these audits and addressing any issues that arise will help improve your website’s visibility, user experience, and overall search engine rankings.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a technical SEO audit, and why is it important?
A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive evaluation of a website’s technical infrastructure and performance to identify issues that may affect its search engine visibility and rankings.
It involves examining factors such as site speed, crawlability, indexability, mobile-friendliness, and site architecture.
Conducting a technical SEO audit is important because it helps identify and address underlying technical issues that may hinder a website’s ability to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs) and provide a positive user experience.
2. What are the key components of a technical SEO audit?
Key components of a technical SEO audit include:
– Website accessibility and crawlability
– URL structure and internal linking
– Site speed and performance
– Mobile-friendliness and responsive design
– Indexation and canonicalization
– XML sitemaps and robots.txt file
– HTTPS and website security
– Structured data markup and schema.org implementation
– Duplicate content and thin content issues
– Technical errors such as 404 errors, server errors, and redirect chains
3. How do you assess website accessibility and crawlability during a technical SEO audit?
To assess website accessibility and crawlability, you can:
– Use tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to identify crawl errors, blocked resources, and accessibility issues.
– Check the robots.txt file to ensure it’s not blocking important pages or resources from being crawled by search engines.
– Review the website’s internal linking structure to ensure all pages are accessible within a few clicks from the homepage.
– Use a website crawler tool like Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl to identify broken links, orphaned pages, and other crawlability issues.
4. What steps can you take to evaluate URL structure and internal linking?
To evaluate URL structure and internal linking, you can:
– Review the website’s URL structure to ensure it’s logical, descriptive, and optimized for both users and search engines.
– Audit internal linking to identify opportunities for improving site architecture and distributing link equity throughout the website.
– Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to analyze internal link distribution, anchor text usage, and link authority across different pages.
5. How can you assess site speed and performance as part of a technical SEO audit?
To assess site speed and performance, you can:
– Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom to measure page load times and identify performance bottlenecks.
– Optimize images, CSS, JavaScript, and other resources to reduce file sizes and improve loading times.
– Implement browser caching, gzip compression, and other performance optimizations recommended by speed testing tools.
– Consider upgrading hosting plans or using a content delivery network (CDN) to improve server response times and global website performance.
6. What techniques can you use to evaluate mobile-friendliness and responsive design?
To evaluate mobile-friendliness and responsive design, you can:
– Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to assess how well your website performs on mobile devices and identify any mobile usability issues.
– Test your website across different devices, screen sizes, and orientations to ensure a consistent and user-friendly experience.
– Check for mobile-specific issues such as unplayable content, viewport configuration errors, and font size legibility.
7. How can you assess indexation and canonicalization issues during a technical SEO audit?
To assess indexation and canonicalization issues, you can:
– Review the website’s XML sitemap to ensure it includes all relevant pages and accurately reflects the website’s structure and hierarchy.
– Check for duplicate content issues and ensure proper implementation of canonical tags to consolidate duplicate or similar content variants.
– Use the site: operator in Google search to check which pages are indexed and compare it to the pages in your XML sitemap.
8. What steps should you take to evaluate HTTPS and website security?
To evaluate HTTPS and website security, you can:
– Ensure that your website is served over HTTPS to encrypt data transmission and provide a secure browsing experience for users.
– Use SSL/TLS certificates from reputable certificate authorities and configure server settings to enforce HTTPS site-wide.
– Monitor for security vulnerabilities and implement best practices such as regular software updates, strong password policies, and secure hosting environments.
9. How can you assess structured data markup and schema.org implementation?
To assess structured data markup and schema.org implementation, you can:
– Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to validate structured data markup and identify errors or warnings.
– Review schema.org documentation to ensure that markup is implemented correctly and consistently across relevant pages.
– Check for opportunities to enhance rich snippet visibility by implementing structured data for relevant content types such as articles, products, events, and reviews.
10. What techniques can you use to identify and address technical errors such as 404 errors and redirect chains?
To identify and address technical errors, you can:
– Use tools like Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, or third-party crawlers to identify crawl errors, server errors, and broken links.
– Create custom 404 error pages to provide users with helpful navigation options and encourage them to stay on your website.
– Implement 301 redirects to redirect users and search engines from outdated or non-existent URLs to relevant, updated pages.
– Monitor server logs and error reports regularly to identify recurring issues and address them proactively.
By conducting a thorough technical SEO audit and addressing identified issues, you can improve your website’s performance, accessibility, and search engine visibility, ultimately enhancing the user experience and driving organic traffic and conversions.
11. What tools can be used to perform a technical SEO audit?
Several tools can be used to perform a technical SEO audit, including:
– Screaming Frog SEO Spider: This tool crawls websites and provides detailed information on various technical aspects such as broken links, redirects, page titles, meta descriptions, and more.
– Google Search Console: It offers valuable insights into a website’s performance in Google search results, including indexing status, crawl errors, mobile usability, and security issues.
– Bing Webmaster Tools: Similar to Google Search Console, it provides insights into a website’s performance in Bing search results, including crawl errors, sitemap issues, and security warnings.
– SEMrush: It offers a comprehensive suite of SEO tools, including site audit, which helps identify technical SEO issues such as crawlability, indexability, site speed, and mobile-friendliness.
– Ahrefs: This tool provides insights into a website’s backlink profile, but it also offers a site audit feature that helps identify technical SEO issues such as broken links, redirects, and on-page optimization issues.
12. How can you identify and fix duplicate content issues during a technical SEO audit?
To identify and fix duplicate content issues, you can:
– Use tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider to crawl your website and identify duplicate content by analyzing page titles, meta descriptions, and content.
– Use canonical tags to specify the preferred version of duplicate or similar content and consolidate ranking signals to the canonical URL.
– Implement 301 redirects to redirect users and search engines from duplicate or non-canonical URLs to the preferred canonical URL.
– Ensure that internal links point to the canonical URL to consolidate link equity and avoid diluting ranking signals across duplicate content variants.
13. How can you optimize XML sitemaps as part of a technical SEO audit?
To optimize XML sitemaps, you can:
– Ensure that your XML sitemap is up-to-date and includes all relevant pages, especially new or recently updated content.
– Prioritize important pages by specifying their priority and frequency of change in the XML sitemap to help search engines crawl and index them more efficiently.
– Submit your XML sitemap to search engines like Google and Bing via their respective Search Console or Webmaster Tools interfaces.
– Use XML sitemap index files to manage multiple XML sitemap files for large or complex websites with many pages or content types.
14. How can you improve website speed and performance based on audit findings?
To improve website speed and performance based on audit findings, you can:
– Optimize images by compressing them, reducing their file size, and using modern image formats like WebP.
– Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to remove unnecessary whitespace, comments, and code that can slow down page rendering.
– Leverage browser caching to store static resources like images, CSS, and JavaScript files locally on users’ devices to reduce server load and improve page load times.
– Use a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute website content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency and improving content delivery speed for users globally.
15. What are some common pitfalls to avoid when conducting a technical SEO audit?
Some common pitfalls to avoid when conducting a technical SEO audit include:
– Focusing solely on technical issues without considering broader SEO factors such as content quality, relevance, and user experience.
– Overlooking the importance of ongoing monitoring and maintenance to address new issues and ensure long-term SEO success.
– Relying too heavily on automated tools and neglecting manual inspection and analysis of audit findings.
– Ignoring the impact of technical changes on user experience and conversion rates, prioritizing search engine optimization over human usability.
– Neglecting to prioritize and address high-impact issues first, such as critical security vulnerabilities or major performance bottlenecks that can significantly impact website visibility and user experience.
By addressing these questions, you can gain a deeper understanding of how to complete a technical SEO audit effectively and optimize your website for better search engine visibility, user experience, and performance.
