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Loading...A successful SEO process of a website depends on many different factors. There are over 200 ranking factors that determine the position of your website in Google search results. One of the first, very important steps in the SEO process is to perform an audit, based on which it is possible to analyze the most important parameters and examine all SEO-relevant elements on a given website.
SEO audit is a thorough analysis of the current website condition, during which the level of its compatibility with the requirements and guidelines prepared by Google is checked. If you want to learn more, click the link: Google Webmaster Guidelines. Based on the gathered data, it is possible to prepare a special document containing all the most important recommendations concerning the analyzed website. Their correct implementation should have a positive impact on web traffic and visibility in the search results.
SEO audit should be performed for every website for which you want to increase visibility in the search engine. This is a guideline that will help you to correctly perform further optimization.
It is of particular importance especially at the beginning of the SEO process, as it determines a preliminary plan for further actions. It is also worthwhile to decide on conducting an SEO audit when you notice a decrease in organic traffic, i.e. the number of visits to the website from search engines, and when you want to check whether your website meets current standards.
SEO audit is aimed at evaluating the degree of optimization of the most important elements of a given website, showing its positive and negative aspects, as well as indicating errors that prevent the website from being correctly indexed in search engines. By conducting an SEO audit, it is possible to identify the elements that require improvement in order to achieve higher positions in the search results for given keywords, which results in increased website visibility.
In Delante we really pay extra attention to conducting an SEO audit of our customers’ websites – we do it at the very beginning of the cooperation with a new client. The audit is kind of a base for the whole SEO process. Without it, I can’t imagine starting working on the website as it allows us to evaluate the current state of the site and plan the strategy for its optimization.
There are many tools that enable to check the validity of particular elements of a website. They are particularly important when you want to conduct a detailed analysis of a website. Thanks to them you can obtain loads of data concerning your website, which can prove to be extremely helpful during the further optimization process.
However, it is worth noting that a correctly conducted SEO audit is not just dry facts. Tools provide you with data, but in order to draw useful conclusions from it, you first need to interpret the information you obtain. This requires substantial knowledge and experience, on the basis of which it is possible to draw appropriate conclusions and propose the best solutions.
Among the most popular tools for conducting an SEO audit you may find:
In order to use all the functions of the Google Search Console tool, you need to make a simple and quick configuration – it’s worth doing it as early as possible. There are several methods for “connecting” your site to Google Search Console. The most popular one is to add a short meta tag in the <head> section of a specific website’s HTML code. Alternative solutions include signing into domain registrar and verify your website by adding DNS TXT or using Google Analytics account for authorization. For a person conducting an SEO audit, data obtained from Google Search Console are invaluable. Thanks to them and adequate analysis, many conclusions may be drawn, which will allow to determine further SEO strategies.
There are plenty of paid tools that are really helpful when conducting an SEO audit on your own. Most of them are quite expensive, that’s why usually only SEO agencies can afford to buy a license or subscription. The use of many tools, both paid and free-of-charge, gives a full picture of your current website condition. The most popular paid tools that effectively support the SEO audit are:
You can also find special browser extensions, which are very helpful when conducting an SEO audit. The most popular ones are:
Technical analysis is carried out in order to check the basic technical SEO parameters of the website. The most important stages of technical analysis are:
Content on the website is aimed at informing users of what a particular page is about. It should be substantial and provide all the most important information about the company’s offer. Thanks to carefully prepared content, a given website has a chance to rank higher in the search engines, which will result in increased web traffic. A website may have great UX with beautiful UI, but it still generates no sales at all. Why is that? For a very simple reason. No one will find it in the search engine.
With high-quality content, your website has a much better chance to appear in the search engine. When conducting an SEO audit, you should check whether there is enough content on a given page. It is recommended that the homepage should contain a block of text of at least 500 words, whereas category pages – 250 words. However, it is important that your content is unique and not copied from other websites. The content should also include H1 and H2 headings, which provide the hierarchical structure of your website. When analyzing the content, it is also worth checking whether it contains HTML emphasis tags, such as <strong> and <em>, which indicate the most important information and provide better navigation on the website.
For valuable tips on how to analyze the content, check our entry: How to properly conduct a content audit?
SEO audit is a complex process, during which it is necessary to analyze many different components and technical parameters of a given website. A very common mistake made by people who don’t have the required knowledge and experience is an incorrect interpretation of the data gathered during the analysis of the website and drawing wrong conclusions. The difficulty of using available SEO tools can also prove to be a major problem, which can also lead to misleading conclusions.
Without a doubt, SEO audit is not a simple process. The number of issues you need to pay attention to is enormous, that is why it would be hard not to overlook something when conducting an SEO audit on your own. Ranking factors that Google crawlers take into account are evolving dynamically, which means that people who don’t deal with SEO on a daily basis may not have sufficient knowledge about it.
Speaking of which, we recommend taking a closer look at our entry: Google ranking factors – check how to influence the search engine
As we have already mentioned above, most of SEO tools and extensions are highly complex and are constantly being developed. This makes their prices are often beyond the reach of people doing SEO on their own. In such a situation, competitors, who use paid tools in the SEO process, are way ahead of you.
SEO agencies have many years of experience in this field and excellent knowledge of the latest trends. In addition to the document itself, which takes into account the current website condition from SEO perspective, clients often receive valuable suggestions on UX and web design. Experts, with the help of charts and figures, are also able to draw constructive suggestions and recommendations.
Would you like to know how’s your website doing SEO-wise? Contact us and we perform a detailed SEO audit for you!
SEO specialists know what usually causes errors on websites and are familiar with methods of eliminating them. They also cooperate with developers, who are able to rapidly introduce technical modifications and make some changes in website code. For this reason, instead of conducting an SEO audit on your own, it is worth considering whether cooperation with experienced professionals would be a more cost-effective solution in the long term.
Remember also that there are SEO agencies that free-of-charge audits even before signing the agreement. Unfortunately, quite often such analyses are based on basis tools, which rarely indicate accurate data. Recommendations from these types of documents usually don’t bring much value to website owners. A good SEO audit takes into account all relevant aspects of the website from the point of view of search engines and users.
Check out also what should a proper SEO audit include.
Conducting an SEO audit is absolutely necessary for every website for which you want to increase visibility in the search engine.
Thanks to it, it is possible to evaluate all SEO-relevant parameters and determine the changes that must be made for the page to appear in higher positions for selected keywords. An audit can be a sort of draft of the company’s further marketing strategies, on the basis of which you can plan actions such as SEO or paid online advertising.
Performing a simple SEO audit on your own requires an understanding of the necessary terminology and learning a number of tools for website analysis. However, there is a risk that once you obtain loads of data, its analysis may prove to be really difficult. That is why cooperation with an experienced SEO specialist, who has access to numerous tools and is able to interpret data correctly, will turn out to be the best solution to increase visibility in the search results and website traffic.
