Any business owner will know how essential a good website is for success. This is true for a number of reasons – including customer awareness, adding legitimacy to your product or service and, of course, helping to get those all-important conversions. What you might not be so familiar with is SEO. Search engine optimisation is one of those regular housekeeping jobs you need to do to make sure your website works well, has the right kind of information, and is displayed in the best possible way. There are a lot of boxes to tick, making this important job a big one.
That’s why SEO audits are so important. They not only tell you what’s working well but also let you know which parts of your site need tweaking, updating or changing entirely. It’s like a health check for your website, making sure that everything is working as it should.
If you’ve never had an SEO audit before, we’ll cover the key things you should expect to see.
What is an SEO Audit?
SEO is a detailed review that looks at the technical aspects of your website, along with some of the more creative (but equally important!) parts like content. It includes a broad range of things, including meta titles and descriptions, linking (both internal and external) and the keywords you’re using. Some aspects of SEO will be more important to some businesses than others, but there’s a solid list that needs to be maintained by everyone – no matter how big or small or what your business does.
At a top level, an SEO audit will consider things like:
- Technical SEO: this is where you look at whether Google can find your website and how easily it can read through everything (we refer to this as indexing).
- On-Page SEO: Headings, how much content you have, and the keywords you’re using are all a focus here. You’ll also consider internal linking and making sure your website’s pages all “speak to each other” with those links.
- Off-Page SEO: It’s not just about your website – you’ll also want to consider your backlinking profile. This refers to the kind of links you have directed from other sites to your website. SEO link audits are a must-have!
- Content Quality: Google wants to find the most relevant content to answer queries. You’ll need to consider if your content offers the right kind of information to common questions and search queries that users are searching for.
A thorough audit will include all of these factors being looked at and analysed, ensuring you’re hitting the mark technically and creatively.
When Do I Need to Complete an SEO Audit?
SEO audits come in handy at many stages of your business’ lifecycle. They’re something you’ll want to incorporate as an ongoing practice, helping you keep up with the latest industry trends, search engine algorithm updates and, of course, keep you ahead of the competition.
Some of the key times to focus on an SEO audit include:
- When you launch a new website or have just completed a site migration. You’ll want to take a solid first step into the search engine results page, and making sure everything is as top-notch as it can be from (before) day one is essential!
- If you notice a drop in traffic or your overall website rank declines significantly. Some fluctuation is normal and will happen when algorithm changes occur, but for major dips that don’t seem to self-correct, you’ll want to take a deeper look at the how and why with an SEO audit.
- When there are new algorithm updates. Google will often give some context surrounding new changes to how they crawl websites, so checking if you’re up to scratch before that goes live is a good idea.
- Every quarter, when you’re doing your marketing plan. It’s not just about new product pages or service offerings as and when they’re ready but also about making sure you’re reviewing your site more holistically. Checking your website is still up to scratch at least once a quarter should be on the to-do list!
When you audit SEO, you’ll often find it’s the small things that can make a world of difference. From removing broken links and updating content for accuracy and relevance to fixing 404s and orphan pages, regular checks can be the difference between a good quarter and a great one!
What Do I Need to Set Up for an SEO Audit?
There are plenty of tools you can (and should!) use to help get the best information regarding your website’s functionality and to find any cracks in the foundation. Data is key when you audit SEO, including SEO link audits and content audits. In case you aren’t familiar, here are the top tools you should know about before you dig in:
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a key program that can be set up to track user behaviour when they visit your website. It also helps you discover how people found you and what their conversion journey looks like.
- Google Search Console (GSC) is invaluable in finding indexing issues and looking at performance, but it can also show you how you’re ranking when it comes to keywords.
- SEMRush or Ahrefs are both great for finding new keyword opportunities and looking at how your current keywords are ranking. Along with helping you audit your site, it also makes it a breeze to compare your own site’s performance against competitors.
- Screaming Frog is another technical helper, looking for broken links (that can come from product pages you’ve changed or removed) and other issues that can impact your website’s performance.
What Should Be Included in an SEO Audit?
When it comes to what you should expect from an SEO audit, there are a few key metrics to look at. They cover the topics we’ve already mentioned, including on-page elements but also external linking.
How this information is displayed and which parts are focused on can also vary depending on what you do. For example, a lead generation focus for a service-based business will have a different-looking audit (and slightly different priorities) than an ecommerce business.
On-Page SEO Audit
This is the digital, online equivalent of checking that the storefront of a high street shop is up to standard. It makes sure that all the visible parts are set up the way they should be. It’ll include things like title tags and meta descriptions, ensuring they’re accurate and well-written and have also incorporated keywords that reflect the page they’re leading to. It should also include on-page elements like headers and their structure – this includes making sure you only have one H1 and your sequential headings have a logical and clear flow. You can also expect to see a review of your URLs and their structure, along with internal linking.
Off-Page SEO Audit
Along with what’s going on on your website itself, you should also expect to see who is pointing links to your site and how those links work. The nature of backlinks has changed over the years, but they’re still an essential part of SEO health and help your website’s authority.
Your SEO link audit should look at the quality of the website featuring the link. The anchor text (the bit of text that people click on) should also be relevant and reflective of the page it’s leading to on your site. For example, you’d avoid saying “Click here”; rather, you’d want text that indicates the information, service or product on the linked page.
Technical SEO Audit
The technical side looks more at the way your website is pieced together rather than the front-end bits like content, links and meta text. The key focus in the technical SEO audit side includes things like crawl errors. Crawling is Google’s way of looking through the flow of your pages and how they connect. If there are broken links or 404 pages, it can impact your ranking.
Your SEO auditor should also look at things like whether your site is mobile-friendly and how responsive and easy to navigate it is. They’ll consider things that can impact bounce rate, like loading time, site speed and security you’d get with an SSL certificate.
Finally, one of the key things to look for in the technical portion of an audit is schema markup, which is a language made for search engines to find and sort your website’s content. Adding it in if you don’t have it can help improve that all-important visibility and success on the results page!
Auditing Content for SEO
A website won’t achieve a whole lot without content and good copywriting – which is why content SEO audits are important! There are general guidelines surrounding how much content you need on any given page, along with how it’s laid out under a heading structure and how many links you should include.
Your audit should consider keywords – this spans ensuring you have relevant keywords and aren’t keyword stuffing (or using them too infrequently!). Your audit will also check if any pages are resulting in keyword cannibalisation, which happens when you try to rank for the same keyword across two or more pages.
Other content-related factors include how fresh your content is, whether it’s original and how human it is. Essentially, you want to avoid content plagiarism, keep the AI content to a minimum and keep it up to date. Content needs refreshing now and again, which not only makes sure it’s relevant but also prompts Google to take another look at it and keep you on the SERP.
How Do I Monitor SEO Performance Post-Audit?
An SEO audit is a great place to identify issues, but it’s only the beginning! You’ll then have a whole lot of homework to do to help fix any issues and get things up to a standard that’ll help progress your business.
Once you’ve implemented what your SEO auditor has recommended, you’ll want to look at a few metrics to see how those changes have helped. These usually include things like:
- Website visitors, bounce rates, conversions or leads generated.
- Keyword ranking and how you’re looking on the search engine results page.
- How your domain authority changes over time. This one is a slower burn, but those external links and your link profile will impact this over time.
- Conversions and the conversion rate and journey that your customers and clients take.
To track everything, you’ll want to use GA4 and GSC, which can also show you historical data and give you a bigger picture of how you’ve improved over time.
Do I Have to Reaudit My Site in the Future?
Yes, absolutely! Imagine your website as a living, breathing thing that needs care and maintenance to survive and grow. Regularly auditing your website’s SEO is essential in making sure you’re not just aiming for short, quick wins; instead, you’ll be delivering the consistency you need for long-term success and growth!
Sound Like a Lot? Get the Help of an Expert
SEO audits not only spot those small but crucial gaps in your website’s structure, but they also help you and your business reach more of your potential. Whether you’re aiming for local SEO or want to expand into new markets internationally, having a solid team taking care of your audits can take the pressure off you and deliver those top-tier results. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see results!
To get a detailed view of your website’s SEO health with actionable tips that’ll give you real results, contact us for a free strategy and SEO audit session.
