What to Look for When Performing an SEO Audit on Your Website

SEO is optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which can increase traffic, improve user experience, and ultimately boost revenue.

However, SEO is not a one-time fix; it requires ongoing effort and continuous analysis. Keep reading to discover what to look for when performing an SEO audit on your website, so you can identify areas that need improvement and develop a plan to enhance your website’s visibility and performance.

1. Site Structure and Navigation

A well-organized site structure and clear navigation can improve the user experience and make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site. When examining site structure during an SEO audit, you’ll want to ensure the following:

• Create a clear hierarchy of pages and organize content into categories and subcategories.
• Your website’s navigation should be intuitive and easy to use, with clear labels and logical groupings of pages.
• Each page on your site should have internal links pointing to other relevant pages, helping visitors navigate your site.

2. On-Page SEO

This involves changing various elements on the page, such as the content, HTML source code, and images. On-page SEO tactics typically focus on improving the relevance and usability of the content, optimizing the page’s metadata, and ensuring that the site is crawlable by search engines.

Some specific on-page SEO factors to consider during an audit include:

• Title tags and meta descriptions
• Headings and subheadings
• Keyword optimization
• Internal linking, etc.

3. Content Quality

When conducting an SEO audit, it is essential to evaluate the quality of your content to ensure that it is informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience.

To assess the quality of your content, several factors must be considered. You must ensure that the content is:

• Relevant to the target audience and the keywords you are targeting
• Original and not copied from other websites
• Filled with accurate and up-to-date information
• Easy to read and understand, with clear headings, subheadings, and paragraphs

Use the Eye10 Keyword Planner to find relevant keyword ideas for your webpage

4. Mobile-Friendliness

When conducting an SEO audit, it is important to evaluate the mobile-friendliness of your website to ensure that it is optimized for mobile devices. Ask yourself the following questions as you do so:

• Does your website have a responsive design?
• Is your website fast to load on mobile devices?
• Are clickable elements on your website, such as buttons and links, large enough to be easily clicked on a touchscreen device?
• Is your website’s content easy to read on a small screen?

5. Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to optimizing your website’s infrastructure and technical elements to improve your search engine rankings.

Some of the technical SEO elements you should evaluate include the following:

• Use descriptive and keyword-rich URLs that accurately reflect the content on the page.
• Create an XML sitemap if your website is large enough (contains more than 500 pages).
• Use a robots.text file to signal which pages should be crawled or excluded from search engines.
• Ensure that your website is secure.

6. Site Speed

A website that is slow to load can be frustrating, resulting in a poor user experience and lower engagement.

In addition, search engines like Google have indicated that site speed is a ranking factor, meaning faster websites may rank higher in search engine results.

To improve your site speed, you can take several actions, such as:

• Compressing images and other media
• Minimising CSS and JavaScript files
• Leveraging browser caching
• Upgrading your hosting plan
• Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Reducing HTTP requests
• Checking speed optimization opportunities using the Eye10 Pagespeed tool to gather data from Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.

7. Social Media Integration

This involves assessing how your website is connected to your social media channels and whether or not you are making the most of these platforms to drive traffic and engagement.

Consider how you are using social media to promote your website. Are you regularly sharing your content and engaging with your followers? Are you using paid social media advertising to drive traffic to your site?

Optimizing your social media integration can improve your website’s visibility and ranking.

8. Local SEO

Local SEO is essential to any website audit, especially if you have a business that serves customers in a specific geographic area.

The following are the steps you need to take to enhance your local SEO:

• You need your accurate business name, address, and phone number (also known as NAP).
• Register your business and website on Google My Business and local listings and directories.
• Create location-specific content on your website with relevant keywords.

9. Backlinks and External Links

When examining backlinks during an SEO audit, you’ll want to focus on the quality and relevance of the links. External links are also important to consider during an SEO audit.

Ensure that all external links on your site work properly and direct visitors to be relevant and reputable sources. Broken or irrelevant links can harm your website’s user experience and impact your SEO rankings.

In addition, it can also be helpful to look at your competitors’ links for link-building opportunities. This is where the Eye10 Competitor Research tool is really useful for any SEO professional.

10. Analytics and Tracking

To perform a successful SEO audit, you must connect your website to analytics and tracking tools that provide valuable insights into how visitors interact with your website and can help you identify areas for improvement.

Google Analytics is a free tool that provides detailed information about your website’s traffic. Another important tool is Google Search Console, which provides information about your website’s performance in search engine results pages (SERPs).

In addition to these tools, you also need the Eye10 suite of SEO tools. Eye10 lists several tools for competitor research, keyword planning, backlink monitoring, rank checker, and more, all for a combined low subscription of $39 with enhanced insights and real-time data.

Conclusion

By following the tips and best practices outlined in this article, you can identify areas for improvement and implement changes to enhance your website’s SEO. Remember to regularly monitor your website’s performance and stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and algorithms to stay ahead of the competition.

Suppose you are looking for a suite of powerful SEO tools to help you optimize your website. In that case, you must sign up on Eye10, which can provide valuable insights and actionable recommendations to take your website’s SEO to the next level.