Nowadays, your site success is heavily tied to your SEO efforts. Virtually every website owner out there should perform Search Engine Optimization tactics to increase their rankings and popularity among the SERPs. Thus, relying on organic methods to improve your site’s performance is a must.
Whenever you want to know how your website is doing, efficiency-wise, you must perform an SEO audit. With it, you can analyze which features of your campaign are being fruitful and which aren’t. It’s an essential task you must implement now and then.
However, ranking factors have changed tremendously throughout the years, and those metrics that were relevant in the past may not be today. Besides optimizing keywords, backlinks, and content, there are many other elements you must keep in mind. Responsive and mobile-friendly sites are precious in today’s world. Search engines are now considering mobile versions as its top priority when it comes to ranking and indexing.
What should I check when performing an SEO Site Audit?
Even for the most professional business owners, implementing an SEO audit can be daunting. There are many things you need to check to optimize your site at its fullest. However, it doesn’t mean that’s impossible.
Here are some of the most important factors to keep an eye on.
– The technical aspect of your SEO, which includes hosting and indexing.
– On-site SEO metrics such as content, keywords, and metadata.
– Link building strategies and external references.
To understand how the technical aspects of your site are doing, you need to identify what crawlers see when scanning your pages. You can check this by crawling your website to detect potential problems.
Common problems you can find when crawling your site:
-An unintended noindex tag around your code. Adding this tag will stop search engines from indexing a page.
– 404 or 500 errors. The first one happens when you have one of your pages set up to rank to a specific term, but due to some other circumstances, the page doesn’t exist anymore. 500 errors usually refer to server problems.
– Not having a structured website. Make sure that your site’s architecture is well organized and avoid creating deep ends. Make your pages easy for crawlers to navigate through, as this will determine your rankings among the SERPs.
On-site SEO-related problems:
– Lack of metadata. Such is the case of title tags and meta descriptions. Titles should match the content on a page and be representative of your brand’s name. Likewise, a well-crafted meta description can determine your site’s conversion rate. Providing a short but clear explanation of your pages in the SERPs can drive more traffic to your site.
– Thin content. This type of content has little or no value at all, and it’s a big no-no if you want your site to rank high. Creating compelling and valuable content is the backbone of your SEO strategy. You need to be clear on who your target audience is and what they need. Appealing to their emotions and desires will boost your site’s visibility and popularity among SERPs. Keep the content original, relevant, and updated so crawlers can recognize its worth.
– Not having a strategy behind the keywords you target. Without this, you might as well shut down you’re your site. Keyword research and optimization strategy are one of the first steps of on-page SEO. Find words and phrases relevant to your niche and place them strategically among your pages. When possible, use unusual or unpopular terms to increase their popularity. You’ll likely have higher chances of ranking for them among SERPs.
Off-site SEO-related problems:
– Having little or no internal and external links. Backlinks are essential for SEO. They are the way search engines can: 1. Understand better what your site is about, and 2. Determine your site’s authority. Make sure your internal links are structured and balanced and that your external links come from reputable sources.