Ultimate Guide: SEO Audit Process to Drive Your Google Rankings
If you want to nail the SEO Audit process, then follow this step-by-step guide as it will help you to boost your search traffic and rankings. Moreover, SEO audit has two significant things in common- The first one is it is too technical, and the second one is, it takes days or even weeks to complete the whole SEO Audit Process. If you have an enterprise website with hundreds of pages, then it will take a prolonged time to run an SEO Audit process. If your website falls in the category of small to medium size website, then it will be done in hours rather than days. Our aim over here is to do a technical SEO audit which you can do with any site audit tool. The sole objective over here is to provide a comprehensive approach to auditing your website from an SEO perspective. In a nutshell, auditing of the backlink profile, rankings, existing content anything that can hinder the search performance. Don’t worry, since we are here with a straightforward and beginner audit process.
Breakdown of the SEO Audit Process:
Step 1-4: Look for big issues that will be holding your site back.
Step 5-9: Discussion about easy-fix on-site problems.
Step 10-12: In-depth analysis of organic search traffic and will also look for low-hanging opportunities.
Step 13-14: Carry forward backlink analysis
Step 15-16: Undertake content audit and content gap analysis.
What are the tools required for the SEO Audit Process?
The tools that will be extensively used during the audit process are:
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
- Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- SERP Simulator
- Web Page Word Counter
- Copyscape
Though all of them are not so important but they will make the process effortless.
Let’s Get Started With the Process:
Step 1: Check If Only One Version of Your Site Is Browseable Or Not:
In the first step, all you have to do is to check whether the only version of your site is browseable or not. By applying hit and trial method type your website address into a browser.
For Instance:
- https://www.yourdomain.com
- http://yourdomain.com
- http://www.yourdomain.com
- https://yourdomain.com
- https://www.yourdomain.com
Now, only one of these should be accessible in a browser. The other versions should be 301 redirected to the canonical version. You will notice if you type HTTP version into the address bar, then it automatically redirects to the HTTPs version. Let us tell you, the non-www to www or vice-versa is not at all a problem, but you will find a lot of sites with the redirection issues for http to https.
Our Words of Wisdom: Use https:// as there is a slight ranking enhancement for SSL enabled sites. Moreover, it will keep the site secure, and it will boost the traffic. In this way, you will get a free SSL certificate for your site from ‘Let’s Encrypt.’
Step 2: Begin with a Website Crawl
Now run through a few more manual checks on the website. But first of all, start with a website crawl. An SEO provides useful information on the structure and current SEO setup. The few SEO analyzer tools that are capable of performing are Beam Us which is absolutely free of cost, and the other one is premium which is Screaming Frog. Now, enable the option of Check HTTP status of external links and execute JavaScript options. Ensure that all your Site Audit checks and all external links on your website and any JS links are up to the mark or not. Once you are done with this process, then create the project. At this juncture, your SEO audit will start working and that too in the background while you can continue with the audit.
Step 3: Look for Indexation Issues
If you are not being indexed in Google, then it means no rankings. To check if your site is indexed or not, go to Google Search Console> Google Index> Index Status. In case, if you don’t use Google Search Console, then don’t worry search in Google using the website. Furthermore, it will let you know how many pages Google has indexed for your domain, but bear in mind it is not always as accurate as search console.
Step 4: Check if you rank for your brand name or not
First of all, go to Google and search for your brand name. If your brand name is generic or if you use a common word as your brand name, then on Google it won’t be easy to rank because most people won’t like to see your website when searching for the branded term. In order to boost the brand building and link building, go for some strong and branded links. Now, run a PR campaign and strive to extract high-quality links from well-known brands. Furthermore, build some citations on business directories and ensure that the site has a Google Business listing. Follow this, and within no time, your brand will reach soar heights.
Step 5-9: In the fifth step of the audit process, manually perform on-page SEO checks. To begin with, check a few on-page fundamentals. We will suggest you start with the homepage and then afterwards do the same for other key pages of your site as well. In the next step, dig shallower into on-page issues in the crawl report. After this step, check for duplicate/plagiarized content. Allow us to tell you Google hates plagiarized content, and it is true. Bottom Line, if the content is duplicated across multipage pages on your site, then it is bad for your website ranking.
In the next step, check if your site and page loads faster or not. Since it is proven that the site speed is one of Google’s many ranking factors. After this step, look for structured data or errors. The next step in the audit process will be tested, and moreover, the structured data that the site may contain should be adequately formed.
Step 10-12: Scrutinize Organic Search Traffic
Basically, SEO audit identifies ways to escalate a website’s traffic. Therefore, to get the gist have a glance at how the site is currently performing. First and foremost, look at the site’s current organic search traffic. Now, click on the landing page to locate which pages are currently bringing in the most search traffic. Take a note of whether the organic traffic is increasing or decreasing.
In the eleventh step of the audit process, check for the rankings in order to head in the right direction. Take the help of Google Analytics as it will tell you how much organic search traffic you will attain. And after this step, look for pages that are ranking on the 5th to 10th position for high-volume keywords.
Step 13-14: In these steps, analyze your backlink profile and after that, find and fix broken links from your site. In the next step, look for broken pages on your site.
Step 15-16: Look for content gaps and moreover it is the need of the hour to rectify them as well. After the rectification, conduct a full content audit. Now, we have come closer to the final step of the SEO Audit.
If you don’t want to go on the wrong path, then make sure low-quality pages doesn’t drag your whole site down. Moreover, if you are a novice, then in this regard seek the help of Digital Marketing Agency.
Wrapping Up
The steps of SEO Audit are complete. Once you follow these steps systematically, then you will cover out lots of changes that will help to improve the rankings of your site. Though a full forensic SEO audit is a lengthier process, but it is definitely a great way to jump-start any SEO campaign. And if you don’t get it how to run a tailored SEO Campaign, then take the help of professional SEO experts. Partner with MagicByte Solutions, which is well-known as award-winning and top-tier Digital Marketing Agency.
MagicByte Solutions work-round the clock to get the client’s brand recognized on a global front. We channelize the digital efforts of brands to boost relevant traffic and to increase the visibility of the business on top search engines like Google and Bing. Our spectrum of digital marketing services helps the company to reach the right hands and new heights.