SEO audit: What it is, what it should include, and how to perform it
Since there is a whole lot of rage with video optimization, search engine optimization, content optimization and optimization of any and every digital material its time we discussed SEO auditing. Let us start by answering the question: what is an SEO audit? Simply put an SEO audit is an assessment that aims to measure how likely a particular website is to appear on search engine results. (also known as search engine result pages, SERP)
Executed efficiently an audit allows you to gauge the reachability of your page and furthermore equip you with an accurate understanding of the elements that are working as the elements that are not. Now that we know what an SEO audit is, here is a listicle that expresses what an SEO audit should include, this could also be used as a sort of audit checklist.
Technical SEO
A technical SEO audit is the process that as the name suggests enables you to evaluate the technical aspects of your website. The execution of this aspect involves search engine bots crawling through the website and ranking the pages. The factors that affect a technical SEO audit are hosting, indexing, page loading, site content, targeted keywords, backlinks, as well as references.
Technical, on-page, and off- page factors contribute to the process of technical SEO audit.
Page titles
Page titles contribute a great deal to how the website is perceived by the audience and more importantly by the crawler. Page titles must ideally contain a keyword and must not exceed a particular word count. Another related element to this is to make sure the metadata is unique, effective, and also under 300 characters.
Website crawl
A website crawler will imitate the google crawler and get back to you with useful information and check the status of your links, HTTP status, as well as external links. Beam us up is a free software that can be used to execute this aspect of an SEO audit.
Indexation
Google can be used for the execution of this step, it is really important to be indexed considering the fact that being indexed is a precursor to getting a ranking. Google will also tell you exactly how many pages it has indexed for your particular domain.
Duplicate and thin content
There is nothing the crawler despises more than the existence of duplicate content so it is in the best interest of your website to go the extra mile and make sure that content is not duplicated over multiple pages. This could be an extremely detrimental aspect and will sink your rankings significantly.
Page loading
Another important aspect of an SEO audit is to make sure or atleast gauge the speed at which your page loads. Fast loading sites obviously provide the user with a better experience than one that does not.
Backlink profile
Backlinks have been and continue to act as an important aspect that dictates ranking and performance, which makes it a good idea to check the viability of the links as a part of the SEO audit process. (It is a good idea to fix all broken links as well ).
Organic traffic
Google allows you to gauge your organic online traffic with the help of Google analytics. This should let you know how exactly your website is performing, how effective your landing page is, what your total traffic is, and whatever other variable you would like to be aware of.
These are some of the some of the elements that must be evaluated during an SEO audit and what it must include at all cost. The aforementioned can also be used as an audit checklist for the same process.
Now that we are aware of this, it is important to address yet another essential question, and that is what is the best website for an SEO audit?
It goes without saying that this is an extremely important aspect of having an online presence and while there are websites and means to evaluate each individual aspect there also exists websites that render all these services, this is an option you should consider if convenience is a priority. The best website(s) for an SEO audit are Semrush, Moz, and webceo.
These websites execute the audit with high standards that are bound to equip you with relevant insight as well as accurate information regarding your website.