As a business owner, you understand the importance of being found online. In order to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), many business owners turn to search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of improving the ranking of a website on search engines. This can be done through various methods, including optimizing the website’s content, structure, and on-page elements like titles, metatags, and anchor text.
You may have heard of a technical SEO audit and you’re wondering if it’s something your website needs. A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive review of a website’s technical SEO factors, with the goal of identifying areas that need improvement. While it may seem like a daunting task, a technical SEO audit can be incredibly beneficial to your website’s SEO.
When it comes to SEO, there are a lot of things business owners need to know in order to get their website ranked higher in SERPs. One important aspect of SEO is technical SEO. Technical SEO is the process of optimizing a website’s technical factors in order to improve its ranking on search engines. While this may seem like a daunting task, a technical SEO audit can be incredibly beneficial to your website’s SEO.
It can be tough to know where to start when it comes to technical SEO. You may not have the right tools, or you may not know what to look for. And if you don’t know how to fix the problems you find, it can be overwhelming. This article will help simplify the process and show you how to get started with your own technical SEO audit.
What is a Technical SEO audit and why do you need one
Before you can start working on your website’s SEO, you need to understand what technical SEO is and why it’s important. Technical SEO is the process of optimizing a website’s technical factors in order to improve its search engine rankings. This includes optimizing the website’s content, structure, and on-page elements like titles, metatags, and anchor text.
A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive review of a website’s technical SEO ranking factors, with the goal of identifying areas that need improvement. This is important because it helps you identify any potential problems that could be holding your website back from ranking higher in SERPs.
Why You Need a Technical SEO Audit
If you want your website to rank higher in SERPs, then you need to make sure it’s technically sound. A technical SEO audit will help you identify any potential problems that could be holding your website back from ranking higher. This is important because it can help you fix those problems and improve your website’s SEO.
Benefits of a Technical SEO Audit
There are many benefits to conducting a technical SEO audit. First, it can help to identify any technical issues that may be affecting a website’s ranking. Second, it can help to improve a website’s overall search visibility. And third, it can help to improve the quality of organic traffic. All of these benefits can lead to more leads and sales for a business.
Common Challenges with Technical SEO
SEO is constantly evolving, which can make it difficult for businesses to keep up with the latest changes. One way to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines is to perform a technical SEO audit. This process involves examining various aspects of your website, such as duplicate pages, broken links, page speed, crawl errors, URL structure, site architecture, user experience, external links, page load speed, mixed content, security issues, mobile first indexing and much more.
By identifying potential areas of improvement, a technical SEO audit can help you make the necessary changes to improve your website’s ranking in search results. In addition, a technical SEO audit can also help you prevent potential penalties from Google. As such, it is an essential part of any SEO strategy.
How to Perform a Technical SEO audit on your website
Now that we’ve gone over why you need a technical SEO audit and some of the challenges you may face, let’s take a look at how to actually perform one.
There are a few different methods you can use to conduct a technical SEO audit. The first is to use a tool like ShineRanker.com. This tool allows you to crawl your website and identify any potential technical issues.
Another method is to manually examine your website. This involves looking at things like your website’s structure, title tags, meta descriptions, and anchor text. By doing this, you can identify any potential areas of improvement.
Finally, you can also use Google Search Console to conduct a technical SEO audit. This tool provides valuable insights into how your website is performing in SERPs. It also allows you to identify any potential technical issues that may be affecting your ranking.
What to look for when you’re performing a Technical SEO Audit
Let’s look at what you should be searching for after we’ve gone over how to perform a technical SEO audit. There are a few key factors you should keep in mind when conducting a technical SEO audit.
Crawling and Indexing
First, you need to make sure that your website is accessible to search engines. This means ensuring that there are no technical issues that would prevent them from crawling and indexing your website.
Mobile-friendly
Second, you need to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. This means ensuring that it can be accessed and used on mobile devices.
Website structure and organization
Third, you must verify that the pages of your website are correctly optimized for search engines. This includes things like title tags, meta descriptions, and anchor text.
Site speed and performance
Fourth, you must ensure that your website’s pages load quickly. This is important because page speed is a ranking factor for search engines.
Structured data
Fifth, you need to make sure that your website’s pages are correctly formatted for search engines. This includes things like structured data and schema markup.
Site speed and performance
Finally, you need to make sure that your website is secure and loads under 2 seconds. This means ensuring that it has an SSL certificate and that all pages are served over HTTPS. It’s also essential that your website loads quickly.
Tools and resources to help you with your Technical SEO audit
Here are some tools and resources that can help you with your technical SEO audit:
Google Search Console – This tool provides valuable insights into how your website is performing in SERPs. It also allows you to identify any potential technical issues that may be affecting your ranking factor.
Google PageSpeed Insights – This tool allows you to measure the speed of your website’s pages.
ShineRanker.com – This is a tool that allows you to crawl your website and identify any potential technical issues.
GTmetrix – This tool allows you to measure the speed and performance of your website.
Screaming Frog – This tool allows you to crawl your website and identify any potential technical issues.
W3C Markup Validation Service – This tool allows you to check the validity of your website’s code.
SEMRush Site Audit – This tool allows you to conduct a comprehensive audit of your website.
These are just a few of the many tools and resources available to help you with your technical SEO audit. By using these tools, you can identify any potential technical issues that may be affecting your website’s ranking.
How Often Should You Conduct a Technical SEO Audit?
You should conduct a technical SEO audit at least once per year. However, if you make significant changes to your website, you may need to conduct more frequent audits. This is because changes to your website can impact its ranking factor in search results.
Conducting a technical SEO audit is an important part of maintaining a high ranking for your website. By using the tools and resources available, you can identify any potential technical issues that may be affecting your website’s ranking. Doing so will help to ensure that your website continues to perform well in search results.
Conclusion
SEO is the process of optimizing a website for search engines. This can be done through various methods, including optimizing the website’s content, structure, and on-page elements like titles, metatags, and anchor text. A technical SEO audit is a comprehensive review of a website’s technical SEO factors, with the goal of identifying areas that need improvement.
Tools and resources to help you with your Technical SEO audit are readily available online. By using these tools, you can identify any potential technical issues that may be affecting your website’s ranking. It is important to conduct a technical SEO audit at least once per year to ensure that your website is performing optimally in SERPs.
