How to Do an SEO Audit
Every business is fighting for a spot on the front page of Google.
So you need to prove why you deserve it more than everybody else. This battle often leads business owners to the all-important task of search engine optimisation (SEO) – specifically, an SEO audit.
An SEO audit is a comprehensive process of assessing how well your online presence aligns with best practices. It’s essentially a diagnostic check-up. You’ll be able to identify areas of improvement, opportunities for growth, and strategies for staying ahead in the competitive landscape of search engine rankings.
How to Perform an SEO Audit of Your Website
Run a Site Audit Using Your Preferred Tool
1) Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider
This tool may appear intimidating at first due to its extensive features and technical jargon – but it’s okay, we got you.
For beginners wondering how to do an SEO audit, Screaming Frog SEO Spider offers an exceptionally thorough site crawl (as the name implies) since it can detect broken links, server errors, as well as redirect chains and loops.
It can also optimise on-page SEO elements. By showing your website’s titles, meta descriptions, header tags, and more, you’ll be able to pinpoint areas where your on-page SEO may be lacking. This functionality is particularly useful for larger websites, where manually reviewing each page would be unrealistic.
Screaming Frog shines in its versatility and customisation options, accommodating various audit needs. For instance, it’s capable of extracting custom data, implementing regex (regular expression) matching, discovering duplicate content, visualising site architecture, and integrating with Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Whether you’re a small business owner, an SEO specialist, or a digital marketing manager, Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider might just be the tool you need.
2) Google Analytics and Google Search Console
Moving on to the power duo of site audits, Google Analytics and Google Search Console can work hand-in-hand to provide a panoramic view of your website’s SEO health. In other words, these two platforms are like the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson of SEO analysis; they offer complimentary insights that, when combined, provide a complete picture.
Google Analytics is a powerhouse that provides granular data about your website’s visitors and their behaviour. This includes information about where your traffic is coming from, what pages users visit, how long they stay on your site, and what actions they take.
Such data is crucial for understanding your audience. A high bounce rate, for instance, might suggest issues with page loading speed, poor design, or content relevancy, enabling you to focus on these aspects during your SEO audit.
Google Search Console, on the other hand, focuses on your website’s relationship with Google’s search engine. It alerts you to any technical issues that could be impacting your site’s visibility in search results. It highlights errors in your sitemap, problems with mobile usability, and issues that might prevent Google from indexing your pages.
3) SEMrush
SEMrush is like the Swiss army knife of SEO marketing. It’s been part of our digital marketing arsenal for quite some time now since it goes beyond technical and on-page SEO.
It offers an in-depth analysis of your website’s backlink profile, showing you where your backlinks are coming from and how valuable they are, which is essential for your off-page SEO efforts.
SEMrush is also known for its keyword research capabilities. It not only shows where you rank for specific keywords, but it also gives you information about your competitors’ rankings and suggests new keyword opportunities. I definitely vouch for this SEO tool (this isn’t sponsored, I just love the tool).
