(Newswire.net — August 12, 2021) — Did you know that if you don’t rank on the first page of Google, there’s a 0.68% chance of someone clicking on your link?
That means if you found this article on page 2, congratulations! You are the one in 147 who clicked on the second page! Or, if you click on this and it’s at the top, the chances of you clicking are one in three! Check here for a great option to buy seo backlinks.
That goes to show how important an SEO audit is, and how it can make or break your website. So let’s take a look at how to do an SEO audit for the best results!
Understanding Rankings and SEO
Understanding an SEO audit meaning is vital. The SEO audit definition is checking what’s causing your site to rank, or not rank, on a search engine such as Google.
The most effective way to find out what works well with your site is by looking at other sites like yours. You’ll want to compare yourself against others who have similar content as you. But also those who may be doing something different from you. This will help you understand where you’re succeeding and where you need improvement.
You should always start off by checking your own analytics data. These give you some insight into which pages perform better than others. If you see any patterns, then you can use them to inform future changes.
Suppose you notice that certain pages tend to get more traffic than others. Then you might consider changing up the design of those pages so they stand out even further.
Check Your Site for Duplicate Versions in Google’s Index
Have you ever noticed duplicate versions of your web pages appearing in search engines? Then you already know about this issue. Sometimes people copy-paste URLs straight from another source without thinking twice about it.
This isn’t always bad news. Having many copies of your webpage available can spread the word. If you’re credited, of course.
But it can mess up your rankings on searches if it isn’t resolved in the correct way. To fix this problem, do a Google SEO audit. You’ll need to remove the duplicates using tools like Screaming Frog. Once you’ve done this, check back through analytics reports. Make sure everything looks good again.
Make Sure All Pages Have Unique Titles and Descriptions
Another common mistake made when creating new websites is not giving each page its own title tag. This matters because Google uses titles tags to determine if a text belongs to a specific page.
Use Google’s Pagespeed Insights to your advantage. This useful tool tells you how fast your website is loading using Lightspeed. And, if your site has enough traffic, it can also use real-world data.
Page loading time increases due to bounce rates. So it’s vital that you test the performance of your website before launching it live. There are many ways to go about testing the load times of your site, including:
- Using Pingdom
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- Testing via GTMetrix
There are plenty of free alternatives too, so don’t worry if you only have limited resources. Remember to keep track of your findings over time so you can spot trends and improve as needed.
Note The Core Web Vitals of 2021
On Pagespeed, you’ll notice the Core Web Vitals. These are the main factors Google uses to determine whether a site is worthy of ranking or not. So make sure you’re aware of what’s required now!
This part of the audit is known as an SEO technical audit, rather than on-page SEO which includes content and visuals.
Using An SSL Certificate
SSL certificates encrypt sensitive details like passwords and credit card numbers. This means that hackers will be unable to steal personal info from visitors who visit your site.
Make Your Site Mobile-Accessible
Designing and developing mobile-accessible websites is imperative on today’s internet. Suppose you last updated your website several years ago. Chances are you’ll need a refresh or full redesign. Mobile browsing (which also includes devices such as tablets) is more popular now.
One of the Core Web Vitals is Cumulative Shift, which is a big one for mobile. That’s because it measures how long it takes to move everything around to fit on a mobile screen. And the longer it takes, the more your site gets penalized.
SEO On-Page Audit
Checking the On-Page SEO of your website and looking for improvements isn’t as daunting as it sounds. There are many quick wins to be had, such as one-click plugins that change everything for you.
Focus on these kinds of quick wins first, and the rest will follow. You can do a quick SEO audit at the provided link and see how your site does!
Sitemaps Need Cleaning Up
Sitemaps are the key to Google crawling your site to find the right information. Sometimes not all pages on the sitemap get indexed that should be, or you’ll find some indexed that you want to hide.
Watch Out For Redirects
Ever seen a non-200 response code or a redirect (otherwise known as 301 or 401) to another webpage? That can cause headaches for your visitors, and for Google’s crawler bot too. You want to avoid this at all costs.
Use Schema Markup
Schema markup helps search engines understand the structure of your data better. They do so by providing them with structured data. It makes sense then that you’d use schema markup when creating new content.
But there are other reasons why you might want to add schema markup to existing content. The most common reason is that it improves user experience.
Resolve Broken Links Within the Site
Identify and fix internal link errors immediately. User experience is often affected by broken internal links. A site audit can highlight these broken links so you can go in and re-link them using special plugins.
Content Audits for Your Site
Great content is essential. And the last thing you want is something that’s not your fault getting in the way. So check External Links for Toxic Content that violates Google’s guidelines. These can affect your position in the rankings.
Identification of Thin Content Pages
At the end of the day, thin content is the worst thing for a website. Getting people to your website is one thing. But great content keeps people on there clicking around. It also provides more data for the algorithms to rank you higher. Revisit your content and update any out-of-date information. Also, look for keyword opportunities that can help rank you higher.
Knowing How to Do an SEO Audit Is Vital
If you’re looking to improve the quality of your content, knowing how to do an SEO audit is the best way to do it. Content audits help identify areas where you could make changes. These changes can increase engagement and conversion rates. They also provide insight into what kind of content works well for your audience.
You can conduct a basic content audit yourself if you know enough about HTML and CSS. Or, hire someone else to perform the work for you. Either way, you’ll get valuable insights into what needs improving.
Keep reading for more top tips on ranking up top!