Whether you run an eCommerce store or an enterprise website, it’s important to focus on technical SEO audits. Technical SEO audits to ensure that your website is configured correctly and optimally for search engine visibility. There are many different aspects of a technical SEO audit, but here are 10 essential steps you should take. But, first, understand what exactly is it.
What is a technical SEO audit?
A technical SEO audit is an analysis of your website’s infrastructure and configuration with the aim of finding any issues that could be holding back your visibility in search engine results pages (SERP).
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This type of audit looks at both on-page and off-page factors, including things like site structure, URL structure, redirects, sitemaps, title tags, meta descriptions, and more. On this note, let’s look at the most important technical SEO audit points:
1. Check for 404 and apply redirects:
When pages on your website return a 404 error, it means that the page could not be found. This is bad for both users and search engines, as it makes it difficult for people to find the content they’re looking for, and can also negatively impact your search engine rankings. If you have pages on your website that are returning 404 errors, you need to apply redirects so that users and search engines are redirected to the correct page.
2. Check your website’s speed and performance:
Website speed is a critical factor for both user experience and search engine optimization. If your website is slow, it will not only frustrate users but can also lead to lower search engine rankings. There are a number of tools you can use to check your website’s speed, such as Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
3. Check your website for broken links:
Broken links on your website can frustrate users and lead to lower search engine rankings. To find broken links on your website, you can use a tool like Screaming Frog. With this tool, it becomes easier for you to identify and fix broken links on your website.
4. Check your website for duplicate content:
Duplicate content can negatively impact your search engine rankings. To find duplicate content on your website, you can use a tool like Copyscape. Once you’ve found duplicate content on your website, you need to take steps to remove or rewrite it. Duplicate content can do severe damage to your website’s search engine rankings.
5. Check your website for thin content:
Thin content is a major problem for many websites. Thin content is defined as content that lacks substance or depth. It’s usually short, poorly written, and offers little value to users. Thin content can negatively impact your search engine rankings and should be avoided at all costs. When you write high-quality original content, you will naturally avoid creating thin content.
6. Check your website for keyword stuffing:
Keyword stuffing is a black hat SEO tactic that is used to artificially inflate search engine rankings. Keyword stuffing involves cramming as many keywords into a piece of content as possible, regardless of relevance or quality. This results in low-quality, unusable content that offers no value to users. If you’re caught keyword stuffing, you will be penalized by the search engines and your rankings will suffer.
7. Check your website for hidden text and links:
Hidden text and links are another black hat SEO tactic that can lead to search engine penalties. Hidden text is the text that is not visible to users, but is still readable by search engines. Hidden links are links that are not visible to users but are still clickable. Both hidden text and links are used to artificially inflate search engine rankings and should be avoided.
8. Check your website for malicious code:
Malicious code is code that is inserted into a website with the intent of causing harm. Malicious code can be used to redirect users to malicious websites, steal personal information, or even damage computers. If you suspect that your website has been infected with malicious code, you should have it cleaned up as soon as possible.
9. Check your website for outdated content:
Outdated content can negatively impact your search engine rankings and frustrate users. To find outdated content on your website, you can use a tool like Google Analytics. Once you’ve found outdated content on your website, you need to take steps to update it.
10. Check your website for missing alt text:
Alt-text is the text that is used to describe images. It’s important to have alt text for all images on your website, as it helps search engines understand what the images are about. Alt-text is also used by screen readers, which are used by people who are blind or have low vision.
Wrapping up!
SEO technical audit is an important part of website maintenance. By conducting a regular SEO audit, you can ensure that your website is healthy and performing well in the search engines. Technical SEO audits are not something that should be done once and forgotten; they should be conducted on a regular basis to ensure that your website remains healthy and ranks well.
Author Bio
Mansi Rana – Digital Marketing Consultant based in India, focuses on creating, tracking and implementing paid and organic marketing strategies. Over the years, she has helped several clients in discovering the most viable ways to advertise and market their products or services.
