Running an SEO Audit & Why It’s Important

Search ranking algorithms are complex mathematical formulas that Google, Bing, and other search engines use to determine the relevance and importance of web pages – and determine their ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs). These algorithms take into account a wide range of factors when evaluating a web page including page content, quality and relevance of backlinks, keywords and phrases on the page, usability and user experience, and many other factors.

Search ranking algorithms are constantly evolving as search engines seek to improve the relevance and accuracy of their results. These updates can have a significant impact on the ranking of websites in search results, and it’s important for website owners to stay up to date on the latest changes to ensure that their sites are properly optimized for search.

While the specific details of these algorithms are typically kept confidential by search engines, there are many best practices and strategies that website owners can use to improve their traffic and rankings. These include optimizing the content and structure of their websites, building high-quality backlinks, and providing a positive user experience for their visitors.

What is an “Optimized” Website?

An optimized website is an important part of any online marketing strategy, and it can have a significant impact on your business’s success. Proper optimization is important because it can improve the visibility, relevance, and ranking of your content in search results.

When your site is optimized with best practices in mind, it can increase the likelihood of appearing higher in search results when users are looking for keywords and phrases related to your business. This can improve the chance that users will visit your website… which can lead to more traffic, more leads, and more sales.

Optimizing your website can also improve the overall user experience. When your site is well-organized, has quality content, and is easy to navigate… users are more likely to stay on longer and engage with your content. This can improve the overall effectiveness of your site, help you reach more customers, and achieve your business objectives.

How do you perform an SEO audit?

An SEO website audit is a process of evaluating a website’s performance in terms of search engine optimization (SEO). The goal of an SEO audit is to identify areas of the website that could be improved to enhance its quality, user experience, relevance, visibility, and rankings in the SERPs. There are many tools and resources available that can help you perform a website audit.

Here is a general process for performing an SEO website audit:

1. Start by gathering data: Before you can begin your audit, you need to gather data on your website’s current performance. This includes data on your website’s traffic, keywords, backlinks, and other metrics. You can use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to gather this data.
2. Review your website’s technical SEO: Technical SEO refers to the underlying structure and code of your website. It includes things like your website’s URLs, its sitemap, and its use of header tags and alt text. To audit your website’s technical SEO, you should check for issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and crawl errors. You can use tools like Screaming Frog or SEMrush to help identify these issues.
3. Analyze your website’s content: The content on your website is a critical factor in how well it performs in search. To audit your website’s content, you should review its quality, relevance, and formatting. You should also look for opportunities to optimize your website’s content for relevant keywords.
4. Check your website’s backlinks: The backlinks pointing to your website are an important factor in showing trust and authority. To audit your website’s backlinks, you should review the quality and relevance of the links pointing to your website. You should also check for any low-quality or spammy links that could be harming your website’s performance.
5. Create a plan of action: Once you have completed your audit, you should create a plan of action to address any issues you identified. This may involve making changes to your website’s technical SEO, improving the quality and relevance of your content, or building more high-quality backlinks.

It’s important to note that SEO is a constantly evolving field, and an audit of your website is not a one-time process. You should plan to perform regular audits to ensure that your website is always optimized for search, usability, and user experience.

Local SEO Site Audits

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a business’s online presence to attract more customers from local search results. Here is a general process for performing a local SEO audit:

1. Verify your Google Business Profile listing: Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence on Google, including on Google Maps. To start your local SEO audit, you should verify your business listing and make sure that all the information is accurate and up to date. This includes your business’s name, address, phone number, hours of operation, and categories.
2. Check your website’s local content and NAP information: The “NAP” (name, address, phone number) information on your website is important for local SEO. You should check that this information is consistent across your website and any other online directories or listings where your business is included. You should also consider adding local content to your website – such as information about your business’s location, products or services, and customer reviews.
3. Review your website’s backlinks: Just as we mentioned in the SEO Audit section, the backlinks pointing to your website are an important factor for organic search results and for local search. Review the quality and relevance of the links pointing to your site. Links from other local businesses, directory sites geared toward your town/village/county/region, your local Chamber of Commerce, and so on can help with local relevancy signals.
4. Analyze your online reviews: Online reviews can influence a potential customer’s decision to visit your business. To audit your online reviews, you should check the number and quality of the reviews your business has received on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. You should also consider responding to any negative reviews and encouraging your customers to leave reviews.
5. Create a plan of action: Once you have completed your audit, you should create a plan of action to address any issues you identified. This may involve updating your business’s information on Google Business Profiles, adding local content to your website, building more high-quality backlinks, or encouraging customers to leave reviews.

SEO Auditing Tools

There are many tools available that can help you audit a website for SEO purposes. Here are a few commonly used tools:

• Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor and maintain your website’s presence in Google search results. It can help you identify issues such as crawl errors, security issues, and indexing problems.
• Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to track and analyze your website’s traffic and performance. It can provide valuable insights into your website’s traffic sources, user behavior, and conversion rates. In July 2023, Universal Analytics will be phased out and GA4 will become the new standard.
• SEMrush & Ahrefs: SEMrush and Ahrefs are paid tools that each provide a comprehensive analysis of your website’s keyword rankings, backlinks, and SEO issues. They also offer tools for competitor analysis and content marketing. While both are useful tools, they fulfill similar needs and provide a similar array of information.
• Screaming Frog & Sitebulb: Screaming Frog and Sitebulb are paid tools that fill a similar niche as well. They can be used to crawl your website and identify a wide array of issues such as broken links, duplicate content, orphaned pages, missing or empty tags, and other crawl errors. They are particularly useful for technical SEO audits.

To perform a website audit, you can use these tools to gather data on your site’s performance and identify any issues that may be affecting its quality, relevance, and rankings. You can then create a plan of action to address these issues and improve your site performance. It’s important to note that no single tool can provide a complete analysis of your website’s SEO. It’s often best to use a combination of tools to get a comprehensive understanding of your performance.

Do I Need an SEO Professional or Agency?

There are a few situations where it might be beneficial to reach out to an SEO professional:

1. If you are new to SEO: If you are just starting out with SEO and don’t have much experience, working with a professional can be a great way to get up to speed quickly. An SEO professional can help you understand the basics and develop a strategy that is tailored to your business’s needs.
2. If you are struggling to improve your website’s ranking: If you have been working on your website’s SEO for a while but are not seeing the results you want, an SEO professional can help you identify and address any issues that may be holding you back. They can help you fine-tune your strategy and identify new opportunities for improvement.
3. If you don’t have the time or resources to do SEO in-house: SEO can be a time-consuming process, and it may not be feasible for you to handle it in-house… especially if you are a small business with limited resources. In this case, working with a professional can help you get the expertise you need without taking up too much of your time or resources.
4. If you want to take your website to the next level: If you are happy with your website’s current performance but want to take it to the next level, an SEO professional can help you identify new opportunities for growth and develop a strategy to capitalize on them. They can also help you stay up to date on the latest trends and techniques.

Overall, working with an SEO professional can be a great way to get the expertise and guidance you need to improve your website’s performance, visibility, and user experience. However, it’s important to choose an SEO professional who is reputable and experienced, as there are many individuals and companies who claim to be experts but may not have the skills or knowledge to deliver results.

Efferent Media Can Help You Audit and Improve Your Website

Now that you know how to put together an SEO audit and find areas for improvement, the next step is implementation. Maybe that means doing everything yourself in your spare time, maybe you’re just looking to hire an in-house person to handle the local fixes, or perhaps auditing and updating a website is outside your wheelhouse and you’d prefer a professional.

Wherever you happen to be in that process, Efferent Media has a team of experts ready to work with you. Call us today at (631)867-0900 or book a meeting and see how we can work with you to improve your site.