There’s no doubt that search engine optimization (SEO) is an integral part of your online marketing strategy – but it’s not the only part. SEO is like a tree that needs to be fed with the right nutrients in order to flourish and grow.
This means that you need to do more than just publish content that ranks well; you also need to optimize your site for search engines.
A website audit can help you identify any issues on your site and provide recommendations on how to fix them. It can also help identify potential growth areas to keep you in front of your competitors. Let’s find out how.
What Is a Website Audit?
The website audit process is a comprehensive review of your site designed to help you identify areas where improvements can be made. It’s an essential step in improving SEO and can help you find problems in your site structure that may be hurting its ability to rank well with search engines.
An audit is not just a checklist of items that need fixing. Rather, it’s a detailed look at how well (or poorly) your site performs with respect to specific benchmarks that indicate good or bad SEO practices.
For example: if a page isn’t loading quickly enough for users, it could have an impact on their experience on the site. This would show up as something negative on any kind of audit report.
Now that we understand the benefits of website audits, we need to look at the different types.
What Are the Different Types of Website Audits?
The efficacy of your site depends on more than good business website design. There’s a lot more beneath the surface.
Technical Audit
This assessment of your website’s code, form, and function can be done by internal or external resources. The technical audit is often the first step in a website audit. It helps you identify issues with your site’s performance and functionality that may affect how Google sees it.
Content Audit
A content audit involves analyzing your site’s content—including text, images, videos, and more—to identify opportunities for improvement and optimization. You’ll want to ask yourself questions like, “Does this text provide value?” and “Is this image relevant?”
Link Audit
A link audit examines both internal links (links within your own site) as well as external links (links from other sites). This analysis will help you discover whether any broken links exist on the page and if any pages are missing out on possible traffic due to a lack of external linking.
How Can I Improve SEO With a Site Audit?
If you want to improve your website’s SEO, then a website audit is the first step. Website audits are typically done by an outside party who will review your site and give recommendations on what could be improved. They will consider various factors such as:
- How user-friendly is your site?
- Is there anything that might be stopping users from visiting your site?
- Are there any broken links on your homepage or elsewhere?
- Does your navigation make sense to visitors?
- Should you add more content to certain pages?
These, and a host of other elements, make the difference between converting a potential visitor and not appearing at all.
Is Your SEO Working For You?
SEO for websites is essential for businesses wanting to appear on the internet. A comprehensive website audit will help you determine where your website is currently ranking and identify opportunities for improvement.
Each audit type will give you different insights into your website’s SEO performance and actionable recommendations for improving it.