How do you run an SEO audit?
An SEO audit (Search Engine Optimization) is an analysis designed to understand why a website is ranking poorly in search engines. The checkpoints applied are useful for identifying improvement opportunities in SEO optimization. This step is crucial in any organic search strategy.
This guide is meant to walk you through how an SEO audit works, so you can run that kind of analysis yourself.
What is an SEO audit?
An SEO audit is a complete analysis of a site’s visibility on the web. It helps you understand why your site is not generating traffic and why sales are stalling.
This analysis is especially useful for ecommerce stores, company websites, and also for blogs and sole proprietors. In short, for any professional who wants to be visible on the web and acquire more traffic.
In the past, being visible online meant adding a few links and keywords to title tags and to the content. Today, search engines such as Google use a particularly sophisticated algorithm to decide the order in which pages appear in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
Getting a website onto the first page of results rests on two pillars:
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Compliance with precise SEO techniques;
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Running a regular audit so you can keep adapting to new requirements from search engine algorithms.
How do you analyze your SEO performance?
To determine that order of appearance, Google will look in particular at:
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The site’s speed and responsiveness;
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The site’s authority;
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The technical code;
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Content quality;
Today, content faces two major issues: keywords and “duplicate content.”
Why does Google penalize duplicate content?
Simply because it creates indexing conflicts. In a plagiarism case, Google will treat the duplicated content as less trustworthy, which will hurt its ranking in search engines. Duplicate content also weakens the user experience.
Why the structure of individual pages matters
Individual page structures refer to how each page is built. They take several elements into account, such as text length and URL clarity.
Your URL should be able to describe your content correctly and briefly. Your content should have at least 500 words, and your images should also be optimized. Finally, your external links should be relevant and working.
Content Score: producing well-optimized content that Google likes
Semji’s Content Score analyzes and evaluates the SEO quality of your content. It provides a score out of 100 based on different criteria such as keyword density, text structure, internal and external links, and more. This score lets you easily measure how relevant and optimized each piece of content is for organic search.
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A high Content Score means your content is well optimized for organic search.
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Conversely, a low Content Score can indicate that your content needs improvement.
This indicator is therefore an excellent way to spot the weak points in your content strategy and improve them. It is an essential tool for optimizing your on-page SEO and improving your ranking in search results. To guarantee strong quality, aim for a minimum score of 75. The more you follow Semji’s recommendations, the more your score increases.
What a website audit gives you
A good SEO audit should give you a starting point for improving your site’s organic search performance, and therefore your presence on the web. It is a real tool for identifying every blocking element that prevents the site from working well. You can then define actions to fix those issues and improve visibility. Here are a few examples of elements to watch for your SEO:
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The state of your robots.txt file;
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The number and quality level of backlinks;
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The quality of links on your website. Broken links hurt organic search;
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Site load speed, with GTMetrix for example;
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URL structure;
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Meta tags (the meta description in particular);
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Your site’s SSL certificate;
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Whether your website is responsive.
Do not confuse this with a technical audit: while an SEO audit is a global evaluation of your website’s organic search performance, a technical audit focuses on the technical side of your site.
It analyzes indexability, architecture, web performance, and user experience, among other things, so you can rank well on search engines.
After applying the solutions listed in the SEO audit report, the webmaster should see a clear improvement. Usually, it takes several months to see a change such as:
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An increase in organic traffic;
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An increase in the conversion rate;
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Growth in revenue.
What makes a successful SEO audit
A good SEO audit is expected to provide a detailed analysis of every element tied to the site’s SEO. It is a complete 20 to 30 page report, produced properly and with confidentiality respected.
For optimal search visibility for your website, invest in an in-depth SEO audit. It has two complementary parts: the onsite audit and the offsite audit. Combining these two types of audits gives you an overall view of your website’s SEO health.
Onsite audit
The onsite audit analyzes your site’s accessibility and indexability. If potential visitors cannot see your pages, there is no point creating new content. Accessibility lets Google and users reach your pages easily. Errors can block robots from accessing certain pages.
The first thing you need to check is your robots.txt file and your meta tags. These two internal elements matter because they limit access to certain areas of your site. By accident, a webmaster can therefore make some pages impossible for Google to reach.
Another important aspect of the site is the XML Sitemap, a map intended for Google’s robots. A formatting failure can make the site inaccessible.
Indexability determines whether Google displays your pages in search results. Google is selective about indexed content, which is why penalties are common. A large company’s pages are indexed quickly, unlike those of a small site.
In short, audit accessibility and indexability to optimize search visibility. Fix the errors that block robots, and improve your content so Google is more likely to index it.
Offsite audit
The offsite audit is, in a way, the result of your work. It is a sign of your website’s popularity level and its trust score.
A high trust factor is a mark of relevance in Google’s eyes. Popularity is tied to the number of page views by users and to the overall bounce rate. It takes into account traffic on your site, your external links, your social mentions, and visit duration on your site.
In a sense, offsite analysis shows you how users react to your site.
Competitive analysis and keyword research
After analyzing all of those questions, let’s move to keyword analysis. In the world of SEO, keyword research and competitive analysis are almost synonymous. It is impossible to analyze a keyword’s performance without taking potential competitors on that keyword into account.
Take the example of a company that produces foods N, A, and O. A competitor manufactures N and A, but not O. By analyzing keywords, the company identifies that product O is its competitive advantage. O brings real added value compared with the competitor.
Strong SEO rests on your ability to rank for target keywords. On that point, it is better to favor long-tail keywords. For strong search visibility, it is better to target long-tail keywords. Focusing on keywords between the 5th and 20th positions also helps improve your ranking. With work, it is possible to reach the 1st page of results.
Semji tip: the Content Ideas module
Selecting the right keywords and defining relevant content takes time.
Content Ideas helps you work more efficiently on keyword research. Simply enter the topic or a generic keyword that matches your industry, and Semji will analyze the SERPs in detail and propose a selection of optimized keywords.
No more spending hours deduplicating and filtering your keywords by hand.
Specifics of an ecommerce SEO audit
An ecommerce SEO audit stands out because it takes the specifics of this type of site into account. For example:
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Category and subcategory analysis: these need to be optimized for search engines and offer smooth navigation for users.
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Optimization of filters and product attributes: search filters must be structured so they do not generate duplicate pages.
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Evaluating product page effectiveness: these pages need to be optimized with relevant keywords, engaging meta descriptions, quality images, and detailed product descriptions.
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Tracking product page performance: you should track traffic, conversions, and bounce rate on these pages to evaluate their effectiveness and identify what to improve.
These specifics require particular skills and tools if they are to be handled correctly during the SEO audit.
For a complete SEO audit
In a complete SEO audit, several other aspects deserve your attention.
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Taking technical aspects into account is essential. That means checking your pages’ load time, the presence of a valid robots.txt file, the absence of error pages, or your site’s adaptability to mobile (mobile usability).
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Next, analyzing your current SEO strategy can help you identify potential improvements. That includes reviewing your average positions on search engines, the evolution of your organic traffic, or the effectiveness of your keywords.
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Studying your subdomains can also generate optimization ideas. For example, it can make sense to redirect every different version of your site to a single version.
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Finally, do not neglect the geographic aspect. Depending on your audience, you may need to take your users’ geographic area into account in your SEO strategy.
Remember that a complete SEO audit can be complex, and it can be wise to bring in an SEO consultant to support you.
For a quick SEO audit
Would you rather scout the ground by running a first, quick SEO audit? In that case, you will first need to crawl your site to identify potential issues. Several points should get your attention:
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Content analysis: check the relevance and optimization of your keywords, the presence of duplicate content, and the quality of your internal and external links.
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The technical side: analyze your site’s accessibility and compliance for proper indexing, the presence of 404 errors, the effectiveness of your robots.txt file, or how fast your pages load.
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An audit of your current SEO strategy: review your positions in search engines, the evolution of organic traffic, the effectiveness of your keywords, and so on.
Who should you entrust a search audit to?
To run a search audit, you can turn to several types of professionals. SEO agencies are experts in this field; they have the skills and tools needed to run a complete, precise audit. They can also propose an action plan to improve your SEO.
Independent SEO consultants (freelancers) can also run this type of audit. Their advantage is that they can offer a more personalized and flexible approach, especially depending on your budget.
In every case, make sure you choose a professional with experience and a good reputation in SEO. You can look at reviews and references from their previous clients to help you decide.
The limits of a free SEO audit
A free SEO audit can be a starting point to help you understand your site’s performance. This option has its limits, though.
First, these audits are often automated and can lack precision. They rely on generic algorithms and therefore cannot take the specifics of your site or your industry into account.
The depth of the analysis can also be limited. Free audits generally analyze one page at a time and cannot explore your entire site, which can be a problem for large sites.
They also often focus on technical errors and omit important aspects of search, such as content quality or keyword strategy.
Finally, even if these tools can provide recommendations, they cannot replace the advice of an SEO expert, who can propose strategies tailored to your specific goals.
It is therefore recommended to use free SEO audits as a complement, not as a complete solution.
From analysis to report: the actions to put in place
Once the SEO audit is finished, the next step is to turn the analysis results into concrete actions. That starts with prioritizing actions based on their potential impact and how easy they are to implement.
Define priorities
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Fix technical errors: they can prevent search engines from indexing your site.
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Optimize existing content: improving titles, meta descriptions, or keyword use can increase your visibility.
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Improve internal linking: the links between your pages can be optimized to improve navigation and distribute “link juice.”
Put the actions in place
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Refer to Semji’s SEO suggestions to fix errors and optimize your site.
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Make regular adjustments based on results and algorithm changes.
Remember to document every action taken and its results. That will let you track progress and justify your strategic choices.
Analyzing and organizing the recommendations that come out of an SEO audit is not always a small job. The task is even more complicated when the work involved several people and tools.
Want to run your SEO audit in-house? Precision, speed, and usability all matter. By applying several checkpoints, Semji runs your SEO audit and points you toward the actions to take to adapt your SEO strategy.