What is an SEO website audit and why do it regularly?

If you are wondering what an SEO site audit is, most likely SEO promotion is not bearing fruit, and traffic and ranking remain low. In this situation, site analysis is really necessary.

In this article we will tell you what an SEO audit is and what elements it consists of. We will explain which services will help you conduct an audit on your own. We'll tell you what to look for when choosing a freelancer or agency.

SEO site audit

An SEO audit is a comprehensive check that helps you understand how well a website complies with the requirements of Yandex and Google. An audit helps achieve several goals:

• understand how well a resource meets search engine criteria;
  
• identify obstacles that prevent the site from ranking at the top of the search results;
  
• determine what will help the site become more popular and rise to the top.
  

The audit will result in three reports:

• information about the current position of the site;
  
• list of problems and errors;
  
• detailed plan and set of recommendations.
  

As soon as the shortcomings and errors are eliminated and the tasks are completed, search engines will raise the site to the top of the search results. Sometimes even minor adjustments make a positive difference.

Analysis is especially necessary for commercial projects that receive customers and sales only from the website.

When is an audit necessary?

Analysis will be needed in the following cases:

• You set up SEO, but it didn't bring results.
  
• You're launching a new website and want to make sure it's optimized and ready for indexing.
  
• Recently, traffic has become much lower than it was before.
  
• You started working with an old site and want to find out how well it meets search engine standards.
  

Regular analysis is done at least twice a year. What does it help with:

• Adaptation to changes in algorithms. To improve search results and weed out low-quality sites, Yandex and Google constantly update metrics and filters. It is important to monitor these changes and adapt to them. Otherwise, you can lose your position, traffic and clients.
  
• Troubleshooting. Failures due to updating the engine, plugins and templates, problems with adaptability and layout, duplication of pages - these and other faults lower the site in the search results. It is important to catch and eliminate them from time to time.
  

Elements of a website SEO audit

1. Technical audit

At this stage, the technical characteristics of the resource are analyzed, which may influence the ranking in the top search results. What they check:

• loading time: pages should load in 2-3 seconds;
  
• correctness of Title and Description: they must be indicated for each page, and without repetitions;
  
• a sitemap.xml document containing information about the pages of a web resource;
  
• robots.txt document, which is responsible for allowing or prohibiting indexing in the search results;
  
• security if you collect user data or accept payments;
  
• presence of viruses, errors and broken links;
  
• no duplicate pages;
  
• code quality.

2. Convenience audit

At this stage, you need to put yourself in the shoes of a site visitor and try to understand how convenient it is. All components need to be assessed:

• structure;
  
• menu;
  
• readability of fonts;
  
• organic colors;
  
• button clickability;
  
• unobtrusiveness of pop-up windows;
  
• simplicity of registration and feedback forms;
  
• correct display on mobile phones and tablets.
  

If you find it difficult to look at the resource from the outside, ask your friends to visit the site and give feedback about it.

3. Behavioral factors

In Yandex and Google statistics, look at how users behave on the resource and on its individual pages. Check:

• how much time visitors spend on the site;
  
• how many users close the resource immediately after opening it;
  
• how many pages users view;
  
• which texts are read and which are not.

4. Content audit

Authored, useful and high-quality content is an important component of SEO promotion. At this stage it is important to understand:

• Is the content useful to users and does it help solve their problems?
  
• whether the content is current or outdated;
  
• is the text unique?
  
• whether the text has good structure and design;
  
• whether the texts contain keywords, whether they correspond to the semantic core and whether there is any spam.
  

It is also important to check the internal linking of pages. This is when the pages contain links to other resource materials. Interlinking helps to keep the user on the site, which has a positive effect on behavioral factors.

5. Audit of commercial factors

This element of analysis is relevant if you sell goods and provide services. It is important to check here:

• does the website tell about the company’s USP;
  
• Do the pages contain detailed contact information about the organization: addresses of offices and stores, telephone numbers, email;
  
• Are there neat and clear product cards with current prices;
  
• are pages on social networks and messenger accounts indicated;
  
• Are delivery and return methods described?
  
• can the user write to a consultant on the website or use a chatbot;
  
• Are the calls to action spelled out and do they motivate you to leave contacts or submit an application?
  

Pay special attention to this audit if you plan to promote in Yandex.

6. Audit of external links

It is necessary to analyze which resources provide links to the site. Things to check:

• number of external links;
  
• quality of links: how authoritative and expert sites link to the resource;
  
• the presence of cheats, hidden text and other prohibited methods of promotion.
  

Pay attention to this element of the audit if you plan to promote yourself on Google. To optimize for this search engine, it is important that authoritative sources link to the resource: educational and educational platforms, news agencies, analytical publications. If an organization is mentioned on their pages, the search engine is more loyal to it and is more willing to promote its site to the top of the search results.

7. Audit of external factors

If you want to successfully advance in Yandex, then register in Yandex Business and Yandex Maps. If in Google, then in the Google My Business service. Check:

• do you have profiles in these services;
  
• Do they contain up-to-date information?
  

Make sure that the site is not sanctioned by search engines. He can go there for black hat SEO techniques. It is quite difficult to remove a site from the blacklist.

8. Audit of competitors

Study the websites and offers of competitors, compare them with yours:

• find the strengths of your company and think about how you can highlight them;
  
• Identify what your competitors are good at and think about how you can beat them.
  

After the analysis, pay attention to the criteria by which you are lagging behind. If competitors' resources load faster, speed up your site. If their pages have more interesting content, try to diversify your texts.

How to conduct an SEO audit of a website

You can organize the audit yourself or hire specialists.

On your own

If you decide to analyze the site on your own, you will need online services. There is a separate tool for each parameter:

• Loading time - Yandex Webmaster, Google PageSpeed Insights.
  
• Robots.txt - Yandex Webmaster, Google Search Console.
  
• Broken links - Yandex Webmaster, Google Webmasters, W3C Link Checker, Online Broken Link Checker.
  
• Duplicate pages - Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Yandex Webmaster, Google Search Console.
  
• Uniqueness and level of texts - Text.ru, Chief Editor, Turgenev.
  
• Behavioral factors - Yandex Metrica and Google Analytics.
  
• Link mass assessment - Yandex Webmaster, Google Search Console, CheckTrust.
  
• Information about competitors - Serpstat, SimilarWeb, Keys.so, Rush Analytics.
  
• Search engine sanctions - Yandex Webmaster, Google Search Console.
  

An audit of convenience and commercial factors can only be assessed independently. After all, it is important that the site is convenient and understandable not to a search engine or online service, but to people.

It is also worth considering that simply checking a resource through online services is not enough. After the inspection, it is important to identify weaknesses, draw up an improvement plan and make changes to the site. Only in conjunction with strategy and actions will an audit become useful and promote the resource to the top of search results.

With the help of specialists

You can order an audit from specialists: freelancers or studios. What to look for when choosing SEO optimizers:

• Work experience. A good specialist will have different topics in promotion: from medicine and law to fashion and cars.
  
• Price and audit reports. They should be transparent so that you understand what you are paying for.
  
• Possibility of turnkey work. It is important to find a person who can do a high-quality audit of all website elements.
  
• Modern instruments. Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms and filters. To keep up with them, it is important to use new services and platforms.
  
• Successful cases. Request a portfolio.
  
• Guarantees and confidentiality. Research the reputation of the employee or studio.
  

For high-quality analysis, you will have to give the performers access to the resource, web analytics, and accounts in Yandex and Google services. Trust logins and passwords only to those you trust.

Timing of a website SEO audit

The duration of the audit is determined by the depth and quality of the research. Here are the options:

• Express option. It takes a couple of days. It helps to evaluate parameters quickly, but not very well. Optimizers who take the express option run the site through online services and do not evaluate it manually.
  
• Comprehensive audit. Requires more time. Specialists need not only to look at the technical characteristics of the site, but also from the point of view of users to evaluate how convenient, interesting, and attractive the resource is. After such an audit, the site owner receives a comprehensive report describing the current state of the resource, a list of problems and recommendations.
  

We understand that auditing and optimization must go together. Therefore, we begin SEO promotion with an audit and drawing up an individual plan. And immediately after we make changes to the site and fill it with quality content. Thanks to this, sites rise higher in search results, and our clients increase their income.

When conducting an audit, it is important to analyze all elements of the site, make a list of problems and recommendations for improvement. Only then will the audit be beneficial, and the number of impressions, traffic to the site and profits will increase. 

We recommend entrusting the SEO audit to professionals. Free up your time for more enjoyable concerns while our experience works for you. Order an audit.