Maybe you want to boost your site traffic and increase conversions. Or maybe you’re trying to make your business more visible. Or perhaps you’re just wondering how you can get more out of your website. If any of this sounds familiar, a site audit by an experienced SEO specialist can help!

Instead of just running your site through the latest shiny SEO analysis software, I perform what’s called a “manual site audit.” In order to address your specific needs and ensure that your site strategy is as UX-friendly as it is optimized for SEO, I personally go through page-by-page and analyze how your website interacts with both users and search engines.

In other words, conducting a manual audit allows you to see how real, live human beings (a.k.a. your target audience) are using your site vs. how they could be using it. It also makes prioritization easier in terms of your goals and realistic workflows. Automatic site audits through generators can certainly be useful, but so far they cannot replace these important areas of insight.

What to expect with a site audit

In a nutshell, an SEO site audit is a comprehensive analysis of your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance — that is, how it’s being read by and showing up in Google, Bing and other search engines. The main purpose of these audit is to evaluate how well a website is optimized for these search and identify areas for improvement

Key components of an SEO audit

• Technical Analysis: This involves checking the technical aspects of a website, such as website speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, and indexability. Technical issues can significantly impact a site’s SEO performance.

• On-Page SEO: Evaluating on-page elements like title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and keyword usage to ensure they are optimized for relevant keywords and align with best practices.

• Content Analysis: Assessing the quality and relevance of the website’s content. This includes identifying duplicate content, thin content, and opportunities for creating new, valuable content.

• Backlink Analysis: Examining the website’s backlink profile to determine the quality and quantity of inbound links. Identifying toxic or spammy links is also crucial.

• Keyword Analysis: Reviewing the website’s keyword strategy, including keyword research, targeting, and optimization. Ensuring that keywords are strategically placed throughout the site.

• User Experience (UX) Analysis: Assessing the overall user experience, including page layout, navigation, and mobile responsiveness. A positive user experience is important for SEO rankings.

• Competitive Analysis: Analyzing how the website compares to its competitors in terms of SEO performance, keywords, and backlinks. This can help identify opportunities and gaps.

• Local SEO (if applicable): If the website serves a local audience, the audit may include an assessment of local SEO factors such as Google My Business optimization, local citations, and reviews.

• Site Architecture: Reviewing the structure and organization of the website to ensure it is easy for both users and search engines to navigate.

• Performance Metrics: Analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) such as organic traffic, click-through rates (CTR), bounce rates, and conversion rates to measure the impact of SEO efforts.

Regular SEO site audits (about every six months) are recommended to keep your website optimized and competitive in search engine rankings.

Interested or have questions? Let’s get in touch!