There are thousands of websites on the internet, and for yours to stand out amongst the competition, it's crucial to conduct an SEO audit.
Imagine your company's website is like a physical store on a bustling street. The SEO strategy is like a bright and enticing sign at the front of the store that tells passersby precisely what they'll find inside.
Without this sign, the store might go unnoticed by potential customers walking down the street. In this case, the customers are Google's Crawlers, the indexing robots, the streets are the links, and the signs are the SEO techniques.
Imagine if these indexing robots don't understand what the store sells or if it has what they're looking for; they'll just keep walking, and your store won't receive any organic traffic from Google.
So, your store might be hidden on a side street where almost nobody passes. Even if there are great products inside the store, no one will know because they can't find them.
This situation can be identified through an SEO audit - you may have great content, but if search engines can't understand what the website is about, they can't show your site to people searching for what you offer.
In this article, you will understand the importance of conducting an SEO audit and how this strategy helps increase site visibility and organic traffic.
We will cover the following topics:
Continue reading to learn all about it!
What is an SEO Audit?
An SEO audit identifies issues or errors that may prevent a website from ranking on Google and other search engines, i.e., the site does not appear in the top results when a person performs a search.
Through this process, it's possible to better understand how search engines view the site, what issues might be hindering page ranking, and what actions can be taken to improve the site's performance in search results.
A well-conducted SEO audit brings several benefits. Check out the main ones in the list below.
The SEO audit is a task that demands knowledge at each of its stages. Typically, it is carried out together (writer and programmer), as these professionals analyze what needs to be done in their respective areas (configuration and content).
We've broken the audit into stages for easier understanding. Follow along!
The technical SEO analysis is the first step in any audit. Here, the indexed URLs on the site, the speed of the pages, mobile compatibility, duplicate pages, and whether the site uses HTTPS are checked.
These criteria should be analyzed because they interfere with the crawlability of the site and whether it actually appears in search results. They also influence the user experience. After all, no one stays very long on a slow-loading site, right?
The on-page analysis involves evaluating the individual elements of each page of your site.
It includes checking if relevant keywords are being used in the titles, content, and meta descriptions of the pages, if title and header tags are being used correctly, and if images are optimized for SEO.
Proper on-page optimization contributes to the site's relevance for specific keywords, improving visibility in search results.
Content analysis is a crucial part of the SEO audit, as content is one of the main factors that search engines consider when ranking websites.
It involves checking the quality and originality of the content, keyword optimization, URL structure, and the presence of duplicate content. Good content should be unique, relevant and provide value to site visitors.
The off-page analysis focuses on elements outside the website that can affect ranking in search results.
It includes checking the site's backlink profile, domain authority, and social media presence.
High-quality backlinks from authoritative sites can increase the site's authority in the eyes of search engines, improving ranking in search results.
After the audit is performed, numerous data are provided for analysis. In this way, it is possible to identify areas needing improvement and focus the actions to solve the problems.
Example 1:
The audit found that the site's page load time is slower than ideal. Therefore, the images should be optimized.
Example 2:
It was found that search engines are not indexing some pages. Therefore, it is necessary to check for problems with the robots.txt file or the website's structure.
It is essential to correct the problems identified during the SEO audit. Ignoring them can seriously affect the website's performance on search engines. This interferes with visibility, traffic, and also conversions.
Therefore, the website will just be one more on the internet. That's not what you want, is it?
We also need to talk about the strategic perspective that must be taken during the SEO audit.
At 4Leads, the team does not just perform the "automatic" process, that is, to check the problems and fix them individually. We do more than that!
If necessary, we make strategic changes in content restructuring, look for and use new keywords, optimize the titles of the articles and meta descriptions, and implement a link-building strategy and CTAs that help in conversions.
SEO is not a one-time process. Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms, and what works today may not work tomorrow.
In addition, new opportunities and threats can arise at any moment, such as changes in consumer behavior or new competitors in the market.
For this reason, it is essential to monitor the progress of strategies regularly. In this way, it is possible to quickly identify any emerging problems or trends and adapt strategies accordingly.
With the process done consistently, we can also get ideas to create new actions and continuously improve the website's performance.
Several tools are available to help monitor SEO progress. Some of these tools include:
Google Analytics: This is a free tool from Google that can provide a wealth of information about your website's traffic, including where it's coming from, which pages are getting the most traffic, and how visitors behave on your site.
Google Search Console: This is another free tool from Google that can provide valuable insights into your website's performance in search results.
SEMrush or Ahrefs: These are paid tools that can provide a wealth of information about the website's SEO performance, including its ranking for specific keywords, the quality of your backlinks, and much more.
We must stress that these tools should be managed by professionals who know how to use them correctly. That means knowing how to interpret the metrics they provide.
After all, it is through data that we will know what is working and what needs to be optimized.
The auditing process is done monthly for our clients, and as a result, we are always alert to what can be improved and have insights to restructure content and performance strategies.
We also track organic traffic numbers to see if the strategies are being effective. After all, our focus is to achieve tangible results and show our clients the monthly traffic evolution.
Don't know what else to do to make your company's website more visible and achieve more conversions and sales? You are in the right place! Talk to our specialist and learn how to reverse this situation with the help of processes aimed at the best results. We are available to help you on this mission!
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