How to Perform Technical SEO Audits | Guide for 2024

With so much content out there, Google has to be picky about which sites they prioritize in their search results. It looks for well-designed sites that load quickly and provide valuable information to its users. So, if your site is slow or filled with confusing code, Google probably won't give it a high ranking.

However, if you're willing to put in the effort, you can outshine your competitors. How? Well, by performing technical SEO audits.

What is a Technical SEO Audit?

A technical SEO audit is like giving your website a thorough check-up to ensure it's in the best shape for search engines like Google or Bing. Think of it as peeking under your site's hood to ensure everything is running smoothly and following the rules that help you improve SERP ranking.

We're talking about looking at the technical things – like HTML elements, meta tags, and website code – to ensure they're all up to the mark. Technical SEO site audit is not just about making sure your website looks good on the surface; it's about making sure it's built in a way that search engines can easily understand and go through.

Now, you don't need to check every little thing when doing technical SEO audits. There are other aspects of SEO, like your content and keywords, that you'll want to look at separately. However, the technical aspect is crucial because it can greatly impact how well your site performs in search results.

Fixing any technical issues can also improve the user experience, and you're helping your site rank better and making sure your visitors have a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Understanding the Basics of Technical SEO Audits

Imagine spending hours creating the perfect blog post, only to get lost in the internet abyss because your website has issues that stop search engines from finding it. That's where a technical SEO audit comes in to save the day.

So, let's look into all the key components of technical SEO audit that we need to pay attention to:

1. Site Architecture and Structure

This revolves around setting up your WordPress website - like its organization chart. It's about examining how you arrange pages, the order you put them in, and the web addresses you use.

A technical SEO site audit aims to ensure that you make your site easy to explore and lay it out in a way that search engines can understand and go through easily.

2. Indexability and Crawlability

Think of this as giving your website a green light for search engines. Technical SEO analysis helps you ensure that search engine bots can easily crawl through your site and index its content without encountering any roadblocks.

3. Page Speed and Performance

Have you ever clicked on a website and then waited forever for it to load? Yes, nobody likes that. So, it's important to check how fast your site loads with technical SEO analysis and if any technical issues are slowing it down. Because the faster your site, the happier your users (and search engines) will be.

4. Mobile-Friendliness

With more and more people browsing the web on their phones, it's crucial that your site looks good and works well on mobile devices. Website technical audit is about making sure your site is responsive. This means it adapts gracefully to different screen sizes so that mobile users have just as good an experience as desktop users.

5. Technical SEO Best Practices

Finally, it's about checking whether your site follows all the technical SEO rules. This includes using schema markup in SEO to give search engines extra information about your content, setting up canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content issues, and ensuring your redirects are set up correctly.

By paying attention to these key areas of website technical audit, you can ensure your website is in the best shape for users and search engines. And that means better rankings, more traffic, and ultimately, more success for your online presence.

Why Perform Technical SEO Audits?

Success in SEO isn't just about luck. It's about ensuring everything on your website is in top shape. Think of it like a series of dominoes – if one thing goes wrong, it can affect everything else.

1. Enhancing your crawl budget

Ever heard of Googlebot? It's like a little robot that crawls the web, finding and indexing new pages. But it can only crawl a certain number of pages at a time. So, you want to make sure it's spending its time on the pages that matter most for your business. That's where crawl budget optimization comes in.

Technical SEO audits can help you understand how Googlebot works and what pages it wants to see so you can ensure it focuses on the right thing.

2. Stopping JavaScript from harming your visibility

JavaScript, a part of technical SEO, is great for making websites interactive and dynamic, but if it's not optimized properly, it can hide your content from search engines. That's bad news bears for your SEO efforts.

JavaScript SEO is all about making sure search engines can crawl, render, and index your JavaScript content properly so you're not missing out on any potential traffic.

3. Overcoming indexing issues

Have you ever searched for something online and couldn't find it? That's probably because the page wasn't appropriately indexed. Indexing is like storing web pages in a database so search engines can find them later.

But if search engines don't index your pages, they essentially don't exist in their eyes. Technical SEO audits can help you figure out why your pages aren't getting indexed and what you can do to fix them.

4. Improving web performance

Let's face it – nobody likes waiting for a website to load. Slow-loading sites are not only frustrating for users, but they can also hurt your search engine rankings. That's because Google wants to promote sites that offer a great user experience, and slow-loading sites just don't cut it.

Technical SEO audits can help you identify any issues slowing your site down. Plus, it can make recommendations to improve its speed and responsiveness.

5. Increasing your traffic

When your website works perfectly on all aspects – with fast load times, properly indexed pages, and optimized content – you're more likely to rank higher in search results. And when you rank higher, you get more clicks. It's as simple as that.

Plus, when your featured snippets include things like product photos or other rich media, they're more likely to grab users' attention and entice them to click.

6. Showing crawlers important content and how to present it

Search engine crawlers aren't as smart as humans – they need a little help understanding your content. That's where structured data comes in. By adding structured data to your website, you're giving search engines a roadmap to your content, making it easier for them to understand what it's all about.

7. Staying ready for a core update

Google is constantly updating its search algorithm, which can sometimes cause fluctuations in website traffic. But with regular technical SEO audits, you can stay ahead of the game and make sure your site is always in the best shape for whatever changes Google throws your way.

So, there you have it – seven reasons why a technical SEO audit is super important for your business.

How Do You Conduct Technical SEO Audits?

So, you're thinking about conducting SEO audits for your website, but you're not sure where to start. Don't worry; there are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you out.

Platforms like Google's Search Console, SEMrush, or Moz can give you valuable insights into all the technical things happening behind the scenes on your site.

If you're feeling overwhelmed or just want some expert guidance, reach out to professionals who specialize in digital marketing services, like Gigde. We have the knowledge and experience to conduct thorough technical SEO audits tailored specifically to your website's needs. We will also provide you with technical SEO reports for better decision-making.

Conclusion

In today's digital world, having a strong online presence is super important for businesses that want to succeed. And that's where technical SEO audits come in – they're like the foundation of your digital strategy. Working on a website technical audit makes it easier for people to find you online and sets you up for success in the long run.

So, if you're ready to take your digital game to the next level, why not explore some digital marketing services? At GigDe, we're here to help you reach the full potential of your digital journey.

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