How To Perform A Technical SEO Audit In 14 Steps

By Charlie

29 Nov 2022

SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimisation, is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO involves optimising a website’s content, structure, and on-page elements like titles, metatags, and anchor text. SEO also includes developing off-page optimisation tactics like link building and social media engagement.

SEO can help your business by increasing traffic to your website from search engines. When a website ranks higher in SERPs, it receives more visitors from people who are looking for information related to the products or services that you offer. In addition, SEO can help you attract more qualified leads from potential customers who are already interested in what you have to offer.

SEO is one of the most important aspects of any website. If you’re not doing everything you can to optimise your site for search engines, you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic. A technical SEO audit is one of the best ways to identify and fix any issues that may be preventing your website from ranking as high as it could be. In this blog post, we will outline different definitions surrounding different SEO tools and 12 steps that you need to take in order to perform a technical SEO audit on your own website.

What is a technical SEO audit?

A technical SEO audit is a process of evaluating a website’s technical infrastructure with the goal of finding and resolving any potential issues that could be limiting that website’s search engine visibility and organic search traffic. An SEO audit includes everything from ensuring the content is optimised for search engine spiders to making sure it is technically sound and accessible to Google. This will therefore help search engines, like Google, to rank your website accordingly.

Technical SEO is the critical foundation of any website. A technical SEO audit is a key part of site maintenance, to analyze the technical aspects of your website. These SEO audits are often performed to receive a score.

Your SEO score is important in a technical SEO audit because it can help you determine where you need to focus your efforts. Scoring between 80-100 means that your website is likely performing well when it comes to on-page SEO, but you may still have some work to do in terms of optimising your site for search engines if your SEO score is less than 80.

In following an SEO Audit Checklist, you can understand how to attract more visitors to your website, build a stronger online presence, increase your brand awareness, and generate more qualified leads from potential customers.

This is why we have created an SEO Audit Checklist, that business owners should perform routinely, to better their SEO score and in return, improve their business. This guideline includes facilities and tools that prove to be beneficial for different businesses, such as Google page speed insights, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, structured data, and external links.

#1 Perform a competitor analysis

Performing a competitor analysis is one of the best ways to gauge where your business stands in relation to your competition. It can help you identify what strategies your competitors are using that are working well, and it can also help you find opportunities for improvement. By studying your competition, you can gain a better understanding of the overall market and how to position your business within it.

#2 Identify your website’s strengths and weaknesses

One of the main benefits of performing a technical SEO audit is that you can identify what may be hindering you from appearing at the top of search engine results pages. This can better help you understand how to improve or create a positive user experience for visitors.

#3 Research which SEO techniques are most effective for your business

National and international businesses should research which SEO tools are most effective for their particular industry. For example, local businesses may benefit from optimising their website for local keywords, while national businesses may benefit from targeting broader keywords.

#4 Use the right tools to help you audit your website

Using the right tools is essential for any technical SEO audit. There are a number of different tools available, and each one is suited for a specific purpose. Choosing the right SEO tools can help you save time and get better results from your audit.

#5 Analyse your website’s architecture

Having good site architecture means improving how search engines and users navigate your website. Keeping your site architecture organised demonstrates that you know your target audience and that you’re ready to provide them with relevant content that will benefit them most, with the fewest number of clicks.

#6 Identify any crawlability issues

Identifying crawlability issues can help improve your business’ website in several ways. First, by fixing any crawlability issues, you can ensure that your website is crawled and indexed by search engines correctly. Additionally, crawlability issues can cause problems with your website’s structure and make it difficult for visitors to navigate. This can make your website easier to navigate and improve the user experience. Lastly, crawlability issues can impact your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. By fixing these issues, you may be able to improve your website’s ranking and attract more visitors.

#7 Check for indexability issues

One of the main benefits of having a website that is indexable by search engines is that you will have a higher chance of ranking higher in search engine results pages. By being indexed, your website will be crawled and evaluated by search engines, and this can help you rank higher for relevant keywords. Additionally, indexability issues can also cause problems with your website’s ranking. Google Search Console is used in technical SEO practices to resolve errors that may be present on your website.

#8 Analyse your website for content

When analysing your website content for SEO, you should consider several factors, including the following:

- The keywords that are used on your website
- How well your website’s content is written
- The length of your website’s content
- The frequency of new content updates
- The relevance of your website’s content to your target audience
- Duplicate content

#9 Evaluate your site’s speed and performance

Site speed and performance are important factors that can affect a website’s ranking in search engine results pages. By improving the speed and performance of your website, you can help ensure that your website is loading quickly and correctly. Additionally, by improving the speed and performance of your website, you can provide a better user experience for your visitors. This can help keep them engaged with your website and encourage them to return in the future.

#10 Technical SEO Audit

Correcting any errors you find during your technical SEO audit is important because it can help improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. Additionally, by correcting any errors you find, you can help ensure that your website is functioning correctly and providing a positive user experience for your visitors. Lastly, by fixing any errors you find, you can help improve the overall quality of your website

#11 Optimise your website’s title tags and meta descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions are important elements of a website that can affect its ranking in search engine results pages. By optimising your website’s title tags and meta descriptions, you can help ensure that they are accurately describing your website and its content. Additionally, by optimising your website’s title tags and meta descriptions, you can help improve the click-through rate for your website’s links in search engine results pages.

#12 Internal & External Links

Ensure that external links that point to your website have validity and credibility

One of the most important factors that affect a website’s ranking in search engine results pages is the quality of its links. By using high-quality links in your SEO strategy, you can help improve the ranking of your website and attract more visitors. Additionally, by using high-quality links, you can help ensure that your website is being linked to reputable websites. This can help improve the trust and authority of your website in the eyes of search engines.

#13 Structured Data Implementation

Use tools like structured data to help search engines discover and promote your website

Structured data can help your website by providing additional information to search engines about the content on your website. This can help improve search engine rankings of your website in search engine results pages, as well as help ensure that your website is being crawled and evaluated by search engines. Additionally, structured data can also help improve the user experience for your visitors by providing them with additional information about the content on your website.

#14 Track your website’s progress over time

Google Analytics can be used in a technical SEO audit to help track the progress of your website over time. Additionally, by using Google Analytics, you can gain a better understanding of how your website is performing and find areas where you may be able to improve.

Unsure of how to perform an SEO audit? Let our experts help you and your business.

We specialise in performing SEO audits for businesses of all sizes to increase visibility and generate better traffic for your business. Having generated more than 15 million dollars in revenue for our clients, our Sydney SEO company is proficient in using programs such as Google Analytics, Google Pagespeed Insights, and Google Search Console to monitor your website’s growth and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Helping clients such as Space Shuttle Parking gain 1865% of organic traffic in 3 months, our skills and expertise in performing technical SEO audits reflect in the results we produce for our customers.