Supercharge Your Website’s Rankings, User Experience & Performance
Picture this: your visitors land on your website, intrigued and ready to engage… until they encounter a 404 error, painfully slow load times, or worse, a clunky mobile experience. Cue the exit clicks. That’s not the vibe we’re going for, right?
This is where a technical SEO audit swoops in like a web superhero. Whether you’re an SEO specialist, marketer, or business owner, a regular technical SEO audit ensures your website is ticking all the right boxes for both search engines and users. Rankings? Check. Speed? Check. Mobile-friendliness? Double-check.
Below, we’ve crafted a step-by-step guide to help you run the audit of your website’s dreams, sprinkled with tangible examples, best practices, and actionable fixes (all jargon-free, promise).
What’s Technical SEO, and Why Should You Care?
Technical SEO is the behind-the-scenes work that makes your website irresistible to search engines. Think of it like prepping your house for a VIP guest. You want everything tidy, running smoothly, and screaming, “I’m the best option out there!”
Why You Should Do Regular Technical SEO Audits
- Better Rankings: Search engines prioritize websites that are fast, secure, and easy to crawl.
- Enhanced User Experience: Happy users = more page visits and conversions.
- Proactive Problem-Solving: Spot issues before they derail your traffic and rankings.
Step 1: Crawl Your Website Like a Search Engine Bot
Start by crawling your website to mimic what tools like Google or Bing do when indexing your site. Crawling uncovers hidden horrors like broken links 👻, duplicate content, and slow-loading pages.
Tools to Crawl Your Website
- Screaming Frog
- SEMrush
- Ahrefs
Pro Tip: Export your crawl data to a spreadsheet, then prioritize fixes. Broken links (hello, 404 errors) and redirect loops? Attack those first!
Step 2: Check Robots.txt and Your Sitemap
Your robots.txt file and XML sitemap are like roadmaps for search engine bots. A well-optimized one says, “Come on in and check out everything awesome!” A poorly configured one? A dead end.
- Robots.txt file tips:
- Ensure it’s not blocking important pages. Use Google Search Console’s Robots.txt Tester to double-check.
- WARNING 🚨: A single line like
Disallow: /could hide your entire site!
- XML Sitemap tips:
- Make sure it’s up-to-date and includes all indexable pages. Submit it to Google Search Console.
Pro Tip: Exclude duplicate or “noindex” pages from your sitemap to avoid confusing search engines.
Step 3: Secure Your Website with HTTPS
Don’t be the website that sends visitors running with “Not Secure” warnings. If you don’t have an SSL certificate, search engines (and people) won’t take you seriously.
- Check for mixed content (loading both HTTPS and HTTP elements) using browser developer tools.
- Redirect all HTTP URLs to HTTPS with a clean 301 redirect.
Fun Fact: HTTPS sites build trust and rank better because search engines love them.
Step 4: Boost Site Speed Like a Pro
Did you know that Google’s Core Web Vitals makes or breaks your site speed’s impact on rankings? If your pages load slower than grandma’s dial-up, it’s time for an upgrade.
Key Metrics to Monitor
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) (ideal under 2.5 seconds)
- First Input Delay (FID)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Speed Tips
- Compress images with tools like TinyPNG.
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML to cut down on unnecessary bloat.
- 💨 Power Move: Host with speed-optimized platforms like Cloudways to cut load times dramatically.
Step 5: Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly?
With Google’s mobile-first indexing, mobile optimization isn’t just optional; it’s mandatory. Think about it: your users are likely browsing on the go.
Test Your Mobile-Friendliness
Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check for issues like:
- Text that’s too small.
- Buttons too close together.
- Content wider than the screen.
Responsive design is your ride-or-die here. Your website should look good on screens big (desktops) and small (smartphones).
Step 6: Fix Broken Links
Imagine a customer clicks a link, only to hit a 404 error. Talk about a buzzkill. Broken links aren’t just bad for users; they’re bad for SEO.
- Use Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to find broken links.
- Redirect old or broken pages to relevant, active pages using 301 redirects.
Pro Tip: Schedule regular broken link reviews so you can stay ahead of the game, especially after site updates.
Step 7: Implement Schema Markup
Ever notice those flashy star ratings or FAQs in Google search results? That’s thanks to schema markup, which helps search engines understand your content better.
- Use JSON-LD to implement schema for articles, recipes, products, or FAQs.
- Test it with Google’s Rich Results Test.
Adding schema markup won’t just make you stand out; it’ll also boost your click-through rates!
Step 8: Check Core Web Vitals (Again!)
Since Core Web Vitals directly impact rankings, regularly monitor them for both desktop and mobile versions of your site. Fix anything dragging your score down, stat.
Actionable Next Steps for SEO Greatness
By now, you’ve got a solid framework for crushing a technical SEO audit. Remember, SEO is not a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing process that requires attention, tweaking, and continuous monitoring.
Want to get a head start? Start Your Free SEO Audit today and identify issues holding your website back!