What Is an On-Site SEO Audit? 10 Essential Things to Check

On-site SEO audit - what is it really?

An on-site SEO audit is the process of analyzing and evaluating a website in terms of its optimization for search engines. The goal of the audit is to identify and fix technical errors that may affect the site's visibility in search results. A technical SEO audit aims to improve the site's indexing by search engine crawlers, optimize the site structure and architecture, and eliminate any factors that block or hinder search engines from indexing content. In addition, well-implemented changes based on a previously performed on-site audit can positively impact the rankings of your subpages in search results.

When should you perform an SEO audit?

An SEO audit can be performed at any time, but there are certain situations where running an audit is particularly recommended. Here are a few such cases:

1. Before starting optimization: If you are just starting to work on optimizing your site for SEO, an audit can help identify areas that need improvement. This gives you a clear picture of the current situation so you can focus on the most important aspects.
2. After making changes to the site: If you have made significant changes to the site, such as changing the URL structure, migrating to a different content management system, or updating the graphic design, it is worth conducting an SEO audit to ensure these changes have not negatively affected the site's visibility and search result rankings.
3. Drop in traffic and search result rankings: If you notice a sudden drop in website traffic or a decline in search result rankings, an SEO audit can help identify potential issues contributing to this situation. This can include technical factors, content, and other aspects that may affect the site's visibility.
4. Before restructuring the site: If you plan to carry out major structural changes to the site, such as changing URLs, migrating to a new platform, or altering the page hierarchy, an SEO audit can help identify potential risks and prepare properly for the restructuring to minimize the risk of losing organic traffic.

Helpful tools for conducting an on-site SEO audit

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that allows you to monitor and report on your site's performance in Google search. Here, you can check which pages are indexed by Google, what errors are on the site, which keywords generate traffic to the site, and much more.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Screaming Frog is a very popular SEO audit tool that allows you to crawl websites quickly. It lets you identify issues with titles and meta descriptions, headings, links, server response statuses, image alt attributes, etc.

Sitebulb

Sitebulb is an advanced website analysis and SEO audit tool. It is designed to help SEO specialists, webmasters, and marketing agencies understand and optimize websites. Sitebulb offers a wide range of features and capabilities that enable comprehensive technical analysis of a website.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool provided by Google used to analyze website performance and evaluate its optimization for loading speed and usability across mobile and desktop devices. This tool helps web creators and developers identify potential issues that may affect site speed and performance. PageSpeed Insights analyzes a website based on various factors, such as loading time, mobile accessibility, image optimization, resource compression, browser caching usage, elimination of render-blocking resources, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code optimization, and much more. After analyzing the page, the tool generates a score in the form of two ratings: one for the desktop version and another for the mobile version of the page. Various performance factors are evaluated, and results are presented as a numerical score from 0 to 100. Higher scores mean better optimization and site performance. Additionally, Google PageSpeed Insights provides detailed information and optimization suggestions for the page. It points out which elements of the site require improvement and suggests specific steps that can be taken to optimize page loading speed. This may include reducing image sizes, compressing files s, modifying the page code, or taking other actions aimed at improving site performance.

GTMetrix

GTMetrix is an online tool that analyzes website performance and optimization. It is widely used by webmasters, developers, and site owners to monitor and evaluate page loading speed and identify areas that can be optimized to improve user experience. The GTMetrix tool allows you to test websites based on various criteria, such as loading time, file sizes, number of HTTP requests, and much more.

10 essential things to check during an on-site audit

Meta title and page description

The meta title and meta description are often used as the primary informational elements displayed in search results. Well-optimized and compelling meta titles and meta descriptions can increase your site's click-through rate (CTR) because they grab users' attention and encourage clicks. Meta titles and descriptions must be unique for each subpage. The meta title should include relevant keywords related to the page's content. If a user enters a query related to these keywords and the meta title matches them, there is a higher probability that your page will be included in the search results.

Headings and their structure

Headings are used to structure and organize content hierarchically on a website. It is worth noting that search engines favor well-organized websites that have a logical structure. A proper heading hierarchy (e.g., H1, H2, H3, etc.) helps clarify how the content is organized and which elements are the most important. This makes it easier for search engines to index and interpret the content. Headings are important not only for search engine crawlers, but also for website users. Well-formatted headings make it easier to read and navigate through the content. They help with quickly scanning the page, allowing users to find the information they are interested in. Remember that there should only be one H1 heading per subpage and it must be unique, meaning it should not be repeated on other subpages within your site.

Page speed optimization

Page speed is one of the factors Google takes into account when indexing and assessing pages for quality. In 2010, Google announced that page load speed is an official ranking factor. The faster a page loads, the better its chances for higher rankings in search results. Google aims to provide users with the best experience, so pages that are fast and responsive gain a ranking advantage. Research shows that users are more likely to stay on a page that loads quickly. If a site is slow to respond and takes a long time to load, users may become discouraged and leave, looking for alternative, more responsive sites. This, in turn, can lead to a higher bounce rate and lower traffic, which negatively affects the site's positioning in search results.

Image optimization

Images can significantly impact page load times. The larger the image files, the longer it takes for the browser to download them. If a website has slow loading times, it can negatively impact the user experience as well as the site's ranking in search results. Search engines, such as Google, favor sites with fast loading times, which is why it is important to optimize images to reduce file sizes and improve page performance. It is worth using modern image formats such as .webp and .avif.

Image ALT attributes

Search engines, such as Google, cannot "see" images, but they rely on text to understand what a given page is about. By adding ALT attributes, you provide search engines with additional information about the content of the images on your site. This can help improve the indexing and ranking of your website in s search results. ALT attributes are crucial for people who use screen readers or have image display turned off. By providing appropriate alternative text, these individuals can understand what a given image is and what information it contains. It is worth including a keyword phrase in the ALT attribute whenever possible.

Structured Data

Structured data consists of special markup that can be added to a website's source code to provide search engines with additional information about the content presented on the page. Structured data allows search engines to better understand the page content and the context in which it appears. This helps search engines interpret the information more effectively and display more accurate and relevant results in search listings. Structured data makes it possible to display additional details about a page in search results. For example, if you add structured data for product reviews, you can expect star ratings, review counts, and other details to appear in the search results, capturing users' attention and increasing click-through rates.

Redirects

Redirects can harm SEO optimization if they are used improperly or excessively. A 301 redirect is the most commonly recommended method for redirecting pages. It permanently points one page to another. However, with 301 redirects, some of the link equity that pointed to the original page can be lost. Redirects unnecessarily increase page load times. When a user clicks a link and then goes through multiple redirects, each redirect takes time to process and transmit the server response. Long page load times can lead to user frustration and negatively impact their experience. Furthermore, Google and other search engines also consider page load time as a ranking factor, meaning redirects can affect search visibility. When a redirect is used, search engine crawlers must take an extra step to reach the target page. In the case of well-optimized redirects that are direct and reliable, they will not negatively impact the crawl budget. Search engine bots will continue crawling the site smoothly and efficiently. However, misconfigured redirects or an excess of redirects can negatively affect the crawl budget. If a site has many redirect chains or redirect loops, search engine bots may spend a significant portion of their time jumping between pages instead of indexing their content. This can result in fewer indexed pages than expected.

The sitemap.xml and robots.txt Files

The sitemap.xml and robots.txt files are essential for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because they help search engines better understand the structure and content of a website.

• The sitemap.xml file contains a list of all pages available on the website. It acts as a site map that helps search engines index all pages of the site and understand their hierarchy. When a search engine visits the sitemap.xml file, it can easily discover new or updated pages, which helps speed up website indexing. This, in turn, increases the chances of pages appearing in search results.
• The robots.txt file is a text file placed in the website's root directory. It instructs search engine crawlers which parts of the site should be indexed or ignored. Using the robots.txt file, you can specify which folders or files should not be indexed by search engines. For example, if there is a folder on the website containing administrative files, it can be excluded from indexing to keep data confidential. The robots.txt file also allows you to indicate the location of the sitemap.xml file, making it easier for search engines to find the site map.

4xx Errors

4xx errors are server responses indicating that the client's request cannot be fulfilled due to a client-side error. These are client errors, such as 404 - Not Found, 403 - Forbidden, 401 - Unauthorized, etc. These errors negatively affect SEO and your website's performance in many ways. 4xx errors, such as a 404 error, are frustrating for users. When a user lands on a page that does not exist or that they cannot access, it can create a negative experience and cause them to leave your site. This can lead to an increased bounce rate and lower conversions.Recurring 4xx errors on your website can send negative signals to search engines, suggesting that your site may have technical issues or be poorly maintained. This can lower overall SEO value of your website and impact your rankings in search results.

5xx Errors

5xx errors are HTTP server response codes that indicate technical problems or server-side errors. These errors, such as 500 Internal Server Error, 502 Bad Gateway, 503 Service Unavailable, or 504 Gateway Timeout, have a negative impact on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for several reasons. 5xx errors cause search engines to encounter problems when indexing pages. When a search engine crawler encounters a server error, it may decide not to index the page or postpone indexing for later. This means your site may be skipped in search results or will be indexed with a delay, which negatively affects your website's visibility in search engines. 5xx errors lead to a negative user experience when someone visits your site. If the page is unavailable due to such an error, the user may abandon the visit and look for information on competitor websites instead.

Summary

Properly and thoroughly performing, and then implementing changes from, an on-site SEO audit is an extremely important aspect of website optimization. It is worth using the right tools to support this process, such as Google Search Console, Google Page Speed Insights, or Screaming Frog SEO Spider. This article covered the most important things to check during such an audit - however, you should remember that this is often not enough, and many other, more advanced items must be checked. If you are looking for specialists to carry out a professional on-site SEO audit of your website, contact us. We also encourage you to read other articles related to website positioning on our blog.