SEO audits can seem quite technical and that’s one of the major reasons business owners seem to ignore it. But at the end of the day an SEO audit isn’t actually that difficult, you just need to know where to start!

Due to the fact that SEO is constantly evolving, it is highly recommended that you get an audit from an SEO Sydney firm regularly, probably once every three months, but this would also depend on the nature of your website.

You should delve deeper into your website, and not just look at face value issues. By doing this regularly, you are limiting the long term impact of a potentially dangerous issue. Remember, the longer you leave an issue, the harder it becomes to fix and the more damage it could do.

So take a look below at some of the most important aspects you need to look for when conducting an SEO audit. This checklist offers up a range of things that you need to take into consideration when ensuring your site health is positive.

Keyword Analysis

One of the first things you will need to do is take a look at your keywords. Review you current list of keywords and determine whether or not they are still relevant to your website.

You should also group the keywords into the relevant set and ensure that your landing pages match the groups of keywords you have. In each group of keywords you should have high priority and low priority key terms.

You also need to review exactly how your keywords are performing. Have you keywords improved in visibility since last time you conducted an SEO audit? Are there any areas that need improvement? Are there any areas where you aren’t currently targeting but could be?

By conducting a review of your keywords, you should get the answer to these questions and more. Your keywords are important because this is one of the main ways that users can find your website. Therefore, it is important that you take the time to ensure you have the most accurate list possible.

User Experience

Providing users with a positive experience is a must do these days. SEO isn’t just all about pleasing Google. Happy user = happy Google. So make sure you have a top notch user experience.

Think about the layout of your website and if users can find what they are looking for easily. As well as this, you should look around your website and see if there are any errors or broken pages.

Remember, the longer a user spends on your website, the better the signal that is sent back to Google. On the flip side, the higher your bounce rate, the worse the signal that is sent back to Google. So make sure you focus on aspects such as your site speed. The longer your site takes to load, the more users will click off.

Content Review

Your content is one of the most important aspects of your website. Therefore, it is only natural that content review encompasses quite a large part of your SEO audit. The first thing you need to remember is that your content should be unique and not copied from anywhere else, including other pages of your site.

If you are worried about plagiarism issues, use the tool Copyscape as they give you feedback as to how much of your content is duplicated elsewhere. When you have unique and quality content, it can help your website rank better.

So when reviewing your content, the other main things you should look for include:

• Keyword placement: heading and first sentence.
• Keyword stuffing: steer clear of keyword stuffing as you could see a Google penalty.
• URL structure: ensure your URL isn’t too long and also includes the keyword.
• Images or multimedia: any images or videos etc. including need to be properly optimised.
• Length: while also being of a high quality, your content also needs to be about 2,000+ words if you want to rank on the first page

Speed

Your site speed is vital these days and users are getting more and more impatient, especially mobile users. Ideally you would be looking to have your website load in under 2 seconds. Any longer than that and you risk the user leaving your website and contributing to your high bounce rate.

If you are wondering about the current state of your speed, check out Google’s PageSpeed Insights as they give you an indication of the speed of your mobile and desktop website, while also offering tips and hints on how you can improve your site’s speed.

With you checking these four important components of an SEO audit you are safe guarding your site and limiting the amount of potentially long term issues that would be difficult to resolve.