A “Website SEO Audit” of your website content reveals all the impediments to your rankings.
You deserve more than just rankings… I deliver partnership-based technical SEO services, integrity and website content optimisation that exceeds expectations.
What an SEO Audit Consultant Achieves
SEO Audit & Content Review services by New Zealand search engine optimisation consultant Ben Kemp are the industry’s most comprehensive – a 20+ page audit report document reviewing the most critical elements of your website. These are free, “no-obligation” SEO Audits and Reviews, methodical inspections which examine what is wrong with the website, how to fix it, and outline indicative costs.
The SEO Auditor’s examination and careful assessment not only tell you what needs doing, but the documentation also explains why it is necessary. The review document also provides a benchmark against which future search ranking progress can be measured.
How Technical Audits & Web Site Performance Reviews Are Done
An SEO site audit by a professional NZ SEO consultant uses SEO tools to provide a benchmark analysis of the;
Website Architectural Review Audit
Navigation Menu Structure
Internal navigation is a critical element to both users and SE engine spiders trying to index a site. It is therefore a key element of the audit process. The web auditor will make comparisons between the number of pages indexed by the top 3 search engines, and the actual count of pages contained within the website.
Discrepancies between the two figures are indicative of problems for robots/ spiders trying to access and index the site’s internal content. How visitors navigate your site is also important, even if you’re a small business.
User Experience Issues
This involves testing if the site’s navigation is simple to follow, and if the products /services and contact information are easy to access. Determining “Google best practices” can also be done by a quick look at the #1 ranking competitors’ sites. Assessing the competition is smart – as per the old adage “Know your enemy.” Looking at what up-market competitors are doing can be very informative. Are there effective “call to action” items that help site visitors understand what you want them to do, in order to access your products and services?
Functionality
Visitor Experience; auditing assesses if the website’s intent and purpose are evident on the Home page for a first-time visitor. Is the content easy to skim-read, and is it easy to find and understand the important points? Are contact details apparent, are contact forms easy to find and fill in? Does the website include multiple mechanisms for visitors to engage you in communication?
Website Owners Experience; does the website have a user-friendly Admin system that provides an easy way for the owner to make changes?
Credibility & Trust Factors
Contact information is helpful in creating an air of credibility such as references, client feedback, office premises & staff photographs and building location maps. Depending on the site’s theme, other important pages might comprise;
Security Issues
Software version upgrades often include security patches as part of the update. The website reviewer will check the current version of all installed website software against real-world versions. Where possible, it’s good practice to activate auto-updates on WordPress, plugins and themes.
Password security procedures will also be assessed in terms of brute-force login attack protection.
A reliable web application firewall should also be operational to protect against a range of database attacks.
Ownership / Registrant
An SEO audit should also address if the “domain registrant” is actually the real owner – in some cases, the web designer may register the domain on behalf of the owner and effecting the transfer of ownership may be overlooked. Websites may be registered by the owner of the domain, an employee, or a 3rd-party web designer. The SEO audit of website ownership should establish if an agreement was made between the owner of the site and the de facto registrant and if so, what is the current status of that agreement. The owner should always be the registrant on record!.
A thorough website technical audit scrutinises the site to identify suboptimal aspects. Equally important, a technical audit tool like Website Auditor also identifies opportunities where optimisation improvements can make a positive difference. As a representative of a reputable NZ SEO agency, the auditor’s goal is to deliver a comprehensive review of how well your website is performing, and how to make long-term improvements. Benchmarks are established by an experienced NZ SEO specialist/search engine optimisation consultant, and these provide a point of reference against which forward progress can be measured. Implementing required changes on a website takes time to take effect, and it’s vital to have a baseline, and a reporting system, to monitor progress.
Technical Audit Services
Always a contentious problem and helpful content quality grows ever more important as Google’s quest to reward the best of the best continues. Important aspects of a technical audit include;
The ultimate goal of page SEO is original content, engagingly written by the proprietor and/or his staff. For search engines ranking purposes, all pages must be precisely catalogued with accurate descriptive text in all areas; off-page Title and meta-tags, and on-page Heading/s. The SEO consultant conducting the audit will review page URLs and image file name structure. Image Alt text, paragraph relevancy and hyperlinks & titles within those paragraphs will all be subject to close scrutiny.
The website auditor’s knowledge and experience will be applied in an assessment of the website’s software based on known shortcomings. Checks will be made to ascertain if appropriate fixes have been, or should be made. Foremost in this are search-friendly URLs, dynamic header tags, sitemaps and more. Checks that basic requirements such as inclusion of robots.txt file, and custom “404 Page Not Found” error pages are present another important area to be addressed. JavaScript, Flash, Silverlight, Frames etc are technologies able to cripple a site’s ability to rank in SERPs if used inappropriately. We look at these closely…
Website Audit FAQ
What On-Site SEO Issues are Assessed?
The web auditing process reviews a cross-section of the site’s internal pages to see how well pages have been optimised for the most relevant keyword search phrases. Content quality checks for keyword stuffing, hidden links, spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. Initial keyword research will be conducted to determine what high-search-volume keyword phrases are relevant to the site. For additional information, See: https://backlinko.com/seo-site-audit
The technical audit scrutinises all aspects of the site’s structure, code, compliance with mobile-friendly design, page speed scores etc.
What Off-Site SEO Issues are Assesed?
An analysis of the site’s link portfolio will be conducted. This scrutinises outward links, reciprocal links, 1-way incoming links, and deep links to internal website pages. The need for careful citation building will be assessed, along with implications for Local SEO and map SEO services efforts required. Keywords in Anchor Text are examined closely to see if they constitute over-optimisation of keyword phrases.
A link audit inspection checks to ensure that the link profile is natural, and not showing evidence of manipulative link-building practices. It may be necessary to a implement citation building project to overcome deficiencies.
SERP's Rankings for Keyword Portfolio
The SERPs ranking position reports for primary and secondary keyword research phrases impact the overall success. Rankings in the SERPs directly affect the flow of “qualified” search traffic that might be routed to the website from Google, Yahoo & Bing etc.
Website Traffic Statistics Analysis
Hopefully, the hosting package includes statistical data and an audit tool or traffic checker such as AwStats, or Webalizer. Examining web server traffic logfiles can reveal much about the site’s performance. For example; broken links generate 404 errors, whilst high bounce rates may indicate a high percentage of visitors are turned off by the design or have arrived only to find you don’t have what they want. High traffic percentages from direct bookmarked links show that visitors like what they see, and ensure they can find their way back… You can also see the repeat and unique visitors to your site on a monthly basis, allowing you to track your progress.
WordPress Installation Assessment
We are specialists in WordPress SEO projects, and audits of WP websites include close scrutiny of page load speed optimisation, firewall and login security and the range of plugins installed.
Summary
Once the crucial technical website SEO audit aspects of the website content are reviewed, and performance is benchmarked, a good profile of the website’s current performance will be revealed. The SEO audit report lists issues that have been identified. Solutions are outlined to improve “qualified” traffic, and overall traffic quantity. Usability issues will have been highlighted, and improvements listed that are targeted at boosting both the ratio of repeat visitors, and conversion ratios.
A business SEO services package will be recommended, along with remedial efforts on link profiles and advice on how to implement Google penalty reversals.
Page last updated on Thursday, October 12, 2023 by the author Ben Kemp