{"id":6381,"date":"2020-02-10T07:10:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T05:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=6381"},"modified":"2022-09-05T19:24:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T17:24:25","slug":"how-to-conduct-a-search-engine-optimisation-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/seo-blog\/how-to-conduct-a-search-engine-optimisation-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Conduct a Search Engine Optimisation Audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSM_Infographic_SEO7-e1581257661514.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing - search engine optimisation audit\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSM_Infographic_SEO7-e1581257661514.jpg 680w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/DSM_Infographic_SEO7-e1581257661514-600x423.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>Whether you\u2019re doing it for your own website, or for a client\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/seo-blog\/how-can-you-optimise-your-websites-speed-find-out-more\/\">website<\/a>, a search engine optimisation audit is an important first step in any digital marketing relationship. SEO is used to maximise a website\u2019s ranking potential on search engines like Google. There are a number of factors which come into play regarding a website\u2019s search results page rank. This means that it is your job as a digital marketer to ensure you\u2019re ticking all of the right boxes. This article gives you a three-step guideline on conducting a simple search engine optimisation audit for a website:<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Step 1: Get an overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The first phase of any SEO audit is to get an overview of a website\u2019s strengths and weaknesses in terms of how well it has been optimised. There are many excellent paid <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/building-online-community\/\">online<\/a> SEO audit tools out there for marketers to use. If you\u2019re still somewhere at the beginning of your career, there are countless free tools to choose from.<\/p>\n<p>One such SEO audit platform is sitechecker.pro. Simply paste a website\u2019s home page URL in and click on \u2018analyze\u2019 to start the magic. After a minute or so, you\u2019ll be given a summary report which can conveniently be downloaded as a PDF or a CSV file. The summary shows a website\u2019s SEO score out of 100. You can then view all of the pages to get a score for each one.<\/p>\n<p>Sitechecker breaks the report down into three main categories: critical errors, warnings, and notices. Critical errors are issues with a website that are extremely detrimental to its SEO ranking potential, while warnings and notices are problems that don\u2019t have much impact on SEO but should be addressed.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of which online SEO auditing tool you use, they should all detail the issues that are hindering a website\u2019s ranking, and offer actions you can take to remedy these.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Vimeo video player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/270043034?autoplay=0&loop=0&autopause=0&color=00adef&portrait=0&byline=1&title=1&controls=1&muted=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2><strong>Step 2: Find the gaps<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Once you have an overview report that you can show a client when discussing their website\u2019s search engine optimisation status, the next step is to drill deeper for issues that might not appear on the report. They can be broken down into off-page and on-page factors:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Off-page factors<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These factors are the contributors to SEO that are not found on a website page. The most important off-page SEO factor to assess is that of linking. A well-optimised website features both internal links (linking from one page to another page on the same website), as well as external links (other websites linking to the website being audited).<\/p>\n<p>By using a link assessment tool like seotoolcheckers<em>.<\/em>com, you can get a detailed breakdown of all internal and external website links. Here you can see which website pages do not feature internal links, as well as where any external links are coming from.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>On-page factors<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>These are the SEO factors found on a website\u2019s pages, and include things like metadata (title tags in addition to meta descriptions), as well as images and their accompanying ALT tags. You want to make sure that each and every website page features a title tag and meta description, as these are what show up on search engine results pages.<\/p>\n<p>Use a metadata assessment tool like Screaming Frog to show you where your pages are missing these essential SEO elements. The free tool lists all of your website pages, and shows you which ones require metadata. You also want to ensure that each page features a relevant image, and that there are sufficient headings containing the page\u2019s focus keyword or phrase.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Step 3: Assess keywords<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of keywords, a final step in the SEO audit is to assess a website\u2019s keyword strategy. This involves using a tool like Yoast SEO on WordPress websites to see if a website has assigned a focus keyword or phrase for each page.<\/p>\n<p>Even if there are focus keywords assigned for each page, you want to make sure that those keywords are found throughout the page\u2019s body copy, and that the keyword is actually relevant to the information. If there are no keywords assigned, you can use keyword tools like SEMrush or Keywordtool.io to get keyword popularity statistics and find the best ones for the website being audited.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Get qualified in SEO and web analytics<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Learn the ins and outs of professional search engine optimisation, and discover advanced web analytics techniques, with an <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\">SEO and web analytics course<\/a> from the Digital School of Marketing. Contact us for additional information on any of our digital marketing qualifications!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-758 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSM_Footer03-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing SEO and Web Analytics course registration\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. 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