Technical site audit - the main steps to improve SEO indicators

The technical audit of the site is an integral part of the search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. This process involves a comprehensive evaluation of various aspects of the site to identify and correct problems that may prevent it from ranking highly in search engines. A technical audit's results include identifying weak points and developing effective recommendations for correction.

Download Speed Analysis

Site speed is a critical factor for SEO. Slow loading turns users off and negatively affects rankings. Using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights lets you identify the elements slowing down your site. For example, optimizing images and minifying JavaScript code can significantly increase speed.

The best way to test a site for its speed is the official service from Google: https://pagespeed.web.dev/

Evaluation of URL structure

An organized URL structure makes indexing your site easier for search engines. It is important to use clear and descriptive URLs that include keywords.

For example, www.example.com/services/seo-audit is more search-engine friendly than www.example.com/service/123.

It is also worth noting that the reference must contain only Latin letters, and instead of spaces, the hyphen symbol “-”. You should not write in Cyrillic or uppercase, and you should not use various special characters - “!”, “:”, “*” etc.

Use of SSL/HTTPS

Securing your site via SSL (HTTPS) is not only important for users but also for SEO. Google prefers secure sites. Checking your SSL certificate and ensuring all content is downloaded over HTTPS are necessary. It is also important to ensure that the 301 redirect is working and that the pages from the non-secure protocol are pasted with the secure one. It is very easy to check. You must add the link instead of https - http to the beginning.

Internal Link Improvement

A competent internal link structure helps search engines understand the site's content better. An effective linking system promotes an even distribution of page authority, increasing the importance of key pages.

For example, the main page can contain direct links to the main categories and products. That is why convenient navigation is created in the header.

Bread crumbs should also be added to the site, they are also extremely important for the correct distribution of the link mass.

It is also important to link to the most priority categories in the footer, and this will also have a good effect on promotion:

Image optimization

Images are important to the user experience but can also slow down a site. Using web-optimized formats like JPEG or WebP and setting reasonable image sizes can increase download speed without sacrificing quality. In addition, it is necessary to fill in the alt and title attributes, as this is all additional traffic from image searches.

Checking the XML Site Map

An XML sitemap helps search engines index content efficiently. Ensuring your sitemap is up-to-date and includes all important pages is important. This makes it easier for search engines to find and index your content. It's also best to manually check the sitemap here, but you can check for 404 errors with Screaming Frog. Here's a little tutorial:

1. Select Mode > List

2. Select Upload > Download XML Sitemap

Checking the Robots.txt file

The robots.txt file allows you to control the access of search engines to certain parts of the site. Properly configuring this file prevents irrelevant or duplicate pages from being indexed, thereby increasing SEO performance. More details on how to configure robots.txt

Detecting and Fixing 404 Errors

404 errors (broken pages) can hurt user experience and SEO. Tools like Google Search Console or Screaming Frog help identify such errors. Fixing them by redirecting or updating links is important to keeping your site healthy. How to see broken pages in Google Search Console:

How to see broken pages in Screaming Frog:

Technical site audit is an important part of SEO promotion. Improving loading speed, optimizing for mobile devices, improving URL structure, implementing SSL/HTTPS, and improving internal linking can significantly improve a site's ranking. Regular technical audit and implementation of necessary changes are the keys to success in SEO.