As part of a comprehensive and sound SEO strategy, everything starts with determining the current state, interpreting the results and deriving concrete actions from them. By performing an SEO audit, the current state of the website in terms of SEO is reviewed. An SEO website audit can refer to the entire site — both on-page and off-page — or only to individual aspects, such as specific subpages or backlinks.
In our article, we explain what an SEO audit service is, why you should perform such an audit, what it costs, what is involved and what measures can be derived from the SEO website audit.
What Does SEO Audit Mean?
An SEO audit is about reviewing a website in great detail in terms of its search engine relevant aspects. This analysis of the current state of the site then serves as the basis for developing measures for improvement. The goal is always to improve the ranking in search engines, to be found better and to get more traffic and conversions.
Is There a Difference Between an SEO Audit, an SEO Analysis and an SEO Check?
On the one hand, the terms are not bindingly defined, and the transitions are fluid. On the other hand, there are small but very crucial differences if you take a closer look:
| SEO audit | Here, a comprehensive analysis of the current state takes place, with a subsequent interpretation of the results and the derivation of concrete actions for optimization. |
| SEO analysis | In an SEO analysis, one only determines the current state of a website without deriving immediate actions. |
| SEO check | Using tools, a mostly automatic, short, technical check of a website regarding important SEO parameters takes place. |
Why Should an SEO Audit Be Performed?
There are a variety of reasons to perform an SEO audit. Let’s take a closer look at three of these reasons:
1. A New SEO Manager Wants to Get an Overview
Many companies are moving towards employing an SEO manager, or at least hiring an accomplished freelancer for the task, to improve their site’s ranking. The professional obtains a comprehensive overview of the site’s condition during an SEO website audit and derives the necessary measures from this, delegates content writers and executes strategies to improve SEO.
2. An Agency Is to Take Over the SEO and Establishes the Status Quo
Agencies such as Blogtec are very broadly positioned and have the necessary specialist staff to carry out an SEO site audit on the one hand and to derive a strategy for optimization from it on the other. The site audit is the basis for all subsequent measures. The department for SEO, technical SEO, as well as for high-quality content is assigned in the next step to implement the respective activities.
3. Websites Undergo a Relaunch and Are to Be Optimized
Sometimes websites have a rather sad existence. They may have extensive but poor content and no or only few SEO features. In the case of a relaunch, a site audit in the SEO area first determines which actions can improve the ranking.
There are also many starting points for improvements when websites are merged or internationalized. Whether the entire website or only individual pages or aspects, such as backlinks, must be optimized, also results from the previous audit of the website.
What Does an SEO Audit Usually Cost?
The costs to perform an audit are of course closely related to the scope of the website. As a very rough guideline, however, you should budget for around 1,500 dollars for it. For larger websites, the costs can easily add up to 10,000 dollars and more.
But the actual audit is not the end of the story. If you decide to take such a step, you must also plan a budget for the subsequent tasks — otherwise you might as well skip the audit.
SEO Site Audit: Costs
Why Is a Website Audit so Expensive? I See Offers for 99 Dollars or Even Less All the Time
It’s like everything else in life… If you want quality, you have to pay for it. In other words: If you buy cheap, you buy twice.
Of course, an audit is also available for 99 dollars, but then you should ask yourself what you actually get for it. At this price, no individual and thorough audit is possible. As a rule, these are automatic website checks that you could have performed yourself. You then receive blanket suggestions that you could have read yourself in good blogs.
Can I Do an SEO Audit Myself and Save Money?
Yes and no. Technically, you can do an SEO check or a rudimentary analysis with the many SEO tools on the market. However, if you want a customized audit that gives you profound insights, you won’t be able to avoid using a professional or an agency.
If you want to get more familiar with the topic, these tools will help you to get a first impression of the topics… And one thing is clear: Before you accept a cheap offer for an SEO audit from a bad agency, you better do it yourself with these tools.
What Is Included in an SEO Audit?
This question is hard to answer. If we remember, Google calculates the relevance of a page and thus the ranking from about 200 metrics. However, since these are secret, no one knows exactly what to focus on.
Therefore, every agency has a different focus and interprets the Google algorithms differently. Of course, there are some well-known basics that should be considered in any case.
What Is Included in a Good SEO Audit Report?
The audit report should always be individually created and address these points:
- General status report about the SEO on the website.
- Answering the question of how competitors are doing.
- Determining an SEO strategy: Where is potential for improvement? How can the strategy be realigned? Which keywords should be given more consideration? What publication frequency for new texts should be aimed for? What is the status of backlinks?
- Content: What is the status of the content? Where can existing content be optimized? In which areas do you want to be an expert in the future?
- Technical SEO: What about the technical side of SEO? What technical possibilities exist for optimizing SEO?
- User Experience: In superb reports, there are also hints on UX design and possible improvements in user experience. Centering the user should always be a priority and is considered by Google.
- Summary: In the final summary, everything should be put straight and specific instructions for action should be given.
These Areas Should Be Examined During an SEO Audit
As mentioned earlier, each professional or agency usually has a certain focus and will prioritize some points and consider others less. However, the following actions should not be missing from a website SEO audit:
1. On-page SEO
Everything that can be done directly on the website itself to optimize the ranking counts as on-page measures. These include:
| Area | Explanation | Possible measures |
|---|---|---|
| Pretty URL | A Clean URL, Speaking URL, or Pretty URL refers to website addresses that are clearly readable and do not contain technical abbreviations. | Change bad URLs to Pretty URLs. |
| Content | See part 3 | |
| Metadata | Meta title and meta description are a first hint for Google about the content. In addition, the meta description appears in the search results. | Optimize all titles and descriptions for the right length and for meaningful content. |
| Internal links | Links pointing to other articles on the site provide structure and indicate the importance of individual articles. | Include as many good internal links as possible. |
| ALT tags | Each image should have a described text and title because only in this way the content can be read by the Google Bot. | All images must have an ALT text. |
2. Off-page SEO
All criteria that lie outside of one’s own website and have an influence on the search engine ranking are referred to as off-page SEO and should be examined in detail during an SEO site audit. These include:
| Area | Explanation | Possible measures |
|---|---|---|
| Trust and Authority | A not so simple area. There are plenty of factors at play here that have an impact on the image and authority of the site. | Strengthen brand and present top content that establishes your site as an authority in a field. |
| Range | Many visitors to the website are a signal of relevance. Dwell time also allows conclusions to be drawn about the quality of the content. | Increase reach and bring the right visitors to the site. |
| Backlinks | Valuable backlinks from reputable and strong sites to your website increase your reputation and the importance of your site. | Work on building and expanding your backlink strategy. |
| Social Signals | How often do people link to your site on social media? | Strengthen your social media work. |
3. Content, Structure, and Navigation
Even though this area is actually part of on-page SEO, we dedicate a separate section to it because content is king.
| Area | Explanation | Possible measures |
|---|---|---|
| Text length | A short, meaningless text is rather counterproductive and can lead to the devaluation of the page. | Avoid texts with less than 500 words. Add or delete them. |
| Duplicate content | If there are too many similarities between two texts (either within your page or to external pages), Google will penalize this. | Duplicate content should be avoided at all costs. Similar passages or texts should be rewritten or removed. |
| HTML Markup | Only well-structured texts with H1, H2 and H3 headings are good texts. They give structure and highlight the importance of individual keywords. | Unstructured texts should be provided with headings afterward. |
| Navigation | Flat structures are better for users and the crawling by Google. | Get rid of too many directory levels and give your site more clarity. |
| Keyword stuffing | If a keyword appears too frequently, Google evaluates this negatively. | Remove too often used keywords from old texts. |
4. Technical SEO
Technical values serve as the basis for a solid SEO, even if the focus is increasingly on content.
| Area | Explanation | Possible measures |
|---|---|---|
| SSL certificates | A secure connection not only protects the transmission of personal data, but is also a prerequisite for Google for a good ranking. | If you still have an insecure connection, a change to https:// is urgently necessary. |
| XML Sitemap | Most CMS programs generate a https://blogtec.io/blog/wordpress-sitemap/ automatically. This helps Google with indexing. | Make sure that the XML sitemap is created correctly and correct it if necessary. |
| robot.txt | In this file, subpages can be hidden from indexing. Every so often, this is set incorrectly. | Check the robot.txt file for the correct settings and correct it if necessary. |
| 404 pages | Incorrect links lead to a diminished user experience. | Use tools to find and eliminate broken links. |
| Pagespeed | Pages that load too slowly also weaken the user experience, which Google penalizes accordingly. | Optimize loading times and elaborate third-party applications and reduce the size of images. |
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What Happens After an SEO Audit?
As mentioned before, you should always think of subsequent actions and activities along with a budget for an SEO audit. Because an audit that is not followed by any actions can be spared right away.
The scope of possible improvements is, of course, related to the diligence of previous SEO activities. If you have never really taken care of it before, the catalog of measures can be quite extensive.
But first it is necessary to read, understand and internalize the audit result. Thereafter, open questions should be clarified with the assigned agency and measures should be prioritized because, of course, you can’t do everything at once. You may also want to share the results of the SEO website audit with other stakeholders in your company and delegate tasks.
In the best case, you’ve already thought about how you’ll deal with the result and who exactly will implement the upcoming measures before the audit.
After the Audit Is Before the Audit
An SEO audit is a snapshot. You get a comprehensive analysis of the current state at a certain time. Then you take the findings from it to tackle your SEO activities in a structured way. It makes sense to conduct another audit after a certain period of time (e.g., after one year) to measure the success of the measures that have been implemented meanwhile.
Simultaneously, you can also check individual aspects with certain tools or simply search for certain keywords in Google and see where your page is displayed.
Measuring your success is important to see which measures are working best and then apply them to other subpages. For example, you could optimize some subpages only technically at first and others in terms of content. The one that has led to a stronger improvement in the end can then move to the top of your priority list.
Start With the Low-hanging Fruit in Some Circumstances
One way to start your SEO efforts is to start with the low-hanging fruit. These are pages that are already ranking in the top 10 of search results for certain keywords, and with a few actions could move up another spot or two. Possible measures here are:
- Link internally even more frequently to these pages.
- Try to get new backlinks to these pages.
- Introduce a new aspect or update outdated data in the content.
- Maybe insert the keyword one more time in the text (without keyword stuffing).
From the Audit to the Optimized Page: You Can Get It All From Blogtec
As mentioned, each expert or agency sets a certain focus. With Blogtec, it’s SEO content. For the creators, content is truly king and has significant influence on SEO performance. Therefore, with an SEO audit created by Blogtec, you will not only receive an easy-to-understand analysis overview including SEO strategy recommendations, but also the following:
- A checklist with areas to be optimized
- Advice on the index structure of your website
- An analysis of the errors that most affect the technical soundness of the website.
- An overview of the headline structure in your texts
- An analysis of the broken links and linking on your website
- An overview of your current meta titles and meta descriptions
- A list of internal links
- Hints on the lengths of the texts
You will also receive recommendations for action and tips for improvement for the individual points.
Blogtec supports you in setting up a content strategy as well as in creating new content. In this way, we work together with you, slowly but surely up the stairs of the search results. An SEO audit is only the beginning — after that, it is important to eliminate the identified problem areas. Let’s get started. Use the contact form to get your individual and non-binding consultation.
