How Will an Internet Marketing Agency Conduct a Proper SEO and Analytical Site Audit?
Search
engine optimisation audits are generally considered to be time-consuming and
long-drawn out. But SEO audits are absolutely vital for new clients, as well as
poorly performing websites. Even regular sites need an SEO audit once in every
4-6 months. As a whopping 93% of all online experiences start with search
engines, as per Search Engine Journal, you need regular SEO audits to ensure
your site is relevant and ranks well.
SEO
is a constantly changing landscape. This is the reason why companies must re-evaluate
their SEO strategies through audits. Some of the reasons your site needs an
audit could be poor content, broken links or more. Search engines are
constantly updating algorithms and you need to stay up to date. Here’s how an
internet marketing agency can help you:
- Focus on Analytics
One
of the first steps for an internet marketing agency is to do an SEO audit of an existing site. For this, marketers must rely on
analytics. Even when setting up a new site for clients, website analytics such
as Google Analytics contain important data points that show traffic on every
page, dwell time, bounce rate and much more. This information is crucial to an
effective SEO audit. Track social media presence for your site. Craft and
evaluate metadata such as title, meta descriptions, alt image tags etc.
Downloads and email subscriptions can also be important indicators of how
effective the marketing collateral or newsletter respectively is.
- Keyword Analysis: Track Your Keywords
Keyword
data is no longer available through Google Analytics. But if PPC ads are
implemented, data can be collected on which keywords are the most effective.
Study title, primary keywords and other keywords as well. Driving PPC traffic
to pages means adding keywords from each of these. Information on keywords like
strategies followed, keyword density etc., are important to consider.
- Website Load Times: The Need for Speed
Website
load speed is an important factor in search engine rankings as well as user
experiences. Even a single-second delay
in page load times means a 7% decrease in conversions and 11% lower page views,
as per research by the Aberdeen Group. Further, Google Analytics shows how long
it takes for pages on the site to load. Google page speed and site tools offer
suggestions and speed ratings on how performance can be improved.
- Brainstorm Content Gaps
Make
it easier to fill content gaps and ensure you don’t fall prey to poor or thin
content. Rev up your content by working on original themes and words. Work hard
to eliminate duplication of content, ideas or themes from already existing
matter on the internet.
- Link Analysis
Backlinks
to websites are a major goal for search engines. Not all backlinks are equally
created, however. Backlinks from spammy sites can damage your reputation. Audit
backlinks using Google Webmaster Tools. Review questionable sites linked to
your website. Anchor text chosen for internal linking should be appropriate. An
internet marketing agency should, therefore, focus on link analysis as a crucial
part of an SEO audit.
- Technical Analysis
The
key factors involved in SEO audits on the technical side include back-end
factors like indexing and hosting, front-end factors like keywords, metadata
and content as well as link quality and outside references. All in all, the website should be thoroughly
vetted for effective impact.