You have surely read it a thousand times. And surely you have been told it just as many more times. “You need an SEO audit”. But what exactly is it and what is auditing the SEO side of a business for? Basically it is about detecting shortcomings and opportunities for improvement on your website with the aim of selling more, improving your presence online or converting more according to your goals.
We live in a connected world. Buyers are no longer at your physical business — if they ever were. 90% of purchases are closed online, and if you are not there you will eventually disappear. It is something the giants understood quickly, and that is why they bet heavily on it. Think about what the buying flow of a normal person looks like, yourself for example. We could say this process is divided into two phases, which I illustrate with these two simple examples:
The Internet buying process
Research
You are interested in changing your car. You have already seen a model that catches your eye, the Opel Zafira. So you pick up your phone and do a quick search: “Opel Zafira reviews”. Once you have browsed the web and seen prices, opinions, possible faults and extras, you decide to move on to the purchase
Purchase
Now you want your Opel Zafira, but you are not ready to pay online yet. So you search for prices of the car you like online and choose to visit the nearest dealer that suits your needs. You have your new car!
Today, close to 90% of purchases are closed on the Internet.
This is why it is important that you have presence in search engines and social networks. Imagine taking about 1000 flyers and throwing them into a field — you would need luck for someone to pass by and pick one up; however, think of carrying each advertising flyer to the phone of people who are searching for what you offer… magical, right?
What are the steps in an SEO audit?
As the popular saying goes: “To each their own method“; in our case it is a matter of coherence and prioritisation depending on what is detected in each project. Not all customers are the same, and that is why they must not be worked on in the same way. Nevertheless, this is broadly what we evaluate in every SEO audit.
- Indexing: Here we study how Google is seeing and crawling your website. How many parts it is indexing, the position it has granted to your site’s keywords and whether it is detecting errors.
- Content: In this section we study the content to detect keyword semantics, whether the texts are optimised for SEO, their quality and internal linking.
- Your website’s popularity: How many websites are linking to your business? Do you have links from toxic websites? All of this together with all external factors of the website.
- Performance data: From weekly visits to how much time users spend on your website. All these data and many more help understand what is failing.
The time is now. Honestly we think everyone needs an SEO audit, and we are in an era where standing still does not help us evolve, so it is time to think about the future so you can unleash the new potential your business has.
Shall we start?
Lastly, I cannot fail to recommend that you visit the dedicated blog section if you want to learn some of our SEO tips and tricks. We publish a bit of everything, not only tips but also news and hints periodically. It is free and it is there to help you.