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A website that’s not optimized technically for search engines is like a storefront tucked away in a dark alley. No matter how amazing your products or services are, if people can’t find you online, it’s as good as being invisible, which is not great for a small business. It’s where a technical SEO audit can help you.
It’s like a health check-up for your website as it uncovers hidden issues that might be keeping you from ranking high in search results and attracting organic traffic. It ensures your website is not only visible but also easily accessible to search engines so they can rank it favorably.
So, let’s go over the ultimate technical SEO audit checklist tailor-made for small businesses!
Why a Technical SEO Audit Is Essential for Small Businesses
Here are some reasons auditing your site’s technical SEO matters:
It’s About Visibility
A technical SEO audit helps search engines like Google understand your website better. It’s like translating your website’s language into something Google can easily read and index.
It Ensures a Good User Experience
Google wants to serve up the best possible results to its users. That means fast-loading, mobile-friendly websites that are easy to navigate. A technical SEO audit can help you identify and fix any issues that might be hindering the user experience.
It Lays the Foundation for Your Site
You could have the most amazing content and website in the world, but if Google can’t find it or understand it, it’s not going to do you much good. A comprehensive audit lays the groundwork for your content marketing efforts to succeed.
It Helps You Stand Out
In the crowded online marketplace, being on top of your technical SEO game can give you the edge you need to outrank your competitors and attract more customers.
The Technical SEO Audit Checklist: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s your comprehensive technical SEO audit checklist, broken down into easy-to-follow steps:
1. Crawling and Indexing
Crawling is how search engines discover and explore your website’s pages. Indexing is how they store and organize these pages in their vast database. If your pages aren’t crawled and indexed, they’re effectively invisible to search engines and, by extension, to potential customers.
What to check:
- Robots.txt: This file acts as a gatekeeper, instructing search engine crawlers which parts of your website they can and cannot access. Ensure it’s not inadvertently blocking crucial pages.
- XML Sitemap: An XML sitemap is like a roadmap for search engines, guiding them through your website’s structure. Submit an up-to-date XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to expedite the crawling and indexing process.
- Crawl Errors: Use Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to identify and fix crawl errors, such as broken links or server issues, that might be preventing search engines from accessing your pages.
- Index Coverage: Regularly check your index coverage report in Google Search Console to ensure that your important pages are indeed indexed and that there are no unexpected exclusions.
- Internal Linking: A well-structured internal linking architecture helps search engines understand the hierarchy and relationships between your pages, making it easier for them to crawl and index your entire website.
Pro Tip: Don’t just rely on Google Search Console. Use a dedicated crawling tool like Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl to get a more granular view of your website’s crawlability and identify potential issues that might be flying under the radar.
2. Site Speed
Site speed refers to how quickly your web pages load. It’s a critical factor for both user experience and search engine rankings. Nobody likes a slow website, and Google certainly doesn’t favor them either.
What to check:
- Page Load Time: Aim for a page load time of under 3 seconds. It’s because the probability of a user bouncing increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or WebPageTest to measure your current load time and identify areas for improvement.
- Image Optimization: Large image files can significantly slow down your website. Compress and optimize your images without compromising quality. Consider using next-gen image formats like WebP for even faster loading.
- Browser Caching: Enable browser caching to store static files (like images, CSS, and JavaScript) on visitors’ devices, so they don’t have to be re-downloaded on every visit, leading to faster subsequent page loads.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN distributes your website’s files across multiple servers around the world. This ensures that visitors, regardless of their location, receive content from the server closest to them, reducing latency and improving load times.
- Minify JavaScript and CSS: Minifying removes unnecessary characters (like whitespace and comments) from your CSS and JavaScript files, decreasing their size and boosting load times.
Pro Tip: Site speed optimization is an ongoing process. Regularly monitor your website’s performance using tools like Google’s Lighthouse audit and make adjustments as needed. Remember, even a few milliseconds shaved off your load time can make a noticeable difference in user experience and search engine rankings.
3. Mobile-Friendliness
With over 95% of internet users now accessing the web via mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is no longer optional – it’s essential. In fact, Google prioritizes the mobile version of your website when determining how to rank it in search results.
What to check:
- Mobile-Friendly Test: Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test is a quick and easy way to check if your website meets Google’s mobile-friendliness criteria.
- Responsive Design: A responsive website automatically adapts its content and layout to fit various screen sizes, ensuring a smooth experience across all devices.
- Viewport Meta Tag: The viewport meta tag tells browsers how to scale and display your website on different devices. Ensure it’s correctly implemented in your HTML.
- Touchscreen Readiness: Design your website with touchscreens in mind. Ensure buttons and links are large enough and spaced adequately for easy tapping on mobile devices.
- Font Size: Use a font size that’s comfortably readable on smaller screens. Avoid tiny fonts that strain the eyes and frustrate users.
Pro Tip: Don’t just rely on automated tests. Regularly browse your website on different mobile devices to experience it from your users’ perspective and identify any potential usability issues.
4. Structured Data
Structured data is a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content. It helps search engines understand your content better, which can lead to enhanced search results known as rich snippets.
What to check:
- Schema Implementation: Implement relevant schema markup for your business type, products, services, events, etc. Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to generate the code and test its validity.
- Rich Results Test: Utilize Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure your structured data is eligible for rich snippets and to identify any errors or warnings.
- Consistency: Maintain consistency in your structured data across all relevant pages. Inconsistent or incorrect markup can hinder your chances of earning rich results.
Pro Tip: Structured data can significantly enhance your website’s visibility and click-through rates in search results. Explore different schema types relevant to your business and leverage them to stand out from the competition.
5. Security
Website security is paramount in today’s digital landscape. It protects both your sensitive business data and your visitors’ information from malicious attacks. Google also favors secure websites, making it a ranking factor.
What to check:
- HTTPS: Ensure your website has a valid SSL certificate, indicated by the “https://” in your URL. This encrypts data transmitted between your website and its visitors, safeguarding sensitive information.
- Vulnerability Scanning: Regularly scan your website for vulnerabilities using tools like Sucuri SiteCheck or Qualys FreeScan. Address any identified weaknesses promptly to prevent security breaches.
- Secure Passwords and User Access: Enforce strong password policies and limit user access to sensitive areas of your website’s backend.
Pro Tip: Website security is an ongoing effort. Stay vigilant, keep your software and plugins up to date, and consider partnering with a security expert to ensure your website remains safe against evolving threats.
6. URL Structure
Your website’s URL structure plays a role in both user experience and SEO. Clean, descriptive URLs are easier for both humans and search engines to understand and navigate.
What to check:
- Keyword Relevance: Include relevant keywords in your URLs to provide context and improve their search visibility.
- Readability: Keep your URLs concise, descriptive, and easy to read. Avoid long, convoluted URLs with unnecessary parameters or characters.
- Consistency: Maintain a consistent URL structure throughout your website. This helps create a sense of order and improves user experience.
- Canonicalization: If you have multiple versions of the same page (e.g., with and without “www” or trailing slashes), implement canonical tags to indicate the preferred version to search engines, preventing duplicate content issues.
Pro Tip: Craft your URLs with both search engines and users in mind. A well-structured URL not only boosts your SEO but also enhances the overall usability of your website.
7. Additional Technical SEO Considerations
Beyond the core technical elements, consider these additional factors to fine-tune your small business website’s SEO:
- Internationalization (Hreflang): If you target multiple languages or regions, implement Hreflang tags to indicate the language and geographical targeting of each page. This helps search engines serve the right content to the right audience.
- Pagination: If your website has paginated content (e.g., multiple pages of blog posts or product listings), implement proper pagination markup using rel=”next” and rel=”prev” tags to guide search engines through the series.
- Site Architecture: Ensure your website’s architecture is logical and user-friendly. A well-organized site with clear navigation helps both users and search engines find what they’re looking for.
Your Technical Audit Action Plan
A technical SEO audit is a powerful tool for small businesses looking to enhance their online visibility and attract more organic traffic. After all, technical SEO is not a one-and-done task. It requires ongoing attention and adaptation as search engine algorithms and user behaviors change.
By making technical SEO an integral part of your website maintenance routine, you can ensure that your small business website remains competitive, discoverable, and primed for success in the long run.
If you want regular and thorough SEO audits, 2020 Vision Digital has your back. We can run comprehensive on-page, technical, and local SEO audits for your small business so you can enjoy increased traffic, improved user experience, and a thriving online presence.