How to conduct an SEO audit?

Conducting an SEO audit is like checking your car before going on a trip. This helps ensure that everything is working well and to prevent issues. To create a good SEO strategy, look at key aspects such as technical health, user experience, content quality, online visibility, and the ability to convert visitors into customers. 

1.The analysis of technical foundations

Before improving your site, it is essential to check that it is well-designed from a technical standpoint. A good architecture helps search engines crawl your site and makes the experience better for your users. 

What are the key technical points to check? 

Here are the elements to check for a good technical analysis: 

Loading speed:

A slow site can drive away your visitors and lower its ranking. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to test the speed of your site on computers and phones. A site that loads quickly is important for good usability. 

Mobile compatibility:

Many people use their phones to browse the internet, so your site must display well on mobile. Make sure it works well on all screens. 

Security:

Make sure your site uses HTTPS. Google likes secure sites, and people trust sites that show they are safe. 

404 errors (page not found) or 5xx errors (server issues) can annoy users and affect the visibility of your pages on search engines. Check them often in Google Search Console. 

Indexing:

Your site must appear prominently on Google for people to see it. Check in Google Search Console that your important pages are visited and well indexed. 

2.Evaluation of User Experience (UX) and Ergonomics

Once the technical aspects have been checked, it’s time to focus on the user experience. If your site is difficult to use, visitors may leave without finding what they want. An easy-to-use site helps retain visitors. 

How to judge if the navigation is easy? 

Here are things to check: 

A clear main menu is an easy-to-understand menu. Are the menu titles understandable? A good menu allows the user to easily find what they want. 

• Is the architecture easy to understand? Is the information well organized? Are the categories and subcategories clear for someone looking for specific information? 
• Access to information is easy. Can users find what they want in less than 3 clicks? It is important to properly organize internal links. There is a search engine. If your site has many pages, a good internal search engine makes navigation easier and improves the user experience.
• CTA buttons: Are they easy to see and understand? Calls to action placed in the right place and appropriate can turn a visitor into a customer. 

3.The audit of content and editorial relevance

Content is essential for SEO. Good content is important to please users, but it must also be made for search engines. 

What are the criteria for evaluating the quality of content? 

Here are the important things to check: 

• The importance of content: Does it meet the needs of the users? Make sure that your articles, pages, and products provide something useful to your visitors. 
• Creativity and simplicity: Is the content original and accurate? To attract more people, you need to offer content that is better and more comprehensive than that of your competitors. 
• On-page SEO optimization: Are the Title, Hn tags (H1, H2, etc.), and meta-description effectively using the chosen keywords? 

A well-structured text is easier to read and understand. Use clear headings, lists, and short paragraphs to make reading easier. 

Is the content regularly updated? A site with outdated information can be penalized by Google. Think about updating your content to keep it useful. 

The role of AI and generated content: 

AI can create a lot of content, but it must be used with care. It is more important to have good content than to have a lot of it. The text created by AI must be new, useful, and interesting to avoid being penalized by search engines. It is important to have original content to stand out. This involves customizing and creating texts that meet the needs of users. 

4.The diagnosis of visibility and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Good SEO does not only depend on technique. It is important to see how your site appears on Google and if it competes well with other sites. 

How to know if a site is well-ranked in search results? 

To check if a site is well-ranked, it is not enough to look at its position at a given moment. You need to study several indicators that show how it performs, its popularity, and its reliability. For this, examine these four important points: 

Positioning yourself on important keywords:

This is the most obvious sign. Look at the keywords that bring in business and attract interested customers. Good SEO means being visible on the first page of Google for important keywords, as few people look at the second page. 

The profile of incoming links (backlinks) and how it evolves:

Backlinks are signs of trust coming from other sites. We need to examine the current situation and the purchasing method. 

Study the current profile:

Look at how many external links point to your site, but especially check if they are of good quality and useful. A link from a reputable site in your field is far more valuable than 100 low-quality links. 

The method for obtaining links (Netlinking):

A well-ranked site creates its own link profile instead of accepting it as is. Prefer links within the text of articles, mentions in well-known media, and listings in specialized directories. The acquisition should be done gradually and naturally; a large number of links at once can be penalized by Google. 

The competition:

A site is never the only one on the market. Always compare the organic traffic, the number of well-ranked keywords, and the quality of the links with those of your main competitors. This helps to understand the site’s performance and to identify keywords or partnerships that you are not yet using. 

The authority of a site and trust signals:

Authority is a concept that combines people’s competence and trust. 

Authority metrics:

Use tools like Moz’s “Domain Authority” or Ahrefs’ “Domain Rating” to see how popular a site is. They clearly show the strength of its link profile. 

Social proof and trust elements:

Trust is an important element for SEO, even if it is not directly measured. Positive and verifiable customer reviews (on the website, Google Business Profile, Trustpilot…) show that a company is trustworthy. Moreover, precise case studies, logos of famous clients, or certifications increase user trust as well as that of search engines, which observe visitor behavior. 

5.The SEO audit report and the development of an action plan

After the SEO audit, a plan must be made to address the issues and improve the site. An SEO audit without actions only shows the situation without making any changes. 

What are the next steps after an SEO audit? 

The audit report must include: 

• Major adjustment : Correct all technical, content, or SEO errors. 
• The priorities: First, we need to take care of important things, like pages that are not visible or server issues. 
• A way to stay informed: After making the changes, it is essential to monitor the results with measures such as the number of visitors, the conversion rate, and the ranking of important keywords. 

Have your SEO audited by Eminence! 

A complete SEO audit is essential to improve your site. By studying technical health, user experience, content, visibility, and conversions, you can improve your site to please users and make it more visible on search engines. It is important to have a good method, use the right tools, and follow the advice to succeed.