SEO Audits

Is your website fully optimised?

Are you looking to get the best performance from your website?

Think of an SEO audit as a routine health check - you should perform one regularly to ensure your site is functioning smoothly.

A site that is non-optimised, buggy, slow or difficult to use doesn’t just turn away visitors it also discourages search engines from ranking the content high on a search engine results page (SERP).

SEO audit benefits.

The three key benefits of carrying out a website audit are:

1. Identifying technical issues that affect website performance and user experience.
2. Improving the website's ranking in search engine results.
3. Increasing traffic to the website.

It also helps to identify areas of the website that require content optimisation or improvement resulting in better engagement with visitors.

A SEO audit helps to identify opportunities to enhance your website's local search visibility and to increase brand awareness through social media.

Our SEO auditing service

Our audits are designed to provide you with the insights you need to increase your website's search engine performance. We provide a detailed report highlighting all areas of your website that need improvement in order to maximise search engine visibility.

If you want discover more about how our auditing service can help your website (and receive some free advice) then get in touch. If you would like to know more about some of the checks we perform then please read on.

Technical SEO Audit.

Website Architecture Audit.

• URL Structure: We examining your website's URLs to ensure that they are user-friendly and optimised for search engines, using keywords when appropriate and avoiding the use of irrelevant or duplicate content.
• XML Sitemap: We check for a vaild XML sitemap that lists all the pages of your website helping to ensure that all the pages are indexed and accessible to search engine crawlers.
• Robots.txt file: We review your robots.txt file to ensure that it is correctly configured and allows search engine crawlers to access all the relevant pages of your website whilst excluding irrelevant areas.
• Navigation and Menu Structure: We analyse your website's navigation and menu structure to ensure that it is easy to use and helps users and search engines to understand the content hierarchy.
• Internal Linking: We examine the internal linking structure of the website to ensure that it is optimised for search engines and user experience, including the use of anchor text, link relevance and the placement of internal links.

Website Speed and Performance Audit.

• Page Load Time: We check the time it takes for a website page to load completely. Factors such as image size, server response time and browser caching can impact this.
• Server Response Time: We monitor the time it takes for a server to respond to a user's request for a web page. Factors such as server location, hardware and software can have an impact.
• Image Optimisation: Compressing images reduces their size without affecting their quality. We also check for optimised image file names and the usage of appropriate image formats such as JPEG or PNG.
• Code Optimisation: Is your website code minimised to reduce the file size, reducing HTTP requests and leveraging browser caching to improve website speed and performance?

Mobile Optimisation Audit.

• Responsive Design: This refers to your website's ability to adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions ensuring that the website is easily accessible and readable on any device.
• Mobile Page Speed: We assess the speed of the website on mobile devices and identify areas that can be optimised to improve performance.
• Mobile Usability: We test the usability of the website on mobile devices such as the ease of navigation, readability of the content and accessibility of buttons and links.

On-Page SEO Audit.

Keyword Research.

• Keyword Selection: Are you selecting the most relevant and high-traffic keywords for your website and its content based on user intent and search volume data?
• Keyword Placement: We check for the strategic placing of chosen keywords in the right places such as the page title, meta tags, header tags, body content and image alt tags.
• Keyword Density: Referring to the percentage of times a keyword appears in a piece of content compared to the total number of words in that content. It is important to maintain an appropriate keyword density to avoid over-optimisation or keyword stuffing which can negatively affect your website's ranking.
• Long-tail Keywords: These are specific, highly targeted phrases that contain three or more words and are used to attract highly relevant traffic to the website. We check to see if these are being included where necessary.

Content Quality and Relevancy Audit.

• Content-Length: We examine the length of the content on the website to ensure that it is neither too short nor too long. The content should be comprehensive, informative and engaging enough to satisfy the user's intent.
• Content Readability: The readability of the content on the website will be examined. The content should be easy to read with a clear structure and appropriate formatting (e.g. subheadings and bullet points) to enhance readability.
• Duplicate Content: We check the website for duplicate content which can harm the website's ranking in search results. Duplicate content can occur within the same website or across multiple websites and it should be removed or consolidated to avoid confusion for search engines.
• Thin Content: We identify pages on your website that have low-quality or insufficient content which can negatively impact the website's ranking in search results. Thin content should be improved, removed or redirected to provide more value to the users and search engines.

Meta Tags.

• Title Tag: We check your title tags. The title tag is an HTML element that appears in the browser's title bar and search engine results pages, and it should accurately and concisely describe the content of the page using relevant keywords.
• Description Tag: Key for conversions, the description tag is an HTML element that appears under the title tag in search engine results pages and it should provide a compelling and concise summary of the page's content that includes relevant keywords and a call-to-action.
• Header Tags (H1, H2, H3 etc.): Header tags are HTML elements that divide content into sections and indicate the hierarchy of the content on the page. The H1 tag should be used for the main heading of the page and other header tags should be used to structure subheadings and content sections.
• Image Alt Tags: Alt tags are HTML attributes that describe the content of images on a web page and they should be used to provide a brief and accurate description of the image that includes relevant keywords for search engines and for accessibility purposes.

URL Optimisation.

• Short URLs: Short URLs are easier to read and remember which can improve user experience and make it easier for search engines to understand the content of the page.
• Keyword-rich URLs: Including target keywords in the URL can improve the relevancy of the page and help search engines understand the topic of the page.
• Canonical Tags: Canonical tags are used to indicate the preferred version of a page with duplicate content, which can help to consolidate page authority and avoid duplicate content penalties.

Internal Linking.

• Anchor Text: We evaluate the anchor text used in internal links on the website to ensure that it is descriptive and relevant to the linked page's content.
• Link Relevance: We assess the relevance of internal links to the content on the linked page and ensuring that they provide value to the user and the search engine.
• Broken Links: Finding and fixing any broken links on the website ensures that they do not negatively impact the user experience or the website's search engine ranking.

Off-Page SEO Audit.

Backlink Profile.

• Linking Root Domains: We analyse the number and quality of unique root domains linking to the website as well as the relevance of these domains to the website's content and industry. A full report can be provided.
• Anchor Text Distribution: This involves analysing the anchor text used for the links pointing to the website ensuring that it is varied and natural and not over-optimised for specific keywords or phrases.
• Link Diversity: This involves assessing the diversity of link types pointing to the website such as image links, text links and contextual links to ensure that the website's backlink profile appears natural and diverse.
• Bad Links: Whether you need to remove any bad or spammy links pointing to the website such as links from link farms, low-quality directories or websites that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines. It also includes analysing the website's link profile for any links that could potentially result in a Google penalty.

Social Media Presence.

• Social Signals: This refers to the possible impact of social media traffic on a website's search engine ranking including likes, shares and comments on social media platforms.
• Engagement: The level of interaction and involvement of followers with the website's social media content including likes, comments, shares and direct messages.
• Brand Mentions: The frequency and context in which the website is mentioned on social media platforms by users including brand name, hashtags and direct links.
• Reviews and Ratings: The feedback and opinions of users on social media platforms about the website including the overall rating and individual reviews of products, services and customer support. Evaluating these factors can help to identify areas for improvement in the website's social media presence and overall reputation.

Local SEO.

• Google My Business Listing:Have you created and optimised a Google My Business listing for the website to ensure that it appears in local search results and displays accurate information such as business name, address, phone number and hours of operation?
• Local Directories: Are you listed on relevant local directories such as Yelp and Yellow Pages to improve the website's visibility and credibility in local search results.
• NAP Consistency: Ensuring consistency of the business's Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) across all online directories and platforms to avoid confusion for search engines and users.
• Localised Content: have you created content that is relevant to the local audience such as blog posts, articles and landing pages to improve the website's ranking in local search results and attract local customers?

Analytics and Reporting.

Traffic Analysis.

• Organic Traffic: The amount of traffic that comes to your website through search engines' organic (non-paid) search results. A full report os provided.
• Referral Traffic: The traffic that comes from external websites that link to your website.
• Social Traffic: Social traffic is the traffic that comes to your website from social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
• Landing Page Optimisation: Analysing the performance of landing pages, identifying areas that need improvement and optimising them to increase conversions and engagement.
• Call-to-Action (CTA) Optimisation: The effectiveness of your CTAs and optimising them to improve conversion rates.

Conversion Rate Optimisation.

• Landing Page Optimisation: This involves analysing and optimising the landing pages of the website to ensure they are designed to convert visitors into customers by improving their layout, messaging and calls-to-action (CTAs).
• Call-to-Action (CTA) Optimisation: Ensuring the CTAs on your website are clear, persuasive, visible and lead visitors to take the desired action such as filling out a form or making a purchase.
• A/B Testing: Are you conducting experiments on the website to compare the performance of two or more variations of a page or element such as a CTA to identify which one performs better and then implementing the winning version to improve conversion rates?

Conclusion and Recommendations.

• Summary of Findings: This section summarises the findings of the audit highlighting the key areas of your website that require improvement such as technical SEO issues, content optimisation and off-page SEO factors. Each section is colour-coded accordingto importance.
• Action Plan for Implementation: We can discuss the implementation of any fixes. Whether it' is something you would like to undertake yourself, or commission Aston Creative to carry out.
• Best Practices for Ongoing SEO: Recommendations for ongoing SEO such as regularly monitoring your website performance, tracking keyword rankings, updating content, maintaining a consistent NAP (name, address, and phone number) across all directories and keeping up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and algorithms. It also emphasises the importance of ongoing SEO efforts to maintain and improve your website's search engine ranking over time.

Site audit tools.

Through a combination of manual analysis (of both your website and the code beneath it) and software we can get a clear picture of how your site is performing. Only then can we write a clear audit. Here are some of the tools we use during the process:

• Ahrefs - A hugely useful tool to get an overview of traffic, anchor texts (both internal and external) and error messages.
• Google Search Console - If your site is signed up to GSC we can analyse the results to determine if there are any crawl errors, manual actions and get a general overview of performance. It's also ideal to set a benchmark for future optimisations.
• Google Analytics - Detailed analysis of traffic to your website. Once set up it can provide valuable insights into your traffic.
• Google PageSpeed Insights - How well optimised is your website for speed? Pagespeed Insights will give us a good breakdown of any aspects throttling your performance.
• Lighthouse - Running a Lighthouse check will highlight any aspects of your website which are inaccessible, potentially causing you conversions.