Conducting a Technical SEO Audit: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step one: Crawl your website 

Why it matters 

A website crawl will provide a comprehensive overview of your site’s structure and identify technical issues that need addressing. Tools such as: Screaming Frog, Sitebulb or Lumar can simulate the way search engines crawl your site. 

How to do it 

• Use a crawling tool: initiate a crawl using tools such as the ones we’ve linked above. 
• Analyse the report: Look for common issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and missing meta tags. All of these can have a negative impact on SEO so identifying them and fixing them can help to give your site a boost. 

Step two: Check for indexation issues 

Why it matters 

Ensuring that your pages are indexed correctly is essential for them to appear in search engine results. Google processes over 3.5 billion searches per day, so ensuring your pages are indexed can significantly boost your visibility. 

How to do it 

• Use Google Search Console: Check the “indexing” report to see which pages are indexed and which are not.

• Fix indexation issues: Address issues such as “noindex” tags, robots.txt file blocking, and sitemap errors. 

Step three: Analyse site speed 

Why it matters 

Page speed is a crucial ranking factor. Google’s research shows that 53% of mobile users leave a site that takes longer than three seconds to load, emphasising the importance of a fast-loading website. 

Plus, further research shows that a one second delay in page load time results in 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction, and 7% loss in conversions. So, site speed is really important! 

How to do it 

• Use Google PageSpeed Insights: Analyse your site’s speed and get suggestions for improvements. 
• Optimise images: Compress images and use next-gen formats such as WebP. 
• Leverage browser caching: Ensure that your site uses browser caching to reduce load times for returning visitors. 

Step four: Evaluate mobile-friendliness 

Why it matters 

With mobile devices accounting for over half of global web traffic, having a mobile-friendly site is essential for user experience and SEO. Google’s Mobile-First Indexing means the mobile version of your site is considered the primary version. 

How to do it 

• Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test: Check if your site is mobile-friendly. 
• Responsive design: Ensure that your site adjusts seamlessly across different devices and screen sizes. 
• Optimise for touch: Make sure buttons and links are easily clickable on mobile devices. 

Step five: Check HTTPS status 

Why it matters 

HTTPS is a security protocol that ensures data transfer between the user and your site is secure. It’s also a ranking signal for Google. More than 70% of page one results are HTTPS websites, highlighting the importance of a secure site. 

How to do it

• Verify HTTPS implementation: Ensure that your entire site uses HTTPS. 
• Fix mixed content issues: Ensure all resources on your site (images, scripts) are loaded over HTTPS. 

Step six: Analyse your XML sitemap 

Why it matters 

An XML sitemap helps search engines understand your site structure and find all your pages. Websites with a properly structured sitemap are more likely to be indexed properly by search engines. 

How to do it 

• Use a sitemap generator: Tools such as Yoast SEO for Wordpress can help generate a sitemap. Other websites will have similar tools to make this process easy too. 
• Submit to Google Search Console: Ensure your sitemap is updated and submitted and updated in Google Search Console.
• Check for errors: Make sure there are no errors in your sitemap that could prevent indexing. 

Step seven: Review on-page SEO elements 

Why it matters 

On-page elements such as title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags play a significant role in how search engines understand your content. According to Backlinkio, pages with a meta description have a 5.8% higher CTR rate compared to those without. 

How to do it 

• Update title tags and meta descriptions: Ensure they are relevant, unique and within the recommended length. 
• Header tags: Use H1 tags for main titles and H2/H3 for subheadings to structure your content and make it easier to read. 
• Alt text for images: Use descriptive alt text for all images to improve accessibility and SEO. 

Step eight: Assess internal linking 

Why it matters 

Internal links help distribute page authority and improve navigation, making it easier for search engines to crawl your site. Studies show that sites with a well-structured internal linking strategy can see a 40% increase in their time on site. 

How to do it

• Use a crawling tool: Identify and fix broken internal links. 
• Strategically link content: Use internal links to connect related content and improve site structure. 

Step nine: Perform a backlink analysis 

Why it matters 

Backlinks are a significant ranking factor. Analysing your backlink profile can help you understand your site’s authority and identify toxic links. 

How to do it

• Use tools like Ahrefs or Moz: Analyse your backlink profile - these tools will show you the sites linking to your website and will provide you with a score. 
• Identify toxic links: Use the disavow tool in Google Search Console to remove harmful links. 
• Build quality backlinks: Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable sites. 

Key takeaways 

A technical SEO audit is essential for ensuring your website is optimised for search engines and provides a seamless user experience. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can identify and fix technical issues that may be hindering your site’s performance. 

How can Logica Digital help? 

Conducting a technical SEO audit is a detailed process that requires expertise and time. At Logica Digital, we specialise in helping businesses of all sizes optimise their SEO strategies. Our team of experts can conduct a comprehensive audit of your website to identify areas for improvement and develop a tailored plan to enhance your SEO performance. 

To help you get started, we’re offering a free digital marketing audit to evaluate your SEO and overall strategy. Our audit will provide insights into your site’s performance, technical issues, and areas where you can make impactful changes. Don’t let technical SEO issues hold your business back - let Logica Digital help you achieve better results.