Technical SEO audit is like giving your website a thorough check-up. It’s the process of analyzing and improving its technical aspects so search engines can crawl, index, and rank your site.
Unlike content audits that focus on content quality and relevance, technical SEO makes sure that everything behind the scenes is running smoothly. If your website is slow, tricky to navigate, or not optimized for mobile, you’re likely missing out on both visitors and higher search rankings.
An SEO audit helps you spot and fix these issues so that your site meets Webmaster Guidelines and gives visitors a great experience. The ultimate goal of a technical or website audit is to make sure your site is accessible to search engine crawlers and users.
This improves site visibility, attracts more traffic and keeps them engaged — resulting in higher search engine rankings. Keep reading this SEO audit guide to learn why it matters and how to optimize your technical SEO.
Technical SEO Audit is Important for Site Performance Check
Technical SEO is the make-or-break factor for your site performance. Imagine you’ve written the most incredible content—something everyone would want to read. But when they click on it, your site takes forever to load. After just 10 seconds, most of your readers are already frustrated and leave.
This is why technical SEO is so crucial. Without it, search engines like Google can’t find, crawl, or index your pages. If search engines can’t access your site, you won’t appear in search results - no matter how great your content is.
But just getting indexed isn’t enough. Your site needs to be fully optimized for mobile-friendliness, faster page load times, and free of duplicate content. By focusing on these technical SEO elements, you can improve your rankings, attract more visitors, and ultimately grow your business.
On the flip side, making serious technical errors—like misconfiguring your robots.txt file—can result in penalties or even prevent your entire site from being crawled. To avoid this, you need to focus on SEO factors like canonical tags, XML sitemaps, structured data, hreflang, 301 redirects, and more. This SEO audit guide will walk you through each of these to help you optimize your site.
When done right, technical SEO supports other on-page and off-page SEO, helping you improve your rankings and stay ahead of the competition.
8 Key Issues Covered in SEO Audit Guide
A thorough SEO audit guide covers various elements; some of the key issues to address include:
- Crawlability and Indexability
- Site Architecture
- Site Performance Check
- Mobile-Friendliness
- Broken Internal Links
- Duplicate Content Issue
- Code Issues (Metadata, JavaScript, Hreflang)
- Secure Site (HTTPS)
Technical SEO Audit: Tips for Successful Site Performance Check
Crawlability and Indexing Issues
For Google or any search engine, they need to be able to crawl and index your site to rank your pages. Otherwise, your content won’t appear in search results, no matter how valuable it is. That’s why making sure your site is fully crawlable and indexable is a non-negotiable part of any successful SEO strategy. To optimize these issues, you need to look at:
- Robots.txt file
- Sitemap.xml
- Noindex tags
- Canonical tags
Robots.txt File:
Your robots.txt file is like a set of instructions for search engines, telling them which parts of your site they can and can’t access. This file usually lives in your site’s root folder and can be found at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt
A well-configured robots.txt file helps:
- Keep search engine bots away from private folders.
- Prevent bots from overwhelming your server resources.
- Point bots to your sitemap.
However, a single wrong line of code in the file can stop search engines from crawling your entire site. So make sure your robots.txt file is configured correctly, and you're not accidentally blocking important pages. For example, you definitely don’t want to block your blog posts, or they’ll be hidden from Google’s eyes.
XML Sitemap:
An XML sitemap acts like a roadmap for search engines that lists all the pages you want them to index—and rank. Submitting a clean, updated sitemap helps search engines understand your site’s structure and makes it easier for them to find your important pages.
During every technical SEO audit, review your XML sitemap to make sure it includes all the pages you want to rank. Also, make sure that it doesn't include pages you don’t want in search results, like login pages or gated content.
Noindex Tags:
Next up, you’ll want to check for any “noindex” tags that might accidentally be keeping search engines from indexing your important pages.
The “noindex” tag is a little piece of HTML that lives in the section of your webpage and looks like this:
You’ll need all your important pages to be indexed, so only use the noindex tag when you really want to keep certain pages, like thank-you pages or PPC landing pages, out of search results.
Canonical Tags:
Finally, let’s talk about canonical tags. These are lifesavers when it comes to preventing duplicate content issues by telling search engines which version of a page they should focus on.
The canonical tag (rel="canonical") goes in the section of a duplicate page and looks like this:
This tag lets Google know which page is the original, so that’s the one that gets indexed and ranked.
SEO Audit Guide Site Architecture
Site architecture is all about how your web pages are structured and linked together. Think of it as the blueprint for your website. You want to organize your site in a way that makes sense for your users and is easy to manage as your site expands.
A flat site architecture helps search engines crawl your site and understand how your pages are connected. Plus, it makes it easier for users to find their way around your site.
Did you know you can improve your site architecture by optimizing these three key elements? Let’s see how:
Site Hierarchy
Site hierarchy, or site structure, is key to making your website easy to use. You want to aim for a flat site structure, where it only takes a user three clicks to get from the homepage to any page on your site.
If it takes more than three clicks, your site’s hierarchy is probably too deep. Search engines might see those deeper pages as less important or relevant.
Site Navigation
Your site’s navigation—things like menus, footer links, and breadcrumbs—should help users easily move around your site. This is a crucial part of a good site structure.
Your navigation should be clear and logical so it reflects the hierarchy of your pages. Breadcrumbs sare a good example of a navigation menu.
Breadcrumbs are text links that show users their current location on your site. They make navigating your site a breeze because users can easily jump back to higher-level pages without needing to hit the back button repeatedly or dig through complicated menus.
They’re great for SEO, too, because they distribute link equity (PageRank) throughout your site, helping boost your rankings.
URL Structure
Just like your site’s hierarchy, your URL structure should be consistent and easy to follow.
For example, if you have a blog post about "10 Tips for Optimizing Meta Tags" under your "On-Page SEO" category, the (individual) post URL might look like this: yourdomain.com/blog/on-page-SEO/optimizing-meta-tags
If your blog covers different topics like "Technical SEO" and "Content Marketing," your category URLs could be structured like this:
- Technical SEO: yourdomain.com/blog/technical-SEO
- Content Marketing: yourdomain.com/blog/content-marketing
You might also use tags like "SEO Basics" or "Advanced SEO" with URLs such as:
- SEO Basics: yourdomain.com/blog/tag/SEO-basics
- Advanced SEO: yourdomain.com/blog/tag/advanced-SEO
For a post focused on international SEO strategies targeting a specific region, the URL could look like this: yourdomain.com/blog/international-SEO-guide
Some sites might also want to consider using a URL structure that shows relevance to a specific country. For example, a Canadian version of an SEO guide might use either:
- yourdomain.com/ca/blog/international-SEO-guide
Lastly, make sure your URL slugs are user-friendly and follow best practices. Tools like Semrush Site Audit can help you spot common URL issues, such as:
- Using underscores instead of hyphens in URLs
- URLs with too many parameters
- URLs that are excessively long
A clean and organized URL structure makes it easier for search engines to understand your site’s content and hierarchy. It also improves user experience by making URLs more readable and meaningful.
Fix Internal Links
Internal links are the connections between pages on your site, linking one page to another within your domain. They spread link equity (aka “link juice” or “authority”) across your pages, helping search engines figure out which pages are important.
During an SEO audit, it is important to keep an eye on your internal linking structure. One common issue is broken internal links—links that point to pages that no longer exist. Luckily, this is usually pretty easy to fix. Just check the “Broken internal links” error and manually update the broken links in the list.
Another issue is orphaned pages, which are pages with no internal links pointing to them. These pages can’t be accessed from any other page on your site. The fix? Just add at least one internal link to each of these pages.
To avoid internal link issues in the future, make sure you’re following the best practices for internal linking:
- Whenever you create a new page, link to it from existing pages.
- Use relevant anchor text when linking to related pages.
- Use internal links to signal to search engines which pages are most important.
- Don’t overdo it—keep internal links reasonable.
- Learn how to use nofollow attributes correctly.
Alternatively, you can hire technical SEO experts to fix your internal linking issues and improve overall SEO Performance.
Check Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can confuse search engines, making it harder for them to figure out which version of a page should show up in search results. This can lead to lower rankings and other issues.
So, what exactly is duplicate content? It’s when you’ve got the same or almost identical content on multiple pages of your site. Google won’t punish you directly for having duplicate content, but it can still cause some headaches, like:
- The wrong URL showing up in search results.
- Backlinks getting spread across multiple pages instead of boosting one.
- Wasting your crawl budget on unnecessary pages.
Duplicate content usually happens because of two main reasons:
Multiple versions of the same URL.
One common reason for duplicate content is when you have different versions of your site’s URL. For example, your site might be accessible via:
- HTTP and HTTPS
- www and non-www versions
It may look like this: https://yourwebsite.com or https://www.yourwebsite.com.
Google sees these two as separate sites, so if your pages are available under both URLs, they’ll be flagged as duplicates. Plus, it can weaken your backlink profile because some links will point to the www version and others to the non-www version. This split can hurt your Google rankings.
To fix this, choose your preferred version and set up a sitewide 301 redirect to ensure only one version is accessible.
Pages with different URL parameters.
URL parameters are those extra bits tacked onto a URL, usually used to filter or sort content—like showing different colors of the same product. You’ll recognize them by the question mark and equal sign in the URL.
Because URLs with parameters often have almost the same content as the base URL, they can be seen as duplicates.
Google typically tries to figure out the best version to show in search results so that it might sort this out for you. But to avoid potential problems, Google suggests:
- Avoid unnecessary parameters.
- Using canonical tags that point to the original URL without parameters.
Site Performance Check
Site speed is a big deal when it comes to overall page experience. Google has been analyzing it as a ranking factor for quite a while now. It even has a tool just for this—PageSpeed Insights to check how your site is performing.
When you're checking your site’s speed, keep an eye on two key things:
- Page speed: How long it takes a single page to load.
- Site speed: The average loading time across a sample of pages on your site. Improve page speed, and you’ll see a bump in your overall site speed.
Several metrics influence your page speed, with the three most important ones being Core Web Vitals:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How fast the main content of your page loads.
- First Input Delay (FID): How quickly your page becomes interactive.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How stable your page is as it loads.
To optimize your site for Core Web Vitals, aim for these targets:
- LCP: 2.5 seconds or less.
- FID: 100 milliseconds or less.
- CLS: 0.1 or less.
You can check how your site stacks up on these metrics using Google Search Console. But remember, PageSpeed Insights only analyzes one URL at a time. To get a full picture of your site’s performance, you can use Google Search Console or a website audit tool like Semrush's Site Audit.
To optimize your page speed for better site performance:
- Make sure that your pages load within 2-3 seconds.
- Compress images without sacrificing quality to reduce load times.
- Minimize CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to enhance page loading speeds.
- Enable browser caching to store some of your website’s files on users' browsers, which speeds up load times on repeat visits.
If you are looking for technical SEO experts to check site performance, Legiit is a great place to find them!
Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
With over 52.2% of global web traffic coming from mobile devices, making sure your site runs smoothly on phones is more important than ever, especially since Google’s all about mobile-first indexing now. This means that the mobile version of your site is considered the primary version for ranking purposes.
Google Search Console has a handy “Mobile Usability” report that breaks down your pages into two categories—“Not Usable” and “Usable.” This helps you see how well your site is performing on mobile.
The viewport meta tag is an HTML element that helps your page adjust to different screen sizes. It automatically scales your page based on the user’s device, especially if you have a responsive design.
Another great way to boost mobile performance is by using Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs). These are simplified versions of your pages that load super fast because Google serves them from its cache instead of your server.
Also, test for any mobile usability issues, such as touch elements that are too close together or content that doesn’t fit within the screen.
Just like with desktops, mobile load times should be quick. Test your mobile site’s speed and make necessary adjustments.
Spot and Fix Code Issues
Even though your website looks great to people, search engines see it as a set of code. That’s why using the right syntax, tags, and attributes is crucial for helping search engines understand your site.
When you're doing a website audit, keep an eye on a few key areas of your website’s code and markup, like HTML, JavaScript, and structured data. Let’s break it down:
Meta Tags
Meta tags are snippets of text in your page’s header that give search engines extra info about your page. You’re already familiar with robots meta tags (crawl ability and indexing) and viewport meta tags (mobile-friendliness).
Here are two other types related to content SEO:
- Title Tag: This shows up as the clickable blue link in search results. It’s crucial for SEO and user experience.
- Meta Description: These are short descriptions that appear in search results under the title. While it doesn’t directly impact rankings, a well-written meta description can boost your click-through rates.
Canonical Tags
Canonical tags help you manage duplicate content by indicating the "main" version of a page. This tag goes in the section of your HTML and looks like this:
Common issues include missing canonical tags, multiple canonical tags, or broken tags.
Hreflang Attribute Issues
Hreflang tags help search engines serve the right page version based on the user’s location and language. If your site has content in multiple languages, you need to use hreflang attributes in tags:
JavaScript Issues
JavaScript adds interactivity to your site, but if search engines can’t render JavaScript files properly, they might not index your page correctly.
Structured Data Issues
Structured data or schema markup codes help search engines understand your content better and can lead to rich snippets in search results. For example:
- Featured Snippets
- Reviews
- FAQs
Adding the right structured data can make your pages stand out and potentially improve your click-through rate.
By addressing these aspects, you'll improve your site’s SEO performance and user experience, making it easier for search engines and users alike to navigate and understand your content.
Use HTTPS
Security is a top priority for both users and search engines. A site that isn’t secure can lose trust with visitors and face penalties from search engines, as HTTPS is a confirmed ranking factor.
HTTPS means your site is running on a secure server with an SSL certificate from a trusted provider. This little security badge, shown as a padlock next to your URL in the browser, lets users know your site is legit and keeps their data safe.
Here are a few common HTTPS issues to watch out for:
- Expired Certificate: If your SSL certificate has expired, you’ll need to renew it to keep your site secure.
- Old Security Protocol: Make sure your site isn’t using outdated SSL or TLS protocols. Update to the latest version for better security.
- No Server Name Indication (SNI): Check if your server supports SNI, which lets you host multiple SSL certificates at the same IP address.
- Mixed Content: Watch out for any unsecured content on your site, like images or scripts loaded over HTTP. This can trigger a “not secure” warning in browsers.
Use Pagination
Pagination is a great way to make long or complex content easier to navigate. By splitting content into separate pages, you help readers find the info they need without wading through a huge block of text. It’s especially useful for long articles, product lists, or any content that could benefit from being broken into bite-sized pieces.
Plus, it makes your content more digestible and visually appealing. You can use pagination to create a clean layout and even add visuals or highlights to important sections.
This method is better for SEO because it allows Google to access and index all your content. With pagination, each page links to the next, so Google can follow these links and discover all the content on your site.
Benefits of Conducting a SEO Audit
- SEO audit ensures search engines can effectively crawl and index your pages, leading to better visibility in search results.
- Identifies and fixes technical issues like slow loading times or broken links to improve the overall site performance.
- Improves site speed, navigation, and overall usability, making it more user-friendly.
- Technical SEO makes sure that your site is optimized for smartphones and tablets, which is crucial for modern web use.
- Plus, it helps fix server errors, expired SSL certificates, and mixed content warnings that can negatively impact your site’s performance and rankings.
- Identifies and resolves potential issues that could lead to search engine penalties, helping to maintain your site’s credibility and ranking.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, a technical SEO audit is a vital step for keeping your website in peak condition. It helps you tackle issues that could be holding back your search rankings and ensures your site is secure, fast, and user-friendly.
By optimizing elements like HTTPS, clean site structure, and effective pagination, you make your site more accessible and engaging for both users and search engines. Regular audits help you stay proactive, catch potential problems early, and keep your site performing at its best. Head over to Legiit’s website and find the best SEO experts to perform a thorough website audit and check site performance at an affordable price.
FAQs
Is Technical SEO Hard?
Technical SEO can seem challenging, especially if you're new to it because it involves technical aspects like site structure, code, and server settings. However, with the right tools and a bit of practice, it becomes more manageable. Alternatively, you can hire technical SEO experts at Legiit.
Is Technical SEO On-Page Or Off-Page?
Technical SEO is primarily considered on-page SEO. It deals with the internal elements, such as site structure and page speed, that affect your site’s performance and visibility. While on-page SEO focuses on optimizing individual pages, technical SEO assures that the whole site is set up for search engines to crawl and index effectively.
When Should You Perform A Technical SEO Audit?
It’s a good practice to conduct an audit after major updates to your site, changes in your SEO strategy, or if you notice a drop in your search rankings or site performance. Regular audits help you catch and fix issues before they impact your site's visibility and user experience.
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