One of the first actions you should do if you want to implement an effective SEO procedure for your website is to conduct an SEO audit. I’ve listed all of the main aspects you’ll need to consider to attain tremendous success in 2021 in this essay.
Check out ghostwriting services SEO audit checklist for 2021 to see which components you should focus on first to boost organic traffic. Let’s get started!
Top Ten SEO Technical Checklist:
Website Speed
I begin my SEO audit checklist by optimizing website loading speed for a reason.
Many individuals still overlook one of the most important Google ranking elements (verified by Google 2010). Remember that website performance affects not just SEO but also UX, as users despise slow-loading sites.
Numerous factors influence website-loading speed; once you’ve identified what’s slowing you down, try to optimize it or seek assistance from a web developer, as this typically necessitates more technical knowledge.
The following are the primary factors that influence webpage speed:
- Photos that haven’t been optimized.
- HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are all uncompressed.
- Server response time is slow (SRT).
- A long chain of redirects.
Mobile-Friendliness
Mobile SEO is no longer a pipe dream; it is already a reality. Google has stated that mobile versions of websites will be indexed first starting in March 2021, making sure your site is mobile-friendly.
Millions of people use mobile devices to access the internet. Therefore if you don’t optimize your website for mobile devices, you’ll miss out on much mobile traffic.
These factors have the most influence on whether a site is mobile-friendly:
- Website speed.
- Responsive design.
- Voice search.
- Metadata.
- Dynamic serving.
Indexing Errors
Said, if Google cannot crawl your pages, they will not display in search results. As a result, you should look for any indexing failures or other technological difficulties that prohibit Google robots from accessing all of your pages.
Redirects
When it comes to indexing, we can’t forget about redirects. In general, you can have four different versions of your website:
When Google isn’t told which version of your site is the main one, the problem arises. As a result, the search engine crawls many versions because they are considered independent sites.
Fortunately, there is a solution to this issue: you can use 301 redirects to ensure that users and Google crawlers are always sent to the primary version of your site.
Security
Because Google wants visitors to feel safe while surfing the web, it prefers those sites that encrypt data and guarantee complete protection.
Currently, the SSL certificate should be installed on nearly every online store and other site where users can enter sensitive data. If you haven’t moved from HTTP to HTTPS yet, you should do so right away.Â
Keep in mind that Google has verified that the HTTPS protocol is important for search ranking (read more about the Core Web Vitals Algorithm).
Sitemap XML
A sitemap is a file that contains all of the pages on your website. It is not required, but it is highly recommended. What’s more, Google considers the Sitemap XML file to be one of the ranking elements.
This file can help your SEO since it displays Google crawlers your site’s appropriate architecture, making indexing much easier and assures that none of your pages are missed. Remember to produce a different sitemap file for each language version if you’re running the site in several languages.
Robots.txt
This is another file that you should keep on hand at all times. So, what is the purpose of the robots.txt file? You can define such sites in robots.txt and block them from indexation if you don’t want Google crawlers to access all pages on your website.
Robots.txt is especially beneficial for online businesses and other sites where users must log in to access their control panels. In general, the list of sites you want to prohibit from being crawled is determined by the sort of site you have.
Structured Data
Structured data is extremely popular with Google since it aids crawlers incorrectly interpreting your site’s most critical aspects.
As a result, Google will display a lot more information in your snippet, making it look much more impressive and appealing.
The type of structured data you use is mostly determined by the sort of website you have:
- online stores: Product schema.
- food blogs: Recipe schema.
- film blogs: Movie schema.
There are a plethora of schemas to choose from! Make sure your site’s structured data is entered correctly and, if necessary, repair any problems.
On-page Optimization
So far, I’ve primarily focused on technical SEO elements; now, let’s take a closer look at on-page elements, which have a significant impact on your search engine ranking.
The following are the most critical on-page elements to optimize:
- Title Tag.
- Meta Description.
- URL Structure.
- Heading Structure.
- Image.
- HTML emphasis tags.
- External and internal linking.
I understand that optimizing all of your pages at once would be unfeasible (especially if you have hundreds or even thousands), so start with the ones that have the most potential to bring traffic to your website.
External and Internal Linking:
Internal and external linking optimization is one aspect of on-page SEO, as I explained. However, I believe this subject must be given more attention.
You must guarantee that all connections to your other pages, as well as links to other domains, are properly introduced.
When it comes to internal and external links, the following are the most pressing concerns:
Broken Links:
These are links that go nowhere; they frequently occur when you add a link to a page that is withdrawn after some time, but the link remains!
Nofollow Attribute:
This property instructs Google robots not to follow the link; as a result, the link will not contribute to rankings, and you will not send link equity to your competitors.
Anchor Text
It’s clickable text on a link (kind of like a link label), and it’s best if the anchor text includes a keyword that accurately identifies the website to which the link leads.