As a business owner, it’s crucial to ensure that your website is visible online and easily discoverable by your target audience. Technical SEO is a critical aspect of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engines. It involves making changes to your website’s technical elements to improve the user experience and make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site.
In this comprehensive audit guide, we’ll explore the technical SEO elements that you should review to ensure that your website is up to par.
1. Site Speed
Site speed is a critical element of technical SEO. A slow-loading website can adversely impact user experience and search engine ranking. Google has been using site speed as a ranking factor for desktop searches since 2010 and for mobile since 2018. To check your website’s speed, use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and Pingdom. These tools can help you identify the factors that are slowing down your site and provide recommendations for how to improve it.
2. Mobile-Friendliness
More people are browsing the internet on mobile devices than ever before. It’s important to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, i.e., it can be accessed and navigated easily on small screens. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check if your site is mobile-friendly. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, it may result in a higher bounce rate and lower search engine rankings.
3. URL Structure
The URL structure is an essential element for search engines and users to understand the hierarchy of your website. URLs should be clear and concise, containing the target keyword where possible. A well-structured URL makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site. Use tools like Screaming Frog or SEMRush to check for any defective URLs, redirects, or URL parameters that need fixing.
4. Meta Tags
Meta tags are an important factor that help search engines understand the content of your website. The meta tags include the title tag, description tag, and header tags. These tags help to communicate what your pages are about and provide a summary of the content appearing on the page. Ensure that your meta tags are unique, relevant, and contain the target keyword.
5. Sitemap
A sitemap provides search engines with an overview of your website’s structure and helps them to index your site’s content. A sitemap makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site, and it shows them which pages are most important. You can create a sitemap easily using tools like Yoast SEO, Google XML Sitemaps, or Screaming Frog.
6. Schema Markup
Schema Markup is a structured data format that provides search engines with more context about the content on your site. It helps to clarify the type of content on your website, whether it’s an article, product, event, or brand. Implementing schema markup can improve click-through rates and help your website stand out in the search engine results pages.
In conclusion, these six elements are critical for ensuring that your website’s technical SEO is up to par. By auditing your website for these elements, you can improve your website’s usability and search engine rankings. Doing so can help your website get the visibility it deserves, driving traffic and conversions for your business.