Website Audit
Gathering information through a website audit is an efficient way to pinpoint a site’s strengths and weaknesses. This is exceptionally helpful in delineating those areas which are lacking or need improvement. For this reason, we take this important process very seriously and it is the first item on our to-do list when working with a new client. By conducting an audit, we can determine the client’s needs and craft a custom-tailored strategy to improve overall site score.
Below are some of the key items we measure for our clients when conducting a website audit:
With 40% of people abandoning a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load, page speed is a vital key to success.
Schema markup is a powerful but little-known SEO tool that helps search engines understand not only what information is contained in a website, but what the information means.
Google considers responsive design as one of the many factors in its algorithm. In today’s world, a site that is not mobile or tablet-friendly is usually a deal-breaker for those browsing through it.
Meta data is essentially a “summary” of data contained in a website. This is an especially important part of website management because it ensures search engines understand what a website and business have to offer to someone conducting a search.
Headings are a simple but efficient way to not only organize the information on a website and make it easy to navigate, but also to boost rankings through SEO.
Alt attributes are important in making a page accessible even to those individuals who cannot see and are useful when an element is unavailable. The alt attribute describes images or elements on a website.
Utilizing images in a way that will boost rankings and credibility is a much an art as it is a science. Think search engine optimization is only for written content? Think again!
Robots.txt is a file that helps search engines understand which pages and files it can or cannot “crawl” on a website. This keeps the site from being overloaded with requests. Want to learn more?click here.
Sitemaps are a way to inform search engines about each URL on a website. A sitemap should always be submitted to Google after a website goes live.
Broken links happen when an outbound link from your website links to a page that is no longer available. These can be frustrating for users and ultimately damaging to your SEO. A website audit is a great way to identify and correct these.
SSL certification authenticates a website and creates secure end-to-end encryption. This is most commonly used for eCommerce sites where sensitive personal information is submitted.
Utilizing social media as part of your SEO strategy is essential. It is important to have an optimized, up-to-date profile on each platform and ensure each links back to your website.
Favicons are small icons used to represent your website. These icons are found immediately to the left of the URL and on the website tab, among other places. They are a simple but effective way to add another layer of customization to your site.
This list is by no means exhaustive and several other performance trackers are measured throughout the course of an audit. By auditing each aspect of a website, we can correct problem areas which may be damaging your SEO and holding you back from success. Want to know where your site needs improvement? Contact us today for a free website consultation!