What a website audit is and why you need it.
Wondering why you can’t Google up your website? Are your competitors dominating the search results and you’re tucked away in the trenches? Maybe a friend recommends you look into SEO. You say what? You know, search engine optimisation – that thing that web people do to improve the chances of customers finding you. Before you dive into SEO, you’d better take a look around your website to see how well it’s been put together.
Here’s a few tips on what a website audit is and and why you need it.
A website audit is a review of how well your website is built. It considers usability, security, speed and other factors important to your website visitors and to Google. A good website audit will review many factors and give you recommendations on how best to improve. The goal is to have your website in the best possible shape before you invest time and money into marketing and website changes that may not deliver the best results. What are the results we’re aiming for?
Traffic that converts to sales.
“I just built my website. Now I need an audit?”
Just building a website isn’t enough. In fact, giving thought to all the factors that impact usability and ‘find-ability’ (is that word?) is critical upfront – before you build your website. If you or your web developer are indeed skilled SEO consultants, then you’d already be off to an impressive start.
But chances are, you’re both not.
If you were skilled in SEO, you’d already be on your way to better rankings and more traffic that converts. And unlikely to be reading this.
What you can expect from a good website audit
A good website audit will be a comprehensive document that reviews your website in terms of:
Technical (back end)
- It is secure for users (https)
- Does it have Google Analytics hooked up?
- How fast or slow is it to load?
- Is the software up-to-date?
- Does it have a child theme?
- How secure is it from hackers?
- Can Google see all your pages?
On-page (front end)
- What are you target keywords?
- Are your pages titled correctly?
- Do have engaging meta descriptions?
- Do you have H1 headers?
Usability
- Can users easily navigate through your site?
- Do users easily understand what you do?
- Is there a call to action on every page?
- Is the phone number clickable?
- Can users easily read the content?
- How does it look on a mobile device?
Localisation
- Has Google My Business been set up?
- Do you have content that talks to areas local to you?
- Do you have a consistent footer with your name, address and phone number?
Online partnerships (backlinks)
- How many credible websites are linking to yours?
- Do you have any spammy websites linking to you?
- Do you have any broken links?
Recommendations
After you’ve gone through the scary detail in your report, you can breathe easy when you get to the bit about what to do about it. Depending on the findings of your review, you might need a staged implementation. And usually, a web developer who knows SEO will need to be engaged to fix up the technical issues.
What does ‘better rankings’ mean?
Better rankings means that you are ranking well for search terms that matter to you. Those terms that your customers are using, have adequate traffic and you’ve got a shot at ranking well for them.
One of the recommendations in your website audit will be to conduct keyword research to work this out.
Having a website is just not enough
Having a website is one thing. Having a website that performs better than your competition is another. And that’s what it’s all about it.
Over to you
Are you ready to rank on Google and get more converting traffic? Sure – who isn’t?
Amy Annetts, a marketing specialist in Melbourne, has been practising marketing for 25 years. She creates strategies that give small businesses an advantage over their competition. Amy blends her corporate and traditional marketing experience with the latest digital techniques. Using a full-scale marketing toolkit, Amy’s clients have access to effective campaigns that earn them more customers. And she loves a challenge, evidenced by her mad interest in outdoor obstacle courses, where she’s happy to climb walls, crawl under barbed wire and be covered in mud.
But that’s another story.
Get in touch to see how Amy can help you.