Improving SERPs Visibility With An Extensive and In-House Website Audit Strategy 2024

Recently, in March 2024, Google launched its Core Updates and afterwards within just 1 month over 800 websites were deindexed (disappeared) from Google SERPs. Consequently, the need for a website audit, revamp and redesign has skyrocketed in 2024.

So, if you are also one of the deindexed websites or you are facing Google Ranking issues, then conducting a comprehensive website audit can help you improve a lot. And guess what? You can do it by yourself with your In-House team! Let’s find out everything about website audits today by diving deep into this blog!

What is a Website Audit?

Before jumping straight to the website audit strategy for 2024, it is important to first understand the meaning of website audit. A website audit is a technique to examine the website's performance thoroughly. It includes checking and optimizing every aspect of the website including-

• Website Appearance
• Content Quality
• Design and UI/UX
• Functionality 
• Loading Speed
• Backend elements like coding, bugs etc
• Technical elements like site URL, Slug, and Meta Data

And everything else that affects the website loading time, performance, and user experience. Conducting a website audit is not really a big deal. Rather, you can do some self-check with your in-house IT and digital marketing team. For self-check, we will explain a step-by-step strategy ahead in this blog. Before that, let us find out why website audits are necessary these days.

Why We Need a Regular Website Audit in 2024? 

Website audits are very useful for a business website. There are billions of websites on Google SERP. However, only a few websites appear in the top 10 results. And it is not the brand name of a company that makes it rank higher on Google SERPs. Rather, a robust SEO strategy and high-quality content help a website rank higher. 

If your website is not ranking high or is not even visible on Google, then it is a call to conduct a website audit immediately. Certainly, there is something not right with your website. A website audit has many benefits, some anecdotal ones of which include-

• Improves Google SERP Visibility

A website audit is for improving the website's performance and thus making it rank higher on the Google result pages. Therefore, one of the core benefits of Website Audit is improved Google SERP Visibility and higher ranks. 

• Provides Insightful Competitor Research 

While auditing a website, an auditor often compares his native website to his competitors. This way, you get insightful data about the competitor. By checking their websites you gather a lot of information about them such as 

• How better their website is than yours
• What products are they offering that you don’t
• Products and services that your competitor is not offering
• What content strategies are they using etc?

• Brings Fresh Content Ideas 

While conducting the website content audit, you have an opportunity to update your website content. Society is dynamic and new ideas, technologies, developments, changes, and happenings are taking place every day in the world. 

Eventually, there is always an opportunity for the writer to write something new and re-write the existing content with a different strategy. Website audit creates room for that content revamp. 

• Eradicates Technical Errors 

A website audit also creates a window to peep into the technical issues that a website has. It may be an HTTP Error, broken links, poor INP (Interaction to Next Paint) Score, missing metadata, missing alt text, faulty images and many more.

Therefore, a website audit will help you identify these website issues and eliminate them. Eventually, this will enhance your business image and improve your website’s Google Ranking. 

• More Visibility, More Leads

After a successful website audit and implementation of the website audit strategy, we have provided here, within just a month you will appear more on the Google SERPs. More visibility is a gateway to generating more business leads. In turn, more leads imply more number of conversions. So, when you appear more, you earn more!

Popular Website Audit Types 

Now let’s discuss the types of website audits. Knowing the website audit types will help you understand the strategic sequence!

So, there are 2 Types of Website audits based on the Audit Techniques and 4 Types of Website Audits based on the Audit Aspect or Element. 

2 Types of Website Audit Based on Technique

Based on the website audit technique, the 2 types of website audit are:

• Manual Website Audit: In a manual website audit, the auditor goes through every website element manually without using any website audit tools. Say, for example, reading the content, checking the hyperlinks, checking each website function by performing actions etc. 
• Automation Website Audit: On the contrary, an automation website audit is a technique where website audit tools like Google Analytics, Google Console, Originality.AI, Ahrf, SEMrush, Screaming Frog etc. are used. 

However, in this blog, we shall provide you a website audit strategy which is a mix of Manual Audit and Automation Audit. So, stay tension-free. 

4 Types of Website Audit Based on Aspects and Stage

A website has different elements or aspects and based on these aspects, there exist 4 types of website audits

• Design Audit 

Whenever we visit a website the first thing we notice is the website design. If the design is not user-friendly, immersive, and visually captivating, then for sure it requires a revamp. This process is a website design audit. 

• Content Audit 

After observing the design, the visitor reads the website content. About your organization, services you offer, and your contact details. If the content is compelling and user-centric, then it leaves a great impression on the user. So, the content audit is the next type. 

• SEO Audit 

Both design and content audit are concerned with the front end of a website. When the design audit and content audit are done, now it's your turn to optimize the backend. The backend begins with an SEO audit. Checking your site’s SEO including keyword performance, backlink analysis, broken link analysis, indexing issues, and URLs is the next move. 

• Technical Audit

The next step is to dive deeper into the website structure. The 4th stage and type of website audit is technical audit. At this stage, you have to check for coding errors, bugs, website URL, slugs, metadata, and other backend elements. 

Golden Tip of the Day!

While performing a website audit always proceed from general to specific. That is, start your audit by examining the front-end elements easy to rectify and optimize. Then proceed to the specific that is the backend. 

A Free Website Audit Strategy 2024 That You Can Follow In-House! 

1. Observing the Website Design  

Whenever you open any website what is the first thing you notice? Colour, sections, drop-downs, cursors, and animations, right? Yes! So, have a close look at your website design now. Try contemplating your website as a potential customer and analyse whether the website gives an impactful impression. Use the following steps to make your website design audit a success:

• Check the design of your website and compare it with your competitors.
• Analyse if your website appears more plain, lifeless, and static than your competitor's.
• Also, analyse the User Interface and check if the functions are working seamlessly. 

1. Checking Website Performance: Loading Speed, Interaction and Functionality

Also, have a close look at your website performance and observe for any performance, speed, and functional lag. Take the following tips into consideration while auditing the performance audit:

• Always check the website's loading speed. See, if the website text, images, and videos are loading quickly and glitch-free.
• Then, move to the interaction part click on various tabs and forms and scroll through the entire website. Judge the interaction's smoothness and take the ‘feel’. 
• Afterwards, check the functions. Fill out the forms and click on the CTAs to check how fast, effortlessly, and seamlessly they perform the required actions. 

Then What’s Next?

• If the text, image, and videos are loading slowly, then try reducing their sizes. 
• Remove unnecessary media from the website.
• Alternatively, ask your developers to use Cache Cookies that will help the website content load faster when a user visits multiple times. 
• However, the first impression is the last impression, so the first-time user interaction must be effortless. Eventually, it is best to reduce the media size or replace them. 
• If you feel that the interaction is not as immersive as it is on the competitor’s website, then share your competitor’s website with your front-end developer and ask them to introduce new interactive and immersive designs. 
• Furthermore, if the website functions are not quick to respond, then check the unnecessary dialogue boxes. For example, if after filling out a form the website asks the user ‘Are you sure’, eradicate such barriers and make interaction quick. 

1. Analysing the Website Content Quality 

Content is the heart and soul of your website. Therefore during the site audit, website content audit is paramount. If the website content is plagiarized, lacks accurate intent, or is AI-generated, neither the users nor the Google Crawler will like it. Consequently, your website will suffer poor ranking and poor engagement. While checking the website content, the following tips will help you: 

• Check if the content is AI-generated and if so get your content re-written immediately. As per the latest Google Core Updates March 2024, Google crawler will strictly de-index websites having AI-generated content.
• Then, have a look at the keywords. Check if your website content has all the targeted keywords. Research your competitors’ websites and check what keywords are making them rank higher. Also, distribute all the keywords naturally and evenly. Maintain a 1% keyword density for the focus keyword.
• Also, check if the content is creative and engaging enough for the users. It must be well-researched and its intent must be specifically set for your target audience. For example, if you are a game development company offering game development services for gaming businesses (and not gaming apps for the players), then it must be clear from your content. Otherwise, if your content is player-centric, then you will get the wrong business leads (the players, and not the business).

1. Diagnosing the Website SEO 

Now, once you have Search Engine Optimized your website content, it’s time to do the technical SEO. SEO is the only technique that can help you get visible on Google SERPs. However, to check the SEO, you will require tools for the complete analysis. Here is a Website SEO Audit Checklist for your reference-

• Use the Ahrf Web Master Tool to get a crawler to check your website. If you wish to use any other tool, then you can use the tool of your choice too.
• Study your traffic organic and inorganic. If organic traffic is not up to the mark, use paid SEO techniques such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Binge Ads.
• Then, conduct a backlink analysis. If your website has backlinks from low-quality, spam, or indecent websites, then it will surely harm your SEO. On the contrary, if you have backlinks from high-quality websites, then your SEO will also improve. 
• Also, check for any broken links. If your web page has hyperlinks that return to an error message or takes too much loading time, then it too harms the SEO of your site. 
• So, use SEO analyser tools and conduct some manual audits. This way, you will be able to improve your website SEO and make you more visible. 

1. A Sneak Peak to the Backend and Website Technicalities 

Congrats! Your  Website Audit for the front end is complete and you have improved your website performance by 50%. Now, it is time to achieve the remaining 50% and improve your backend to achieve 100% of the Website Audit Target. To improve the backend SEO of your website, you will need to check for bugs and shortcomings in the website code. Also, apply the following techniques:

• Code: Ask your developer to re-test the website and check for any bugs or errors if exist. Eradicate them as soon as possible.  
• Load Speed: Analyse the load speed of your website and check what’s making your website slow. Is it some piece of content such as an image or a video? If yes, then it is better to remove the same. Likewise, if any animations or additional website functionality is making the website slow, then ask the developer to remove the same. 
• URL: Even your website URL has to be SEO-optimized. So, check your domain address and slug for each page. Suppose, your website is a digital marketing firm. When your visitor visits your website and clicks on the ‘Services’ tab, the URL slug must suggest the same. Consider the following example-
• ❎https://yourbusinesswebsite.com/produts
• ✅https://yourbusinesswebsite.com/services 
• Meta Data: Additionally, the metadata or schema data for each page must be clear so that the Google crawler may understand your website content, its category, and its intent. Well-structured metadata helps the crawler index your content faster and show it to its relevant target audience. 
• Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs are also a technique to improve user-friendliness and understandibility of your content. Ask your developer to create breadcrumbs for each page.

1. Conducting Website Accessibility Audit

Universal website designs are a growing demand worldwide these days. Making websites more accessible with features like text-to-speech, large font modes for the visually impaired, and dark theme modes for nighttime use are certain features that make a website universally accessible and improve its user experience. So, whenever conducting a site audit, always make sure to also make it more accessible. 

Key Takeaways from the Blog

So, we have Trained you completely for your website audit in 2024. Conduct a Website Audit to Improve SEO today and enhance your Google SERP rankings. Let’s quickly revise the key takeaways from the blog-

Website Audit Checklist 2024

✅Check website design and assess the quality of user interface and user experience.

✅Analyse the website loading speed and eliminate or replace elements that make it slow.

✅Then, check the content quality, keyword distribution, and keyword performance.

✅Remove AI-generated content from the website immediately.

✅Improve your website’s technical SEO and do complete link analysis.

✅Optimize your website from the backend and improve codes, metadata, URL, Slugs etc.

✅Make your website more accessible by implementing universal designs. 

Popular Website Audit Tools

Looking for some popular website audit tools? Here is a complete list for you!

• Ahrf: A comprehensive tool that offers keyword research, analysis, SEO performance, and technical health. 
• Screaming Frog: A crawling tool to gather insightful data analytics. Also, the tools detect content drawbacks like duplicate content, internal linking errors, and broken links. 
• Google Search Console: A tool that helps identify indexing issues and crawling errors. Thus, helps improve SEO.
• SEMrush: An extensive tool package that offers SEO Content Writing Assistance, topic research tools, a rank checker, and also checks meta tags.
• Google Analytics: The most comprehensive tool that offers a 3600 website audit. From crawling issues to analysing page loading speed.
• SiteChecker: SiteChecker helps the website auditor by performing on-page SEO checks, checking keyword positioning, and backlink analysis.

Quickly Summarizing What We Learnt Today!

Website SEO audits are very necessary to enhance site SEO. If the SEO of our website is not good, then our website will not be visible on the Google Search Engine Result Pages and our Target Audience will not be able to find us. Especially, after the Google Core Updated of March 2024, it is extremely important to conduct a robust website audit. However, you do not need to hire an agency for that, rather you can do a lot by yourself to improve your site visibility. Follow the tips provided above and see how the magic works on your own. And let us know in the comment section whether these tips helped you or not. For any further queries as well, feel free to comment! We shall revert you as soon as possible!

FAQs

What Is A Website Audit?

Website Audit is meant to examine the website's performance and verify its different elements such as design, user experience, user interface, competencies, accessibility, content quality, hyperlinks, codes, metadata, URLs, Slugs etc. and eradicate glitches from them. A website audit improves the quality of the website which in turn improves its SEO and makes it rank higher on the Google SERPs.

How Much Does A Website Audit Cost?

Website audit can be free of cost if you do it by yourself. However, if you hire an external website audit team then it can cost you around $700-$800.

What Is A Website Content Audit?

Website content audit is a part of website audit. However, it is concerned with the website content such as About Us, Services, and Blog pages. Content audit checks keyword distribution, content quality, keyword density, and competitor keyword analysis to improve its SEO.

Why Should We Audit Any Website?

Website audit is highly beneficial for the brand image of a business. If the business website is not well-performing or not visible on the Google SERPs then it interrupts business lead generation and also harms brand image. A website audit helps the business to rectify all the website errors and eliminate technical and non-technical glitches that improve website performance and elevate the brand image.