Whether you are managing a small business or working in an enterprise-level organization, there are plenty of things to consider when it comes to optimizing your website for search engines. One of the most important aspects of search engine optimization, which is often overlooked, is conducting an SEO audit.
When done properly, an enterprise seo audit will give you and your team vital information about the effectiveness of your marketing strategies and which areas of your website need improvement.
This article will discuss the top eight steps to take when conducting an enterprise SEO audit:
Step 1: Analyze traffic
When you’re conducting an enterprise SEO audit, you must know what kind of traffic your site has and where it comes from. First, set up a Google Analytics account for your website. Google Analytics can track information about what people are searching for online and which keywords they’re using.
Next, log into Google Search Console with the credentials associated with your website. This will allow you to track things like what keywords people are using in their search engine queries, the URLs they visit on your site, and how they navigate throughout your site–plus many other metrics important for enterprise SEO audits.
Step 2: Perform keyword research
Now that you know what your website should be about, it’s time to see how you compare against the competition. Keyword research is crucial when it comes to online marketing because if you’re targeting the wrong keywords, there will be no interest in your product or service.
And this doesn’t just mean using the right keywords, it means using the right words that accurately describe your website content. So first, brainstorm 10-20 keyword phrases that are appropriate for your product or service.
Step 3: Identify duplicate content
Depending on your site, you may have multiple ways for visitors to reach the same content. In some cases, this may be deliberate; in others, it might be a less-than-desirable effect of a lack of focus or overlapping marketing campaigns. Identifying these instances is the first step toward reducing their impact on search performance.
There are two different types of duplicates: duplicate documents and duplicate pages. Document duplication can happen when several URLs point to the same document. A typical example would be having a URL for the home page as well as one for the about us page.
As far as Google is concerned, both will show up in search results (assuming they rank well) because they’re both pointing to what Google considers the same piece of content.
Step 4: Improve internal linking
One of the most overlooked and difficult tasks for a company is creating content. There are various reasons for this, but one of the major ones is that content creation requires time and effort. The way that you can save time is by focusing on internal linking.
By finding high-quality articles that align with your goals, which have already been published on your site, it’s possible to use those as stepping stones to new pages. To start building links between pages, find authors that have written at least three posts on your website in a relevant topic area (such as finance or design). From there, find a few high-quality articles they’ve written that are similar in the subject matter.
Step 5: Optimize meta titles & descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions should always be crafted for the searcher who is using the internet browser’s search engine. No one wants to click a title and find out that it’s not what they were looking for.
Optimizing your meta titles and descriptions can help drive targeted traffic and convert more leads. Here are some tips on how you can optimize them:
- Include keywords that relate specifically to your site in your meta titles and descriptions, such as furniture store.
- Use benefits statements that inspire curiosity by telling readers what they can get by visiting your site, such as custom home furniture tailored just for you.
- Keep meta descriptions short; around 100 words or less with clear keywords included.
Step 6: Improve social media presence and interactions
Identify the social media accounts you should have for your company, create profiles for these on each platform, and make sure they’re optimized. You may also want to do some research into what hashtags are commonly used by businesses in your industry.
Your final step is to have someone within your company take over the social-media duties for the company. This ensures that content will be updated consistently, instead of depending on just one person with free time.
Step 7. Review backlinks
One of the best ways to review a site’s backlinks is by examining its list of linking domains. A good rule of thumb is that, ideally, your site should have links from domains with domains age greater than 5 years old.
The reason for this recommendation is that sites can lose link equity over time and fresh domains might not be sending much authority or trustworthiness signals yet. In addition, try visiting these websites to see how they are ranking.
Some backlink analysis tools also provide insights into social media share count and engagement stats on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – all important measures of how much goodwill these links are sending your site’s way.
Step 8. Fix technical issues
Out of all the steps you can take, these are arguably the most important. You don’t want the hard work and great content your site generates to go to waste because of a broken link or out-of-date meta tag.
There’s no telling how much traffic your website could be missing out on because of a technical issue, so you must keep up with what Google is doing and make any necessary changes accordingly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the single most important element of any SEO strategy is content. You’ll be forced to step up your game and become a content-producing machine if you’re going to have any chance at ranking on page one. As soon as possible, start implementing these tactics into your daily routine and see where it takes you. Once again, focus on providing value for your target audience for them to share with their network and provide more qualified leads.