Are you planning to promote your website in search engines? Start by checking its condition. Before investing in advertising, it is important to identify and eliminate errors on the site. An audit will help you achieve the desired results and avoid unwanted problems in the promotion process.
There are many aspects that can be analyzed on a website, and it doesn't always make sense to look at them all at once. To make the process more manageable, experts divide the audit into several main areas: technical audit, SEO audit, usability audit and audit of commercial factors.
Which one is more important? Let's consider the stages of comprehensive analysis, starting with the highest priority.
If you want to achieve real results, a technical audit should be the first step in the optimization process. All experts advise this even before promotion begins. If technical errors are not corrected, all SEO efforts may be ineffective. Unresolved issues can significantly impact ranking results, outweighing any positive factors.
Compiling a checklist for a technical audit can take a lot of time, as it usually includes dozens of items. The check can be carried out either manually or using specialized programs. It is important to remember that in order to identify non-obvious errors, you must have certain experience and knowledge.
SEO analysis should be carried out separately from a technical audit. This stage is relevant for sites that are already functioning and have some experience. At the initial stage (for example, before indexing), an SEO audit does not make sense, since the site has not yet appeared in search results.
Important aspects that are included in SEO analysis:
This stage is second in importance in the process of comprehensive site analysis.
What follows is a more in-depth analysis of the site, taking into account commercial factors. For sites offering products or services, search engines take into account a number of indicators called commercial factors.
These factors help evaluate the site from the perspective of a potential client. For example, a buyer wants to deal with a reputable seller who offers a variety of products and services. Search engines try to take all these criteria into account when ranking.
The full list of commercial factors is not disclosed in open sources, however, at specialized events, representatives of search engines share key points. There are also a number of materials that you can study to gain a deeper understanding of this topic.
Usability audit is often underestimated, but it helps to create a convenient and effective website for business. Many customers do not understand the importance of this stage, and not every specialist is able to explain why it is needed.
A usability audit involves analyzing the usability of a website from the user’s point of view. The result is an independent assessment of the quality of the site in terms of user experience.
A usability audit helps answer the following questions:
Below is an example of a short usability checklist that you can use to evaluate your website.
As you can see, each type of audit plays its own important role and covers a certain area of the site’s functioning. Neglecting at least one of the stages can make the site less effective and make it difficult to optimize it for business.
If you need more information or assistance in conducting an audit, you can contact the SEO studio "SEO COMPUTER" for any question by email info@seo.computer.
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