How to do a free SEO audit of a website yourself: instructions

In this article we will tell you how to audit a website for free and in just a few minutes, identify technical errors and improve its quality. Suitable for beginners who want to save time and money.

Technical errors and site quality

The quality of a website, both from the point of view of users and search engines, depends on many factors. One of the most important aspects is the absence of technical errors.

Technical errors prevent users from interacting with the site, slow it down, or complicate the process of obtaining information and placing orders. For example, landing on a page with a 404 error can be frustrating and cause the user to return to the search results and go to a competitor's site.

Errors on the site are a natural phenomenon. It is important to realize that all errors cannot be eliminated immediately. However, you can minimize their negative impact, as many companies do, for example, by showing the user promotional codes on non-existent pages.

However, it is important to regularly conduct a technical site audit to identify and correct problems in a timely manner.

How to conduct a technical audit?

There are two ways to conduct an audit: either hire specialists or do it yourself. We'll look at the second option - free and with minimal effort.

In this article, we will not conduct an in-depth technical audit, but we will show how, using simple steps, you can identify the main errors on the site.

We will need:

  • Free program for website analysis.
  • Excel or Google spreadsheets for uploading errors.
  • Word or Google document for writing the report.

We find and correct errors on the site

To get started, launch a site analysis program and scan it.

Once the scan is complete, you will receive a report with the most common errors. The program usually checks more than 60 types of errors, but first you should pay attention to the most serious ones, marked in red and yellow.

Now let's look at the main errors that can be found during the audit process and how to eliminate them. Fixing these issues will help improve the quality of the site and speed up its performance, which will likely affect the number of satisfied users and even the site's position in search results.

In addition, the program has a “Dashboard” tab, which displays the overall quality score of the site. This indicator is measured on a scale from 1 to 100 and makes it easy to see the big picture. You can also download the report to PDF for further analysis or sending to a client.

Incorrect server response codes

  • 200 OK is the correct server response code.
  • Redirect links are links that redirect the user to other pages (with response codes 3xx).
  • Broken links are links leading to non-existent pages with a response code of 4xx.
  • Server errors - such as 5xx, including "Internal Server Error" and "Timeout" errors.

To eliminate errors, you need to find sources of links with codes 3xx, 4xx and 5xx and replace them with working ones or fix problems with the server.

Broken images

Sometimes images are not displayed on the site, which can negatively impact the user experience.

To fix this error, you need to find all broken images and replace them with correct files.

Download speed

Loading speed is an important factor affecting a website's ranking in search engines. Website analysis software helps identify possible problems with page loading.

For additional speed testing, you can use tools such as Google PageSpeed ​​Insights, which will offer recommendations for page optimization.

Alt is missing from images

While technical images may not require an alt tag, images on site pages, such as images in articles or product cards, do require an alt tag.

If images do not have an alt, you can fill it in manually or configure automatic generation of this tag.

Missing or empty Title, Description, H1

Filling out meta tags (title, description, h1) is an important part of SEO optimization. The absence of these meta tags is a serious problem that needs to be fixed.

Meta tags can be filled in manually or using templates, depending on the number of pages on the site.

Duplicates Title, Description, H1

Duplicate meta tags (for example, on pagination pages) should be eliminated by adding unique elements, such as the page number or product SKU.

Multiple H1 Headings

There should only be one H1 heading per page. The remaining headings should be used as h2-h6.

To fix the error, you should find pages that use multiple H1 headers and remove the extra ones.

Additionally: unique content

The uniqueness of the content is another important indicator of the quality of the site. Text that is duplicated on different pages or from other sites can negatively impact SEO.

To check the uniqueness of content, you can use special programs, for example, BatchUniqueChecker.

Instead of a conclusion

Major errors on a website can be identified quickly and free of charge, even if you have never conducted an audit.

Try this method and share your impressions with us. We'd also love to hear your feedback about the audit software!

If you have any questions or want to get advice, write to the SEO studio "SEO COMPUTER" at info@seo.computer.

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Send a request and we will provide a consultation on SEO promotion of your website