hide
Let's Connect

A Complete List of Points to Include in the Technical SEO Audit
Simran November 22, 2024 269 views


Let’s talk about your website’s first impression—because search engines? They don’t give second chances. If your site isn’t optimised for technical SEO, you might be missing out big time.

Mobile-friendliness and site speed are non-negotiable if you want to stand out in both organic and paid searches. Did you know that 61% of mobile users are more likely to reach out to a local business if its website is mobile-friendly? Or that  88.5% of visitors will hit the back button if your site takes too long to load?

These stats aren’t just numbers—they’re a wake-up call. Technical SEO plays a crucial role in making sure your website gets noticed and performs well in search rankings.

Whether you’re handling it in-house or partnering with an SEO agency like ours, a thorough technical SEO audit can be a game-changer for your visibility.

So, how do you stay one step ahead of the competition? Let’s break down the key elements of a solid technical SEO audit that’ll not only enhance user experience but also drive organic traffic and strengthen your online presence.

Key Components of a Technical SEO Audit

#1 – Website Crawlability

Website Crawlability

Crawlability is the backbone of technical SEO. It ensures that search engine bots can access and navigate your website effectively. It is also one of the main criteria we focus on when we offer clients our technical SEO services in India.

Tools like Screaming Frog, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can simulate a site crawl, highlighting issues that may hinder search engines from indexing your pages.

Here are some key factors to assess:

  • Ensure no critical pages are blocked by robots.txt or meta tags.
  • Use a clear and logical URL structure.
  • Fix broken links (404 errors) that could confuse crawlers and users alike.

#2 – XML Sitemap Optimisation

XML Sitemap Optimisation

An optimised XML sitemap serves as a roadmap for search engines. It helps bots understand the hierarchy and importance of your website’s pages.

To ensure there are no hiccups in your website being identified by Google, submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and ensure it only includes canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content issues.

Also, you should regularly update your sitemap to reflect new or removed pages.

#3 – Mobile Usability

Mobile Usability

The majority of people access the internet via their mobile devices, so making sure your website is mobile-friendly is a must. Due to Google’s mobile-first indexing policies, your rankings directly depend on your mobile usability.

Make certain that you perform these checks:

  • Ensure your website is responsive and adapts to different screen sizes.
  • Test mobile speed using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
  • Fix issues like unplayable content or blocked resources.

If you need specialists to do such heavy lifting, our team can take care of such tasks as part of our technical SEO services in India.

#4 – Site Speed and Core Web Vitals

Site Speed and Core Web Vitals

A slow-loading website can lead to a high bounce rate, which is a critical ranking factor. Google’s Core Web Vitals metrics – Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – are benchmarks for user experience.

To optimise your website for Core Web Vitals, minimise render-blocking resources like CSS and JavaScript, pptimise images using next-gen formats like WebP and use a content delivery network (CDN) to enhance loading speed globally.

Also read: 5 Crawl Errors on Found on Large Websites and How to Fix Them

#5 – Indexing Status

Indexing Status

Understanding how search engines index your website is crucial for identifying performance bottlenecks. Google Search Console is an invaluable tool for this.

Here are some things to monitor:

  • Pages marked as “discovered – currently not indexed.” These are pages that Google knows about but hasn’t indexed yet.
  • Look for issues such as duplicate content, thin content, or crawl budget limitations that may prevent indexing.

#6 – Discovered – Currently Not Indexed: How to Fix

Discovered - Currently Not Indexed How to Fix

When Google identifies your pages but doesn’t index them, it can be frustrating. This issue is labelled as “discovered – currently not indexed” in Google Search Console. Here’s how to fix it:

  • Enhance Content Quality: Pages with little or irrelevant content may not be indexed. Ensure your content adds value and addresses user queries effectively.
  • Optimise Internal Linking: Strengthen your internal link structure to signal to Google that these pages are important.
  • Check for Crawl Errors: Use crawling tools to identify technical errors like slow load times or server issues.
  • Request Indexing: Once you’ve made the necessary changes, submit the URL for indexing in Google Search Console.

If you’re unsure how to resolve these issues, consulting experts offering technical SEO services in India, like the ones at our company, can save time and yield better results.

#7 – Canonical Tags

Canonical Tags

Canonicalisation helps prevent duplicate content issues by informing search engines about the preferred version of a page. This is especially useful for e-commerce websites or platforms with dynamic URLs.

As part of the best practices, use canonical tags to point duplicate or similar pages to the primary URL. Moreover, avoid pointing multiple pages to each other as canonical references. Also, double-check canonical tags with tools like Screaming Frog to avoid misconfigurations.

#8 – Secure Website with HTTPS

Secure Website with HTTPS

An HTTPS-secured website signals to both users and search engines that their data is protected. A non-secure HTTP website may face penalties or trust issues.

Obtain an SSL certificate and configure your server to redirect HTTP to HTTPS. Check for mixed content warnings where secure and non-secure resources are loaded on the same page.

#9 – Structured Data and Schema Markup

Structured Data and Schema Markup

Schema markup helps search engines understand your website’s content, which can improve rich snippets and SERP visibility.

Here’s what to include in your technical SEO audit related to structured data:

  • Product schema for e-commerce websites.
  • FAQ or How-to schema for informational content.
  • Test your structured data using Google’s Rich Results Test tool.

#10 – Hreflang Tags for Multilingual Sites

If your website caters to users in different languages or regions, hreflang tags are a must. These tags inform search engines about the intended language and regional audience of a page.

In your SEO audit, implement hreflang tags correctly in your HTML or XML sitemap and avoid mismatched or missing tags that could confuse search engines.

Final Thoughts

A comprehensive technical SEO audit ensures that your website meets search engine standards and offers a seamless user experience. By focusing on the features listed above, you’ll improve your rankings, attract more traffic, and increase conversions.

If you need expert guidance, reach out to us at RepIndia. Being an experienced SEO agency in India, we can offer tailored solutions that align with your business goals perfectly.

Let's Connect

Write a Message