Why SEO Audit: Important Keys to Your Long-Term SEO Strategy

For any website owners, small business operators, and internal sales teams, the term search engine optimization can seem like a vague buzzword markets throw around to explain how search rankings work. For many a self-proclaimed SEO specialist, selling a marketing strategy doesn’t need a detailed analysis. A few proven tactics like local citations, repairing critical issues, and checking some keywords can improve website performance.

What happens when basic tactics and tricks no longer boost your website traffic?

SEO issues are far more complex than most people realize. Especially in cases where a design firm and copywriters built your website without attention to technical SEO, digital marketing must start with SEO auditing.

At Valve+Meter, our team executes a wide variety of SEO audits from a basic site crawl and reporting to forensic SEO analysis into enterprise websites.

In this blog we will consider 4 key questions to explain why SEO success begins with performing and understanding your own SEO audit.

Your SEO strategy must include research on both the on-page SEO and the off-page SEO factors influencing your search results. While the goal is to attract the attention of search engines and in turn, convert visitors to your website, a successful SEO strategy goes far beyond keyword rankings.

Imagine your website as the heart of your online business. Just like your heart needs regular check-ups to stay healthy, your website also requires periodic evaluations to ensure it’s performing at its best. That’s where an SEO audit comes into play.

An SEO audit is like a thorough health check for your website. It assesses various aspects that impact your website’s visibility and ability to attract customers. By conducting an SEO audit, you can identify areas for improvement and discover optimization opportunities to boost your website’s performance.

You will want to explore how your site performs in Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and you may even explore specialized SEO audit platforms. You will consider the overall condition of your website first, then delve deep into the content, technical aspects, and even external links that influence your search engine rankings.

Through this comprehensive analysis, you’ll gain detailed insights into your website’s current state and create a SEO strategy to improve your future performance. From page loading time and mobile optimization to broken links and duplicate content, an SEO audit leaves no stone unturned. Finally, an SEO audit schedule should be implemented as part of your ongoing website maintenance.

Now, you might be wondering, “Are professional SEO audits worth the effort and investment?”

Absolutely! Like any audit, an SEO audit executed by a third-party SEO specialist identifies key areas your internal team may be missing. Professionals provide detailed insight and clear reporting into what Google considers best practice.

Since algorithms are constantly updating, you should never assume your website’s ability to rank will continue.

Imagine this scenario: You’ve set up your website, and you’ve put in some SEO strategies to attract visitors. But without a regular SEO audit, how do you know if your efforts are paying off? An audit provides you with precise feedback on your website’s performance, helping you fine-tune your SEO tactics for better results.

What works today for a given search query can change dramatically tomorrow. By conducting periodic SEO audits, you can keep up with the latest trends and stay ahead of your competitors.

Moreover, SEO audits are cost-effective in the long run. Professional marketing companies do not just have the experience, they also use state-of-the-art tools to evaluate how you and your competitors are performing in search engines.

They save you from potential losses caused by unnoticed technical issues or ineffective SEO activities. Rather than wasting resources on strategies that don’t deliver, you can focus on those that bring in the best results.

Besides, search engine optimization is not just about attracting more traffic; it’s about attracting the right audience. An SEO audit helps you align your website with your business goals, ensuring that you’re targeting the right keywords and ranking signals that matter most to your target customers.

Your SEO strategy can drive your entire marketing plan and in turn, your business sales and operations.

A well-executed SEO audit can significantly boost your website’s visibility on search engines. When your website ranks higher in search results, it attracts more organic traffic. And more traffic means more potential customers discovering your business.

But it doesn’t stop there. When your website undergoes an SEO audit, it can optimize the user experience. Increased website traffic does not guarantee conversions. An improved user experience translates to higher engagement, longer on-page sessions, and increased chances of conversions.

An SEO audit will test website speed for desktop and mobile devices. You will gain insights into what technical SEO issues can be improved including internal links and link-building opportunities.

Furthermore, SEO audits help you uncover optimization opportunities that you may have missed. From improving your website’s keywords and blog structure to enhancing meta descriptions and improving outdated images.

An SEO audit can build a strategy for your content team, designers, and web developers. When your team knows what elements to pay particular attention to, your website has a competitive advantage.

Small tweaks can have a significant impact on your rankings and many benefits on your long-term growth.

By now, if you are still wondering why adding more keywords and writing another blog doesn’t seem to improve your website performance, then stop reading and just hire the professionals.

Your website is like a living organism. It constantly interacts with the digital world and adapts to changing consumer behavior. Regular SEO audits ensure that your website stays healthy, optimized, and in sync with the latest search engine algorithms.

Every business and organization should earn the best search results possible. An initial SEO audit followed by regular check-ups is the key to maintaining your website’s peak performance. It prevents potential issues from snowballing into critical problems that can harm your online presence.

In reality, an SEO audit for many websites can be executed by your team. While some technical SEO can be difficult to master, a quick SEO analysis can be performed by just checking GA and Search Console.

What pages have lost traffic? What blogs capture impressions but do not seem to win traffic?

These are the pieces of content to improve.

Next, considering how external links can lift your overall domain health, choose some high-performing pages and share these pieces with sources who may provide a backlink to your site. Social media, email newsletters, and your business partners are great outlets to promote your best content.

Look at competitors’ websites and find inspiration. How can you improve your website’s content, user experience, and structure to outperform other websites?

Search engines are constantly evolving. A savvy business owner understands the value of a properly optimized website. For better content, technical SEO, and comprehensive SEO audits, trust a team with the experience, tools, and drive to deliver results for you.

Valve+Meter SEO audit services include a health check for small websites, deep analysis of enterprise sites, and every website size in between. Whatever the scope of your site, our team is eager to help you stop guessing and build a true SEO strategy to drive results and maximize conversion rates.