Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a multi-faceted approach to web design and content strategy that, simply put, gets your website ranking higher on Google (and other major search engines). To get an SEO campaign to work properly for a website, you need a deep understanding of what search engines are looking for when ranking websites for its users, as well as what tweaks need to be made throughout the life of the site to keep it fresh, engaging, and algorithm-friendly. If you have a site that’s been around for a while that’s not performing as well as it used to—or just isn’t performing at all—it may be time for a full-blown SEO audit. Website audits can be an effective small business marketing tool to address areas where your site is performing well, and other areas that could use improvement to drive more traffic, engagement, and conversions.
What Is an SEO Audit?
An SEO audit breaks down your site’s SEO components. It includes on-page signals like keyword relevance, content structure, as well as off-page signals like local listing consistency and strength of links pointing back to your site. Some of the components that digital marketing agencies look at when conducting an SEO audit include the following:
URL Structure
Are the URLs easy to follow? Is their structure easy for Google to crawl? Do they contain important keywords, and can users quickly click back to your main page from a given URL?
Content
Is your content actually useful to visitors landing on your site? Is it relevant to what searchers are looking for? Does each page add unique value to visitors? Is your content too thing and not giving visitors enough to engage with, or is it too long and intimidating people who click through to your site? Content plays a big part in user engagement with your site, which is a component that search engines look for when deciding how to rank your business.
Backlinks
Are other sites linking to your site? Are those sites relevant to the subject matter of your site, and do the links make you look like an authority on the subject at hand? Does the site have opportunities for more guest posts or backlinks? Backlinks are vital to the health of your site, but they need to be quality links from reputable sources.
Sitemaps
Is the domain using a sitemap? Is that sitemap up to date and does it point to all current pages on the site? Can bots easily access them and crawl through them through a logical hierarchy and structure? Sitemaps give your site a leg up on getting indexed by Google. An SEO audit checks to make sure they’re properly set up, don’t contain links to pages that have changed URLs or been deleted from the site, and use the best code formatting possible to be accessible to bots.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of the SEO components that agencies check, it’s a strong start to a website audit to help them evaluate what you’re missing.
How This Information Helps You
You’ve received a website audit with all of the good and not-so-good info about your site. So now what? What are the next steps? How does this data benefit you? If you got your audit from a reputable SEO company, they’d be able to help you take the next steps to improve your website, driving both traffic and conversions.
Another component that most agencies also look at is how your direct competitors are doing and who outranks you for the keywords you want. The agency will see what strategies they’re using to get their pages to rank, and can create a strategy that will work in an attempt to outrank those competitors. They’ll then work closely with you to help your business maintain high rankings and keep new business flowing.
How We Use an SEO Audit to Improve a Website
At Dreamscape Marketing, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to SEO because it simply doesn’t work. Every business and every website has slightly different goals, even within similar industries. We’ll examine the SEO audit that we put together for you and create a comprehensive SEO strategy to help accomplish your individual goals. Once we’ve done that, we’ll determine other digital marketing needs your business might have with our business intelligence consulting platform. We may restructure the URLs on the site or rework content to better target keywords. Many times, we also recommend a content campaign and backlinking strategy to accelerate your site’s ability to rank.
Work with a Digital Marketing Agency That Works for You
Creating an SEO strategy isn’t as simple as pressing a couple of buttons. It takes time, dedication, constant research, and regular improvements to site structure, content, and linking profile. At Dreamscape Marketing, we have teams that can handle all that and more. We have found great success in addiction treatment marketing, dental marketing, senior living community marketing, and elective medical practice marketing.
For an in depth review of your website, Dreamscape Marketing offers a complimentary website audit, performed by one of our digital marketing specialists. You can quickly and easily submit your site for review at that link.
In addition, you can request more information on some of the services we offer, including:
- Award-Winning Web Design
- PPC Strategy and Campaign
- Website Hosting
- Customized CRM
- Social Media Marketing
Don’t let your site continue to sit on page two of Google. Give us a call at 888.307.7304 for your own website audit or contact us online for more information.