Technical SEO February 12, 2024 · 3 min read

Auditing Your Website For The First Time

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will guide you through the process of performing a basic website audit, focusing on SEO aspects.

Introduction

A website audit is essential to identify SEO and performance-related issues that can impact user experience and search engine rankings. The following process will help you diagnose possible issues on a website.

Recommended SEO Extensions

Install the following SEO extensions for your browser to assist in the website audit process:

SEO Pro Extension

SEO Pro Extension

Redirect Path

Redirect Path

Lighthouse Mobile Test

Lighthouse Mobile Test

Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere

Website Audit Process

Step 1: Visit the Website

Open the website you want to audit in your browser.

Step 2: Check Metadata with SEO Pro Extension

Click the SEO Pro Extension (maple leaf icon) and evaluate the following:

Is metadata present or missing?

Is metadata present or missing?

Is the canonical tag matching?

Is the canonical tag matching?

Are Web Vitals good or bad?

Are Web Vitals good or bad?

Is the language tag present?

Is the language tag present?

Step 3: Assess Website's Headings

Click the 'Headings' tab in the Detailed SEO Extension and assess:

Are headings present?

Are headings present?

Do they make sense structurally?

Do they make sense structurally?

Are any heading levels duplicates, skipped, or out of order?

Are any heading levels duplicates, skipped, or out of order?

Step 4: Analyze Website's Status and Redirects

Click the 'Status' tab in the SEO Pro Extension OR use the Redirect Path extension:

404 code indicates the website is not online

404 code indicates the website is not online

A single 301/302 redirect is fine

A single 301/302 redirect is fine

Multiple redirects in a row should be addressed

Multiple redirects in a row should be addressed

Step 5: Examine Schema

Click the 'Schema' tab in the SEO Pro Extension:

Is structured data present?

Is structured data present?

If there's content, it's a positive sign

If there's content, it's a positive sign

If no content is present, it's an issue

If no content is present, it's an issue

Step 6: Conduct Lighthouse Test

Open an incognito window (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N), right-click anywhere on the page, and access Lighthouse via Inspect > Overflow Menu > Lighthouse:

Run a Mobile Lighthouse Test

Run a Mobile Lighthouse Test

Screenshot the results for reporting purposes

Screenshot the results for reporting purposes

Step 7: Analyze Performance with GTmetrix

Go to GTmetrix.com:

Run a test on the website

Run a test on the website

Compare the results against the Lighthouse Test

Compare the results against the Lighthouse Test

Use the 'Waterfall' tab to pinpoint slow-loading files

Use the 'Waterfall' tab to pinpoint slow-loading files

Screenshot the results for reporting purposes