As an individual, one of the best ways for you to grow and improve yourself is by looking closely at your strengths and weaknesses. The same logic can be applied on the improvement of your website—an often overlooked but crucial aspect of your online marketing. In fact, a comprehensive Sacramento online marketing service should include a website audit. Here are some basic information you need to know about it.
What is a website audit?
To clearly define the process of website auditing, an article by Kristine Schachinger from SearchEngineWatch.com has this to say:
Site audits are, in the simplest terms, when you pay someone to forensically examine your site with tools and their eyes utilizing their knowledge and expertise to tell you what is good and what is not so good about your site (or as we say – where you have challenges and opportunities).
Indeed, no two websites are alike and expert eyes are vital to identifying your site’s strong and weak points.
Why is an audit necessary?
You may already be aware that major search engines, specifically Google, rank websites that appear on their search results pages (SERPs) through a specialized algorithm, which they regularly update (Penguin, Panda, etc). During these updates, certain aspects of websites are given more priority than others. Currently, quality unique content is a primary consideration. Therefore, with a web audit, you could determine if your site meets (or even exceeds) the standards set by search engines for it to be deemed relevant to users. This will help to get it ranking more highly on SERPs.
Without an audit, your website could have serious issues that are negatively affecting your rankings without even knowing about it. Out of all the website audits we have done, we have never (not once!) seen a website that doesn’t have at least one issue that needs to be addressed. Doesn’t it make sense that if you are about to spend thousands of dollars over the coming months and years on SEO to make sure that your website is as attractive as possible to Google and the other search engines?
Components of Site Audits
Basically, there are four elements that fall under a site audit: technical (e.g. server metrics, hosting), links (e.g. anchor text, site architecture), onsite (e.g. metas, content), and social media (e.g. optimization, profiles). By assessing these key areas, red flags that can negatively impact your site’s search engine ranking can be identified and addressed. This way, the health of your website can be maintained and your business’ online marketing efforts will get the best results possible.
Fortunately, whether you’re running a business here in California or anywhere else in the world, you can count on Sacramento internet marketing companies, such as Champion Online Marketing located in Folsom, CA, to help you out. From search engine optimization to website audits, they have services to ensure that your online marketing strategies are up-to-date, effective and generate real leads and paying customers from the internet.
(Source: SEO Website Audits: Everything You Need to Know, SearchEngineWatch, March 17, 2014)