The importance of a website audit can be easily explained with the following example: driving a car without checking its condition can leave you stuck halfway; the same goes for websites: a timely technical check-up allows you to determine if the engine (its structure, speed, indexing, etc.) is failing and which parts of it are failing, so you can repair it and keep it running at its peak performance.
This is precisely what a website audit achieves: Identifying what improvements are needed to stand out from the competition.
Want to learn more about web auditing: what it is, examples, and some tips for getting started? We’ll tell you all about it.
What is a web audit?
A web audit is a comprehensive analysis that allows you to determine the current status of a website with respect to a series of aspects that have a direct impact on its performance and online visibility.
Their ultimate goal? Detecting potential errors so they can be corrected and the website can reach its full potential.
There are different types of web audits, depending on the type of information they focus on. Thus, they can include cybersecurity audits , but also technical, performance, and user experience aspects.
An SEO audit, for its part, focuses on uncovering opportunities for improvement to help you appear at the top of Google’s search results . This is a key step, considering that 32.9% of users use Google to find new brands and products.
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What elements does a web audit consist of?
As we’ve just seen, there are many types of audits, and therefore, their elements also vary. However, a basic structure for a website audit is as follows:
- Report: A document that identifies the website’s analyzed aspects and the areas for improvement. An example of a web SEO audit here includes information on performance, usability, whether the website is mobile-friendly, and so on. In other words, it compiles technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO aspects to gain complete visibility into what’s happening on the website in terms of ranking.
- Action plan: The second part of the website audit consists of a document that includes the main actions to be taken to optimize the website, according to the established objectives. In the example of an SEO website audit, the action plan will indicate the steps to be taken to improve the website’s Google ranking, based on the information gathered in the report.
Tools for performing a web audit
As we’ve just seen, a website audit involves a complex process that analyzes a wide range of technical aspects and then determines the appropriate actions. There are several tools that can help here:
- To access data on the current SEO positioning situation, platforms such as Ahrefs, SEMRush or Google Analytics can be key.
- Regarding performance measurements, it is possible to use Google PageSpeed Insights.
- To analyze the user experience, platforms such as Google Mobile-Friendly Test appear.
In any case, beyond specific tools, opting for professional web authoring services makes all the difference: not only do you get a more complete and comprehensive overview, but you also get optimization tips designed by professionals specifically for your website.