For every problem or task in the real world, a set of tools is always helpful in carrying out all the fixes needed. The same is true for your website needs a little fixer-upper, such as when it experiences a sudden drop in organic traffic. There are specific tools required to get you back on track through an SEO site audit. But before you go off and pick up a virtual hammer and nail, here are three things you must have handy before you start:
1) your site URL;
2) two or three URLs belonging to your competitors; and
3) three to five core keywords
Once you have those bits of information handy, you can dip into your tool box.
Tool 1: Google Webmaster Tools (GWT)
This is free-of-charge so any one can take advantage of it by simply signing up using their Gmail account. GWT reveals the main issues which affect the organic search health of your website. If your website performance has slacked out, go over the list of alerts Google provides within your GWT account – you’ll then know what you need fix. If you’re not sure how to solve the penalties your website acquire; don’t worry, Google provides a list of suggested actions for each of these issues. Woo-hoo!
Use the right tools to get the job done.
Tool 2: Screaming Frog
There are times when just a list of alerts or penalties isn’t enough to understand the cause behind your website’s poor performance. When you’re in this situation, you need the help of Screaming Frog. This is desktop program provides important information like server errors, broken links and duplicate content, among others. Just like GWT, Screaming Frog can be downloaded free of charge. Once you have it, simply enter your homepage URL and hit the start button. All the data you need may be retrieved by clicking on the appropriate tabs. For example, if you want to know the status of your outbound links, click on the external tabs.
Tool 3: SEO Moz
SEO Moz is ideal for identifying all your on page optimisation stats. The diagnosis of your website will be presented through charts – which is great if you’re a visual person. For those statistically inclined, your site errors, warnings and notices are also provided in numbers. Similarly as the other tools, SEO Moz can provide the presence of duplicate page content and duplicate page titles – all which give your website unwanted penalties from Google. More so, SEO Moz can provide you other information like missing titles, meta descriptions, very long URLs and too many on page links – this is all golden information to fix your broken site!
Other Tools For Your Toolbox
Depending on your preference, you can use other tools to dig deeper into your site. A few of the best ones to try are Xenu Link Sleuth, Majestic SEO, OSE and Cognitive SEO.
There you have it – the best tools for a thorough SEO site audit to get you back on top (where you should be)! Should you have difficulty interpreting the results from using these tools, or if you need help taking the important actions necessary to move forward, don’t hesitate to contact our team for assistance. Click here to get started.