Welcome to the first advanced SEO Audit with which you can fix and optimise your website’s technical SEO yourself, thanks to my step-by-step guide. Seriously! Totally FREE and STEP-BY-STEP. It’s all yours!
Nowadays, technical SEO is essential to any company’s online success. Whether you run a B2B firm, are a marketer, or own a small business, learning technical SEO can set you up for successful search engine optimisation that increases traffic, exposure, and conversions.
The elements of technical SEO will be broken down in this blog post, along with frequent errors and takeaways from a practical SEO audit.
Content
ToggleWhat is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO is the process of making a website’s technical infrastructure more efficient so that search engines can better crawl, index, and rank it.
This covers elements like as structured data, mobile optimisation, page load speed, site architecture, and much more.
On-page SEO concentrates on keywords and content, whereas technical SEO ensures that your website is operational and search engine friendly.
Even the greatest content could not be indexed or rank well in search results if your website doesn’t have the proper technological base.
Why is Technical SEO Important?
Technical SEO is extremely crucial for B2B firms and marketers because a website is typically the first point of contact with potential clients.
Even if your content is excellent, if you don’t have the necessary technological components in place, search engines like Google could find it difficult to rank it. Worse worse, people might encounter poor load times and abandon your website before it fully loaded.
You can make sure your website functions properly, loads swiftly, is navigable, and compatible with all devices by taking care of technical SEO. This improves user experience as well as increasing your search engine ranking visibility.
If you want to learn SEO from scratch, I have a free SEO course on YouTube that will give you the skills you need to succeed in your career.
Common Technical SEO Issues and How to Fix Them
Errors happen even to the most seasoned SEO specialists. The following are some of the most typical problems found during one of the SEO audits I have done, along with solutions:
1- Overload Redirects
More than 1,600 redirects were discovered throughout the audit, which can harm your SEO by confusing search engines and reducing link equity.
Solution: Make sure your redirects are required and tidy them properly. When making permanent modifications, use 301 redirects; wherever feasible, avoid using 302 (temporary) redirects.
2- Meta Titles and Descriptions
The improvement of CTR (click-through rate) and SEO performance is contingent upon the optimisation of meta titles and descriptions. Thousands of missing meta descriptions and many duplicate or missing titles were found throughout the audit.
Solution: The answer is to provide each page a distinct meta title and description. Keep meta descriptions and titles around 160 characters, with naturally occurring target keywords.
3- Broken Links
In addition to detracting from user experience, broken links tell search engines that your website isn’t updated.
Solution: Several 404 errors were found during the audit. Use resources such as Google Search Console or Screaming Frog to quickly find and resolve broken links.
4- Unoptimised Images
The audit revealed that a number of the huge, missing-alt-tag photos and images over 150 kb were causing the site to load slowly.
Solution: Reduce the size of image files by compressing them and adding alt tags to every image. Images can be compressed with TinyPNG and other programs without sacrificing quality. Use AVIF or WEBP format as much as you can.
5- Internal Linking
Internal linking facilitates easy navigation for both visitors and search engines while also helping to spread link equity throughout your website. There was not much internal linkage between product pages and related content, according to the audit.
Solution: Include internal links for pages that are related to each other. To inform search engines about the context of the linked material, use anchor text that is rich in keywords.
The First Advanced Technical SEO Audit Step-By-Step
Are you ready to analyse the technical SEO of your website? Here is the first FREE advanced SEO audit step-by-step.
First of all, let’s divide the SEO Audit into 4 main sections:
- Indexability and crawlability
- Content optimisation
- Website popularity and link building
- Penalty and risk analysis
The following audit is based on a real audit I did for a company, but we will keep it anonymous because of its confidentiality.
Indexability and crawlability
Making sure that search engines can reach your website is the first step in technical SEO. If your content isn’t properly crawlable and indexable, it might never show up in search results.

1.1 Sitemap
A sitemap helps search engines understand the structure of your website by serving as a roadmap for them. It was discovered during the SEO audit that the sitemap contained pointless URLs, like pages that returned 302 redirects, which needed to be fixed to increase crawlability.
Actionable Tip: Make sure that only pages with status code 200 are included in your sitemap. For best indexing, send the accurate version to Google Search Console.
1.2 Sitemap Statistics
The audit found differences between the amount of pages Google actually indexed and the number of pages supplied in the sitemap. Only 1819 of the 2010 submitted pages were indexed.
Actionable Tip: Eliminate pointless redirects and canonicalised sites to make sure your sitemap only includes important and indexable pages.
1.3 Indexation Analysis
Problems with indexation can significantly impact visibility. The audit revealed that structural issues with sitemaps and metadata were the cause of numerous URLs not being adequately indexed.
Actionable Tip: Keep a regular eye on Google Search Console’s indexation reports and correct any mistakes, like “noindex” or “nofollow” tags on significant pages.
1.4 Crawl Frequency
Crawl frequency is the frequency with which search engines return to your website to update their records. According to the audit, half of the pages were not being crawled at a rate of 50%.
Actionable Tip: By increasing server speed and decreasing the quantity of unnecessary URLs, you can raise the crawl rate.
1.5 Language Configuration
Language settings were found to have problems, especially with improperly translated URLs in other languages, according to the audit.
Actionable Tip: Make sure the language tags are applied appropriately and remove any URLs that have untranslated information.
1.6 Preferred Domain
Google favors regularity in the use of domains. The preferred domain in this audit was set to “www,” which is a recommended practice.
Actionable Tip: To prevent duplicating content, make sure internal linking is consistent between subdomains.
1.7 Cache Settings
The caching system instructs search engines on how frequently to update their representation of your website. It’s great that Google checks the homepage every one to two days.
Actionable Tip: To keep your website fresh and entice search engines to visit often, refresh your material frequently.
1.8 Site Map Page
A well-organised site map page facilitates efficient site navigation for both users and search engines. This was missing from the website, the audit discovered.
Actionable Tip: Make a site map page that is easy to read and navigate to all of the important areas of the website.
1.9 Robots.txt
The audit discovered that the robots.txt file contained out-of-date directives that were causing needless page blockages.
Actionable Tip: To enable search engines to scan important pages while blocking irrelevant ones, review and update the robots.txt file.
1.10 Meta-Robots Tags
You may manage how search engines interact with your sites by using meta-robots tags. Too many pointless pages in this audit had the setting “index, follow.”
Actionable Tip: Make sure that search engines index only valuable, user-focused pages.
1.11 4xx Errors
4xx errors indicate broken links; these include 404 pages. 15 of these problems were found during the audit, indicating the necessity for link cleaning.
Actionable Tip: To enhance user experience and SEO performance, fix all broken links.
1.12 3xx Redirects
Redirects should be handled with caution, particularly 302 (temporary) and 301 (permanent). More than 1,600 redirection were discovered throughout the audit.
Actionable Tip: Redirects can be minimised by merging pages or updating broken links.
1.13 404 Error Page
Users can find their way back to crucial material with the aid of a personalised 404 page. The website routed viewers to the homepage rather than displaying a 404 page, according to the audit.
Actionable Tip: Make a customised 404 page with useful links to pertinent areas of your website.
1.14 JavaScript
If JavaScript is not optimised, important content may not be accessible to search engines. Important content was concealed behind JavaScript, the audit found.
Actionable Tip: Make sure search engines can still access important content even if JavaScript is deactivated.
1.15 Pagination
Large chunks of material, like blogs or product catalogs, can be readily navigated thanks to pagination. The audit revealed that “next/prev” links were implemented correctly, which is good for SEO.
1.16 Text-Only View
Search engines can better comprehend your information if they are only able to view your website in text. The audit discovered that in this mode, the website displayed correctly.
1.17 Table-Free Layout
Search engines will crawl your site more effectively if you use div-based layouts instead of tables. The audit attested to the correct use of divs.
1.18 HTTP Headers
Search engines’ perception of your website is influenced by HTTP headers, specifically response codes. According to the audit, every page produced the proper “200 OK” response, indicating that everything was operating as it should.
1.19 Navigability
Easy-to-use navigation enhances SEO and user experience. A deficiency in breadcrumb navigation was brought to light by the audit, which could impede both.
Actionable Tip: Use breadcrumbs to improve search engine comprehension and site navigation.
1.20 Mobile Responsiveness
Given Google’s mobile-first indexing, the audit verified that the website was mobile-friendly—a critical component of modern SEO.
1.21 Spider View
Search engine crawlability problems were not evident on the page, according to resources like Google’s Search Engine Spider Simulator.
1.22 Session Variables in URLs
URLs should not contain URL parameters, otherwise duplicate content will be generated. The audit verified that session variables were not being indexed.
1.23 POST-Method Links
Search engines cannot crawl POST links, thus it’s perfect that none were discovered during the audit.
1.24 UTF-8 Encoding
Search engines can read your material if it is encoded correctly. The audit attested to the proper application of UTF-8 encoding.
1.25 PDFs and SEO
Many PDFs were found to be indexed during the examination. In general, it is preferable to convert these to HTML in order to enhance crawlability.
Actionable Tip: If a PDF doesn’t offer vital information, remove it from indexes and convert the important ones to HTML.
1.26 Root-Level Folders
Crucial pages should be kept as close to the base of your website as feasible by design. The audit discovered some superfluous subfolder depth, which is detrimental to SEO.
1.27 Site Architecture
An optimised site architecture facilitates better website crawling by search engines. Certain pages were discovered to be too far down the site hierarchy by the audit.
Actionable Tip: To enhance crawlability and user experience, decrease the depth of a page.
1.28 URL Syntax
URLs ought to be clear and full of keywords. The well-structuredness of the URLs was verified by the audit.
1.29 Top-Level Domain (TLD)
The “.com” TLD of the website allows for worldwide reach, which is perfect for the majority of enterprises.
Actionable Tip: Use a TLD that focuses on the geographic area of your audience. If you are in Australia, use .com.au, if you are in Spain use .es, if you are around the world use .com or .net.
1.30 Domain Location
The target audience is matched by the website’s hosting.
Actionable tip: Use tools like Who Is or Google ‘IP Domain Lookup’ to find out the geographic area where your web hosting is located.
1.31 Meta Titles
Numerous missing or duplicate meta titles were found throughout the examination. Meta titles ought to be distinct and packed with pertinent keywords.
Actionable Tip: To make sure meta titles are distinct and search engine optimised, review and rewrite them.
1.32 Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions were also discovered to be missing or duplicated. In order to encourage click-throughs from search results, these snippets are crucial.
Actionable Tip: Create intriguing and distinctive meta descriptions for each page.
1.33 Other Meta Tags
It’s excellent that no superfluous meta tags, such expires or meta-refresh, were discovered.
1.34 Structured Data (Microdata)
Structured data makes your material easier for search engines to understand. The audit discovered that structured data was not being used very often.
Actionable Tip: Use structured data for reviews, products, and other important components to increase search engine visibility.
Content optimisation
The most important aspect of SEO is content, but it needs to be easily accessed, arranged, and search engine optimised.
Also, since there is so much content generated by artificial intelligence, it is important that your content meets the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritative and Trustworthiness) standards.
Whenever you set out to create content remember this phrase: ‘Focus on creating content with high value and focused on the user’s search intent’.

2.1 Accessibility for Crawlers
Make sure all of the important content on your website is accessible to search engines.
Actionable Tip: Check that there is no noindex tag or that the robots.txt file is not blocking the crawl.
2.2 Header Hierarchy
To arrange your text, use the appropriate header tags (H1, H2, etc.). The audit discovered that the site’s header usage was uneven.
Actionable Tip: There can only be a maximum of 1x H1 and more than 2x H2 is recommended. If there are H3’s it means that your content is long, which means it is good as long as it is of quality.
2.3 Keyword Density
Make sure that the article uses your target keywords naturally and without being overdone.
Actionable Tip: It is recommended that the keyword is included in 5% of your content. But above all and very important, do not over-include it, it could be keyword stuffing.
2.4 Semantic Keywords
Add long-tail keywords and related terms to your content to provide search engines with more context.
Actionable Tip: Longer keywords tend to have lower search volume, but they also have less competition, which makes them easier to rank for in the top positions.
2.5 Long-Tail Keywords
Pay attention to long-tail keywords that better reflect user intent and are less competitive.
2.6 Content Quality
Some pages contained poor and thin content, which the audit discovered might be detrimental to rankings.
Actionable Tip: Content should be expanded with useful, pertinent information.
2.7 Text Formatting
Make your text more fascinating and easy to scan by utilising bold, italics, and lists.
2.8 Canonicalisation
Make sure you utilise canonical tags to avoid problems with duplicating material.
Actionable Tip: Imagine you have two product pages with the same content but only the size of the product or the colour varies. This is duplicate content for Google, so make sure you put the canonical tag on the original page so they don’t compete against each other.
2.9 Keyword Cannibalisation
Make sure that by optimising more than one page for the same search term, you are not up against yourself.
Actionable Tip: Each page of your website should focus on a unique and different keyword. If you have two pages targeting the same keyword, it will dilute your ranking.
2.10 Image Optimisation
To make images more user and search engine-friendly, reduce their file size and include alt tags.
2.11 Alt Text for Images
The audit found missing alt text for some images. Alt text helps search engines understand your images.
2.12 Images with Text
Important text shouldn’t be embedded inside graphics because search engines can’t read it.
2.13 Web Performance Optimization (WPO)
The audit brought attention to sluggish website loads. Optimise your website by making changes to the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Actionable Tip: Use tools such as GTMmetrix or Google Page Speed Performance to check your web speed on Desktop and Mobile.
Website popularity and link building

Links continue to be a vital part of SEO since they raise the authority and rating of your website.
However, remember to check the Toxic Spam Score of your backlinks.
A backlink from an authoritative website will benefit your website, a backlink from a spam website will harm it.
3.1 Most Linked Pages
Examine the pages on your site that receive the most internal and external linkages. The audit discovered that some pages with fewer links than others were more relevant.
3.2 Most Outgoing Links
Make sure the links on your most important pages receive link equity from your internal linking structure.
3.3 In-Content Links
Links within content are given greater SEO weight than links outside of it. There was not much internal connection discovered in the audit.
Actionable Tip: Include relevant links within your content.
3.4 Footer Links
Exercise caution when optimising footer links excessively. Some superfluous links were discovered in the footer by the audit.
3.5 Visibility Index
The site has limited exposure, with few keywords appearing on Google’s first page, according to the audit.
3.6 Number of Keywords Ranked
Out of the 1,520 keywords that were ranked, just 4.64% appeared on the first page of search results, according to the audit.
Actionable Tip: Concentrate on raising your high-potential keyword ranks. Check your Google Search Console to find out what they are.
3.7 Keyword Distribution in Rankings
Improve the way that keywords are distributed throughout Google’s top ten pages.
3.8 Competitive Analysis
The audit revealed opportunities for improvement in domain authority and keyword rankings by comparing the site’s performance with competitors.
3.9 Domain Metrics
You can measure the authority of your domain with tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and SEMrush. The audit discovered a 48 Domain Rating (DR), which is respectable but may be raised.
3.10 Competitor Analysis
The audit found discrepancies in the quantity of backlinks and referring domains by benchmarking against the leading competitors.
Actionable Tip: Research the Keyword Competitor Gap and the Backlinks Competitor Gap to see if there are opportunities against the competition.
3.11 Anchor Text
An excessive dependence on branded anchor text was found during the assessment.
Actionable Tip: Make use of a wider variety of anchor text, such as words and phrases.
3.12 Dofollow/Nofollow Links
Natural link-building efforts are enhanced by a good ratio of dofollow to nofollow links. The audit revealed a favorable ratio.
3.13 Link Localisation
Local SEO benefits from the majority of the backlinks, which originate from relevant geographic locations.
Actionable Tip: As much as possible, try to get backlinks from the geographical area of your target audience.
Penalty and risk analysis
It is essential to comprehend prospective hazards if you want to keep up your SEO performance.

4.1 Penalty Analysis
An algorithm upgrade caused a visibility decline, but the audit revealed no algorithmic or manual penalties.
Actionable Tip: A drastic drop in your results after a Google update is a clear sign that you may have been penalised.
4.2 Duplicate Content
If you have duplicate content with another website, you’re fucked. No significant duplicate content issues were found.
4.3 Cloaking
It’s great that cloaking—displaying different material to search engines than to users—was not found.
4.4 Keyword Stuffing
No instances of keyword stuffing—a technique that can lead to penalties—were discovered throughout the audit.
Actionable Tip: This happens when you keep repeating your keyword throughout the content to try to optimise it, but you end up over-optimising it.
4.5 Blacklists
A few email blacklists included the website, which can have an impact on email marketing campaigns.
Actionable Tip: Search on Google Email Blacklist Checker to see if your domain is on a blacklist.
4.6 IP Neighborhood
Because no malicious websites were discovered within the same IP range, there is no chance of shared penalties.
Actionable Tip: Search Website to IP Lookup to see if there are any malicious domains within your hosting that could negatively affect you.
4.7 Thin Content
On category and tag pages, there was some sparse information, which is bad for SEO.
Actionable Tip: I know I’ve told you before to only write high quality content, but if your page is less than 300 words, it’s unlikely to rank well.
Learn SEO with Daniel Ortega: A Complete Course on YouTube
I encourage you to watch my extensive SEO course on YouTube if you’re eager to learn everything there is to know about SEO, from the fundamentals to more complex strategies. Everything you require to understand SEO and optimise your website for search engines is covered in this course:
- Technical SEO: Find out how to make your website’s technical structure as efficient as possible for search engines to crawl and index.
- On-Page SEO: Learn how to optimise your meta tags, content, keywords, and more for on-page SEO to raise your website’s search engine ranking.
- Off-page SEO: To increase your domain authority and raise your rating in search results, investigate link building and other off-page tactics.
Using real-world examples and step-by-step instructions, each class aims to walk you through SEO tactics. To begin enhancing the SEO of your website and raising your online presence, subscribe right now.
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