technical site audits

Technical SEO Audits

Kristine Schachinger | Twitter @schachinKristine@SitesWithoutWalls.com

Image CourtesyDuane Forester’s Keynote

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Technical SEO?

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Technical SEO is the Foundation for the House that is your

Website.

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Why do we do it?

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And users.. Always users…

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What is Technical SEO?

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Technical SEO is About Best Practices…• Servers

• Scripting/Code• Speed..Speed… and well Speed• Site Architecture• Indexabilty• Crawability• Mobile

That are related to Google’s AlgorithmsTo name a few…

• Hummingbird• Panda• Penguin• Pigeon• Pirate• Page Layout

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Technical SEO is about Measuring the Site Foundation

Against Google’s Guidelines& Their Algorithms

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So where do we start?

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Ask the client for a client history..

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Know the client is almost always

wrong

about that history…or what is is wrong…

The client history is for guidance, not accuracy.

Remember you are the detective.

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And they don’t always tell you theFULL STORY...

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Remember YOU

are the detective!

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Technical SEO Audits

What processes are affecting the site?

• Internally • Externally • Third Party

Process of deductive reasoning!

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First…

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Technical SEO AuditsCHECKPOINT

Is there a Manual Action (penalty)?

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How Do We Know?

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Manual Actions

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Manual Actions

If yes, is it…• Partial? • Or Full Site?

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What Manual Actions Are There?

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Manual Actions

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2604824?hl=en@schachin

Algorithmic Devaluations

Technically, algorithm changes such as Panda or Penguin are NOT penalties.

Unlike a manual action, you can gain OR lose with Google algorithms.

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So how do we know, if the site has an algorithm issue?

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Technical SEO AuditsPanguin Tool

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Just because it walks like a duck & talks like

a duck…..

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This looks like a penalty

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Still looks like a penalty…

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When we check year over year

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It is not. That client has a seasonal business.

Do not assume! EVER.

It may walk like a duck & talk like a duck…and not be a duck.

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So what is it?

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EVERY site audit starts with a crawl …

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Let’s check it out

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So much you can do… So Use this SERP for more

https://www.google.com/search?q=screaming+frog+things&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

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So what are we looking at?

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Technical SEO AuditsThe basics….

• Http vs Https• Robots• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

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• Http vs Https• DO they have mixed status? • If they moved to https, did they change it everywhere?• Did they redirect pages?

• Robots• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

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Technical SEO Audits – The Basics• Http vs Https• Robots.txt

• Do they have one? • Is it written correctly? (test it) • Are they using it when they should be using no-index?

• Robots.txt blocks the page crawl, but not the URL indexing

• Are they blocking CSS &/or JS? • (can check this also in Search Console)

• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

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• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps

• Do they have one? • Is it written correctly? (test it) • Check their sitemaps for

• Limits • Types (video, image, page) • Index Sitemaps (use them!)• TIP Google does not use priority or date modifiers

• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals

• Do they have them?• Are they written correctly? • Do they follow the rules for writing canonicals?

• https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139066?hl=en• http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2013/04/5-common-mi

stakes-with-relcanonical.html• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s

• Are they using 302 or 301? • Very important in new site launches• TIP Google will convert (in their crawls) 302s to 301s

after about 6 months. • TIP Google Search Console will only remove links for 3-

6 months• How many 404s? Are you bleeding links? Should they be

410?• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture

• Is the structure vertical or horizontal?• TIP Google prefers wide and flat over deep and tall• Are you giving Google a proper content outline?

• Think 10th grade English Class• Are you specific, certain and clear?

• Navigation• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation

• Are you using proper navigation?• Are you constructing a contextual view of your site? • Are you throwing in the kitchen sink?

• TIP Users can only process 5-8 piece of information at a time

• Code• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code

• Valid HTML is not a ranking factor, but the things that make up valid HTML are ranking factors. • TIPS Make sure your title tag is the first (after head), use

absolute not relative URLS, alt text in a link is the same as text, use ul/li for navigation and keep your code light/clean.

• Meta Tags• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Schema Tagging

• Just do it! Really. Microdata is Google preferred. • TIP Any data point can be used in the KG without

copyright violation.• Check Google Search Console for mark-up validity.

• Google Analytics Tracking

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

@schachin

• Http vs Https• Robots.txt• SiteMaps• Canonicals• Redirects & 404s• Architecture• Navigation• Code• Schema Tagging• Google Analytics Tracking

• Make sure it is implemented correctly, especially UTM parameters

Technical SEO Audits – The Basics

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What else?

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Speed…. You know fast…. Like really fast…

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Two Tests

WebpageTest.organd of course

Google Pagespeed Insights

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@schachin http://www.webpagetest.org/

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And Google….

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https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=whitehouse.gov

You want an 85 min – 90+ is best

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https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=whitehouse.gov

They even give you everything to upload to your site

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https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=whitehouse.gov@schachin

Resources

•Panguin http://barracuda.digital/panguin-tool/•WebPageTest.org•Page Speed Insights (Google)https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/•Screaming Froghttp://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/user-guide/configuration/•Deep Crawlhttps://www.deepcrawl.com/•Google Webmaster Guidelineshttps://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en•Google Search Console Help https://support.google.com/webmasters/?hl=en#topic=3309469

Technical SEO Audits

Kristine Schachinger | Twitter @schachinKristine@SitesWithoutWalls.com

Image CourtesyDuane Forester’s Keynote