How to Do a Technical Site Audit After the Google Update

The world of search engine optimization is always changing, and it can be hard to keep up — especially if you are clueless on how to do a technical site audit after the Google update.

With Google’s regular algorithm updates, what used to work for getting your site to rank high might not work anymore.

That’s why it’s crucial to do regular technical SEO audits for your site.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how to do a technical site audit after the Google update to help you spot and fix any problems that are hurting your site’s performance and search rankings.

So let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• Understanding the Importance of Technical SEO Audits
• The Role of Technical SEO Audits in Site Performance and Rankings
• The Impact of Technical SEO on Organic Search Traffic
• The Time and Effort Required for a Comprehensive SEO Audit
• Key Components of a Technical SEO Audit
• The Role of Core Web Vitals in Site Experience and Rankings
• The Consequences of Neglecting Technical SEO
• The Impact of Page Ranking on Click-through Rates
• The Correlation Between Page Load Time and Conversion Rates
• The Benefits of Regular Technical SEO Audits
• Preventing Accumulation of SEO Issues
• Reducing Long-term SEO Costs
• The Role of Technical SEO as the Core Foundation of a Website
• Wrap Up

Key Takeaways

• Technical SEO audits are crucial for improving site performance and search engine rankings.
• Neglecting technical SEO can lead to lower click-through rates and conversion rates.
• Regular technical SEO audits help prevent the accumulation of SEO issues and reduce long-term SEO costs.
• Key components of a technical SEO audit include analyzing site architecture, speed, indexing, and ensuring site security.
• Technical SEO is considered the core foundation of any website and plays a significant role in site experience and rankings.

Understanding the Importance of Technical SEO Audits

A technical SEO audit is a crucial component of any successful SEO strategy.

It involves thoroughly analyzing and evaluating the technical elements of a website to identify issues that may be negatively impacting performance and search engine rankings.

Learning how to do a technical site audit after the Google update can seem tedious at first, but the long-term benefits make the time and effort worthwhile.

With Google’s algorithms now prioritizing page experience and Core Web Vitals, deficiencies in these areas directly impact search rankings and organic traffic.

A staggering 90.63% of websites get zero organic search visits from Google simply because they have not been optimized for discoverability and crawlability.

Technical audits take a holistic approach to identify the source of such problems.

They analyze everything from site architecture and image optimization to internal linking structures and use of structured data.

Conducting thorough technical audits on a regular basis provides long-term SEO value that outweighs the initial effort required.

The Role of Technical SEO Audits in Site Performance and Rankings

Regular technical SEO audits are crucial for identifying issues that impact a website’s performance and search engine rankings.

As Google’s algorithms evolve to prioritize …

• Page speed
• Mobile responsiveness, and
• Overall user experience

… deficiencies in these areas can significantly hurt traffic and click-through rates (CTR).

Technical audits thoroughly analyze a site’s architecture, speed, indexing, security, and other elements — which helps diagnose problems that may be limiting organic reach and visibility.

For instance, an audit may reveal crawl errors preventing pages from being indexed, excessive redirect chains slowing page loads, or issues with structured data and metadata optimization.

Not only do identifying issues like these help prevent the accumulation of problems, but they also reduce the need for expensive emergency fixes down the road.

As Google continues updating its search algorithms, technical audits allow site owners to evolve their SEO strategies accordingly.

The Impact of Technical SEO on Organic Search Traffic

Technical SEO optimizations have a significant influence on a website’s ability to rank organically and earn search traffic.

With 78% of searchers only looking at the first page of Google, appearing on those coveted top spots is crucial for visibility.

Technical audits analyze elements that directly correlate with higher rankings. For instance, sites with faster page load speeds tend to outperform slower competitors.

According to one study, a single second of delay in page load time can result in a 7% loss in conversions. With page experience being a ranking factor, optimizing speed through technical SEO is no longer optional.

Neglecting technical SEO inevitably leads to declines in organic reach and traffic over time as problems accumulate.

Regular comprehensive audits are the only way to maintain high-performance standards and consistency in page rankings.

When it comes to organic search visibility, technical SEO is the crucial foundation upon which websites must build their strategies.

The Time and Effort Required for a Comprehensive SEO Audit

Conducting a truly comprehensive technical SEO audit is a complex, multi-step process that requires a significant investment of time and effort.

While the exact hours needed depend on the size and complexity of a website, most experts agree that auditing a larger site can take anywhere from 40 to 60 hours or more.

At first glance, the sheer magnitude of effort required may seem daunting. However, it is important to break the audit down into more manageable chunks.

A phased approach can help prioritize the most important elements and identify “quick win” opportunities first.

For example, you can perform the following steps:

1. Begin by analyzing site architecture and crawling/indexing issues, resolving problems here can have an immediate impact on organic reach.
   
2. Next, assess page speed and mobile optimization, improving performance metrics directly correlates with higher rankings.
   
3. Then, identify issues like thin content, duplicate pages, and keyword cannibalization that limit rankings potential.
   
4. Finally, examine links, security, structured data and other technical components.

While comprehensive, such a phased approach prevents you from getting overwhelmed. It also helps focus energy on high-priority areas first.

The audit process requires diligence and meticulousness, but each step builds toward a faster, more visible, better-optimized site.

Key Components of a Technical SEO Audit

When conducting a technical SEO audit, there are several key components that must be analyzed thoroughly.

When analyzing site architecture, look at the overall information architecture and internal linking structures.

Are pages logically organized in a sensible hierarchy? Can users (and crawlers) easily navigate to important content? Any issues here undermine user experience.

While the specifics will vary based on the size and complexity of a website, most technical audits should assess the following core elements.

Site Architecture and Internal Linking

Proper site architecture and internal linking structure is crucial for both users and search engine crawlers to navigate and index your content.

An audit will examine:

• How your URLs are structured
• Identify broken links or orphaned pages, and
• Look for issues with link equity flow

Optimizing architecture and links facilitates discovery of your most important pages.

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Page Speed and Performance

With page speed being a ranking factor, optimizing performance is a must.

An audit will analyze:

• Page load times
• Check for excessively large files or images
• Identify blocking requests, and
• If your site is leveraging browser caching

Every millisecond improvement can increase conversion rates.

Leverage tools like PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest to identify optimization opportunities.

Indexing and Crawlability

If search engines can’t crawl your pages, they can’t index them and rank them.

An audit checks for:

• Crawl errors
• Blocked resources in robots.txt, and
• Canonicalization issues

Maximizing indexation directly correlates with greater organic reach and traffic.

Use ScreamingFrog or Google Search Console to determine if critical pages are being indexed.

Mobile Optimization

With more than 50% of searches now on mobile, failing to optimize for mobile can destroy your rankings.

An audit examines elements like:

• Responsive design
• Tap targets
• Structured markup for phones, and
• Mobile page speed

A seamless mobile experience is required to compete today.

Security and HTTPS

Google now considers the use of HTTPS (secure communication protocol) as a factor when ranking sites.

While Google has confirmed that HTTPS is only a minor positive ranking factor, migrating to HTTPS should be a priority regardless.

To ensure that your site meets the requirements, an audit will check if you have:

• An SSL certificate installed, and
• All resources on your site are loaded securely using HTTPS

It will also verify if your site has proper HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) headers in place to enhance security.

Duplicate Content

Duplicate content on your site can confuse search engines and undermine rankings.

An audit will:

• Identify any thin, scraped, or copied content
• Check for proper canonical tags, and
• Ensures your site isn’t indexing paginated or filtered versions of pages

Eliminating duplication improves relevance. Conducting a comprehensive technical SEO audit requires tackling each of these elements in detail.

While the process is intensive, the long-term benefits for your site’s performance and organic visibility make it well worth the effort.

The Role of Core Web Vitals in Site Experience and Rankings

Google’s Core Web Vitals initiative provides crucial metrics that quantify the user experience of a website.

Optimizing for these core vitals directly impacts search rankings by improving site performance and engagement.

That is why assessing them must be a central part of any technical SEO audit.

The three Core Web Vitals that Google focuses on are:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Measures how long it takes for the main content of a page to load. Keeping LCP under 2.5 seconds ensures quick rendering.
  
• First Input Delay (FID) – Quantifies responsiveness by measuring delay between user interactions like clicks. Aim for FID under 100 milliseconds for seamless feel.
  
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Tracks visual stability as page elements shift. Minimize layout shifts that frustrate users.

Leveraging real user data and field studies, Google determined thresholds for these metrics that provide the best experience.

Pages that maintain “good” vitals rankings have an advantage in search results.

During an audit, use PageSpeed Insights and Chrome User Experience Report to measure your site’s Core Vitals performance.

Then optimize pages to improve speed, responsiveness, and visual stability. This directly translates into higher user engagement.

Remember, site experience is a ranking factor. Earning those coveted top search spots requires delivering an exceptional, frictionless user journey.

Core Web Vitals quantify key elements of experience. By making them a priority, your technical SEO audit builds a foundation for search success.

The Consequences of Neglecting Technical SEO

Neglecting technical SEO can have severe consequences for a website, leading to declines in performance, lost revenue, and reduced visibility over time.

Regular technical audits are the only way to identify and resolve issues before they accumulate and require extensive resources to fix.

The Impact of Page Ranking on Click-through Rates

Higher search engine rankings lead to substantially increased click-through rates.

This makes intuitive sense — the coveted page 1 spots get the vast majority of clicks, while lower results see engagement plummet.

One study found that the top result for a query gets a whopping 32.5% of clicks, while the second result gets 17.6%. By the 10th result, click-through rates drop to just 2%.

Even small declines in rankings can therefore drastically reduce clicks and engagement.

For example, dropping just a few spots from page 1 to page 2 can cut traffic volumes in half.

These impacts compound over time as well, as lower rankings lead to lower clicks, which in turn leads to even lower rankings.

Like a vicious cycle, lower rankings beget lower clicks beget even lower rankings.

The data highlights why maintaining strong technical SEO health is so crucial to sustain high rankings and clicks over the long-term.

Regular audits to fix technical issues early can help prevent a decline in CTR and traffic.

The Correlation Between Page Load Time and Conversion Rates

Slow page load times have a significant negative impact on conversion rates.

According to one insightful study, a one-second delay in load time, on average, reduces conversions by 7%.

For an e-commerce site with a $100,000 daily revenue, that delay could cost around $2.5 million in lost sales annually.

Clearly, performance and speed optimizations are not optional when conversions directly impact earnings.

Slow page speeds frustrate users and lead to higher abandonment rates, damaging brand perception and trust. On the other hand, fast-loading sites enhance user experience and engagement.

By thoroughly analyzing and addressing page speed as part of the technical SEO audit process, companies can achieve significant improvements in conversion rates.

For example, Cloudflare saw a 27% increase in conversions across thousands of sites after implementing technical optimizations. Walmart also experienced a 2% increase in conversions with just a 1-second improvement in mobile load times.

Regular audits to address speed issues early are crucial to maintain revenue and deliver a seamless user experience.

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The Benefits of Regular Technical SEO Audits

Conducting regular technical SEO audits provides enormous long-term value and should be a standard practice for any website.

While the audit process itself requires a significant time investment, the benefits make it well worth the effort.

Preventing Accumulation of SEO Issues

The biggest advantage of learning how to do a technical site audit after the Google update is that they prevent SEO issues from accumulating over time.

Without periodic checkups, serious problems can gradually build up across months or years, eventually requiring extensive resources to fix properly.

Catching and resolving technical deficiencies early through regular audits eliminates this risk.

It’s much easier to tackle smaller issues incrementally rather than allowing them to snowball into major headaches down the road.

Staying on top of your site’s technical health avoids big emergency situations.

Reducing Long-term SEO Costs

In addition to preventing large-scale issues, maintaining strong technical SEO through audits also reduces costs in the long run.

The incremental effort required for regular checkups is far less than if you ignore problems and then have to hire an agency for a massive overhaul months later.

It’s like the difference between visiting the dentist for routine cleanings versus needing painful, expensive root canals from neglecting your teeth.

The cost of prevention through ongoing audits is far less than the high price of fixing major issues later.

The Role of Technical SEO as the Core Foundation of a Website

Technical SEO forms the bedrock upon which every website is built.

Like the foundation of a house, it must be constructed properly with meticulous care and attention to detail.

Neglecting technical optimization inevitably leads to cracks in the framework — small issues that gradually accumulate over time. Before long, the entire edifice comes crashing down.

To build an enduring online presence positioned for long-term success, establishing robust technical SEO is mandatory.

While often overlooked initially, technical factors empower and enable every other aspect of digital marketing. Deficiencies here undermine the entire structure.

Optimizing technical components may not seem glamorous on the surface.

Tweaking XML sitemaps and compressing image files lacks the perceived sophistication of content strategy and link building.

However, this diligent work optimizing behind-the-scenes elements pays tremendous dividends because it:

• Removes friction and creates seamless user experiences.
• Facilitates organic discovery by search engines.
• Builds credibility and trust.

Overall, proper technical SEO construction gives websites the best opportunity to fulfill their purpose — engaging and converting visitors.

Approaching technical SEO requires meticulousness, patience, and persistence. Knowing how to do a technical site audit after the Google update and performing incremental improvements over time are the best strategy.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are sustainable technical SEO frameworks.

With a thoughtful long-term approach, though, any site can establish the strong technical core needed to maximize success.

Wrap Up

Regular technical SEO audits are a must for maintaining strong performance and high rankings.

It may take time and effort, but the long-term benefits for your site’s health and optimization make content creation and blogging worthwhile.

What’s the best way to take a phased approach? We suggest focusing on high-impact areas step-by-step:

1. Analyzing site architecture and speed
2. Manually indexing to establish core fundamentals, and
3. Optimizing page experience factors like mobile friendliness and Core Web Vitals

An in-depth content audit helps identify relevance issues, such as thin pages and duplicate content. Don’t forget to examine links, structured data, and security protocols for complete optimization.

Just remember to be proactive, not reactive – fix small issues before they become big problems.

Knowing how to do a technical site audit after the Google update can provide valuable insights for your site’s current health and future opportunities.

Let it guide you to higher visibility, engagement, and lasting success. Take action now to unlock your website’s full potential.