How to crush an SEO Audit for SaaS and Fintech GTM Teams

In SaaS (Software as a Service) and fintech, a robust go-to-market (GTM) strategy is essential for success. An SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) audit is a cornerstone of any digital marketing strategy. This article is long and gives exact directions for each element of your SEO Audit. Maybe grab a coffee for this one. Please note that some elements are repeated in context to the audit segments due to the nature of SEO audits.

The Role of SEO Audits in the ARISE™ GTM Framework

The ARISE™ GTM framework, with its Assess stage, integrates SEO audits as a foundational step. This stage thoroughly examines the site's performance and identifies strengths and weaknesses. Doing so sets the stage for the subsequent phases of the framework—Research, Ideate, Strategise, and Execute—ensuring that all marketing efforts are built on a solid SEO foundation.

For SaaS and fintech GTM teams, an SEO audit is not just a technical exercise but a strategic necessity. It provides the insights needed to optimise your website for search engine results pages (SERPS), improve user experience, and stay ahead of the competition. By incorporating SEO audits into your GTM strategy, as emphasised in the ARISE™ framework, you can drive significant business growth and achieve long-term success.

By prioritising SEO audits, SaaS and fintech companies can ensure that their online presence is visible and effective in converting visitors into loyal customers. This proactive approach to check for issues leads to increased revenue, better customer retention, and a stronger market position.

Understanding SEO Audits

An SEO audit comprehensively evaluates a website's performance in search engines. It identifies issues hindering the site's ability to rank well and provides actionable insights to improve its visibility and effectiveness.

For SaaS and fintech companies, audit processes are about improving search rankings and aligning SEO efforts with business goals such as customer acquisition, retention, and revenue growth.

Key Benefits of an SEO Audit

1. Increased Visibility and Traffic

Visibility on search engines like Google is crucial for SaaS and fintech companies. An SEO audit helps identify and rectify issues preventing your site from appearing in search results. By optimising for relevant keywords and ensuring your site is easily crawlable, you can attract more organic traffic, which is often more cost-effective and sustainable than paid advertising.

2. Improved User Experience

User experience (UX) is a significant factor in SEO and customer satisfaction. An SEO audit can uncover issues such as slow loading times, broken links, and poor mobile optimisation, which can negatively impact UX. By addressing these issues, you improve your search rankings and ensure visitors have a positive experience on your site, increasing the likelihood of conversions.

3. Enhanced Content Quality

Content is king in the world of SEO. For SaaS and fintech companies, providing high-quality, informative content that addresses your target audience's needs and pain points is essential. An SEO audit evaluates the relevance and quality of your content, helping you identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. Use SEO audit tools to ensure your content strategy aligns with user intent and search engine algorithms, avoiding Google penalties.

4. Competitive Advantage

Understanding what your competitors are doing can provide valuable insights into your SEO strategy. An SEO audit includes competitor benchmarking, allowing you to see where you stand compared to others in your industry. This can help you identify areas where you can outperform competitors and capture a larger market share.

5. Technical Optimisation

Technical SEO is the backbone of a well-optimised website. An SEO audit examines technical aspects such as site architecture, indexing, and crawlability. By addressing technical issues, you can ensure that search engines can easily access and index your content, which is crucial for maintaining and improving your search rankings.

The Key Things to Do to Perform an SEO Audit for a Website

To perform a comprehensive SEO audit for a website, here are the key things to do:

1. Crawl the Website

Crawling your website is a crucial part of an SEO audit for several key reasons, and the key things to look for during website crawling are:

• Proper semantic HTML structure and accessibility
• Optimised page titles and content
• User-friendly navigation and information architecture
• Mobile-friendly design and layout

Website Crawling Technology

Crawling your website with an SEO crawler tool like Screaming Frog or SEM Rush can help:

Identify Technical SEO Issues

• Detect broken links, missing alt text, duplicate titles, etc., across your site's pages.
• Check that pages follow semantic HTML structure and accessibility guidelines.
• Analyse page content, headers, and text for proper formatting

Check Site Architecture

• Review the site's information architecture and navigation structure
• Ensure pages have a logical hierarchy of headings (H1, H2, etc.)
• Analyse internal linking between pages

Test Mobile-Friendliness

• Check if the site follows responsive design principles for mobile devices
• Test if pages pass the mobile-friendly tests
• Review if pages have a proper tap/click path for navigation

Website crawling is essential to an SEO website audit to identify and fix technical SEO issues. By thoroughly crawling the site, you can find and address problems with its content, structure, and user experience before launching new pages. The findings from the crawl should be documented and addressed as part of the overall site optimisation plan.

2. Check Indexing Status 

Use Google Search Console to check how many pages from your website are indexed by Google. Compare this to the total number of pages to identify any indexing issues.

To check your website's indexing status as part of an SEO audit, you can follow these steps:

1. Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console is the primary tool for checking if your website's pages are being indexed by Google. Here's how to use it:

Check Index Coverage Report

1. Log into Google Search Console and navigate to the "Index" section.
2. Click on "Index Coverage" report.
3. This report shows you how many pages from your site are indexed, not indexed, excluded, etc. along with specific reasons.
4. Review the "Excluded" and "Error" sections to identify any indexing issues.

Use URL Inspection Tool 

1. In the URL inspection tool, enter a specific page URL to check its indexing status.
2. The tool will show whether the page is indexed and any potential issues preventing indexing.
3. You can also use the "Request Indexing" feature to ask Google to recrawl important pages.

2. Check Using Google Search

A simple way to verify if a page is indexed is to do a Google search with the following query:

• site:yourwebsite.com

This will show all the pages from your website that Google has indexed. You can also search for a specific page URL to check if it appears in the results.

3. Use Third-Party Tools

Various third-party SEO tools can check indexing status by integrating with Google's Index API, such as:

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Sitebulb
• Semrush Site Audit 
• Ahrefs Site Audit

These tools crawl your website and report which pages are indexed or not indexed according to Google's data.

4. Check Robots.txt and Sitemap

Ensure your robots.txt file does not accidentally block Googlebot from crawling important pages. Also, submit an updated XML sitemap to Google to help it discover new content.

5. Analyse Crawl Stats

In Google Search Console's "Crawl Stats" report, look for any crawl errors or spikes in the crawl rate, which could indicate indexing issues.

By thoroughly checking your site's indexing through these methods, you can identify pages that are not getting indexed properly and take steps to resolve any technical barriers. Fixing indexing issues is crucial for improving your website's visibility and organic search traffic potential.

3. Analyse On-Page Optimisation

Analysing on-page optimisation is a critical part of an SEO audit. Here’s a step-by-step guide to reviewing key on-page elements across your most important pages:

1. Keyword Analysis

Start by revisiting your target keywords to ensure they are relevant to your content and business goals. This involves:

• Keyword Research: Identify the keywords your content should target.
• Keyword Placement: Ensure keywords are appropriately placed in titles, headers, meta descriptions, and throughout the content.

2. Title Tags

Title tags are crucial for SEO as they tell search engines what your pages are about. Check for:

• Uniqueness: Ensure each page has a unique title tag.
• Keyword Inclusion: Include well-researched keywords.
• Length: Keep title tags within 50-65 characters.

3. Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions don’t directly influence rankings but can improve click-through rates. Review them for:

• Uniqueness: Each page should have a unique meta description.
• Engagement: Write engaging and relevant copy.
• Length: Aim for 100-155 characters.

4. Header Tags (H1, H2, H3)

Headers help structure your content and improve readability. Check for:

• Presence: Ensure all pages have headers.
• Keyword Usage: Include relevant keywords without over-optimizing.
• Hierarchy: Use headers in a logical order (H1 for main title, H2 for subheadings, etc.).

5. Content Quality

Content should satisfy the searcher’s intent and be optimised for SEO. Evaluate:

• Keyword Integration: Incorporate relevant keywords naturally.
• Content Length: Ensure sufficient text on important pages (at least 500 words).
• Uniqueness: Avoid duplicate content both within your site and externally.
• Relevance: Content should be relevant and valuable to the user.

6. Internal Linking

Internal links help distribute link equity and improve navigation. Check for:

• Link Structure: Ensure a logical internal linking structure.
• Anchor Text: Use descriptive and relevant anchor text.
• Broken Links: Identify and fix any broken internal links.

7. Image Optimisation

Images should be optimised to improve page load times and SEO. Review:

• Alt Text: Include descriptive alt text with relevant keywords.
• File Size: Compress images to reduce load times.
• File Names: Use keyword-rich file names.

8. URL Structure

URLs should be clean and descriptive. Check for:

• Readability: Ensure URLs are easy to read and understand.
• Keywords: Include relevant keywords in the URL.
• Length: Keep URLs short and concise.

9. Mobile-Friendliness

Ensure your site is optimised for mobile devices. Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check for:

• Responsive Design: Ensure the site adapts to different screen sizes.
• Usability: Check for any mobile usability issues.

10. Page Speed

Page speed is a critical ranking factor. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to analyse and improve:

• Load Times: Identify and fix issues causing slow load times.
• Core Web Vital: Optimise for metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

11. Structured Data

Structured data helps search engines understand your content better. Check for:

• Schema Markup: Implement relevant schema markup (e.g., LocalBusiness, Product, Article).
• Validation: Use tools like Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to validate your markup.

12. Content Updates

Regularly update your content to keep it fresh and relevant. This includes:

• Refreshing Old Content: Update outdated information.
• Adding New Content: Regularly publish new, high-quality content.

13. Competitor Analysis

Benchmark your on-page SEO against competitors to identify areas for improvement. Look at:

• Keyword Usage: Compare keyword strategies.
• Content Quality: Analyse the quality and depth of competitors’ content.
• Link Structure: Review competitors’ internal linking strategies.

Following these steps, you can thoroughly analyse and optimise your website's on-page elements, improving its search engine performance and user experience.

4. Technical SEO Audit

To assess the technical health of your website as part of an SEO audit, you need to focus on several key areas. Here’s a detailed guide based on the provided sources:

1. Site Architecture and Navigation

Importance:

A well-structured site architecture enhances user experience (UX) and search engine optimisation (SEO) by making it easier for users and search engines to navigate and understand your site.

Steps:

• Logical Hierarchy: Ensure your site has a clear, logical hierarchy that organises content from broad categories to specific pages.
• Flat Architecture: Aim for a flat site architecture where users can reach any page within three clicks from the homepage.
• Internal Linking: Use strategic internal linking to help search engines discover and crawl your content. This also helps users navigate deeper into the site.
• Breadcrumb Navigation: Implement breadcrumbs to provide a hierarchical navigation path, enhancing UX and SEO.
• User-Friendly URLs: Ensure URLs are clear, descriptive, and keyword-rich.

2. Mobile-Friendliness and Core Web Vitals

Importance:

With most users accessing websites via mobile devices, mobile-friendliness and Core Web Vitals are critical for both UX and SEO.

Steps:

• Mobile-Friendliness: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to optimise your site for mobile devices.
• Core Web Vitals: Focus on metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), and Google Search Console to measure and improve these metrics.

Tools:

• Google PageSpeed Insights: For detailed performance analysis and recommendations.
• Google Search Console: For Core Web Vitals reports and mobile usability issues.
• CrUX Dashboard: For real user experience data.

3. HTTPS Implementation and Security

Importance:

HTTPS ensures secure data transfer between the user and the website, which is crucial for maintaining trust and improving search engine rankings.

Steps:

• Verify HTTPS: Ensure your site uses HTTPS and has a valid SSL certificate. Check that your site’s URL starts with “https://”.
• HSTS Support: Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to protect against downgrade attacks.
• Security Scans: Regularly scan your site for malware and other security issues using tools like Sucuri and Google Safe Browsing.

4. Structured Data Markup

Importance:

Structured data helps search engines understand your content better, which can improve your search results and eligibility for rich snippets.

Steps:

• Verify Schema Implementation: Use tools like Google’s Rich Results Test and SEO platforms like seoClarity to verify and validate structured data on your pages.
• Audit Schema Types: Ensure all relevant schema types are implemented correctly. Use tools like Sitebulb for a comprehensive schema audit.
• Fix Errors: Address any errors or warnings identified during the schema audit.

5. XML Sitemaps

Importance:

An XML sitemap helps search engines discover and index your site’s important pages.

Steps:

• Check Google Search Console: Use the Sitemaps report in Google Search Console to check if your sitemap has been submitted and if there are any issues with fetching or indexing the URLs.
• Crawl the Sitemap: Use tools like Screaming Frog, JetOctopus, or Sitebulb to crawl your sitemap and identify issues such as orphan URLs, incorrect URLs, and broken links.
• Include Important URLs: Ensure your sitemap includes only the URLs you want search engines to crawl and index, excluding pages with duplicate content, redirects, or under construction.

Tools:

• Google Search Console: For sitemap submission and error checking.
• Screaming Frog: This is used to crawl the sitemap and identify issues.

Focusing on these key areas—site architecture and navigation, mobile-friendliness and Core Web Vitals, HTTPS implementation and security, structured data markup, and XML sitemaps—can thoroughly assess and improve your website's technical health. 

This comprehensive approach ensures that your site is optimised for search engines and users, leading to better visibility, higher rankings, and an improved user experience.

5. Backlink Analysis

Performing a backlink analysis is a crucial part of an SEO audit. It helps you understand the quality and effectiveness of the links pointing to your website, which can significantly impact your search engine rankings. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to perform a backlink analysis based on the provided sources:

1. Identify All Your Backlinks

Tools:

• Semrush: Use the Backlink Audit tool to gather comprehensive data about your backlinks.
• Ahrefs: Provides detailed insights into your backlink profile, including the number of backlinks, referring domains, and anchor texts.
• Google Search Console: Offers a free way to see your top linking sites and pages.

Steps:

• Compile a List: Use these tools to compile a list of all backlinks pointing to your site. This initial inventory sets the groundwork for your analysis.

2. Examine Follow/Nofollow Ratio

Importance:

A healthy backlink profile should have a balanced ratio of follow-to-nofollow links. Follow links pass link equity, while nofollow links do not but still contribute to a natural backlink profile.

Steps:

• Analyse Ratio: Use your backlink tool to check the ratio of Follow to Nofollow links. Aim for a natural mix, typically around 60% Follow to 40% Nofollow, though this can vary by industry.

3. Assess Backlink Quality

Key Factors:

• Domain Authority: Use metrics like Moz’s Domain Authority or Ahrefs’ Domain Rating to gauge the quality of linking domains.
• Relevance: Ensure backlinks come from sites relevant to your industry or content topic. Relevant backlinks are more valuable in the eyes of search engines.
• Anchor Text: Check for a variety of anchor texts, including branded, keyword-rich, and generic texts. Ensure anchor texts are contextually relevant.

Steps:

• Evaluate Each Link: Use your tools to assess the authority and relevance of each backlink. Look for high-authority, relevant sites and a natural distribution of anchor texts.

4. Analyse Competitor Backlinks

Importance:

Understanding your competitors’ backlink profiles can reveal opportunities for your own link-building strategy.

Steps:

• Competitor Analysis: Use tools like Semrush’s Backlink Gap Tool to compare your backlinks with those of your competitors. Identify your competitors' high-quality backlinks and explore similar opportunities for your site.

5. Detect and Disavow Toxic Backlinks

Importance:

Toxic backlinks can harm your site’s SEO and potentially lead to penalties from search engines.

Steps:

• Identify Toxic Links: Use tools to identify low-quality or spammy backlinks. Look for links with low Trust Flow, irrelevant content, or aggressive anchor text patterns.
• Disavow Links: If you find harmful backlinks, use Google’s Disavow Tool to inform search engines to disregard these links when assessing your site.

6. Regular Monitoring and Auditing

Importance:

Backlink profiles can change over time, so regular monitoring is essential to maintain a healthy link profile.

Steps:

• Continuous Monitoring: Regularly use your backlink analysis tools to monitor your backlink profile for new, lost, or changed links.
• Periodic Audits: Conduct comprehensive backlink audits periodically to ensure the ongoing health of your backlink profile.

Following these steps, you can perform a thorough backlink analysis as part of your SEO audit. This process helps you understand the quality and effectiveness of your backlinks, identify opportunities for improvement, and protect your site from potential SEO penalties. 

Regular backlink analysis is essential for maintaining a strong, effective, and sustainable backlink profile that boosts your SEO efforts.

6. Search Engine Visibility 

To check your rankings for important keywords in Google Search Console and identify pages that need to be optimized further to improve visibility as part of an SEO audit, follow these steps:

1. Access Google Search Console

Steps:

1. Log In: Go to Google Search Console and log in with your Google account.
2. Select Property: Choose the website property you want to analyse.

2. Navigate to the Performance Report

Steps:

1. Performance Tab: Click on the "Performance" tab in the left-hand menu. This will open the Performance report, which provides insights into your website’s search performance.

3. Analyse Keyword Rankings

Steps:

1. Enable Metrics: At the top of the Performance report, enable the following metrics by checking the boxes:
   • Total Clicks
   • Total Impressions
   • Average CTR (Click-Through Rate)
   • Average Position
2. Queries Tab: By default, the report will show the "Queries" tab, which lists the keywords your site is ranking for, along with their associated clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position.
3. Sort and Filter: Sort the data by average position or impressions to identify which keywords are performing well and which need improvement. You can also filter the report to focus on specific keywords or date ranges.

4. Identify Underperforming Keywords

Steps:

1. Low CTR and High Impressions: Look for keywords with high impressions but low CTR. These keywords are being seen by users but not clicked on, indicating a need for better optimisation.
2. Low Average Position: Identify keywords with a low average position (e.g., beyond the first page of search results). These keywords may need more targeted optimisation efforts.

5. Analyse Page Performance

Steps:

1. Pages Tab: Click on the "Pages" tab to see which pages are driving traffic from search queries. This tab shows the top pages sorted by clicks.
2. Select a Page: Click on a specific page URL to see the keywords it ranks for. This will help you understand which keywords are associated with each page.
3. Queries for Specific Pages: After selecting a page, switch back to the "Queries" tab to filter the keywords for that specific page. This will show you the performance of each keyword for that page.

6. Optimise Underperforming Pages

Steps:

1. Content Review: Review the content of underperforming pages. Ensure that the content is high-quality, relevant, and optimized for the target keywords. Consider updating or expanding the content to match user intent better.
2. Meta Tags: Optimise title tags and meta descriptions to include target keywords and make them more compelling to improve CTR.
3. Header Tags: To improve content structure and readability, ensure proper use of header tags (H1, H2, H3) with relevant keywords.
4. Internal Linking: Add internal links to and from underperforming pages to improve their authority and discoverability by search engines.
5. Technical SEO: Address any technical issues such as slow page load times, mobile usability problems, or broken links that could be affecting the page’s performance.

7. Monitor and Adjust

Steps:

1. Regular Monitoring: Regularly check the Performance report in Google Search Console to monitor changes in keyword rankings and page performance.
2. Adjust Strategies: Based on the data, continuously adjust your SEO strategies to improve rankings and visibility. This may include further content optimization, technical fixes, or new keyword targeting.

By following these steps, you can effectively use Google Search Console to check your keyword rankings, identify underperforming pages, and optimise them to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results.

7. Competitor Analysis

Analysing your top competitors' websites and backlink profiles is a crucial part of an SEO audit. This process helps you identify opportunities to outperform them and improve your own website's search engine rankings. Here’s a detailed guide on how to perform this analysis:

1. Identify Your Competitors

Steps:

1. Direct Competitors: Identify websites that offer similar products or services and target the same audience. Use tools like Google Search and industry-specific directories to find these competitors.
2. SEO Competitors: These may not be direct business competitors but rank for the same keywords. Use tools like SEMrush’s Organic Research tool to find these competitors.

2. Analyse Competitors' Websites

Key Elements to Analyse:

• Website Design and User Experience: Evaluate the layout, navigation, and overall user experience. Look for strengths and weaknesses in their design and usability.
• Content Strategy: Examine the type, quality, and frequency of content. Identify the formats they use (blogs, videos, infographics) and how often they update their content.
• SEO Structure: Check their use of keywords, meta tags, URL structure, and mobile optimization. Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can help analyze these elements.
• Technical SEO: Assess site speed, mobile-friendliness, and Core Web Vitals using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights.

3. Evaluate Competitors' Keyword Usage

Steps:

1. Keyword Research: Use tools like SEMrush’s Keyword Gap Tool to discover the keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t.
2. Analyse Search Intent: Ensure the keywords align with user intent and are relevant to your audience.
3. Identify Keyword Gaps: Focus on high-potential keywords with high search volume and low competition that your competitors are targeting.

4. Analyse Competitors' Backlink Profiles

Steps:

1. Identify Backlink Competitors: Use tools like SEMrush’s Backlink Analytics to find competitors with similar backlink profiles.
2. Evaluate Backlink Quality: Check the authority and relevance of the linking domains. Look for high-quality backlinks that contribute to your competitors’ SEO success.
3. Find Link Opportunities: Identify websites that link to your competitors but not to you. These sites are potential targets for your link-building efforts.

Tools:

• Ahrefs: For detailed backlink analysis and identifying linking domains.
• Moz: For link gap analysis and finding backlink opportunities.
• SEMrush: For comprehensive backlink analytics and competitor comparison.

5. Conduct a Content Analysis

Steps:

1. Content Quality: Assess the quality and relevance of your competitors’ content. Look for gaps where you can provide more value.
2. Content Formats: Identify the types of content that perform well (e.g., blog posts, videos, infographics) and consider incorporating similar formats into your strategy.
3. Engagement Metrics: Analyse how users interact with your competitors’ content. Look at metrics like social shares, comments, and backlinks to gauge engagement.

6. Review Competitors' Social Media Presence

Steps:

1. Platforms and Activity: Identify which social media platforms your competitors are active on and how frequently they post.
2. Engagement: Evaluate the level of engagement (likes, shares, comments) on their posts. This can provide insights into what type of content resonates with their audience.
3. Integration with SEO: Check how they integrate social media with their SEO strategy, such as sharing blog posts and using social signals to boost rankings.

7. Perform a SWOT Analysis

Steps:

1. Strengths: Identify what your competitors are doing well. This could be high-quality content, strong backlink profiles, or effective keyword targeting.
2. Weaknesses: Look for areas where your competitors are lacking. This could be poor site speed, lack of mobile optimisation, or weak content.
3. Opportunities: Identify opportunities where you can outperform your competitors, such as targeting untapped keywords or improving content quality.
4. Threats: Be aware of any threats posed by your competitors, such as new content strategies or aggressive link-building campaigns.

By following these steps, you can effectively analyse your top competitors' websites and backlink profiles, identify opportunities to outperform them and develop a robust SEO strategy to improve your search engine rankings.

8. Content Audit

Reviewing your existing content to identify thin or outdated pages that need to be updated, consolidated, or removed is a crucial part of an SEO audit. Here’s a detailed guide on how to perform this review:

1. Conduct a Content Inventory

Steps:

1. Crawl Your Website: Use tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Semrush Site Audit to crawl your website and generate a list of all your pages.
2. Export Data: Export the data into a spreadsheet for easier analysis. Include key metrics such as URL, title, word count, last updated date, and traffic data.

2. Analyse Content Performance

Tools:

1. oogle Analytics: For traffic data, bounce rates, and user engagement metrics.
2. Google Search Console: For search performance data, including clicks, impressions, and average position.
3. SEO Tools: Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz for backlink data and keyword rankings.

Steps:

1. Traffic Analysis: Identify pages with low traffic or high bounce rates. These pages may be candidates for updating or removal.
2. Engagement Metrics: Look at metrics like average time on page and user engagement to identify content that isn’t resonating with your audience.
3. Search Performance: Use Google Search Console to find pages with low impressions or poor rankings for target keywords.

3. Identify Thin Content

Definition:

Thin content refers to pages with little or no value to the user, often characterized by low word count, lack of depth, or poor-quality information.

Steps:

1. Word Count: Filter your content inventory to find pages with low word counts (e.g., less than 300 words).
2. Content Quality: Manually review these pages to assess their quality and relevance. Look for pages that lack depth, are poorly written, or don’t provide value to the user.

4. Identify Outdated Content

Definition:

Outdated content includes pages with information that is no longer accurate or relevant, such as old news articles, outdated product information, or obsolete guides.

Steps:

1. Last Updated Date: Filter your content inventory by the last updated date to find pages that haven’t been updated in a long time.
2. Relevance Check: Manually review these pages to determine if the information is still accurate and relevant. Look for content that references outdated statistics, old product versions, or obsolete practices.

5. Decide on Action: Update, Consolidate, or Remove

Update Content

Steps:

1. Refresh Information: Update outdated statistics, facts, and references. Ensure the content is current and relevant.
2. Enhance Quality: Add more depth, detail, and value to thin content. Include new sections, images, videos, or infographics to enrich the content.
3. Optimise for SEO: Ensure the content is optimized for target keywords, includes relevant internal links, and follows on-page SEO best practices.

Consolidate Content

Steps:

1. Identify Similar Pages: Find pages that cover similar topics or keywords. These can often be combined into a single, more comprehensive page.
2. Merge Content: Combine the content from these pages into one high-quality, detailed page. Redirect the old URLs to the new consolidated page to preserve any existing link equity.

Remove Content

Steps:

1. Identify Low-Value Pages: Find pages that provide little to no value, have no traffic, and are not worth updating or consolidating.
2. 301 Redirects: If the page has any backlinks or traffic, set up a 301 redirect to a relevant page to preserve link equity.
3. 404 or Noindex: If the page has no value and no backlinks, you can either delete it and return a 404 status or use a noindex tag to remove it from search engine results.

6. Monitor and Adjust

Steps:

1. Track Changes: Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor the performance of updated, consolidated, or removed pages.
2. Adjust Strategy: Based on the performance data, continue to refine your content strategy. Regularly review and update your content to keep it fresh and relevant.

Following these steps, you can effectively review your existing content, identify thin or outdated pages, and take appropriate actions to update, consolidate, or remove them. This process helps improve your website's overall quality and relevance, leading to better search engine rankings and user engagement.

9. Local SEO (if applicable)

For local businesses, check citations, Google Business Profile optimisation, reviews and local link-building opportunities.

1. Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimisation

Steps:

1. Claim and Verify: Ensure your Google Business Profile is claimed and verified.
2. Complete Profile: Fill out all relevant fields, including business name, address, phone number (NAP), business hours, and categories. Add high-quality photos and videos.
3. Optimise Description: Write a compelling business description that includes relevant keywords.
4. Monitor Insights: Use Google Business Profile Insights to track performance metrics like search queries, views, and actions taken on your profile.

2. Local Business Citations

Steps:

1. Audit Existing Citations: Use tools like Moz Local or BrightLocal to find and audit your existing citations. Ensure NAP consistency across all listings.
2. Build New Citations: Submit your business information to relevant local directories and niche websites.

3. Online Reviews and Reputation Management

Steps:

1. Encourage Reviews: Ask satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on Google, Yelp, and other relevant platforms.
2. Respond to Reviews: Regularly monitor and respond to positive and negative reviews to show engagement and build trust.
3. Monitor Review Signals: Track the total number, frequency, diversity, and quality of reviews, as these are important local SEO ranking factors.

4. Local Content Optimisation

Steps:

1. Create Local Content: Develop content that is relevant to your local audience. This can include blog posts about local events, news, and community activities.
2. Optimise Landing Pages: If your business operates in multiple locations, create dedicated landing pages for each location with unique content and local keywords.

10. Create an Action Plan

Compile all your findings into a prioritised list of recommendations and an action plan to fix the issues and capitalise on the opportunities identified systematically.

Steps:

1. Target New Keywords: Use the insights from your keyword gap analysis to target new keywords and create relevant content.
2. Improve Technical SEO: Address any technical issues identified in your analysis, such as site speed and mobile-friendliness.
3. Build High-Quality Backlinks: Reach out to websites that link to your competitors and pitch your content for backlinks.
4. Enhance Content Quality: Create high-quality, engaging content that provides more value than your competitors’ content.
5. Monitor and Adjust: Regularly monitor your SEO performance and adjust your strategy based on the latest data and competitor activities.

By thoroughly auditing all these areas, you can pinpoint what's holding your website back from maximising its search visibility and organic traffic potential. Implementing the recommended fixes can lead to significant improvements in rankings and conversions.

Need help with your SEO? Why not give our team a shout, and we can walk you through some outcomes and ideas? Use the form in the footer to get in touch.