Technical SEO Audit
How your website is designed and built will affect how successful it will be in attracting visitors online. And then engaging those visitors and converting them to loyal customers.
A technical SEO audit is an essential part of your digital marketing toolkit
Our Technical SEO Audit includes a comprehensive review of mobile website speed and mobile usability. Where necessary we can additionally complete detailed Keyword Research & Analysis.
What’s Included?
Our recommendations for implementing an effective SEO Strategy will help boost your organic rankings in Google Search, drive visitors to your site and convert more leads. For every page on your site we check for duplicate content, duplicate page titles (an important ranking factor ) and meta description; find broken internal links that affect user experience. We also analyse all of the following sitewide ranking factors that contribute to online success in the organic search results:
- Redirect issues
- Indexing and Crawlability of pages
- Technical factors such as canonical URLs
- Internal and external links
- URL structure
- Image optimisation
- Mobile Site Speed
- Mobile Usability
Our professional site audit reviews every aspect of your website that could impact SEO success and makes detailed recommendations of the improvements required. This includes a review of Google Analytics and Search Console data. We also liaise with web developers and designers to ensure successful implementation of recommended changes. If your business is just starting out or needs to reassess target markets we also offer in-depth Keyword Analysis.
It also reviews the user experience (UX) – particularly from a mobile perspective, and what factors might be limiting the number of conversions. Older websites were often designed for large screens and even though they are mobile responsive they may not deliver a good mobile experience for users. There are many elements to a good mobile UX and these are more important than ever.
Mobile UX Factors
- Uncompressed images
- Too many redirects
- Render-blocking JavaScript or CSS
- Position of tap targets
- Size of tap targets
Call us on 01494 530233
Email us at contact@dittodigital.co.uk
Call us on 01494 530233
Email us at contact@dittodigital.co.uk
More about our Technical SEO Audit Services
Diagnose, Optimise and Strengthen Your Website’s Search Foundation
In today’s competitive digital environment, visibility is everything. For your website to perform effectively in search engine results, it must be both discoverable and accessible by search engine bots. Content and backlinks often are in the spotlight becasue they are the ongoing elements of a smart SEO strategy. However, it’s the unseen infrastructure of your website – the technical SEO foundation – that plays a pivotal role in long-term organic growth. At Ditto Digital, our in-depth Technical SEO Audit Services will identify, analyse and fix the underlying technical issues that may be hindering your website’s performance in online search. And if consumers can’t find your website then that is preventing your business from increasing revenue and growing.
Our technical SEO audit service is not just a checklist; it is a strategic, data-driven approach to improving your the technical aspects of your website so that visibility, speed, crawlability, and overall health of the entire site are improved. Whether your site is experiencing traffic drops, crawl errors, or a major redesign is on the horizon, a comprehensive SEO audit will set the path for effective search engine optimization.
- What is a Technical SEO Audit?
- Why Technical SEO Matters
- Key Elements of Our Technical SEO Audit
- The Technical Audit Process
- Benefits of a Technical SEO Audit
You can have the most compelling content based on thorough keyword research, and a strong backlink profile with high link equity. You can have the perfect meta descriptions on every page and blog post, but if search engines can’t crawl or index your site properly, if there are errors in your HTML code or internal linking issues, then you won’t appear in search results. Technical SEO is the foundation upon which every other SEO effort is built. Without it, your campaigns are running uphill.
Here are a few scenarios where technical SEO issues can severely impact your site:
- Slow site speeds leading to low engagement rates (i.e. high bounce rates)
- Broken internal links causing crawl errors and wasted crawl budget
- Improperly configured redirects confusing search engines
- Mobile usability issues lowering SEO performance in rankings
- Duplicate content diluting search engine authority
- Missing or incorrect structured data limiting visibility in Google search rich results
Search engines like Google use over 200 ranking factors, many of which are technical. These include Core Web Vitals metrics, page speed scores and error status codes. A technical SEO analysis is necessary to ensure that your website meets the technical criteria and improves your chances of ranking well.
Here at Ditto Digital, our bespoke technical SEO audit services are tailored to your website. All websites vary and whilst SEO best practice is right for almost all websites, if you have a particularly large website (e.g. several thousand pages) then you may need a different approach. our SEO specialists have over 15 years’ experience in all aspects of search engine optimization. As a specialist SEO agency we have the knowledge and skills, backed up by real-world experience, to deliver technical SEO audit services that have a positive impact on website performance, search engine rankings and business revenue. Our technical SEO audits are data-driven and prioritised for maximum impact. They come with a full SEO report, with prioritised SEO recommendations. We will discuss the report with you either face-to-face or via Teams/Zoom and, if required, will liasise with your web developers about all the technical aspects of the audit report.
Here are the key areas we examine in a technical SEO audit:
1. Website Crawlability and Indexation
Our technical SEO analysis ensures that search engine crawlers or bots can efficiently crawl and index your site without encountering barriers (such as external links or internal links pointing to non-existent pages).
- Robots.txt file analysis (including robots meta tag)
- XML sitemap validation
- Crawl budget optimisation
- Crawl error identification (404 errors, 500 errors, redirect chains)
- Review of noindex/nofollow meta tags
- Canonical tag implementation and review
- Pagination and infinite scroll checks
2. Site Architecture and URL Structure
A clean, logical site structure improves both user experience and search engine efficiency so our technical audits will examine the following:
- Hierarchical navigation structure
- Consistent and SEO-friendly URL patterns
- Internal linking analysis
- Detection of orphan pages
- Breadcrumb navigation checks
3. Page Speed and Performance (Core Web Vitals)
Site speed is a major ranking factor and user experience booster. For that reason it is a key part of all of our technical SEO audits.
- Performance testing using Google Lighthouse
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) assessment
- First Input Delay (FID) diagnostics
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measurement
- Image compression and format optimisation (e.g. use of WebP images)
- JavaScript and CSS minification
- Removal on unused JavaScript and CSS
- Server response time and hosting environment review
4. Mobile Usability
With mobile-first indexing, your site must perform perfectly on smaller screens so our technical SEO audit includes check for the following, which are reported in Google Search Console:
- Mobile responsiveness check
- Viewport configuration and scaling
- Font size and tap target assessments
- Mobile load time analysis
- Cross-device rendering checks
5. HTTPS and Site Security
Security is both a trust element and a ranking factor on search engine results pages (SERPS).
- SSL certificate validation
- Mixed content checks
- Secure redirect configuration (i.e. HTTP URL versions have permanent 301 redirects to the HTTPS version)
- HSTS and security header implementation
- Malware and blacklist scanning
6. Structured Data and Schema Markup
Technical SEO auditing also analyses structured data because the right structured data (schema markup) will enhance how your pages appear in search results. For instance, whether it will appear as a featured snippet or rich snippet or with a thumbnail image.
- Schema.org validation using Google’s Rich Results Test
- Review of existing structured data (e.g., Product, FAQ, Organisation)
- Identify opportunities for rich snippets (e.g., Reviews or Events)
- Correcting JSON-LD syntax issues
7. International SEO (If Applicable)
If your business targets consumers in other countries then we specialise in international SEO – either for businesses with locations in both the UK and overseas, and also for UK-based businesses selling into other countries but without a physical based in those target countries. We have experience with multi-lingual websites and know the best approach to reach an international audience via online search.
Talk to our specialist SEO team about our International SEO strategies.
For multilingual or multi-regional websites our technical SEO audit service includes:
- hreflang tag implementation and validation
- Language and region configuration in Google Search Console
- Canonical and alternate tags review
- Geo-targeting best practices
8. Technical SEO Audit Service for E-commerce
Our SEO auditing services are designed to pay special attention to common e-commerce SEO challenges.
- Structured data for products, reviews and prices
- Faceted navigation and parameter handling
- Product page duplication and duplicate content
- Pagination best practices
Our technical site audit process is both meticulous and strategic, designed to give you a clear path forward with actionable insights:
Step 1: Discovery & Access
We begin with an onboarding session to understand your objectives, challenges and website history. Gaining access to tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, your CMS and hosting environment helps us perform a deep dive. In addition to analysing internal linking we can also analyse external links using our preferred proprietary software. Whilst external links (also known as off-site SEO) are not part of a website technical audit we can gain a more rounded picture of the current state of your website from a digital marketing perspective by doing a broad review of backlinks.
Step 2: Website Crawl & Diagnostic Review
Using industry standard tools such as Screaming Frog, SEO PowerSuite, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google’s own tools – in particular GSC – combined with our SEO expertise we perform a comprehensive crawl and technical scan of your entire website.
Step 3: Analysis & Impact Assessment
We organise findings by severity, categorising issues as high, medium or low priority. We also assess the potential SEO and UX impact of each issue, helping you focus on fixes that will deliver the most benefit. It is not always possible to fix all technical SEO issues without significant changes to the website but in situations such as these we will work closely with your web developers to determine which improvements can be made within your budget. Where required we can also recommend web developers to do any necessary work.
Step 4: Custom Reporting
You will receive a fully bespoke technical SEO audit report including:
- An executive summary of the SEO audit with top-level insights
- Detailed explanations of each site audit issue
- Screenshots and examples, including site audit settings
- Step-by-step recommendations for improving, for instance, crawl budget, meta descriptions and Core Web Vitals.
- Priority levels and estimated implementation timelines
Step 5: Implementation Support (Optional)
We can either implement fixes on your behalf or work alongside your web developers, designers or third-party vendors to ensure seamless integration of all our recommendations where possible.
Conducting a technical SEO audit provides measurable benefits, including:
Future-Proofing: Stay compliant with Google algorithm updates and best practices. Recent research conducted by our team here at Ditto Digital has shown that websites that follow SEO best practice also have a higher likelihood of appearing in AI Apps such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, and in Google AI Overviews. Whatever the future of search holds, your website will be well-placed to be found wherever potential customers are searching for information and advice. (We like to think of this as “Search Everywhere Optimisation”).
Improved Search Visibility: Fixing indexation and crawlability issues will ensure that more of your pages rank in the search engine results pages.
Faster Load Times: Enhanced site speed will improve the user experience (UX) so that visitors stay on your site for longer, engage with your business offerings and ultimately convert to customers.
Better Mobile Experience: Mobile-friendly sites reduce bounce rates (or, in other words, increase engagement rates). This higher level of engagement will boost conversions and sales but also raise brand awareness among consumers still at the early stages of the buyer journey.
Higher Conversion Rates: Cleaner site structures and secure environments build credibility for a website and business. This in turn leads to potential customers perceiving your business as trustworthy.
Why Choose Ditto Digital for Technical SEO Audits?
At Ditto Digital, we have:
- Over 15 years’ of experience delivering technical SEO audits for clients across the UK and beyond.
- Highly experienced SEO consultants who stay ahead of Google’s algorithm updates, but also have IT and web development experience, so that they can deliver a technical SEO audit service that exceeds your expectations.
- Industry-leading tools and bespoke technical audit frameworks
- Clear, jargon-free reporting that empowers your team to act to improve online visibility for your business. Of course, our in-house team can also implement the changes where required.
- Flexible engagement models so you can have one-off SEO audits but we also develop and implement ongoing SEO strategies. Our multiple satisfied clients show that a smart SEO strategy is a compounding investment in your future business growth.
Whether you’re a small business owner or an enterprise marketing manager, we bring the same rigour, transparency and dedication to every SEO audit. Talk to us now about our website SEO audit services.
Let’s Build a Stronger Search Foundation
Don’t let unseen technical issues sabotage your SEO strategy. Give your website the foundation it deserves with a comprehensive Technical SEO Audit from Ditto Digital.
Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation and learn how we can help your site perform better, faster, and smarter in search.
We’ve looked at some of our competitors using a free SEO audit tool and they have multiple technical errors on their websites yet they are still out ranking us. We have very few errors so clearly something else is going on as we also have more content and it’s better!
Check your backlinks and compare them to your competitors for quality and quantity. Free SEO tools can be useful but rarely pinpoint all problem or even tell you how to resolve the problems they do report.
We’ve also run our site through a free SEO audit tool and found the same as DC . No errors showing up but we still struggle with getting organic rankings and visitors. We add new content every month too.
How important is it to check backlinks?
Hi Robyn,
I see you left another comment on our Bespoke SEO page and the reply I left there addresses your question in part too.
Optimising your website so it passes an SEO audit is necessary, as is the content you create every month, but there is a lot more still to be done. That mostly involves checking your own backlinks and competitor backlinks, then building good-quality links that are better quality than your competitors’ links.
Analysing backlinks (yours and your competitors) and building new links is an ongoing process and essential for SEO success.
Does your technical SEO audit include an audit of all the backlinks to a website. And does it include recommendations of how to build new backlinks? Some of the standard methods suggested online don’t really work – as in we are not able to get backlinks via these methods.
Hi Ellie,
Thanks for commenting – we do a whole range of audits depending on requirements and, yes, a full backlink audit can easily be included. This produces a list of all backlinks and the relevant SEO attributes of these backlinks. It also analyses all backlinks as a whole (the “backlink profile”) because this is also important to identify, for example, if you have too many image links with no anchor text or a lack of anchor text diversity. It recommends what type of backlinks to focus on acquiring to improve the backlink profile.
Is an assessment of Core Web Vitals included in your technical audit? We have a WordPress website and speed performance is poor because of the number of plugins we’re using. Also warnings appearing about an excessive DOM size. Can performance issues like this be fixed without rewriting the site?
Hi Pete,
Yes, indeed, part of our technical SEO audit includes an assessment of Core Web Vitals metrics and other speed performance metrics such as INP (Interaction to Next Paint) which will replace FID (First Input Delay) as a Core Web Vitals metric in March 2024.
WordPress is a great platform for many types of websites but, as you have already found, it can bloat a site when too many plugins are used, and create an excessive DOM size (Document Object Model) if focus is not on speed performance. Fortunately there are some solutions to that such as removing unused Javascript and CSS from certain pages (that would otherwise be automatically added by plugins whether needed or not).
However, solutions are obviously dependent on how a site is currently built so we cannot say definitively that any website could have speed performance issues resolved without a re-write. You would need a Website Audit to make that assessment. What I can say is that we have resolved speed issues on many WordPress websites without needing to develop a new site.
Send details of your website to contact@dittodigital.co.uk or call on 01494 530233 and we can give you a better idea of what is possible.
Does your technical audit include checking things like meta data as well as performance issues and technical errors? We’d like to get a full 360 audit of our website.
Hi Rob,
Yes our Technical SEO Audit does include all basic on-site SEO checks such as meta data and image alternative text. We provide full 360° SEO Audits that include:
These can be fully tailored to your needs and can include a review of your competitors’ SEO strategy, content and technical status.
If you send an email to contact@dittodigital.co.uk with details of you website I can provide a better idea of how we could help…
Seems to be a bit of a common theme going on here – Audit tools and optimisation tools show our site is in pretty good shape but our main competitor is outranking us even though their optimisation doesn’t seem to be as good and we have more/better backlinks.
One thing worrying me is that for some keywords the wrong page is appearing in Google – could this be a problem?
Hi Jess,
SEO Audit tools are great for identifying basic on-site and technical SEO issues and I would always recommend fixing all the errors and warnings raised by whatever tool you are using. However, they fail to provide a broader and more in-depth picture. You raise 2 points:
Get in touch at contact@dittodigital.co.uk with some more details and we’d be happy to help resolve the cannibalisation issues.
Thanks for the solid overview of a tech SEO audit. You mention websites being designed on large screens not offering a great UX on mobiles but what exactly are the issues to look out for?
This is such a common problem that I have seen even on brand new sites. Typical problems are:
Check your pages on a desktop by clicking F12 to see how they look on a small mobile device.
And, remember that successful SEO requires a good UI/UX.
Why aren’t web designers/developers putting more emphasis on the UX (whether on a large or small screen) so that actual customers of a business can find what they want on the website quickly and easily. Seems to me that too many business websites want to tell their potential customers how great they are without thiking about whether the customer can find/do what they want – especially B2B sites. Rant over!
It’s good to rant sometimes! You might be interested to know that much of the work we do with our clients – while ostensibly SEO – is about improving UX and conversion rates. Doing that supports the SEO results. However, we work closely with a number of web developers and designers to ensure any new website does deliver for the customer experience from the outset.