How to Audit Your Website for SEO Errors with Google Analytics

As a website owner, you understand the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in driving traffic and increasing conversions on your site. However, even with the best-laid plans, mistakes can happen, and SEO errors can creep in without your knowledge. In this article, we’ll explore how to audit your website for SEO errors using Google Analytics.

Step 1: Set Up Your Google Analytics Property

Before you start auditing, make sure you have a Google Analytics property set up for your website. If you don’t already have one, follow these steps:

• Go to Google Analytics and sign in with your Google account.
• Click on “Sign up” and enter the required information (website name, URL, industry category, etc.).
• Verify your property by following the instructions provided.

Step 2: Track Your Website’s Performance

To identify SEO errors, you’ll need to track your website’s performance in Google Analytics. To do this:

• Log in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to the “Audience” tab.
• Click on “Overview” to view a summary of your website’s traffic.
• In the “Acquisition” tab, click on “All Traffic” to see a breakdown of all referral sources (organic search, paid search, social media, etc.).
• Note any trends or patterns in your traffic that might indicate SEO errors.

Step 3: Identify Top Landing Pages

Landing pages are crucial for SEO. If you have multiple landing pages with poor performance, it could be a sign of SEO errors. To identify top landing pages:

• Navigate to the “Behavior” tab and click on “Overview”.
• Click on “All Pages” to view a list of all pages on your website.
• Sort this list by “Pageviews” or “Bounce Rate” to identify which pages are performing poorly.

Step 4: Analyze Your Top Referring Keywords

Top referring keywords can indicate SEO errors. To analyze these:

• Navigate to the “Acquisition” tab and click on “Keywords”.
• Sort this list by ” Impressions” or “Clicks” to identify which keywords are driving traffic.
• Check for any suspicious or irrelevant keywords that might be driving traffic.

Step 5: Identify Technical SEO Errors

Technical SEO errors can be just as damaging as content-based errors. To identify these:

• Navigate to the “Behavior” tab and click on “Site Content”.
• Click on “All Pages” to view a list of all pages on your website.
• Sort this list by “Pageviews” or “Bounce Rate” to identify which pages have poor performance.

Step 6: Check Your Site’s Mobile Usability

With the majority of users accessing websites through mobile devices, it’s crucial to ensure your site is mobile-friendly. To check:

• Navigate to the “Audience” tab and click on “Mobile”.
• Sort this list by “Pageviews” or “Bounce Rate” to identify which pages have poor performance.

Step 7: Fix Identified SEO Errors

Now that you’ve identified potential SEO errors, it’s time to fix them. Some common fixes include:

• Optimizing meta tags and titles
• Improving content quality and relevance
• Increasing internal linking
• Enhancing mobile usability
• Resolving crawl errors

Conclusion

Auditing your website for SEO errors is a crucial step in ensuring the success of your online marketing efforts. By following these steps and using Google Analytics, you can identify potential SEO errors and take corrective action to improve your site’s performance.

Additional Tips:

• Use Google Search Console to identify crawl errors and fix them.
• Monitor your website’s performance regularly using Google Analytics to catch any issues early on.
• Conduct regular SEO audits to ensure your site is optimized for search engines.