The Importance of Enterprise SEO Audits: Optimizing Your Website for Success
Wouldn’t it be nice if every single website had a perfect, clear SEO strategy from the very start? And every single page on that website was perfectly aligned with every aspect of that strategy, from its original inception through every update?
What a dream, right? Sadly, that’s rarely the reality of running a website – especially if you’re managing a huge enterprise one. Instead, too many cooks over too long a period of time end up stirring up a kind of Frankenstein’s site. It might work, but you may not even know how many pages it has, much less how each of those pages is contributing to your SEO strategy.
Enter the SEO audit. A professional SEO audit is the best way to check on the effectiveness of your website and get it back on track for fulfilling strategic objectives. And the larger and older the website, the more valuable an SEO audit can be – which is exactly what makes enterprise SEO audits so crucial, despite their many challenges.
What is an SEO audit?
An SEO audit is a comprehensive review and reassessment of a website’s SEO strategy. They evaluate how a website’s pages are currently performing in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and why. In the process, SEO auditors identify any potential issues that may be preventing better performance and suggest ways to fix those issues and improve the site’s overall SEO strategy.
An SEO audit has two main goals:
- To develop an informed and contextual understanding of how and why the site in question is ranking in SERPs the way it is.
- To define the next steps of an SEO strategy that will improve those rankings.
How does an SEO audit work?
Search engine algorithms like Google’s consider thousands of factors when determining which web pages to award top results in their SERPs. They even weigh these factors differently depending on the context of the subject matter and keyword. These factors include:
- Technical considerations, such as page load speed, mobile friendliness, site architecture, page crawlability, etc.
- On-page considerations, such as keyword placement and usage, page layout and structure, use of semantically related keywords, page metadata, etc.
- Authority considerations, such as backlinks, ranking of related pages, etc.
- Content quality considerations, such as providing relevant information, use of images and videos, content length and readability, etc.
- Competitive considerations, comparing SEO to similar sites.
To achieve their two main goals, SEO auditors analyze these considerations for each page of the website they’re working on.
Most SEO auditors take a triage approach to finding and pointing out opportunities for SEO remediation. They start with the biggest SEO problems and work down to smaller issues to make the biggest impact on rankings.
For example, ensuring a page’s crawlability is a priority, as search engines crawl pages to determine their suitability for SERPs. Improving crawlability involves using proper title tags, internal linking, and optimizing content structure.
Strategic considerations
SEO audits help determine what to rank for and how to achieve it. This may involve updating existing pages, writing new content, and targeting new keywords to align with strategic goals.
What makes an enterprise SEO audit different from a conventional audit?
Enterprise SEO audits handle large, complex websites, with multiple domains, subdomains, and thousands of pages. The scale of the project poses logistical challenges that require specialized SEO professionals.
Challenges of an enterprise SEO audit
Enterprise SEO audits face unique challenges due to:
Sheer number of pages
Managing hundreds or thousands of pages with distinct objectives is a key challenge. Each page must align with SEO and business goals for effective auditing.
Complex site architecture
Organizing complex directories and subdomains adds another layer of complexity. Auditors review the structure to ensure easy navigation and SEO relevance.
Complex strategy
Enterprise businesses require nuanced SEO strategies to align with multifaceted goals. Auditors must understand these goals to develop effective SEO plans.
International SEO
Managing international SEO adds complexity with different languages and region-specific keywords. Localized content and SEO strategies are crucial for global enterprises.
Content cannibalization risk
Content redundancy within enterprise websites can lead to keyword competition and undermine SEO efforts. Auditors must identify and resolve duplicate content issues.
Benefits of enterprise SEO audits
Enterprise SEO audits offer immense opportunities for optimization and growth. Optimized pages enhance SERP rankings, attract the right audience, and drive business success. To explore the benefits of an enterprise SEO audit for your website, reach out to our expert team at TopRank Marketing today.
About the author
Harry is one of TopRank Marketing’s Content Strategists, and has been a professional digital content specialist since 2016. During this time, he has honed his content writing skills and worked closely with SEO and SEM experts to enhance his understanding of how to most effectively create high-quality content that performs well on both search engines and social media. Harry is passionate about creating content that represents the voice of his clients well and provides genuinely relevant, insightful information that his client’s customers will find helpful and entertaining to read. When Harry isn’t writing content, he’s usually reading it, or watching movies. He watches a lot of movies.