Tips for Auditing WordPress Websites
Google takes hundreds of aspects into account when its algorithms determine how to rank law firms and other businesses on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Website composition is extremely important for ranking well against your competition. Prior blogs discussed the importance of user experience (UX) on your website and business profiles. A website with good user experience has logical metatags, very few if any site speed issues, authoritative content, and easy navigation.
As a business owner, especially a law firm owner, it is crucial to run regular audits on your site to remedy site issues that harm user experience. Below, you can find tips on how to conduct regular audits.
Using Semrush to Perform Website Audits
Semrush, a digital marketing analytics tool, is one of the best tools to use for website audits. It can detect a number of issues that harm your website’s ability to rank, such as site speed, metatag, internal and external link, and content issues. These are only a few examples of errors and warnings Semrush may flag. At the bottom of the blog, you can find a video describing how to run an audit and what to look for upon completion.
Website errors, which are listed in red and cover UX, are generally the most serious. You should prioritize fixing these errors. Semrush flags warnings in orange. These are suggestions for optimizations on your site, and many also cover UX.
In addition to running an audit on your site, you can also audit the websites of your competition. By doing so, you may uncover optimizations your website lacks. If your competitors lack errors your site has, then you should make corrections as soon as possible.
Using Ahrefs to Perform Website Audits
Ahrefs is another analytics tool you can use to perform website audits. In addition, there is a Chrome plugin available that can help you scour your site and competitor sites. Both tools can help you identify common website issues.
Like with Semrush, you can also automate your audits to run each week. Doing so may make it easier to stay on top of this very important task. Be sure to link your primary email to the audits so Semrush or Ahrefs can immediately alert you to any major site issues.
Site Speed Tests
Site speed is more important than ever, especially for mobile websites. If you have major site speed issues, then site visitors may click onto your site and then immediately leave. For certain types of attorneys, like bankruptcy attorneys, site speed problems are especially damaging. For bankruptcy attorneys, many of their clients cannot afford top-end desktop or mobile equipment. Sites will load slower for these individuals.
As prior blogs pointed out, user experience (UX) is more important than ever for website owners who are hoping to rank well. Site speed is a major indicator of UX. Certain site speed problems, like Core Web Vitals, can hurt your website’s ability to rank.
Certain free site speed tests can help you identify these issues. PageSpeed Insights can help identify Core Web Vitals and other site speed issues. This test is free, but make sure you are using a fast computer and an Incognito window before running the test.
Other tools, like GTMetrix, can also help identify common site speed problems. Like with Google PageSpeed Insights, you should make sure you are running the test on a high-performance computer and Chrome Incognito window.
Google Search Console (GSC) provides the most accurate Core Web Vitals data. However, you must have a sufficient amount of traffic for Core Web Vitals data to populate in GSC.
Heatmap Tests for a Website
You should also consider running heatmaps on your website at least once per month. Let them run throughout the month and then collect data after the test finishes. Heatmaps can help you fine-tune your website’s UX by helping you determine where the most site visitor activity occurs on each page the test is running.
Heatmap platforms like Hotjar can be easily set up via Google Tag Manager and then set to run automatically once per month. Hotjar’s heatmaps can help you identify where site visitors are scrolling and clicking on your website’s most important pages. If you notice a drop in clicks or scrolling activity, it could signal an issue on a specific page.
Follow Our Digital Marketing Blog for More Tips
Future blogs will cover Core Web Vitals in more detail. Follow our blog for more information on how to fix common Core Web Vital and site speed issues. In addition, today’s post only scratches the surface on this topic. There are additional tools you can use to perform website audits.
Backlinks are another important aspect of your website and domain. You can also run audits on your domain’s backlinks.
