Enterprise SEO Audit Checklist: Boost Your Rankings
An enterprise SEO audit is a full website health check-up to boost search rankings. It helps identify and fix issues that could slow down your SEO efforts. This guide will walk you through the steps and benefits of conducting an enterprise SEO audit. Let's start!
Quick Takeaways
- An enterprise SEO audit is essential for identifying vulnerabilities and improving online visibility, particularly for large businesses with complex websites.
- Preparation for an enterprise SEO audit includes gathering data, defining clear goals, and having a skilled team that uses specialized tools for effective evaluation.
- Regular SEO audits, recommended every six months, are important for adapting to changing algorithms and maintaining competitive performance in search rankings.
Enterprise SEO Audit Checklist
An enterprise SEO audit is the foundation for businesses looking to increase their online visibility and fix their SEO strategy. Its purpose is to find the issues that can harm your organic search rankings and find new opportunities to improve performance. Think of it as a full health check-up of your website, going through every element that may affect your search engine performance.
There are multiple benefits of an enterprise SEO audit. It helps you find technical issues, refine your content for better search optimization, and improve the user experience. Enterprise audits often involve websites with over 1,000 pages, making the process significantly different from standard audits.
Evaluating critical aspects such as keyword rankings, content quality, and site structure through an enterprise SEO audit can boost your organic traffic. This full-on approach means every aspect of your website is optimized for search performance so you can get higher rankings and more visibility on search engine results pages.
For big companies, the need for more comprehensive SEO audits comes from their online presence and lots of content. Enterprise SEO audits require special tools and expertise to manage the scale and complexity of these big websites. Imagine navigating a big ship - you need more advanced navigation tools and a more experienced crew.
Successful enterprise SEO audits rely on clear goals and a clear understanding of the target audience. This clarity means your optimization strategies are effective and aligned with the business goals. With a solid enterprise SEO strategy, you can systematically fix vulnerabilities, leverage opportunities, and steer your enterprise website to improve search engine rankings.
What is an Enterprise SEO Audit?
An enterprise SEO audit is a full evaluation designed to increase a business’s online visibility and fix any vulnerabilities within its SEO strategy. The purpose is to find issues that may negatively impact organic search rankings and to find obstacles influencing website performance. This opens up new opportunities for improvement and growth.
Conducting an enterprise SEO audit involves assessing factors that influence search rankings, including technical SEO elements, keyword rankings, content quality, and site structure. The benefits are extensive, from detecting technical problems to refining content and enhancing user experience.
These audits are a must for sizable businesses with an extensive online presence. For larger websites, which often involve over 1,000 pages, the auditing process is more complex than with standard audits. The websites have complicated structures and multiple stakeholders are involved, so a full evaluation of the SEO strategy is required to ensure optimization is done properly.
Enterprise vs Standard SEO Audits
Enterprise SEO audits require special tools and advanced methods to manage the scale and complexity of big websites. Standard audits may be enough for smaller sites but only enterprise audits handle complex site structures and many pages.
Big businesses require a different approach, using tools and strategies to handle the volume and complexity of the content. These audits involve more in-depth evaluations and advanced techniques to tackle the big website challenges.
How to Prepare for an Enterprise SEO Audit
Preparation is key to a successful enterprise SEO audit. It starts with gathering all the necessary data sources, including Google Analytics, and Google Search Console, so that you get a full view of your website performance. Defining clear audit goals is important because only then the focus is on specific outcomes that are important to the business.
Another important step is to have an experienced team to help you out. This team usually includes SEO specialists and data analysts who can interpret complex data and provide actionable insights. Using advanced SEO tools like Screaming Frog, Semrush, or Ahrefs can help the audit process and make it more efficient and thorough. If you don't have such expertise in-house, you can always rely on the help of an SEO agency. The Lighthouse Growth team is ready to work with you on your next successful SEO strategy.
Enterprise SEO Audit: Key Elements
You should have a comprehensive enterprise SEO audit checklist to evaluate all the factors that can affect your website’s search rankings. This checklist covers many areas, from keyword research and technical SEO audits to site architecture and content quality.
Each item plays a big role in the overall SEO strategy ensuring your enterprise website is optimized for better performance and higher search engine rankings.
Keyword Research and Targeting
Keyword research is the foundation of any SEO strategy. For enterprise SEO audits, selecting keywords that attract qualified leads is essential. Effective keywords should have enough search volume and be on pages that already get a lot of traffic. This way you can focus your efforts on areas with the biggest impact.
During keyword research, identify one or more target keywords per landing page. Big businesses usually focus on short-tail keywords because of their wider reach. You need to make sure the target keyword is in the body copy and at least once in the first 100 words of the content.
Keyword cannibalization is a big problem for big websites. Using the Position Tracking dashboard can help you identify and fix these issues so each keyword is used effectively across your site.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO audit helps to ensure that your site is included in Google’s index. Without indexing, your pages won’t appear in search results, making all your SEO efforts useless. Issues that prevent crawlability and indexability can harm your site’s visibility.
Using SEO Checker and the Index Coverage report in Google Search Console can help you identify indexing errors. Tools like Semrush Site Audit check for crawlability issues so search engines crawl and index your site correctly.
Site Architecture
Site architecture is the structure of your website which is key to navigation and search engine indexing. URLs are important in SEO as they help search engines and users understand the page context and location. A well-structured site architecture improves user experience and helps with search engine optimization.
XML sitemaps are useful tools that help search engines discover all the pages on your site. Make sure they are generated correctly using a CMS or plugin.
The robots.txt file is another important one guaranteeing search engines have the right permissions to crawl your site. But don’t use it to exclude sensitive information you want to keep private.
Crawlability and Indexability
Crawlability issues should be also identified so search engines can crawl and index your site pages efficiently. An XML sitemap has a complete list of pages helping Google understand your site structure. The sitemap also tells Google how often pages are updated so the indexing and re-indexing process is faster.
For enterprise websites with a high number of pages, sitemaps are especially important. A robots.txt file directs search engines on which pages to crawl. Internal linking problems can also cause crawlability issues, so addressing these is essential for better indexing.
On-Page SEO Elements
Optimize on-page elements like title tags and meta descriptions to improve user experience and search rankings. Title tags should be short and describe the page content including the target keyword. Meta descriptions are a brief summary of each page's content, helping users and search engines understand the page context.
Make sure every page has an H1 tag and other header tags to keep the structure and organization. Headings help to organize content and describe the page content which is important for both user understanding and SEO.
Well-optimized title tags, meta descriptions, and H1 headings will improve search visibility and user experience.
Headings
The H1 tag is the most crucial in describing the main topic of a page. Each page should have only one H1 tag, clearly representing the primary focus of the content for easier understanding by both users and search engines.
Common issues with H1 tags include missing tags or having multiple H1 tags on a single page, which can confuse search engines and dilute the page’s SEO value. Include keywords in your headings but make sure to maintain readability and consider the design impact.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags are important for ranking and click-through rates. These tags should have a brief and accurate description of the page content and target keyword, ideally under 60 characters. Well-written title tags will improve search engine visibility and entice users to click on your links.
Meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor but play a big role in user experience and click-through rates. They provide a brief summary of each page's content and should be unique for each page, no longer than 155 characters. Make sure your meta descriptions are relevant and compelling to get better engagement and higher click-through rates from search engine results pages.
Mobile Friendliness
Mobile friendliness is no longer optional, it’s a must with more than half of all web traffic coming from mobile devices. Google Search Console has a Mobile Usability report that shows mobile usability issues across your site. You can also use Google Lighthouse to check if your site is mobile-friendly.
Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily crawls and indexes the mobile version of your website. Implementing responsive web design and focusing on text size, page load speed, and content formatting ensures your site is mobile-friendly.
Page Speed and Core Web Vitals
Page speed is a ranking factor that affects both user experience and search engine rankings. Core Web Vitals are metrics related to page loading performance which Google grades into three categories: Good, Needs Improvement, and Poor. You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights and SEO Checker to check the performance of individual URLs for page speed.
Page speed can be improved by compressing images and fixing broken links. Users expect pages to load in 3 seconds or less so speed is a key to user satisfaction. Fixing these issues will improve both user experience and search engine rankings.
Monitor and optimize your site’s Core Web Vitals regularly to stay ahead of the competition. Make sure your pages load fast and smoothly to get higher engagement and better SEO performance.
Internal Linking
Internal links are key in guiding users and search engines to important pages of your site. They distribute page authority and provide a clear path for search engine crawlers to improve your site’s overall SEO.
Having a well-structured internal linking strategy can improve user navigation and boost your search engine rankings.
Backlink Profile
Backlinks are a foundation of SEO as they increase domain authority and can lead to better rankings. Your backlink profile includes all the inbound links to your site, characterized by their quality and quantity. You can use SEO Checker, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console to check your backlink profile and identify areas to improve.
Finding low-quality backlinks is important to maintain a healthy backlink profile. The Backlink Audit tool can be used to find toxic backlinks and disavow them using Google’s disavow tool. If a site has a large number of toxic backlinks, it may require modifying the link-building strategy to focus on high-quality, relevant links.
Effective link-building strategies, also known as off-page SEO, are essential for improving your site’s authority and search rankings. This may include using manual link-building services with editorial outreach to secure high-quality backlinks.
Content Quality and Strategy
High-quality content is the foundation of search visibility and user engagement. During an enterprise SEO audit, it’s important to review your website’s content and its alignment with your business goals. Manually review top pages to get insights on their performance and value and identify areas to optimize.
Compare pages with a high bounce rate with pages with a high engagement rate to find opportunities for improvement. If a page doesn’t provide value, consider removing or updating it to serve the user better. Compare top-performing pages with competitors to inform content improvement and overall content strategy.
A content style guide will ensure consistency in messaging and branding across all digital platforms to make your content more effective and user-friendly.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can confuse search engines and dilute the ranking of your pages. Finding and fixing duplicate content is important to maintain a strong SEO presence. This can be done by consolidating similar pages or using canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page.
Image Optimisation
Optimized images not only make your site look better but also contribute to SEO. Alt tags although have little impact on main organic search rankings help search engines understand images. Alt tags should provide a brief description of the image. If possible, they should also include relevant keywords.
Image filenames should be short, and descriptive and include keywords separated by hyphens. Image optimisation is using descriptive filenames and alt tags which can improve SEO and user experience.
4XX Status Codes
4XX status codes indicate there was an error accessing a webpage that impacted user experience. These errors can occur due to wrong URLs or moved web pages. To fix a broken page that returns 4XX code, you can restore the original content or set up a 301 redirect.
Redirects are good for managing broken links and 404 errors by sending users from one URL to another. This not only improves user experience but also allows search engines to crawl and index the correct pages.
Structured Data
Using structured data helps search engines understand your content better. This can improve your site’s visibility in search results and user experience by providing more information directly in the search engine results pages.
Redirects
Managing redirects is important to maintain optimal crawl efficiency and prevent issues like chains and loops. If your site doesn’t have a redirect to a single version, you need to set up site-wide redirects. This will ensure users are directed to your preferred version. Redirect chains can cause crawling issues and slow down page speed so you need to fix these by redirecting old URLs to the new URL directly.
Redirect loops happen when a URL redirects to another URL that redirects back to the first URL. Avoiding these loops will ensure search engines can crawl your site and users are directed to the right pages without any delay.
Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustments
Setting up baseline metrics and goals is important to measure the performance of your ongoing SEO efforts. Incorporating SEO insights into your marketing strategy will make your overall campaign more effective. Monitor your search rankings using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to stay updated on algorithm changes and industry trends.
Continuous adjustments based on the results will give you a sustained increase in organic traffic and keyword rankings. Monitoring your SEO performance will help you identify areas to improve so your site remains competitive.
Regular enterprise SEO audits will align your SEO efforts with your overall business goals and let you grow.
Outsource the audit to the agency
Conducting an SEO audit for an enterprise-level company on your own can be an incredibly time-consuming process. It involves analyzing a lot of data, identifying technical SEO issues, refining content strategies, and optimizing keyword usage across potentially thousands of pages. Without the right expertise and tools, the sheer scale and complexity of enterprise sites can make the audit process overwhelming, often distracting you from other critical business activities.
Outsourcing your SEO audit to the Lighthouse Growth agency may bring a lot of benefits to your business.
First of all, they bring in-depth expertise and access to advanced SEO tools so you get a full website audit. They can identify technical SEO issues, improve content quality, and optimize keyword strategies better.
Secondly, they bring an objective view that can uncover opportunities and vulnerabilities that internal teams may miss. By leveraging their experience you can save time and focus on what you do best while the agency handles the complexity of the SEO audit process.
Ultimately outsourcing will get you better search engine rankings, more organic traffic, and a better return on investment. Even if you already work with an agency, you may contact the Lighthouse Growth team for more information on how they can bring value to your online business.
What are the costs of an Enterprise SEO Audit?
The overall cost of an SEO audit is influenced by several factors, including the number of pages, domains, and the scope of work involved. Larger enterprise websites typically mean higher audit costs due to their complexity. The price for a technical SEO audit can range between $3,000 and $30,000, depending on the site’s size and the depth of the audit.
Content audits generally vary in cost between $5,000 and $30,000, influenced by the volume of content across the site.
Link audits can start at around $1,000 for a one-off project, while larger agency offerings can exceed $5,000.
Knowing these costs will help you plan and budget for a full enterprise SEO audit.
How Often to Conduct Enterprise SEO Audit
The most common recommendation for a full SEO audit is to do it every 6 months. At least once a year, enterprises should do SEO audits especially if your site is experiencing a performance drop. If you made significant changes to your site, you should go through an extra SEO audit to measure the impact of those changes.
Performing a full SEO audit every 6 months and smaller monthly reviews will ensure continuous improvement and adaptation to algorithm and market changes. Regular enterprise SEO audits are important to maintain high performance and stay competitive in the digital world.
Improve Your SEO
Conducting a full enterprise SEO audit is important to identify issues and find opportunities to improve your site’s performance. From keyword research and technical SEO audit to content quality and backlink profiles - every little piece matters in your overall SEO strategy. By addressing these factors systematically you can boost your search rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site.
Use the enterprise SEO audit checklist in this guide to optimize your site. Remember, SEO is a continuous process that requires ongoing monitoring and adjustments to stay ahead. Take the challenge and watch your enterprise site rise in the digital world. If you need support, go to the Lighthouse Growth website to check on the current offering.
FAQs
What is an enterprise SEO audit?
An enterprise SEO audit is a comprehensive review of improving a business’s online presence by identifying and fixing weaknesses in its SEO strategy. This includes technical SEO, keyword rankings, content quality, and site structure to improve search engine performance.
How often should you conduct an enterprise SEO audit of your business?
Enterprise SEO audit should be done at least once a year but recommended every 6 months, especially after major site changes. The regular audit ensures optimal performance and timely adjustments to SEO strategy.
What factors affect the cost of enterprise SEO audits?
The cost of an enterprise SEO audit is mainly affected by the number of pages and domains and the scope of work; technical and content audits can range from $3,000 to $30,000. So the complexity and size of the site are key to determining the overall cost.
What tools to use for an enterprise SEO audit?
Essential tools for enterprise SEO audit are Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, Semrush, and Ahrefs. Using them will help you gather data, identify issues, and create actionable optimization strategies.
Why does mobile-friendliness matter in an enterprise SEO audit?
Mobile-friendliness is important in enterprise SEO audit because of the majority of traffic is mobile and Google’s mobile-first indexing approach prioritizes the mobile version of the site for crawling and ranking. A responsive design will improve user experience and maintain competitive search rankings.