SEO analysis - do it yourself and for free!
Have you started optimizing your website for search engines, but you don't know if everything is going according to plan? It is worth checking it as soon as possible to avoid wasting time on unnecessary activities. In such situations, SEO analysis comes in handy - you can outsource it to specialists, but you can also do it yourself. We will advise you on how to do a free, self-contained SEO analysis.
What is SEO analysis?
SEO analysis, also known as an SEO audit, is a check of the effectiveness of a number of activities related to website positioning. Thanks to such an audit, you can assess what else you should optimize on your website and what works properly in terms of search engine positioning. SEO analysis consists primarily in a thorough analysis of the statistics and functioning of website elements and their critical evaluation.
What are the basic steps of SEO analysis? As we have already mentioned, it will be a review of the website elements responsible for positioning (links, keywords, page topics, loading speed, etc.), evaluation of the optimization of the entire website and its individual elements, detection of strengths and weaknesses in website optimization, detection of possible optimization errors and to outline tips that can be used to improve the current condition.
SEO analysis - is it worth doing it yourself?
SEO analysis is not an easy task, especially for those new to web analytics and SEO. If you have an extensive website or a complex, extensive website, entrust the SEO audit to specialists. When your website is not too extensive, has only a few subpages, you can boldly try to analyze it yourself, even if you do not feel like a specialist in the field of analytics and positioning.
When to do SEO analysis?
It is good to conduct an SEO audit relatively regularly, although you should be particularly interested in doing it in several specific situations:
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When launching a new website - SEO analysis will allow you to determine what its strengths are and what you should pay attention to when optimizing for search engines.
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With major site reconstruction - to check if all SEO elements are working properly.
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When you started optimization activities for the website - as in the first point, it will allow you to carefully understand the strengths and weaknesses and elements responsible for optimization for search engines,
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When you noticed a decrease in traffic on your website or when you noticed a decrease in your position in search results despite SEO activities - the analysis will allow you to spot errors in optimization and present possible solutions to this situation.
SEO analysis - elements important for positioning
We will briefly present the most important aspects you need to pay attention to when conducting an SEO audit. They all influence the position of your website in search engines. Try to see how all of them work:
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Key phrases - for what phrases the page is visible on SERPs, what positions it takes for important keywords.
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Page titles - do not repeat themselves on the site and are properly structured.
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URLs - are they SEO friendly and redirects do not work properly.
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Keyword selection - was it carried out correctly, or if several pages on the site do not rank for the same words.
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Graphics - does it have a negative impact on the page loading time, and the graphic elements are properly described.
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Sitemap - does the website have it?
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Content content - whether the content is consistent with the topic and valuable for users.
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Internal linking - is it effective and allows easy navigation on the website?
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Page loading speed - whether the page opens fast enough.
These are just some of the elements you need to check during SEO analysis. However, they are crucial for the proper positioning of the website. The software that you will be able to use during the audit will also present you with other parameters that you will have to evaluate in terms of SEO.
SEO analysis - programs to carry it out
We will present you three programs to conduct an effective SEO audit. Thanks to them, the SEO analysis will be carried out reliably and you will get information on how to optimize the website. One of the mentioned programs - Screaming Frog - is an application to be installed on the computer, while the other two - Seoptimer and Found SEO Audit Tool - are tools available online.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool
A comprehensive tool for precise SEO analysis, designed in a free version for small and medium-sized websites. The free version of the program includes an SEO audit of up to 500 pages, which is perfectly sufficient in the case of the above-mentioned small websites. It presents all the most important parameters important for positioning in an easy and transparent way, incl. broken links, redirects, canonical addresses, anchors, meta tags, etc.
Seoptimer
It is undoubtedly one of the best-known SEO analysis tools. Seoptimer is a free tool that does not require installation on a computer or mobile device. Just enter the URL of the website in the box on the Seoptimer website, and within a few minutes the tool will present you with a detailed analysis of the elements responsible for the positioning of your website.
Found SEO Audit Tool
It is also a web-based SEO audit tool, similar to Seoptimer. The main difference in favor of the Found SEO Audit Tool is that it is more transparent when it comes to the results of the analysis. It is also great for detecting errors in optimization. Both the Found SEO Audit Tool and Seoptimer allow you to later create a PDF file with an audit report.
We have introduced you to the most important aspects that you should pay attention to when you self-analyze SEO. Thanks to the presented tools, this task should not be a problem for you - especially if your website is not very extensive.The tips we provide will allow you to conduct a professional SEO audit without the need to outsource this task to specialists.