Are you making the most of your site crawl during an SEO audit? Are there important elements that you might be missing? In this article, we will explore the key factors to consider when crawling your site, going beyond the obvious broken links and images. To shed light on this topic, Jim Boykin, CEO of Internet Marketing Ninjas, invites Bill Hartzer, an experienced blogger, SEO specialist, and marketer who has been in the industry for over two decades. They discuss the importance of using multiple crawls and highlight some essential aspects to look out for, such as orphaned pages, duplicate pages, and improper use of rel=canonical. If you want a comprehensive technical SEO audit and assistance in fixing any issues preventing your site from ranking higher, don’t hesitate to reach out to the ninjas at Internet Marketing Ninjas.
Crawling Your Site: SEO Technical Audit
Crawling your site is an essential part of conducting an SEO audit. It allows you to examine the structure and content of your website, identifying any issues that may be impacting your search engine rankings. However, to ensure you are getting the most comprehensive data from your crawl, it is important to conduct multiple crawls. This article will explore the benefits of using multiple crawls and highlight three key areas to focus on: orphaned pages, duplicate pages or pages with improper redirects, and pages with improper use of rel=canonical.
Use Multiple Crawls for More Data
When it comes to crawling your site, one crawl may not be enough to provide a complete picture of your website’s SEO health. Conducting multiple crawls allows you to gather more data and identify any inconsistencies or discrepancies across different crawls. Each crawl may uncover different pages, provide updated information on existing pages, or identify any new issues that need to be addressed.
By conducting multiple crawls, you can uncover a wider range of issues and gain a more comprehensive understanding of your website’s overall performance. This approach enables you to make more informed decisions and prioritize any necessary changes or optimizations.
Orphaned Pages
Orphaned pages refer to those pages on your website that have no internal links. These pages are essentially isolated from the rest of your site, making them harder for search engines to discover and index. Identifying and addressing orphaned pages is crucial as they can potentially bring in a significant amount of traffic if they are interlinked properly.
To identify orphaned pages, a thorough crawl of your site is required. Look for any pages that do not have any internal links pointing to them. These pages may have been overlooked or forgotten during the website development process, and as a result, they are not contributing to your overall visibility. By interlinking these orphaned pages with relevant content on your website, you can improve their discoverability and increase the chances of them ranking in search engine results.
Duplicate Pages or Pages with Improper Redirects
Duplicate pages or pages with improper redirects can have a detrimental impact on your website’s SEO performance. Duplicate pages confuse search engines and can lead to a dilution of your website’s authority and rankings. Additionally, improper redirects can result in a poor user experience and negatively affect your search engine visibility.
To identify duplicate pages, a crawl of your site can reveal any duplicate content that may exist. This can occur when the same content is available on multiple URLs, either intentionally or inadvertently. Resolving duplicate content issues involves consolidating the duplicate pages into a single, canonical URL or implementing proper redirects to redirect users and search engines to the preferred version of the content.
It is also essential to address pages that were thought to be redirected but are still live. These pages can cause confusion and potentially result in duplicate content issues if they are not properly handled. Conducting a thorough crawl and reviewing the redirects implemented on your site will help identify any pages that were not redirected successfully. By addressing these issues, you can ensure that your website is optimized for search engines and provides the best user experience.
Pages with Improper Use of rel=canonical
Rel=canonical is an HTML element that allows website owners to specify the preferred version of a webpage when there are multiple versions available. It helps search engines understand which version of the content should be prioritized and indexed. However, improper use of rel=canonical can lead to confusion and potentially result in search engine penalties.
Common mistakes in using rel=canonical include misidentifying the preferred version of the content, implementing rel=canonical on incorrect pages, or failing to implement it altogether. To identify pages with improper use of rel=canonical, conduct a crawl of your site and review the canonical tags implemented on each page. By addressing any errors or discrepancies, you can ensure that the correct version of your content is being indexed and ranked by search engines.
Contact ninjas for a Comprehensive Technical SEO Audit
While conducting regular crawls and addressing specific issues is important, it is also beneficial to consider a comprehensive technical SEO audit. A comprehensive audit conducted by experts can uncover any hidden issues, provide in-depth analysis, and offer actionable recommendations to improve your website’s SEO performance.
If you want to take your SEO efforts to the next level, it may be worth contacting ninjas for a comprehensive technical SEO audit. Their team of knowledgeable professionals can conduct a thorough examination of your website, identify any underlying issues, and implement the necessary changes to optimize your site for search engines. By partnering with ninjas, you can ensure that your website is performing at its best and achieving optimal visibility in search engine results.
References
Link to the post on Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog
In conclusion, crawling your site is an essential part of an SEO audit but conducting multiple crawls can provide more comprehensive data. It is important to address orphaned pages by interlinking them properly to increase their visibility. Duplicate pages or pages with improper redirects can harm your SEO performance, so identifying and resolving these issues is crucial. Pages with improper use of rel=canonical can also affect your rankings, so it is necessary to review and correct any errors in their implementation. For a comprehensive technical SEO audit, consider contacting ninjas who can provide expert insights and recommendations to optimize your website and improve your search engine rankings.
