{"id":25517,"date":"2019-06-12T07:21:56","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T15:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=25517"},"modified":"2025-12-18T08:48:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:48:58","slug":"website-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/website-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Do a Basic Website Audit to Improve SEO and UX (in 10&nbsp;Steps)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-txt\">Does your website have issues that are hindering your SEO efforts or alienating your visitors? Follow this simple website audit process to find&nbsp;out.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>If you\u2019ve never audited your website, chances are you should. Websites are complex beasts and issues arise all the time\u2014and you won\u2019t be aware of them unless you audit your site regularly.<\/p>\n<p>Just a few weeks back, someone on Twitter alerted me to a problem on the Ahrefs blog:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Also, just wanted to give you a quick heads-up. The \u201cImage Raider\u201d tool you mentioned in your post returns a 403 forbidden error! :)\u2014 Abhishek Kurve (@Abhishek_kurve) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Abhishek_kurve\/status\/1088020334152900608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 23,&nbsp;2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Now, I run a pretty tight ship with the blog, and this was admittedly only a minor issue. But I see many businesses, big and small, with more severe problems.<\/p>\n<p>In this guide, I\u2019m going&nbsp;to teach you how to perform a simple website audit to improve your SEO, usability, and <strong>maybe<\/strong>&nbsp;even your revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the 10 questions we\u2019ll be asking throughout this&nbsp;guide:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#design\">Is your design up to scratch?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#navigation\">Does your navigation make&nbsp;sense?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#mobile-friendly\">Is your website mobile-friendly?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#technical\">Are there technical issues with your robots.txt file &amp; sitemap?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#https\">Is your website secure? (HTTPS)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#speed\">Is your website fast?&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#high-quality-content\">Is your content high-quality?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#broken-pages\">Do you have broken pages and&nbsp;links?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#titles-descriptions\">Are your titles and descriptions compelling?&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#keywords\">Are you targeting the right keywords?&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>But first, let\u2019s make sure we understand what a website audit entails.<\/p>\n<div class=\"hub-link\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"SEO basics guide\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/svg\/6.svg\"><div class=\"hl-title\">New to SEO? Check out&nbsp;our<\/div><div class=\"hl-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-basics\/\" target=\"_blank\">SEO basics guide<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>What is a website audit?<\/h2>\n<p>A website audit involves analyzing your website for technical, user experience, and SEO issues.<\/p>\n<p>Some benefits of this process include finding things that may&nbsp;be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hindering your website\u2019s traffic potential in organic search;<\/li>\n<li>Costing you sales or conversions;<\/li>\n<li>Confusing your visitors;<\/li>\n<li>Technically unsound<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course, finding such issues is only half the battle. You then have to fix&nbsp;them.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, most of the fixes to the issues discussed in this guide are self-explanatory. However, I will do my best to explain the more complex ones as we&nbsp;go.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting started<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re an Ahrefs user, begin by launching a new project in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjinWqfGyVE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a>&nbsp;explaining how to do&nbsp;that:<\/p>\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-ljinwqfgyve\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-ljinwqfgyve\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/LjinWqfGyVE?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/LjinWqfGyVE?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div>&nbsp;You may notice a few minor differences between what you see in that video and the current interface of the tool. That\u2019s because we\u2019ve made a few improvements to Site Audit since creating that video. It should, however, should still be easy enough to follow.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>What does Site Audit do? It checks every page on your website for over a hundred predetermined SEO issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>IMPORTANT<\/strong>. To get the most out of this post, I recommend turning on the option to check the HTTP status of external links.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"432\" height=\"375\" class=\"wp-image-30638\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/external-links-site-audit.jpg\" alt=\"external links site audit\"><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t worry if you\u2019re not an Ahrefs user. Launching running an audit recommended, but optional.<\/p>\n<p>Some other tools mentioned in this guide that you may need include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Web Analytics<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/analytics\/web\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Analytics<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/test\/mobile-friendly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google\u2019s Mobile-Friendly Test&nbsp;Tool<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/pagespeed-insights\/\">Google PageSpeed Insights<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wordpress-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yoast SEO<\/a>&nbsp;(or <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress\/\">a similar plugin<\/a>, if you\u2019re using WordPress)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/readable.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Readable<\/a>&nbsp;\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grammarly<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Search Console<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Your brain!  (the most important tool of&nbsp;all!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, before we get stuck into the audit process, there are two things I want to mention:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>This website audit process is aimed at beginners. <\/strong>There is an almost never-ending list of things you can look for when auditing a website, and some of them are somewhat technical and complex. I\u2019ve intentionally focused on the more straightforward issues below. That\u2019s not to say that these issues are unimportant. They\u2019re common issues that plague many websites, big and&nbsp;small.<\/li>\n<li><strong>This isn\u2019t only&nbsp;about SEO. <\/strong>If that\u2019s what you\u2019re after, and you don\u2019t mind tackling more complicated stuff, then check out <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-audit\/\">our SEO audit guide<\/a>. Still, many of the audit items below do have an impact on SEO. If you\u2019re trying to rank higher in Google, and have little to no SEO experience or knowledge, this guide will serve as a good starting point.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"1. Check your design\" data-section=\"design\">\n<h2>1. Check your design<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nDesign is important. Nobody is going to trust a website that was designed in&nbsp;1995.\n<p>As a general rule of thumb, it\u2019s worth redesigning your website every 4-5 years\u2014or at least making a few significant design updates to keep things fresh.<\/p>\n<p>But this isn\u2019t just about making things pretty or keeping up with current trends. There are quite a few things that contribute to poor website \u201cdesign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here are just a few of&nbsp;them:<\/p>\n<h3>Intrusive pop-ups and&nbsp;ads<\/h3>\n<p>Pop-ups aren\u2019t always bad. Things like exit pop-ups or cookie warnings serve a legitimate purpose.<\/p>\n<p>However, there\u2019s nothing more annoying than clicking on a web page in the Google search results, only to be hit by a myriad of pop-ups the second you land on the&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n<p>To illustrate what I mean, take a look at&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1220\" height=\"616\" class=\"wp-image-30654\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pop-up-example.gif\" alt=\"pop up example\"><\/p>\n<p>Before we get a chance to read a single word, we\u2019re hit with a full-screen \u201cwelcome mat\u201d that obstructs the content.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I hit the <em>back<\/em>&nbsp;button as soon as I come across pages like this, and I\u2019m sure others do too. That has a negative effect on two things:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Conversions<\/strong>. People can\u2019t buy anything unless they\u2019re on your&nbsp;site.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SEO<\/strong>. Having visitors hit the back button as soon as they land on your page is known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/pogo-sticking\/\">pogo-sticking<\/a>.\u201d There\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/dwell-time\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/dwell-time\/\">some evidence<\/a>&nbsp;that this tells Google there\u2019s something undesirable about your page and that it doesn\u2019t deserve to&nbsp;rank.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Speaking of SEO, Google also <a href=\"https:\/\/webmasters.googleblog.com\/2016\/08\/helping-users-easily-access-content-on.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">penalises<\/a>&nbsp;\u201cpages that show intrusive interstitials\u201d on mobile.<\/p>\n<p>So do yourself a favour: Load your website in an incognito window and see what happens. If there are lots of pop-ups, remove them.<\/p>\n<h3>Illegible text<\/h3>\n<p>If people can\u2019t read what\u2019s on your website, then that\u2019s another <em>back<\/em>&nbsp;button-type scenario.<\/p>\n<p>So make sure&nbsp;to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use a large font size.<\/strong>&nbsp;It doesn\u2019t need to be comically large, but using an 8pt font isn\u2019t going to fly. Not everyone has 20\/20 vision\u2026 or a microscope.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose a legible font.<\/strong>&nbsp;It\u2019s thought that <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.freecodecamp.org\/how-typography-determines-readability-serif-vs-sans-serif-and-how-to-combine-fonts-629a51ad8cce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sans-serif fonts are somewhat more readable than serif fonts<\/a>. Having said that, this is probably reading too much into things (no pun intended). Just avoid&nbsp;Comic Sans (or anything remotely similar).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use enough white space<\/strong>. Not enough white space makes for an unpleasant reading experience.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use contrast. <\/strong>Yellow text on a white background? No thanks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Before you say this is all obvious stuff, here\u2019s a real-life bad example I found in all of 5 minutes:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"182\" class=\"wp-image-30660\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/small-text.png\" alt=\"small text\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/small-text.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/small-text-768x155.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/small-text-680x138.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>Could those phone numbers be any smaller? Who on earth is going to see&nbsp;those?<\/p>\n<h3>Unclear calls to action<\/h3>\n<p>A call-to-action prompts the visitor to do something specific.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the big orange button on our old homepage that reads \u201cStart a 7-day trial for $7\u201d is a clear call-to-action. We\u2019re prompting visitors to do something very specific by clicking that button.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"427\" class=\"wp-image-30644\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-call-to-action.png\" alt=\"ahrefs call to action\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-call-to-action.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-call-to-action-768x364.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-call-to-action-680x323.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, this CTA to \u201cJoin the adventure\u201d from Verve\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/cxl.com\/blog\/call-to-action-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spotted<\/a>&nbsp;by the guys over at ConversionXL\u2014is less&nbsp;clear:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"568\" height=\"294\" class=\"wp-image-30653\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/verve-cta.png\" alt=\"verve cta\"><\/p>\n<p>Or as the author puts&nbsp;it:<\/p>\n<blockquote>[\u2026] The call to action is to \u201cJoin the Adventure.\u201d But I\u2019m on a coffee website. I thought I was shopping for coffee. Very confusing.<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div>&nbsp;Verve has since changed their CTA to \u201cShop now,\u201d which makes a lot more&nbsp;sense.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>Take a look at the CTA\u2019s on your website and make sure they make sense. If they could be clearer, fix&nbsp;them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">PRO TIP<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>If you feel that your website is in need of a design refresh, there are plenty of reasonably-priced freelance web designers on UpWork, People Per Hour,&nbsp;etc.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"2. Check your navigation\" data-section=\"navigation\">\n<h2>2. Check your navigation<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nImagine a website without a navigation bar. Finding anything you wanted would be a struggle.\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s essential to ensure that your navigation menu not only exists but also makes sense to visitors. Even if your navigation menu seems logical to you (the person most familiar with your website), your visitors may not find it so user-friendly.<\/p>\n<p>So start by heading over to your homepage and looking at your&nbsp;menu.<\/p>\n<p>Ask yourself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is it&nbsp;clear?<\/li>\n<li>Does it link to all my most important pages?<\/li>\n<li>Is it cluttered with unnecessary stuff?<\/li>\n<li>Have I made it easy for visitors to contact me if they have questions?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the answer to any of those questions is <em>no<\/em>, it may be time to rethink how your menu&nbsp;works.<\/p>\n<p>For this, I find it useful to sketch out the flow of a website so I can see what\u2019s important and what isn\u2019t. You can use a simple tool like <a href=\"https:\/\/slickplan.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Slickplan<\/a>&nbsp;for this.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"237\" class=\"wp-image-30637\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/website-flow-sketch.jpg\" alt=\"website flow sketch\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/website-flow-sketch.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/website-flow-sketch-768x202.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/website-flow-sketch-680x179.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">PRO TIP<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>If you\u2019re having a hard time viewing your website with fresh eyes, try asking your customers, family, friends, or colleagues to use your website and point out any issues.<\/p>\n<p>Do this with a few different people and see if there are any common themes.<\/p>\n<p>However, keep in mind that such people will often be reluctant to point out genuine issues with your website through fear of offending you.<\/p>\n<p>If you feel that\u2019s the case, consider hiring a freelancer to do a manual video&nbsp;audit.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"302\" class=\"wp-image-30659\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pph-website-review.jpg\" alt=\"pph website review\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pph-website-review.jpg 780w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pph-website-review-768x297.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pph-website-review-680x263.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\"><\/p>\n<p>These aren\u2019t usually too expensive, and the insights you get are often worth their weight in&nbsp;gold.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"3. Check for mobile-friendliness\" data-section=\"mobile-friendly\">\n<h2>3. Check for mobile-friendliness<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nDid you know that <a href=\"http:\/\/gs.statcounter.com\/platform-market-share\/desktop-mobile-tablet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than 49%<\/a>&nbsp;of people browse the web via mobile devices?\n<p>That means the majority of your visitors are probably viewing your website on mobile.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div>&nbsp;3-4% of people browse via tablets, which is why 49% is the majority.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>Furthermore, <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/report-nearly-60-percent-searches-now-mobile-devices-255025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nearly 60%<\/a>&nbsp;of Google searches are done on mobile\u2014and that\u2019s 2016 data, it\u2019s probably even higher now.<\/p>\n<p>Translation: You need a mobile-friendly website, or you\u2019re alienating over half of your visitors.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">PRO TIP<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>If you\u2019re curious as to how many of your visitors are visiting your website via mobile, log in to <a href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/analytics\/web\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Analytics<\/a>&nbsp;and go&nbsp;to:<\/p>\n<p><em>Audience &gt; Mobile &gt; Overview<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"901\" height=\"482\" class=\"wp-image-30641\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/google-analytics.jpg\" alt=\"google analytics\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/google-analytics.jpg 901w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/google-analytics-768x411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/google-analytics-680x364.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 901px) 100vw, 901px\"><\/p>\n<p>Here, you will the percentage of your visitors that come from mobile vs. desktop vs. tablet.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Check the mobile-friendliness of your website using <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/test\/mobile-friendly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google\u2019s Mobile-Friendly Test tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"455\" class=\"wp-image-30634\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-mobile-friendly.jpg\" alt=\"ahrefs mobile friendly\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-mobile-friendly.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-mobile-friendly-768x388.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-mobile-friendly-680x344.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>I recommend pasting your homepage in for the test. If your homepage is mobile-friendly, then it\u2019s likely that the rest of your site will be too. However, you may want to test a few pages if you have drastically different sections of your website. E.g., an ecommerce store running on Shopify, and a blog running on WordPress.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s not currently mobile-friendly and you know that a good number of your visitors are on mobile, then you should probably hire a developer to tackle that problem.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"4. Check your robots.txt file and sitemap\" data-section=\"technical\">\n<h2>4. Check your <em>robots.txt<\/em>&nbsp;file and sitemap<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/robots-txt\/\">Robots.txt is a simple text file<\/a> that tells search engines which pages they can and can\u2019t crawl. A sitemap is an XML file that helps search engines to understand what pages you have and how your site is structured.\n<p>If you have a robots.txt file, it\u2019ll be accessible at <em>yourdomain.com\/robots.txt.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"426\" height=\"93\" class=\"wp-image-30662\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/robots-txt.jpg\" alt=\"robots txt\"><\/p>\n<p>Can\u2019t find your sitemap? The URL should be in your robots.txt file. If it\u2019s not, check the root folder of your hosting for XML&nbsp;files.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"222\" class=\"wp-image-30645\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sitemap-index.jpg\" alt=\"sitemap index\"><\/p>\n<p>Long story short, it\u2019s good to have both these two files, but not mandatory.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a small website (under ten pages), then I wouldn\u2019t worry too much about either of these files. However, if you\u2019re using WordPress, you can use a plugin like <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wordpress-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yoast SEO<\/a>&nbsp;to create both a robots.txt file and sitemap easily.<\/p>\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wordpress-seo\/\">WordPress SEO: A Practical (and EASY)&nbsp;Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-sitemap\/\">How to Create an XML Sitemap (and Submit It to Google)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"5. Check that you\u2019re using HTTPs\" data-section=\"https\">\n<h2>5.&nbsp;Check that you\u2019re using&nbsp;HTTPs<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nHTTPs means that a website is secure\u2014i.e., data transfer to and from the site is encrypted. You can tell when a website uses HTTPs because there\u2019s a lock in the URL bar, and the URL will begin with <code>https:\/\/<\/code>:\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"355\" height=\"36\" class=\"wp-image-30635\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/paypal-lock.jpg\" alt=\"paypal lock\"><\/p>\n<p>If this isn\u2019t the case for your website, then you don\u2019t have an SSL certificate (i.e., HTTPs).<\/p>\n<p>Why does HTTPs matter? It comes down to security, mainly. Unencrypted (non-secure) data can be intercepted and stolen.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, HTTPs is a Google ranking factor. They <a href=\"https:\/\/webmasters.googleblog.com\/2014\/08\/https-as-ranking-signal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said so<\/a>&nbsp;back in&nbsp;2014.<\/p>\n<p>So HTTPs is vital if you\u2019re:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>accepting payments on your site (an absolute must)<\/li>\n<li>collecting user data (recommended)<\/li>\n<li>trying to rank higher in Google (who isn\u2019t!?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019re not using HTTPs yet, then get an SSL certificate. It\u2019s as simple as&nbsp;that.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that this may not cost a cent. <a href=\"https:\/\/letsencrypt.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lets Encrypt<\/a>&nbsp;is a non-profit organization that provides free SSL certificates, and it\u2019s backed by some of the biggest players in the industry\u2014including Google. In 2019, there is no excuse for not using&nbsp;HTTPs.<\/p>\n<p>But even if you\u2019ve switched to HTTPs, you may still have some related technical issues like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Internal links to&nbsp;non-HTTPs versions of a&nbsp;page<\/li>\n<li>Mixed content (i.e., specific files like images being loaded over HTTP and non-HTTPs, even if they\u2019re on a secure page)<\/li>\n<li>Canonicals from HTTPs to&nbsp;HTTP<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, that may all sound like technical jargon\u2014and it&nbsp;is.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you started crawling your website with <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs Site Audit<\/a>&nbsp;(as recommended), then you can see in plain English whether you\u2019re facing any of the issues I mentioned above.<\/p>\n<p>Just go to <em>Site Audit &gt; project &gt; Overview.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Look for any errors relating to&nbsp;HTTPs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"429\" height=\"153\" class=\"wp-image-30657\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/https-error-site-audit.jpg\" alt=\"https error site audit\"><\/p>\n<p>Hit the \u201c?\u201d icon next to any of these issues and you\u2019ll see advice on how to fix&nbsp;them:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"745\" height=\"191\" class=\"wp-image-30661\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-tooltip.jpg\" alt=\"site audit tooltip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-tooltip.jpg 745w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-tooltip-680x174.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\"><\/p>\n<p>Forward the pages and this advice to a developer to&nbsp;fix.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"6. Check that your site loads fast\" data-section=\"speed\">\n<h2>6. Check that your site loads&nbsp;fast<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nGoogle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketingdive.com\/news\/google-53-of-mobile-users-abandon-sites-that-take-over-3-seconds-to-load\/426070\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">states<\/a>&nbsp;that 53% of mobile visitors leave websites that take more than 3 seconds to&nbsp;load.\n<p>Furthermore, Amazon <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.gigaspaces.com\/amazon-found-every-100ms-of-latency-cost-them-1-in-sales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">found<\/a>&nbsp;that a slowdown of 100 milliseconds cost them 1% in sales\u2014and that was 10+ years ago. Those numbers are likely even more mind-boggling now.<\/p>\n<p>Still not convinced on the importance of&nbsp;speed?<\/p>\n<p>Google <a href=\"https:\/\/webmasters.googleblog.com\/2010\/04\/using-site-speed-in-web-search-ranking.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stated<\/a>&nbsp;that site speed is a ranking factor way back in&nbsp;2010.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, it\u2019s essential that your site loads fast. Luckily, Google has a free tool for checking page speed. It\u2019s called <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/speed\/pagespeed\/insights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PageSpeed Insights<\/a>. Paste in a URL, and it\u2019ll kick back a \u201cspeed score\u201d for both desktop and mobile.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"233\" class=\"wp-image-30650\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pagespeed-insights-desktop.jpg\" alt=\"pagespeed insights desktop\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pagespeed-insights-desktop.jpg 684w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pagespeed-insights-desktop-680x232.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pagespeed-insights-desktop-650x220.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 684px) 100vw, 684px\"><\/p>\n<p>Scroll down, and Google gives recommendations on <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/advanced-pagespeed-guide\/\">how to improve your page speed<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"558\" height=\"162\" class=\"wp-image-30652\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/pagespeed-insights-opportunities.jpg\" alt=\"pagespeed insights opportunities\"><\/p>\n<p>Once again, these are quite technical, but any good developer will know how to fix such things.<\/p>\n<p>I recommend checking your homepage in PageSpeed Insights as a starting point, as that will give you a sense of your overall site speed. You can then check other pages to see if there are any speed issues at the page-level (e.g., lots of large image files, etc.)<\/p>\n<p>The issue with PageSpeed Insights is that you can only check one page at a time. That\u2019s more than annoying if you have a website with tens, hundreds or even thousands of&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n<p>The solution? Check for \u201cSlow page\u201d issues in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs Site Audit<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Audit &gt; project &gt; Internal pages &gt; Performance&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"849\" height=\"281\" class=\"wp-image-30663\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/slow-pages-ahrefs-site-audit.jpg\" alt=\"slow pages ahrefs site audit\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/slow-pages-ahrefs-site-audit.jpg 849w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/slow-pages-ahrefs-site-audit-768x254.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/slow-pages-ahrefs-site-audit-680x225.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px\"><\/p>\n<p>Hit the number to see all the affected pages.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a lot of slow pages\u2014as the website in the screenshot above does\u2014then it\u2019s worth reviewing the most important pages first. One way to do this is to sort by organic traffic from high to&nbsp;low.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"799\" height=\"319\" class=\"wp-image-30636\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-slow-pages-prioritization.jpg\" alt=\"site audit slow pages prioritization\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-slow-pages-prioritization.jpg 799w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-slow-pages-prioritization-768x307.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-slow-pages-prioritization-680x271.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\"><\/p>\n<p>These pages are likely the ones that stand to gain the most from any optimization efforts.<\/p>\n<p>You could also use Google Analytics to check which pages are most valuable to you in terms of conversions\/revenue and prioritize those instead.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"7. Check content \u201cquality\u201d\" data-section=\"high-quality-content\">\n<h2>7. Check content \u201cquality\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nWhether it\u2019s a blog post or a simple \u201cabout us\u201d page, your content should be high-quality and valuable to your visitors. That means&nbsp;being:\n<ul>\n<li>Well-written<\/li>\n<li>Informative<\/li>\n<li>Free of spelling and grammatical errors (hint: use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grammarly<\/a>&nbsp;to check)<\/li>\n<li>Easy to understand (hint: use <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hemingwayapp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hemingway<\/a>&nbsp;or <a href=\"https:\/\/readable.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Readable<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Skimmable (i.e., not a giant wall of&nbsp;text)<\/li>\n<li>Not a duplicate of another page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you have a relatively small site (fewer than twenty pages), you can check all of the above manually with ease. Load the pages up one-by-one and read through them. Fix any errors you come across.<\/p>\n<p>For example, here\u2019s a page that makes all kinds of basic errors:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"804\" class=\"wp-image-30647\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/bad-article.jpg\" alt=\"bad article\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/bad-article.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/bad-article-768x686.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/bad-article-476x425.jpg 476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>First of all, it\u2019s hardly skimmable. There are no images, no subheaders; it\u2019s just a big wall of&nbsp;text.<\/p>\n<p>You should always aim to use subheaders to break up your content and make it more appealing. In HTML, you can use H1-H6 subheaders to provide some structure and hierarchy to your&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the basics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use <strong>one<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/h1-tag\/\">H1 tag<\/a> on each page for the&nbsp;title<\/li>\n<li>Use H2 tags for main subheaders<\/li>\n<li>Use H3 tags for sub-subheaders<\/li>\n<li>Use H4 tags for sub-sub-subheaders<\/li>\n<li>\u2026 you get the&nbsp;gist!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here\u2019s how this might play out for the page&nbsp;above:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Header (H1): The Investment Mistake Otha Anders Made&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Subheader (H2): Who is Otha Anders?<\/li>\n<li>Subheader (H2): The mistakes Otha Anders made&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Sub\u2010sub\u2010header (H3): Mistake #1<\/li>\n<li>Sub\u2010sub\u2010header (H3): Mistake #2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another issue with this page is that it uses unnecessarily complex language.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Hemingway tells us that it has an 11th-grade reading level.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"339\" class=\"wp-image-30642\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/grade-11-hemingway.png\" alt=\"grade 11 hemingway\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/grade-11-hemingway.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/grade-11-hemingway-768x289.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/grade-11-hemingway-680x256.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/18811992\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why this matters<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Studies suggest that consumer comprehension may be compromised if content exceeds a 7th-grade reading level, which is the average American reading level identified by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>TLDR; Keep your content at or below a 7th-grade reading level.<\/p>\n<p>Now, for larger sites, manually checking all pages for such issues isn\u2019t possible. In that case, it makes sense to prioritize the reviewing of your most important pages instead.<\/p>\n<p>To find those, use Google Analytics or <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Search Console<\/a>&nbsp;to find the pages with the most traffic (or conversion value) and review those&nbsp;first.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re not using either of those tools, try the <strong>Top Pages<\/strong>&nbsp;report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>. This shows the pages on your website sorted by estimated search traffic they receive (from high to&nbsp;low).<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; enter domain &gt; Top&nbsp;Pages<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"409\" class=\"wp-image-30632\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/traffic-site-explorer-top-pages.jpg\" alt=\"traffic site explorer top pages\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/traffic-site-explorer-top-pages.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/traffic-site-explorer-top-pages-768x349.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/traffic-site-explorer-top-pages-680x309.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>You may also want to prioritize the reviewing of pages that show signs of being low-quality. For example, pages with low word counts. You can do that in Ahrefs\u2019 Site Audit; just head to the <strong>Content Quality<\/strong>&nbsp;report.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Audit &gt; project &gt; Internal pages &gt; Content quality<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"311\" class=\"wp-image-30639\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/low-word-count-content-quality-site-audit.jpg\" alt=\"low word count content quality site audit\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/low-word-count-content-quality-site-audit.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/low-word-count-content-quality-site-audit-768x265.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/low-word-count-content-quality-site-audit-680x235.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>IMPORTANT<\/strong>: Pages with low word counts aren\u2019t always low-quality. However, generally speaking, a page with 50 words isn\u2019t going to offer as much value as one with 500&nbsp;words.<\/p>\n<p>You may also have noticed one other error in the Content Quality report above: <em>Duplicate pages without canonical<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sure the \u201cduplicate pages\u201d part is self-explanatory. These are pages that are identical or very similar to other pages. The \u201cwithout canonical\u201d part is a technicality\u2014but needless to say, these issues need fixing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong><em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/66359?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duplicate Content - Search Console Help<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"8. Check for broken pages and links\" data-section=\"broken-pages\">\n<h2>8. Check for broken pages and&nbsp;links<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nBroken pages and links lead to a bad user experience.\n<p>Here\u2019s what a visitor sees when they land on a broken page on your website or click through to a broken third-party resource:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"538\" class=\"wp-image-30648\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-page-not-found.jpg\" alt=\"ahrefs page not found\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-page-not-found.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-page-not-found-768x459.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ahrefs-page-not-found-680x406.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>The result? Your site looks uncared for, out-of-date, and potentially untrustworthy.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, such issues are easy to fix. Let\u2019s start with broken pages.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Broken pages<\/strong>&nbsp;occur when a resource on your website ceases to exist. Sometimes, these resources still have <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">internal links<\/a>&nbsp;pointing to them or have backlinks from other&nbsp;sites.<\/p>\n<p>You can find such pages in Site&nbsp;Audit.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Audit &gt; project &gt; Internal Pages &gt; look for 4XX errors<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"419\" class=\"wp-image-30646\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screenshot_2019-02-01_at_03_08_57.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot 2019 02 01 at 03 08 57\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screenshot_2019-02-01_at_03_08_57.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screenshot_2019-02-01_at_03_08_57-768x358.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screenshot_2019-02-01_at_03_08_57-680x317.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Broken links<\/strong>&nbsp;occur when a third-party resource to which you link ceases to&nbsp;exist.<\/p>\n<p>You can also find such pages in Site&nbsp;Audit.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Audit &gt; project &gt; External Pages &gt; look for External 4XX errors<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"420\" class=\"wp-image-30656\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/external-4xx-site-audit.jpg\" alt=\"external 4xx site audit\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/external-4xx-site-audit.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/external-4xx-site-audit-768x358.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/external-4xx-site-audit-680x317.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p><em>Learn more in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/fix-broken-links\/\">our full guide to finding and fixing broken links (and backlinks)<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"9. Check for unique, compelling meta titles and descriptions on every page\" data-section=\"titles-descriptions\">\n<h2>9. Check for unique, compelling meta titles and descriptions on every&nbsp;page<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nEvery page on your website should have a unique meta title and description.\n<p>Not sure what these are? They\u2019re HTML tags that show up in Google search results:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"121\" class=\"wp-image-30640\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/title-meta-description.jpg\" alt=\"title meta description\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/title-meta-description.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/title-meta-description-768x103.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/title-meta-description-680x91.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div>&nbsp;Google sometimes rewrites these tags dynamically and shows something else in the search results, although this is more an exception than the&nbsp;rule.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>Now, standard SEO advice tends to tell you to optimize these tags as follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Include your target keyword in the title&nbsp;tag<\/li>\n<li>Include your target in the description tag<\/li>\n<li>\u2026done<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>There\u2019s nothing inherently wrong with this advice. If you can include your keywords without it feeling unnatural or shoehorned, then go for&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n<p>However, this is not the primary purpose of your title and meta description.<\/p>\n<p>The primary purpose, at least from an SEO perspective, is to entice search engine users choose your page over the other results. That\u2019s how you\u2019ll get more traffic from current rankings, and it\u2019s also thought to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stonetemple.com\/why-ctr-isnt-a-ranking-factor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an indirect ranking factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But before you start changing things, you first need to audit them to&nbsp;find:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Pages without any titles or descriptions<\/li>\n<li>Pages without unique titles or descriptions<\/li>\n<li>Pages with titles and descriptions that are too&nbsp;long<\/li>\n<li>Pages with multiple titles or meta descriptions<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For that, head to the HTML tags report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs Site Audit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Audit &gt; project &gt; Internal pages &gt; HTML&nbsp;tags<\/em><br>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"480\" class=\"wp-image-30633\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/html-tags-report-site-audit.jpg\" alt=\"html tags report site audit\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/html-tags-report-site-audit.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/html-tags-report-site-audit-768x410.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/html-tags-report-site-audit-680x363.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Not an Ahrefs user?<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>It\u2019s not as fast, but you can use a tool like <a href=\"https:\/\/serpsim.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Paste in your URL, and it\u2019ll pull in the title and meta description. It also tells you if it\u2019s too long and likely to be truncated in the search results.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Neither Ahrefs nor any other tool can tell you if your titles and descriptions are compelling. You\u2019ll have to judge that for yourself. However, if you\u2019re a Search Console user, I\u2019ll leave you with one final trick: Check the <em>Performance<\/em>&nbsp;report in Search Console for pages that get lots of impressions but a low&nbsp;CTR.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"709\" height=\"136\" class=\"wp-image-30643\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/search-console-underperforming.jpg\" alt=\"search console underperforming\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/search-console-underperforming.jpg 709w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/search-console-underperforming-680x130.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px\"><\/p>\n<p>Because these pages have lots of impressions, they must be showing up for searches people are making in Google. The issue is that nobody is clicking on them, which <strong>may<\/strong>&nbsp;indicate a less than enticing title or meta description.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">How to Craft the Perfect SEO Title Tag (Our 4\u2010Step Process)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"10. Check that pages are optimized for the right keywords\" data-section=\"keywords\">\n<h2>10. Check that pages are optimized for the right keywords<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\nNot every page on your website needs to be optimized for&nbsp;SEO.\n<p>For example, it matters not for which keywords your <em>about<\/em>&nbsp;or <em>contact<\/em>&nbsp;pages are optimized. They shouldn\u2019t be optimized around any keywords. Ranking these pages isn\u2019t important.<\/p>\n<p>For other pages, targeting the right keywords is crucial.<\/p>\n<p>What makes for the \u201cright\u201d keyword? A combination of <strong>three<\/strong>&nbsp;things:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Traffic potential<\/li>\n<li>Low difficulty<\/li>\n<li>Relevance (i.e., the intent behind the query matches that of your&nbsp;page)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Let\u2019s run through a quick example to explain how this&nbsp;works.<\/p>\n<p>Say that we run an online electronics store. On that site, we have a blog post listing the top 10 best headphones. What keyword should we optimize this around?<\/p>\n<p>It would probably be something like \u201cheadphones\u201d or \u201cbest headphones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If we throw both of these into a keyword research tool like <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Ahrefs\u2019 Keywords Explorer<\/a>, we can see that while they each have roughly the same Keyword Difficulty (KD)&nbsp;score:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"323\" height=\"109\" class=\"wp-image-30655\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/best-headphones-keywords.png\" alt=\"best headphones keywords\"><\/p>\n<p>\u2026 \u201cheadphones\u201d gets almost 3x more monthly searches than \u201cbest headphones.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div> A Keyword Difficulty (KD) score of 58-63 is actually quite high. Neither of these keywords would be good targets for a site without much \u201cauthority.\u201d <\/div>\n<p>So we should target \u201cheadphones\u201d as our primary, \u201chead\u201d keyword, right?<\/p>\n<p>Not so fast, because the \u201csearch intent\u201d behind these two searches is very different.<\/p>\n<p>To illustrate, let\u2019s scroll to the <strong>SERP overview<\/strong>&nbsp;and look at the top-ranking pages in Google for&nbsp;each:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30651\" style=\"width: 850px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30651\" class=\"wp-image-30651\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-headphones.png\" alt=\"top ranking pages for headphones\" width=\"840\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-headphones.png 840w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-headphones-768x454.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-headphones-680x402.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-30651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top-ranking pages for \u201cheadphones\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_30658\" style=\"width: 859px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30658\" class=\"wp-image-30658\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-best-headphones.png\" alt=\"top ranking pages for best headphones\" width=\"849\" height=\"547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-best-headphones.png 849w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-best-headphones-768x495.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/top-ranking-pages-for-best-headphones-660x425.png 660w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-30658\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top-ranking pages for \u201cbest headphones\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Most pages ranking for \u201cheadphones\u201d are product or category pages. This indicates that searchers are in buying mode, not learning mode. They don\u2019t want to read a blog&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, most of the pages ranking for \u201cbest headphones\u201d are blog posts and guides. This indicates that searchers are in learning mode, not buying mode.<\/p>\n<p>The lesson here is simple: <strong>Don\u2019t try to rank pages where they don\u2019t belong.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So check that you\u2019re not making the mistake of targeting the wrong keywords with your web pages, starting with the most important ones&nbsp;first.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong>&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/keyword-research\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-research\/\">How To Do Keyword Research for SEO \u2014 Ahrefs\u2019 Guide<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Everything above is admittedly quite basic. There are a lot of other technical and on-page aspects that you should keep an eye&nbsp;on.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs Site Audit<\/a>&nbsp;a few times throughout this guide, and I\u2019m going to talk about it one final time because it\u2019s one of the best ways to dig deeper and audit your site for more issues.<\/p>\n<p>You can even automate the website auditing process by scheduling regular crawls:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"729\" height=\"258\" class=\"wp-image-30649\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-scheduling.jpg\" alt=\"site audit scheduling\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-scheduling.jpg 729w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/site-audit-scheduling-680x241.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\"><\/p>\n<p>If SEO is your primary concern, read <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-audit\/\">our SEO audit process<\/a>, watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oJPGa0J6p5Q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this video<\/a>, or try <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-audit-template\/\">our free SEO audit template<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-ojpga0j6p5q\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-ojpga0j6p5q\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/oJPGa0J6p5Q?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/oJPGa0J6p5Q?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve never audited your website, chances are you should. Websites are complex beasts and issues arise all the time\u2014and you won\u2019t be aware of them unless you audit your site regularly. Just a few weeks back, someone on Twitter<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":25520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335,329],"tags":[],"coauthors":[336],"class_list":["post-25517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","category-technical-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Do a Website Audit to Improve SEO and UX (in 10 Steps)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Audit your website for SEO performance issues, things that may be costing you conversions, and user-experience issues that could be 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