SEO Technical Audits on the Job Hunt
Have you ever experienced that "OMG DUH" moment? It's that instant realization where you wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?" Well, I recently had one during a job interview for my dream SEO position. Unfortunately, I misinterpreted the instructions for this stage of the interview process.
As the call wrapped up, I asked the interviewer about skills or experiences that made other candidates stand out. She expressed concern that I didn't bring any technical SEO audit suggestions to the table. It was then that I had my "OMG DUH!" moment, unmistakably displayed on my face.
I admitted to using my free SEMrush account for my personal website (yes, the one you're on now). Truth be told, it didn't occur to me to do this for the interview — a regrettable oversight.
Seriously, applying for an SEO Manager role without conducting a technical audit on the company's site? Embarrassing, considering I do know how to do this. However, past experiences of being overlooked after conducting such audits during interviews made me hesitant to showcase my skills further.
That said, I'm going to blow up a different company's spot because I conducted a technical SEO audit on their website and the recruiter didn't even say "thanks" or "I got your audit." A simple confirmation would have sufficed, I'm easy to please.
But in any case, to demonstrate that I DO KNOW HOW TO DO THIS (technical SEO audits, that is). Here is my audit for a company called "Mileagewise," using SEOptimer. I chose this tool because I was not about to give up my free SEMrush project for a company that wasn't even paying me.
Technical SEO Audit Findings & Suggestions
I start my audits using tools like SEMrush, SEOptimer, Ahrefs, etc., and analyze the suggested results. Then, I'll determine which areas need improvement based on which impacts are most detrimental to the site. In this case, Mileagewise's mobile usability was the worst part of this site, so that's where I started.
SEO & Website Usability
Based on my rough audit, the Mileagewise website has usability issues across multiple devices, which could impact user experience and lead to higher bounce rates.
SUGGESTION: Optimize all the images, buttons, graphics, logos, and text for responsive web. In this image, you can see how the site is not rendering correctly, with buttons and text appearing incorrectly on each device type.
Google Web Vitals & Page Speed
Due to the responsive design issues, this ended up impacting Mileagwise's web vitals and page speeds across multiple devices.
SUGGESTION: Connect with your web developers to reduce unused JavaScript and eliminate render-blocking resources to improve page load speed after completing the optimization mentioned above. Some of the fixes you make, like reducing image size, can help the page load faster, but your developers will have deeper insights and the ability to make changes your SEO team can't. Additionally, try to avoid having so many page redirects. If I had access to the backend of their website, I would audit the linking strategy to see where to make improvements.
I used Wix to build my website and while I was conducting a Core Site Vitals analysis, I discovered that Wix causes a ton of performance issues, which impacts user performance. I also have a Google Tag set up that tracks the off-site clicks and which links were clicked. There is a delay setup when the user clicks, I think I may remove that to see if it increases the site performance. The joys of SEO — it's always trial and error.
SEO Content Audit & Suggestions
According to SEOptimer, there is one page on Mileagewise's website that has an image with a missing attribute. This may seem like a minor issue, but it's huge that all your images have Alt-text, and this is another great spot to utilize your keywords uniquely.
SUGGESTION: Organically incorporate any keywords into your images' Alt attributes. In this instance, since the image is showing the Mileage Log on a phone and computer, I would follow the structure of the file name for the image Alt attribute, "Computer and phone screens showing the Mileagewise Mileage Log overview."
Social Media's Impact on SEO
Finally, the lack of a strong social presence on the website can make it difficult to communicate with customers, increase brand awareness, and increase potential traffic from social media. While Mileagewise has a great social media presence, SEOptimer identified one area that is lacking, YouTube.
SUGGESTION: Develop a content marketing strategy that will help increase your social presence while also building on your website domain authority. This could be done by incorporating a pillar-based marketing strategy that focuses on common issues and questions your customers have and then creating a YouTube video campaign around these topics.
SEO Keyword Research
Using both SEMrush and SEOptimer, I conducted a keyword traffic analysis to further understand keyword trends across Mileagewise's website.
SUGGESTION: SEOptimer identified many keywords with the dates in them, while it's not generally a good practice to use the date in your target keyword, I would still prioritize creating content at the end of the year/beginning of the year with the date so you can attract these searchers to your site.
Reporting Technical SEO Audits
So there you have it, my technical SEO audit of Mileagewise. While this is by no means an in-depth review, I was able to identify some key areas for improvement, especially when it comes to responsive web design.
To my dream job, or any future employer looking to hire my analytical brain, hit the contact button above — and Mileagewise, hit me up if you want me to remove this post.
Editor's note: While I didn't get my "dream" SEO job, I did learn a lot about interviewing for SEO positions and where I need to improve.