SEO Analysis
SEO Analysis
SEO stands for 'Search Engine Optimization.' It is the process of getting traffic from free, organic, editorial, or natural search results on search engines.
Domain age
Domain age refers to the time period that a website has been registered and active.
About the Test
This checks when a domain name was first registered to determine its age.
How do we check for this?
BuzzBoard is plugged into domain registry tools that provides this data.
What can I do about it?
Domain age is only one of many ranking factors of SEO and as an owner of a new domain you needn't worry that the website will never be able to compete. It may take more time, but focusing on quality content and gaining relevant inbound links will prove fruitful in time.
Why do we check for this?
Domain age is important for SEO purposes because the age of a website is a search engine ranking factor. Older website becomes more trusted in the eyes of the search engines as long as it has quality content and a robust portfolio of relevant inbound links that have been established over time. Unscrupulous websites usually change their domains regularly in order to avoid being blocked by internet filters, so younger websites are deliberately prevented by search engines and ranked lower in the search results.
Domain Redirection
Domain Redirects are an answer for domains to send their traffic and search engine bots to unique URLs, webpages develop multiple or duplicate URLs for various reasons.
About the Test
This checks if the domain redirects to a unique URL properly
Why do we check for this?
Web pages may have multiple URLs, which might come across as duplicate content. Common issue is while hosting a new site two different urls are created; with and without www. This has to be resolved by redirecting one to another or search engines may treat it as plagarism.
How do we check for this?
Check 'with' and 'without' www preceding the website URL and check if both URLs redirect to the same one. If they are, domain is redirected properly. Else, it is not.
What can I do about it?
Follow these proper steps when redirecting a website:
-
Step 1:
Compile a list of pages from the current website that needs to be redirected (E.g. mywebsite.com). -
Step 2:
Compile a list of pages from the new website that you will redirect to (E.g. mynewwebsite.com). -
Step 3:
Compare the two lists and match specific pages with their new relevant pages. -
Step 4:
Instead of redirecting the whole website, redirect each page on the website to its new relevant page.
FAQ(s)
We built responsive websites that use SSL Certificates. So, we are HTTPS, which is a plus for Google standards. Why do these websites show a red X for domain redirection in your report?
If the website URL for a business starts with 'www' then remove it and press enter. If it redirects to the ‘www’ again, then we confirm that the site has Domain redirection option.
Backlinks
A backlink, also called an "inbound link" or "incoming link," is created when another website creates links to the business' website in its pages.
About the Test
This checks for number of other websites linking to the business' website.
Why do we check for this?
Backlinks are one of the major metrics for ranking a web page. The volume and quality of incoming links to a site is imperative. Search engines like Google treat a link to website as a 'vote', thereby ranking it higher in search results.
How do we check for this?
We retrieve data from Google, Yahoo and Majestic SEO.
What can I do about it?
Here're a few areas to focus on to make the website rank better on search engine results:
- Getting links from the authority sites
- Invest your efforts, time and money on getting links from sites that are focused in the same niche as your site
FAQ(s)
My website has backlinks, but none of them appeared in the analysis. What happened?
Certain links, such as links from directory websites, may be excluded from the analysis. Other links including those added to a website using JavaScript may also be hard to find. As backlinks are based on a representative sample, not every link may be included in the results.
Robots.txt
A robots.txt file is used to prevent search engine crawlers from accessing specific pages or directories where the websites shouldn't be indexed.
About the Test
This checks if the robots.txt file is instructing search engine crawlers to crawl different parts of the website.
Why do we check for this?
Robots.txt file can have a large effect on how search engines crawl the business' website. It provides instructions to search engines on how to crawl the site and is supported by all major search engines.
How do we check for this?
Scan the business website for the robots.txt url.
What can I do about it?
Use Google Search Console's Robots.txt Tester to test the robot.txt file and to make sure the Googlebot isn't crawling through any restricted files.
Sitemap.xml
XML sitemaps contain the list of URLs that are available for indexing and allow the search engines to read webpages intelligently.
About the Test
This checks if XML sitemap on the website is operating as intended.
Why do we check for this?
Sitemap XML allows webmasters to include additional information about each URL: when it was last updated, how often it changes, and how important it is in relation to other URLs in the site.
How do we check for this?
Scan the business website for sitemap.xml url
What can I do about it?
Be sure to only include those pages that should be indexed on search engines and leave out those that have been blocked in a robots.txt file.
Avoid using any URLs that cause redirects or error codes and be sure to be consistent in using preferred URLs (with or without www.), correct protocols (http vs. https) and trailing slashes.
Also, use the robots.txt file to point search engine crawlers to the location of the sitemap.
FAQ(s)
Why couldn't you detect a sitemap.xml file on my website?
It may be because security exceptions were restricting sitemap.xml page from returning any data.
Title Tag Compliance
A title tag is a main text that describes an online document and is displayed on the top left of the window. It is the most important on-page SEO element. Each page should have a unique/key-word optimized title tag within 100 characters.
About the Test
This checks if the webpage has a unique/keyword optimized title tag on every page within 100 characters.
Why do we check for this?
Title tags are a major factor in helping search engines understand what your page is about and they are the first impression made on many of the visitors. Title tags are used in three key places: Search engine results pages (SERPs), web browsers, and social networks.
How do we check for this?
From homepage html content. Check if the title length is between 10 to 100.
What can I do about it?
Woohoo! HTML title tag appears in browser tabs, bookmarks, and in search result pages.
Keep the title tags clear and concise (50-60 characters). Include most important keywords in the text.
Location In Title
Including the business' location in Title Tags.
About the Test
This checks if the location of the business is included in a title tag.
Why do we check for this?
Including location in Title Tags helps with keyword ranking and getting discovered by desired audience through local searches.
How do we check for this?
Check for the location in all homepage links.
What Can I do about it?
Woohoo! The location of the business is included in a title tag of its website.
Remember to update it, if the business' location had changed.
FAQ(s)
Is this the only signal that it is used by Search Engines like Google for local listings?
No, there are several other signals Google uses to work out the relevance of a local listing: location, proximity, completeness of the profile/information, outside references in directories, mentions of numbers etc.,.
Unique Title
Perfect title tag on a page is Unique to other pages on the website. It minimises any duplication, especially on larger sites.
About the Test
This checks if the title tags in each page of the website is unique.
Why do we check for this?
Duplicate page titles across a site are often a sign of poor indexation control and confuse users when they are all displayed in search engine results.
How do we check for this?
Check the homepage links and get the title from up to 10 pages of the business website. If Total links = Total unique titles, it's a check. Else, Cross.
What can I do about it?
Woohoo! We found the unique title tags on each page of the business' website.
Meta Description Compliance
The meta description is a type of hidden information on a webpage, a 160 character snippet, a tag in HTML, that summarizes a page's content.
About the Test
This checks whether metadata is present and being used correctly.
Why do we check for this?
Optimizing the meta description is a very important aspect of on-page SEO. Correct use of metadata improves the placement in search engine results.
How do we check for this?
From homepage html content. Check if the title length is between 70 - 200.
What can I do about it?
Woohoo! The business has meta descriptions for its webpages!
FAQ(s)
Why is meta description important for a website?
For gaining user click-through from search engine result pages.
Headings Included
The header tag, or the H1 tag in HTML, will usually be the title of a post or an emphasized text on a webpage. It will usually be text with largest size that stands out amongst other header tags like an h2, h3, h4, etc.,.
About the Test
This checks for appropriate use of headings on the webpages.
Why do we check for this?
Headings are important for organizing and structuring content on a webpage. Semantically correct structure is good for search engine optimization and helps visitors easily access various content.
How do we check for this?
Check whether headings are used in the right order (E.g.. H1,H2,H3,...,H6) on the homepage. There should be at least one H1 in a page.
What Can I do about it?
Woohoo! We found H1 tags in the webpages.
Make sure that headings are defined in a semantically correct structure, i.e. always start with an H1 tag. This is used to summarize the page content.
The remaining tags - H2, H3, H4 and so forth - are intended to summarize and partition sections within the content.
FAQ(s)
Why are Headings important?
Search engines use headings as an indicator of which text is most important on a page. Given two otherwise identical pages, in search results, the one with headings would appear above than the one that doesn’t.
Each lower level of heading carries lesser weightage in a search engine. So, a keyword appearing in a heading 1 influences search engines more than the same word in a heading 2.
Image Alt Text
Sometimes search engines cannot read images, so it is helpful to provide alternative text called "alt-tags". The Alt tag is probably the most important image optimization factor, Alt stands for alternate.
About the Test
This analysis checks all images on a website to see if they are correctly optimized for alt-tags in accordance to the latest best-practices.
Why do we check for this?
Alt tags are the alternate text displayed when the image is not available, and search engines use this text to identify what the image is.
How do we check for this?
Fetch images which have a corresponding 'alt text' attribute and divide them by all the image tags from HTML.
If the image count is less than or equal to 5, 70% images should have the alt text to get a favorable result. If the image count is more than 5, 50% images should have the alt text.
What can I do about it?
Woohoo! A good number of images on the business' website, have alt tags.
Consider adding alt tags to all images on the website. Also, adding width and height attributes to all image tags, would help optimize them better. The width and height you specify should be the same as the source image.
Frames Excluded
Frames is the use of multiple, independently controllable sections on a website, which can cause difficulty in navigation. Webpages need to have their frames excluded in order to get indexed properly
About the Test
This checks if frames are excluded on the business' website.
Why do we check for this?
Frames make it difficult for search engine bots to crawl through and index webpages. Pages that use frames or iframes display several URLs within a single page, which confuses the bot.
How do we check for this?
Check the frame, myframe, iframe and iframe codes
in HTML content of the homepage.
Check = Frames are excluded
Cross = Frames are not excluded
What Can I do about it?
Follow these proper steps when redirecting a website:
-
Step 1:
Compile a list of pages from the current website that needs to be redirected (E.g. mywebsite.com). -
Step 2:
Compile a list of pages from the new website that you will redirect to (E.g. mynewwebsite.com). -
Step 3:
Compare the two lists and match specific pages with their new relevant pages. -
Step 4:
Instead of redirecting the whole website, redirect each page on the website to its new relevant page.
Flash Excluded
Excluding Flash or Flash code from a website. Flash on a webpage increases its page-load time and is not always compatible with all browsers.
About the Test
This checks if flash is excluded on the business' website.
Why do we check for this?
Flash is not a wise choice for websites that want to achieve good search engine rankings - it increases page-load time and is massively inaccessible by search engine bots. Flash might be attractive for user interface but is not SEO friendly.
How do we check for this?
Check for the flash-enabled object and embed tags
in the HTML content, on the homepage.
Check = Website doesn't include Flash
Cross = Website includes flash
What can I do about it?
Uh Oh! The business has flash elements on its website.
Technologies - SEO
There are various technologies available out there to help drive better SEO.
About the Test
This analysis checks whether a website is using any technologies for SEO.
Why do we check for this?
Use of technologies is recommended to increase the effectivity and efficiency of a websites out reach and performance.
Identification of one help you understand the maturity level of the business.
How do we check for this?
We check the patterns of SEO technologies in up to
first 10 pages of the business website , for e.g.
-
- Analytics and Tracking
- CMS
- E-commerce Platforms
- E-commerce Tools
- Search Marketing
- Small Business Marketing Software
What Can I do about it?
Woohoo! We found the following technologies that are being used for SEO for your website at present.
Connect with your webmasters to check for the latest technologies and upgrades available in the market which may further help you in your SEO efforts.
Text Content
Text content is important not only to communicate with the visitors, but it also helps get the website indexed and ranked by search engines.
About the Test
This analyzes if the text content on the website meets with basic parameters of SEO.
Why do we check for this?
Search engines need at least 200 words of text content on each page to properly index and rank a page, and more than 800 words can indicate a lack of topical focus.
How do we check for this?
Check the BuzzBoard API with business website as parameter. If we receive at least 200 words of text content from API, it indicates SEO friendly content on the website.
What can I do about it?
Woohoo! The business has appropriate amount of text content for SEO on its website.
Rich Snippets
Rich snippets is the term used to describe structured data markup that website operators add to their existing HTML.
About the Test
This checks for the presence of rich snippets on the business' website.
Why do we check for this?
Rich snippets allow search engines to better understand the type of information contained on each web page. This helps increase the clicks your search listings, and in the long-term will improve your SEO results by increasing rankings and overall traffic.
How do we check for this?
We check if the website homepage contains the following elements: micro_date, micro_format, rdfa. The presence of these elements indicate the presence of rich snippets in the website.
What Can I do about it?
Woohoo! We found rich snippets in the business' website.
Properly implemented rich snippets means an increase in your search click-through rates by 20-30%.
Source: Yoast.comMoz
FAQ(s)
Can you tell me a little bit more about rich snippets, how to create them, and any other information which is useful?
Rich snippets include additional information like reviews and ratings. These help boost the organic search result exposure of a website, making the website rank higher in a given category.
SEF URL
SEO Friendly URLs (or search engine friendly URLs) are human-readable URLs of pages on the website that make sense to both humans and search engines.
About the Test
This checks whether the website has search engine friendly URLs or not.
Why do we check for this?
Search engine friendly (SEF) URLs clearly explain the path to the particular page, making sense to both humans and search engines.
How do we check for this?
Fetch all the homepage links from the website, excluding
social media urls and links with file extensions
like .docx, pdf links. Check if any bad characters
like '&', '#', '_', '?', '+', '=', '%' exist
in those links. If no bad characters are shown, then
the URLS are search engine friendly.
Check = SEF URL Count is equal to Total Links
Cross = SEF URL Count is not equal to Total Links
What can I do about it?
The business' website has SEF URLs.
We recommend that you use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) in your URLs.
The URL http://www.example.com/green-dress.html is a more effective URL than http://www.example.com/green_dress.html.
Remember, overtly complex URLs, cause problems for crawlers by creating unnecessarily high numbers of URLs that point to identical or similar content on your site.
Sitemap.html
It is a bulleted outline text version of the site navigation.
About the Test
This checks whether a website is using a HTML sitemap or not
Why do we check for this?
An HTML sitemap allows site visitors to easily navigate a website.
How do we check for this?
1. Fetch all the homepage links in the website and check them for SitemapTypes in HTML data. If found it indicates the presence of an HTML sitemap on the website.
2. Hit the website address with 'http://www.example.com/sitemap.html'. "200" as response code, indicates the sitemap.html on the website. Else, it is not.
What Can I do about it?
Woohoo! We found sitemap.html on the business' website.
Here's are a few points to help you create the most efficient style sitemap for the website:
Primary pages are the buttons that are always visible, often including drop downs - Products, About Us, Contact, and Blog Next, consider the secondary pages
Trust Flow
This metric analyzes how trustworthy a site is by measuring its quality.
About the Test
This test checks measure the trustworthiness of a website.
Why do we check for this?
Trust Flow is a link metric that measures webpages for their trustworthiness, on a scale of 0-100. The trust flow score for a webpage is derived by measuring the backlinks of the site to trusted seed sites. The closer the links are to trusted sites, the higher is the score, and vice versa.
How do we check for this?
We get the trust flow score for your website from MajesticSEO.
What can I do about it?
The trust flow score of your website is 17.
Try and create backlinks from trusted sites to obtain a higher trust flow score.
For additional training opportunities contact Phillip Cortez
-
phillip@buzzboard.com
