The 15-Step SEO Audit Checklist
Written by Brian Dean
![The 19-Step SEO Audit Checklist](png/seo-site-audit-post-banner.png)
Today Iโm going to show you exactly how to do an SEO audit in 2024.
In fact, this is the same process thatโs helped me grow my organic traffic by 28.55% over the last year:
![Backlinko – Organic traffic increase Backlinko – Organic traffic increase](png/backlinko-organic-traffic-increase-2021.png)
So if you want to get higher Google rankings, youโll love the actionable steps in this guide.
Letโs get started.
- Step #1: Check To See If Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly
- Step #2: Make Sure Google Indexes ONE Version of Your Website
- Step #3: Speed Up Your Site
- Step #4: Find and Delete โZombie Pagesโ
- Step #5: Find and Fix Indexing Problems
- Step #6: Check Your Organic Traffic
- Step #7: Improve Your On-Page SEO
- Step #8: Set Up Keyword Rank Tracking
- Step #9: Analyze Your Backlinks
- Step #10: Fix Broken Links
- Step #11: Competitor Analysis
- Step #12: Make Your Content 10x Better
- Step #13: Optimize For UX Signals
- Step #14: Flatten Your Website Architecture
- Step #15: Launch a Skyscraper Post
- Bonus Step #1: Get More From Your Internal Links
- Bonus Step #2: Use a Site Audit Tool
- Bonus Step #3: Optimize for Featured Snippets
Step #1: Check To See If Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly
Mobile SEO is more important than ever.
Why?
First off, 60% of Google searches come from mobile devices.
![Google searches – 60% mobile Google searches – 60% mobile](png/google-searches-60-percent-mobile-1.png)
Second, Google started using their Mobile-First Algorithm.
![Google using mobile-first algorithm Google using mobile-first algorithm](png/google-using-mobile-first-algorithm-1.png)
This means that Google now uses the mobile version of your site for mobile AND desktop searches.
![Google always uses mobile site for searches Google always uses mobile site for searches](png/google-always-uses-mobile-site-for-searches-1.png)
The question is:
How do you know if your site is mobile-friendly?
Use Googleโs Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool.
![Mobile-Friendly Test Mobile-Friendly Test](png/mobile-friendly-test-1.png)
Just pop your site into the tool…
![Mobile-Friendly Test – Enter site Mobile-Friendly Test – Enter site](png/mobile-friendly-test-enter-site-1.png)
…and youโll see whether or not Google considers your site optimized for mobile devices.
![Google’s mobile friendly test Google's mobile friendly test](png/google-mobile-friendly-test-2.png)
Step #2: Make Sure Google Indexes ONE Version of Your Website
Did you know itโs possible to have different versions of your site indexed in Google?
Itโs true.
For example, here are 4 different versions of the same site:
- http://yoursite.com
- https://yoursite.com
- http://www.yoursite.com
- https://www.yoursite.com
To you and me, those URLs are pretty much the same.
But not to Google.
And unless you redirect these versions properly, Google will consider them completely separate websites.
(Not good.)
Fortunately, this is easy to check… and fix.
Just type each of the 4 different versions into your browser.
They should all end up on the same URL:
![Different versions of the same site Different versions of the same site](png/different-versions-of-the-same-site-2.png)
In my case, the โWWWโ version of my site redirects to backlinko.com.
And when someone visits the HTTP version of my site, they get redirected to the HTTPS version.
All good.
If a version of your site isnโt redirecting properly, no worries.
Just 301 redirect it to the version you want to use.
Then, move onto step #3.
Step #3: Speed Up Your Site
Years back Google confirmed that your siteโs loading speed is a ranking factor.
![A site’s loading speed is a ranking factor A site's loading speed is a ranking factor](png/sites-loading-speed-is-ranking-factor-1.png)
And a while ago they rolled out a new update that makes speed even MORE important.
![Google update makes speed more important Google update makes speed more important](png/google-update-makes-speed-more-important-1.png)
Hereโs how to get your site to load REALLY fast:
First, clean up your siteโs HTML code.
You can easily find problems with your code with PageSpeed Insights.
![PageSpeed Insights – Homepage results PageSpeed Insights – Homepage results](png/pagespeed-insights-homepage-results.png)
Pro Tip: Donโt just analyze your homepage. Make sure to also test popular pages from your site, like blog posts, service pages, and category pages.
Second, run a speed test.
This type of test actually loads your page… and lets you know about bottlenecks that slow things down.
![WebPageTest – Results WebPageTest – Results](png/webpagetest-results-1.png)
I personally use WebPageTest.org. But GTMetrix is really good too.
Third, crunch your images.
Huge images can bring your site speed to a screeching halt.
Thatโs why I recommend compressing your images with a tool like Kraken.
![Kraken homepage Kraken homepage](png/kraken-homepage.png)
Pro Tip: Upgrade your hosting. If you spend $10 per month on hosting, donโt expect fast loading times. A few years back I switched from a budget host to $200/month premium hosting. And the speed difference was insane.
Step #4: Find and Delete โZombie Pagesโ
Type site:yourwebsite.com into Google.
![“site:yourwebsite” into Google "site:yourwebsite" into Google](png/site-yourwebsite-into-google-1.png)
This will show you how many pages Google has indexed:
![Google – Pages indexed in SERPs Google – Pages indexed in SERPs](png/google-pages-indexed-in-serps.png)
If this number is higher than you thought, youโre not alone.
In fact…
Many sites have 50-75% MORE indexed pages than theyโd expect.
(I call these extra pages โZombie Pagesโ.)
As it turns out, deleting Zombie Pages can get you A LOT more organic traffic.
For example, Sean from Proven deleted over 9k Zombie Pages from his site…
…which helped boost his Google traffic by nearly 50%:
![Proven – Google traffic boost Proven – Google traffic boost](png/proven-google-traffic-boost-1.png)
Why does this work so well?
Well, Google has said that more content doesnโt make your site better.
![Search Engine Roundtable – Google: More content isn’t better Search Engine Roundtable – Google: More content isn't better](png/seroundtable-google-more-content-not-better.png)
And when you delete Zombie Pages, you give Google what it wants.
Pro Tip: Deleting Zombie Pages also makes the rest of this SEO audit MUCH easier. Fewer pages=fewer problems
With that, here are the most common types of Zombie Pages:
- Archive pages
- Category and tag pages (WordPress)
- Search result pages
- Old press releases
- Boilerplate content
- Thin content (<50 words)
Which leads us to our second step…
Step #5: Find and Fix Indexing Problems
Next, itโs time to find web pages that Google isnโt indexing.
To do that, fire up the good olโ Google Search Console.
The โIndex Coverageโ report shows you a list of pages that they canโt index for some reason.
![Index coverage report Index coverage report](png/index-coverage-report-1.png)
As you can see, Backlinko is pretty much error-free.
All good right?
Maybe.
To double check everything is A-OK, I recommend a free SEO tool called Screaming Frog.
![Screamingfrog Screamingfrog](png/screaming-frog-1.png)
Screaming Frog crawls your site the same way Google would. And it lets you know about pages that it canโt access.
![Screamingfrog – Overview Screamingfrog – Overview](png/screaming-frog-overview-1.png)
(For example, if youโre accidentally blocking a page with your robots.txt file… or the page has a noindex tag.)
So if you find a page thatโs blocked, double-check that itโs meant to be blocked.
For example, we used to paginate comments here at Backlinko.
![Backlinko comment pagination Backlinko comment pagination](png/backlinko-comment-pagination-1.png)
And I didโt want Google to index every single comment page. So we threw a noindex tag on those pages.
![Noindex tag Noindex tag](png/noindex-tag-1.png)
In this case, the pages that are blocked are meant to be blocked.
And once youโve confirmed that Google can access all of the pages you want them to access, itโs time to…
Step #6: Check Your Organic Traffic
Now itโs time to see how much organic traffic youโre getting.
To do that, head over to Google Analytics.
Then, go to Acquisition >> All Traffic >> Channels.
![Google Analytics sidebar Google Analytics sidebar](png/google-analytics-sidebar-1.png)
Hit โOrganic Searchโ.
![Hit “Organic Search” in Google Analytics Hit "Organic Search" in Google Analytics](png/hit-organic-search-in-google-analytics-post.png)
And youโll see how many people visited your site from search engines last month.
![Google Analytics – Organic visitors to post Google Analytics – Organic visitors to post](png/google-analytics-organic-visitors-to-post.png)
Next, set the dates to the last 6-8 months.
And youโll see whether or not your organic traffic is trending in the right direction:
![Organic Traffic sessions trends Organic Traffic sessions trends](png/organic-traffic-sessions-trends-post.png)
As you can see, my organic traffic has gradually increased over the last few months.
Now:
If your organic traffic is flat (or declining), no worries.
The goal in this step is just to establish benchmarks.
Things should start to improve once you finish this SEO audit.
Speaking of…
Step #7: Improve Your On-Page SEO
Itโs no secret that on-page SEO is super important.
That said:
You probably donโt have time to optimize every page on your site.
Fortunately, you donโt have to.
Hereโs what to do instead:
First, identify your 5 most important pages.
These can be pages that:
- Target an important keyword
- Get less traffic than they did back in the day
- Already rank well… but have the potential to crack the top 5
For example…
I published a list of best free SEO tools.
![Backlinko – Best free SEO tools Backlinko – Best free SEO tools](png/backlinko-best-free-seo-tools-2021.png)
Besides the basics (like including my keyword in my title tag), I didnโt do much to optimize this page.
And because itโs already on the first page for my target keyword…
![Google SERP – Best SEO tools Google SERP – Best SEO tools](png/google-serp-best-seo-tools.png)
…it has a good chance of cracking the top 5.
Then, optimize your page with the strategies in this video.
Now:
If youโre REALLY pressed for time and donโt have time to implement everything from the video, focus on these 5 strategies:
- Include your keyword in your title tag
- Include your keyword in first 100 words
- Add 5+ external links
- Add 5+ internal links
- Use LSI keywords
Once those strategies are in place, letโs dive right into step #8:
Step #8: Set Up Keyword Rank Tracking
Now itโs time to start tracking your rankings in the SERPs.
There are a million rank tracking tools out there.
But to me, the best out there is probably SEMrush.
Why?
SEMrush is awesome because it doesnโt just track the keywords you give it.
(Although it does that too.)
![SEMrush – Keyword tracking SEMrush – Keyword tracking](png/semrush-keyword-tracking-1.png)
Whatโs cool about SEMrush is that it automatically finds keywords that you rank for.
![SEMrush – Tracking ranked-for keywords at Backlinko SEMrush – Tracking ranked-for keywords at Backlinko](png/semrush-tracking-ranked-for-keywords-at-backlinko.png)
Nice.
Step #9: Analyze Your Backlinks
Thereโs no doubt about it:
Backlinks are still REALLY important.
In fact, our study of 11.8 million search results found that backlinks correlate with rankings more than any other factor.
![The number one result in Google has almost 4X more backlinks than-position 2-10 The number one result in Google has almost 4X more backlinks than-position 2-10](png/the-number-one-result-in-google-has-almost-4x-more-backlinks-than-position-2-10.png)
And now itโs time to analyze your backlink profile.
Hereโs how:
First, enter your homepage into a backlink analysis tool.
(Iโm using Semrush for this step. But you can also use any other SEO tool out there.)
And youโll get a report on your links:
![Semrush – Backlinko – Backlinks Semrush – Backlinko – Backlinks](png/semrush-backlinko-backlinks.png)
Then, check out referring domains and Domain Authority.
Referring domains = the number of different websites that link to you.
![Semrush – Backlinko – Referring domains Semrush – Backlinko – Referring domains](png/semrush-backlinko-referring-domains.png)
Donโt sweat the exact number too much. Youโre just benchmarking where youโre at.
You also want to take a look at your Domain Authority.
![Semrush – Backlinko – Authority score Semrush – Backlinko – Authority score](png/semrush-backlinko-authority-score.png)
Every tool has its own name for โDomain Authorityโ.
(For example, Semrush calls it โAuthority Scoreโ.)
But the idea is the same:
Domain Authority tells you how much authority your site has… based on a combination of the quantity AND quality of your backlinks.
Finally, look for toxic links.
To do that, check out the most common anchor text in your link profile:
![Ahrefs – Most common anchor text Ahrefs – Most common anchor text](png/ahrefs-most-common-anchor-text-1.png)
If you see a lot of branded anchor text (like โBacklinkoโ and โBacklinko.comโ), youโre good.
Fortunately, thatโs the case with my link profile:
![Branded anchor text Branded anchor text](png/branded-anchor-text-1.png)
But if you notice lots of keyword-rich anchor text (like โSEO blogโ and โSEO training companyโ), thatโs a sign of a toxic link profile.
Hereโs an example of a link profile with spammy anchor text:
![Spammy anchor text link profile Spammy anchor text link profile](png/spammy-anchor-text-link-profile-1.png)
And if you want to dig deeper, take a look at some of your backlinks.
![Ahrefs – Check backlinks Ahrefs – Check backlinks](png/ahrefs-check-backlinks-1.png)
Most of your backlinks should come from REAL websites.
For example, you can see that most of my links come from blogs and news sites that write about digital marketing and SEO.
![Ahrefs – Backlinko – Good backlinks Ahrefs – Backlinko – Good backlinks](png/ahrefs-backlinko-good-backlinks-1.png)
(Which is good.)
But if you notice that most of your links are from shady sites, you might want to disavow those links.
Pro Tip: Spammy links are a normal part of any link profile. So donโt stress if you see a few black hat links.
Step #10: Fix Broken Links
A few years back Google stated that they donโt โlose sleepโ over broken links.
![Google: “GoogleBot doesn’t lose sleep over broken links” Google: "GoogleBot doesn't lose sleep over broken links"](png/google-dont-lose-sleep-over-broken-links-1.png)
That said:
Broken links are bad for user experience… which CAN hurt your SEO.
(More on that later.)
With that, hereโs how to fix broken links on your site:
First, find broken pages on your site that Google canโt index.
You can find this info in the Google Search Consoleโs โIndex Reportโ.
![Google Search Console – Index – Coverage Google Search Console – Index – Coverage](png/google-seach-console-index-coverage.png)
I stay on top of broken links, so Iโm in the clear.
Hereโs what youโll see if your pages are giving Google 404 errors:
![Google Search Console – Index errors Google Search Console – Index errors](png/gsc-index-errors-1.png)
Sometimes you deleted pages for a reason (for example, you deleted a bunch of Zombie Pages).
If so, you donโt need to do anything. Google will eventually stop reporting these broken pages as problems.
But if Google canโt access a page that you want to rank, you obviously want to get that page back up ASAP.
Next, use a tool to find broken internal and external links.
You can use Semrush or a free tool like Broken Link Check.
![Online Broken Link Checker Online Broken Link Checker](png/online-broken-link-checker.png)
Both work.
Step #11: Competitor Analysis
Now itโs time to spy on your competitors.
Hereโs how to do it:
First, find your competitorsโ best keywords.
You can easily find this info using Semrush.
![Backlinko – SEMrush – Best organic keywords Backlinko – SEMrush – Best organic keywords](png/backlinko-semrush-best-organic-kws.png)
Needless to say:
If your competitors rank for these keywords, you have a good chance to rank for them too.
Which makes them GREAT keywords to target.
Second, check out the pages that are ranking for those terms.
Then, figure out what those pages have in common. That way, you know what type of content works best in your niche.
For example, if you look at some of my highest-ranking pages…
![Backlinko – Best ranking content Backlinko – Best ranking content](png/backlinko-best-ranking-content.png)
…youโll notice that my content:
- Is long-form (3k+ words)
- Contains custom visuals and illustrations
- Cites research studies, data and statements from Google
- Isnโt super technical
Finally, see who links to those pages.
To do that, pop a URL into Semrush.
![Semrush – Backlinko – Link building Semrush – Backlinko – Link building](png/semrush-backlinko-link-building.png)
And take a look at the links pointing to that page.
![Link building post – Backlinks Link building post – Backlinks](png/link-building-post-backlinks.png)
This tells you who the influencers in your niche are. That way, you can start to build relationships with them.
(Which will come in handy when you get started with link building.)
Step #12: Make Your Content 10x Better
Back in step #7, you SEO-optimized your most important pages.
And now itโs time to make the content on those pages 10x better.
Why?
Itโs simple:
To rank in 2024, your content needs to kick butt.
With that, hereโs how to make those pages 10x better:
1. VERY short intros.
No one wants to read long-winded introductions like these:
![Long intro Long intro](png/long-intro-1.png)
Instead, keep your intros short and sweet:
![Backlinko – Optimize for voice search – Intro Backlinko – Optimize for voice search – Intro](png/backlinko-optimize-for-voice-search-intro.png)
2. Small paragraphs.
People donโt read online. They skim.
And small paragraphs help skimmers consume your content better.
![Use small paragraphs Use small paragraphs](png/use-small-paragraphs-1.png)
3. Lots of subheaders.
Subheaders help break up your content into digestible chunks.
![Use subheaders Use subheaders](png/use-subheaders-1.png)
Use them early and often.
4. Use visuals, images and video
Multimedia makes your content MUCH more compelling.
(Plus, visuals help people learn and understand.)
For example, in this SEO checklist post, I use lots of images:
![SEO checklist post – Images SEO checklist post – Images](png/seo-checklist-post-images.png)
Visuals:
![Use visuals Use visuals](png/use-visuals-1.png)
And videos:
![Use video Use video](png/use-video-1.png)
And because my content is easy to read and understand, the average user spends 05:08 on that page:
![SEO Checklist – Average time on page SEO Checklist – Average time on page](png/seo-checklist-average-time-on-page-1.png)
Step #13: Optimize For UX Signals
RankBrain is Googleโs AI algorithm.
Unlike the old Google, RankBrain measures how users interact with your site.
![RankBrain uses UX signals RankBrain uses UX signals](png/rankbrain-uses-ux-signals-1.png)
Which means:
To rank in Google today, you need to optimize for UX Signals.
In other words, your content needs to make users happy.
When you do, Googleโs going to give you a HUGE rankings boost.
For example…
A while back I noticed that this post on my site wasnโt ranking that well.
![Backlinko – “SEO Campaign” old post Backlinko – "SEO Campaign" old post](png/backlinko-seo-campaign-old-post.png)
(It was hovering between the 10th and 15th spots for my target keyword: โSEO Campaignโ.)
![SEO Campaign – Historic ranking SEO Campaign – Historic ranking](png/seo-campaign-historic-ranking-1.png)
And when I looked at my content, I realized why…
My content didnโt give people searching for โSEO campaignโ what they wanted.
Instead of steps, they got a case study of ONE specific strategy:
![SEO Campaign – Only one case study SEO Campaign – Only one case study](png/seo-campaign-only-one-case-study-1.png)
My post also had lots of outdated screenshots:
![Outdated screenshots Outdated screenshots](png/outdated-screenshots.png)
In short:
Because my content wasn’t optimized for UX signals, Google buried it.
So I decided to overhaul the entire post.
Specifically, I:
- Replaced the case study with a step-by-step guide
- Included more actionable tips for beginner and intermediate SEOs
- Added examples from several different industries
- Lots more
In the end, I had a piece of up-to-date content that was a PERFECT fit for someone searching for โSEO campaignโ:
![Backlinko – SEO campaign Backlinko – SEO campaign](png/backlinko-seo-campaign-2021.png)
Sure enough, because my content is designed to make Google searchers happy, my page quickly went from #15 to the #4 spot in Google.
And in a while it hit the #1 spot:
![How to Launch an SEO Campaign post in SERPs How to Launch an SEO Campaign post in SERPs](png/how-to-launch-an-seo-campaign-post-in-serps.png)
Very cool.
Step #14: Flatten Your Website Architecture
Your site architecture is simple:
Itโs how the pages on your site are organized.
As it turns out, your website architecture is REALLY important for SEO.
Why?
Two reasons:
First, site architecture helps search engines find and index all of your pages.
When your siteโs architecture is a big olโ mess, Googleโs gonna have trouble finding all of your pages:
![Complicated site architecture Complicated site architecture](png/complicated-site-architecture-2.png)
But when your site architecture links your pages together, Google can easily find and index your entire site.
![Good site architecture Good site architecture](png/good-site-architecture.png)
Second, architecture tells Google which pages on your site are most important.
In general, the closer a page is to your homepage, the more important it is.
![Closer to homepage = More important Closer to homepage = More important](png/closer-to-homepage-more-important.png)
The question is:
How should your siteโs architecture look?
Well, I know I said that this SEO audit wasnโt going to be super technical.
So Iโm going to keep this super duper simple…
You want to keep your site architecture flat.
In other words, not like this:
![Deep site architecture Deep site architecture](png/deep-site-architecture-2.png)
Instead, you want it to look like this:
![Site architecture – Flat Site architecture – Flat](png/site-architecture-flat.png)
(Super flat.)
Or put another way:
It shouldnโt take more than 3 clicks to go from your homepage to any page on your site.
![Any page should be fewer than three clicks from the homepage Any page should be fewer than three clicks from the homepage](png/any-page-should-be-less-than-three-clicks-from-home.png)
In some cases, youโll need a developer to completely overhaul your siteโs navigation.
But you can also just add internal links to different pages…
![Link Building – The Definitive Guide Link Building – The Definitive Guide](png/link-building-the-definitive-guide.png)
…and add links to the sidebar:
![Add sidebar links Add sidebar links](png/add-sidebar-links-1.png)
As long as users can reach any of your pages in 3 clicks or less, youโre good.
Step #15: Launch a Skyscraper Post
The last step of this SEO audit is to publish a piece of content using The Skyscraper Technique.
Why?
It helps Google quickly find and index all of the changes you just made.
For example, look at the spike in โPages crawled per dayโ whenever I publish something new:
![Backlinko – Pages crawled per day Backlinko – Pages crawled per day](png/backlinko-pages-crawled-per-day.png)
And this video will show you exactly how to execute the Skyscraper Technique process:
But as a quick recap, hereโs how it works…
First, check out the top 10 results for a keyword that you want to rank for.
For example, some time ago, I published a piece of content called: โ27 Ways to Increase Website Trafficโ.
![Backlinko – Increase website traffic Backlinko – Increase website traffic](png/backlinko-increase-website-traffic-2021.png)
Before I wrote a single word, I analyzed the first page for keywords like โhow to get more trafficโ:
![SERPs for “how to get more traffic” SERPs for "how to get more traffic"](png/serps-for-how-to-get-more-traffic.png)
The content I found was pretty good. But nothing special.
Next, publish content thatโs 5x better than what you found.
I took things up a notch with my post.
How?
I included lots of detailed steps:
![Increase website traffic – Detailed steps Increase website traffic – Detailed steps](png/increase-website-traffic-detailed-steps-1.png)
Screenshots:
![Increase website traffic – Screenshots Increase website traffic – Screenshots](png/increase-website-traffic-screenshots-1.png)
And techniques that are working RIGHT NOW:
![Increase website traffic – Techniques working right now Increase website traffic – Techniques working right now](png/increase-website-traffic-techniques-working-right-now-1.png)
Finally, itโs time to promote your post.
This is key.
When Google sees a flood of people (and links) coming to your site, they say: โThis site is blowing up right now. We need to send Googlebot there right now.โ
(As I mentioned earlier, this helps Google quickly process all of the changes you made to your site.)
In my case, I sent out a newsletter to my email subscribers:
![Increase website traffic – Newsletter Increase website traffic – Newsletter](png/increase-website-traffic-newsletter-1.png)
And promoted it on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter:
![Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter promotion Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter promotion](png/facebook-linkedin-and-twitter-promotion-1.png)
Bonus Step #1: Get More From Your Internal Links
Internal linking is one of the most underrated SEO strategies on the planet.
The question is:
How do you internal link the right way?
Itโs simple:
Make sure you link to high-priority pages as much as possible.
![Link to high-priority pages often Link to high-priority pages often](png/link-to-high-priority-pages-often.png)
Pro Tip: You might find a handful of non-important pages in this report. For example, you might have lots of links pointing to your privacy policy or contact page. Thatโs usually because you link to those pages from your siteโs navigation or footer. Donโt sweat it.
Bonus Step #2: Use a Site Audit Tool
I tried to keep this SEO audit process as non-techy as possible.
But if you want to dig deeper into your technical SEO, I highly recommend using an SEO audit tool.
Which tools do I recommend?
Actually, I use and recommend two.
The first is Seobility.
![Seobility – Site audit tool Seobility – Site audit tool](png/seobility-site-audit-tool.png)
Unlike most audit tools, Seobility is VERY easy to use. Plus, the reports are simple to understand and take action on.
![seobility – Report seobility – Report](png/seobility-report-1.png)
Even though SEMrush is mostly known as a keyword research tool, it has a surprisingly in-depth site audit feature.
![SEMrush – Audit SEMrush – Audit](png/semrush-audit-1.png)
Bonus Step #3: Optimize for Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets can DRAMATICALLY increase your organic traffic.
![Featured Snippets can increase organic traffic Featured Snippets can increase organic traffic](png/featured-snippets-can-increase-organic-traffic.png)
For example, a while back I got this page to show up in the Featured Snippet spot.
![Google SERP – Channel description – Featured snippet Google SERP – Channel description – Featured snippet](png/google-serp-channel-description-featured-snippet.png)
And organic traffic to that page shot up like a rocketship:
![“Channel Description” organic traffic increase from Featured Snippet "Channel Description" organic traffic increase from Featured Snippet](png/channel-description-organic-traffic-increase-from-featured-snippet-1.png)
How do you get your content in the Featured Snippet spot?
To show up in the Featured Snippet, you need to…
- Have your content optimized for mobile
- Have HTTPS installed
- Use lots of headers (H2 and H3 tags)
- Include short answer to questions (42 words)
- Link out to authority resources
Thatโs about it ๐
Now Itโs Your Turn
Thatโs it for this SEO audit process.
And now Iโd like to hear from you:
Do you have any questions about this process?
Or maybe you have a cool tip that I didnโt include here.
Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.