Shawn the SEO Geek

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Hidden SEO Errors Found in a Technical Website Audit

In the vast landscape of the internet, where visibility and accessibility reign supreme, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) stands as the cornerstone of a website's success. While many are well-versed in the basics of SEO, technical aspects often hide in the shadows, impacting a website's performance in ways that might not be immediately apparent.

A technical website audit is the flashlight in this darkness. It illuminates the hidden errors and issues that affect a website's SEO health. When conducted thoroughly, it uncovers a plethora of intricacies that might not be visible on the surface but significantly impact a site's search engine rankings and user experience.

 1. Crawl Errors

Search engine bots regularly navigate websites to index their content. When they encounter crawl errors, it hampers the process, resulting in incomplete indexing and potentially dropping pages from search results. These errors might include broken links, server errors, or issues with directives like 'noindex' that prevent specific pages from being crawled.

 2. Page Speed and Mobile Optimization

In an age where mobile usage dominates, having a mobile-friendly and fast-loading website is imperative. Slow-loading pages and poor mobile optimization directly impact user experience, leading to high bounce rates and lowered search rankings.

 3. URL Structure and Site Architecture

A messy URL structure and convoluted site architecture confuse both search engines and users. It's crucial to have a clear, logical, and organized structure to help search engines understand the hierarchy and relevance of content. Additionally, messy URLs can create duplicate content issues, impacting a site's visibility.

 4. Metadata and Structured Data

Accurate and optimized metadata, including title tags, meta descriptions, and structured data, play a pivotal role in search engine rankings. Errors in these elements or their absence altogether can result in diminished click-through rates and lower search visibility.

 5. HTTPS and Security Issues

Security is a critical factor in SEO audit. Websites without the secure HTTPS protocol may face penalties in search rankings. Moreover, issues like mixed content (HTTP and HTTPS elements combined) can harm user trust and impact a site's authority.

 6. Indexing and Canonicalization

Proper indexing and canonicalization ensure that search engines properly understand the original source of content and avoid indexing duplicate or similar content. Errors in these processes can dilute the ranking potential of a website's pages.

 7. Technical on-page elements

Technical elements such as image optimization, heading structures, and proper use of HTML tags are often overlooked but significantly impact SEO. Images without alt text, improper heading hierarchies, or misuse of tags can hinder a website's accessibility and crawlability.

Conducting a comprehensive technical website audit to address these hidden SEO errors is essential for maintaining and improving a website’s performance. Rectifying these issues often requires a combination of technical expertise and a deep understanding of SEO best practices.

By regularly shining a light on these hidden technical SEO audit, websites can bolster their visibility, improve user experience, and ascend in search engine rankings. Embracing a proactive approach to identifying and rectifying these issues is the key to a successful online presence in today’s digital landscape.

Remember, a technically sound website not only serves the search engines but, more importantly, caters to the visitors, providing them with a seamless and gratifying user experience.

A technical website audit is the compass that guides a site towards its SEO goals, uncovering hidden errors and leading the way to optimal performance and success in the digital realm.

[shawntheseogeek1]

What Makes an Enterprise SEO Audit Different from a Regular SEO Audit?

As an SEO consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with various clients, ranging from small businesses to large enterprises. When it comes to conducting SEO audits, it's crucial to understand that the approach for enterprises differs significantly from that of regular businesses. In this blog post, we will explore the key factors that make an enterprise SEO audit unique and why it requires a specialized approach.

 1. Scale and Complexity:

Enterprises often have a larger online footprint compared to regular businesses. They typically have multiple websites, subdomains, and vast amounts of content spread across various platforms. This scale and complexity require a comprehensive audit to identify issues and opportunities at every level. Unlike regular SEO audits that focus on a single website, enterprise audits delve into the interconnections between multiple domains, subdomains, and content management systems.

 2. Technical Infrastructure:

Enterprise websites usually have complex technical infrastructures, including content management systems, e-commerce platforms, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. These systems are often customized and integrated, making the technical audit more challenging. An enterprise SEO audit needs to assess the health and performance of these systems, ensuring they are optimized for search engines and user experience.

 3. Resource Allocation:

Enterprise organizations often have dedicated teams, including content creators, developers, marketers, and SEO specialists. Understanding how these resources are allocated and coordinated is essential for a successful SEO audit. Evaluating the effectiveness of resource allocation, collaboration, and communication becomes crucial to identify bottlenecks and streamline the SEO process across different teams.

 4. Keyword and Content Strategy:

Enterprises frequently operate in highly competitive industries, and their keyword and content strategies must align with their business objectives. Unlike regular SEO audits that may focus on a narrow set of keywords, enterprise audits must evaluate the entire keyword landscape. This involves analyzing keyword distribution across websites, identifying gaps, and ensuring content is targeted and optimized effectively across all platforms.

 5. Localization and Internationalization:

Many enterprises operate globally, catering to diverse markets with unique language and cultural nuances. An enterprise SEO audit must consider localization and internationalization factors, including multilingual content, hreflang tags, and geo-targeting. This aspect ensures that the website's visibility is maximized in different regions, supporting international growth and customer acquisition.

 6. Data and Analytics:

Enterprises generate a significant amount of data through various sources such as customer interactions, sales, and website analytics. An enterprise SEO audit needs to leverage this data to gain insights into user behavior, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions. Implementing advanced analytics tools and configuring tracking mechanisms are vital to effectively measure SEO performance and impact on the bottom line.

 Conducting enterprise SEO audits requires a specialized approach due to the scale, complexity, and unique challenges faced by large organizations. It involves assessing technical infrastructure, resource allocation, keyword and content strategies, localization, and internationalization, as well as leveraging data and analytics. By addressing these factors, an enterprise can unlock opportunities, optimize its online presence, and stay ahead of the competition in the ever-evolving world of search engine optimization. As an SEO agency, understanding these distinctions and tailoring the audit process accordingly can help businesses achieve sustainable growth and success.

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Unlocking B2B Success: A Comprehensive Guide to B2B SEO Strategies

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for businesses to thrive. When it comes to the B2B (business-to-business) sector, effective search engine optimization (SEO) strategies are crucial to ensure maximum visibility and generate valuable leads. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the world of B2B SEO and reveal the strategies that can unlock success for your business. Join us on this journey as we delve into the expertise of Shawn the SEO Geek, a renowned consultant in the field.

 1. Understanding B2B SEO

 B2B SEO Consultant encompasses the practices and techniques used to optimize a website and improve its visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords and phrases. Unlike B2C (business-to-consumer) SEO, B2B SEO targets a narrower audience, often consisting of industry professionals and decision-makers. To effectively implement B2B SEO, it is essential to understand the unique challenges and opportunities within the B2B landscape.

 2. Keyword Research and Targeting

 The foundation of any successful SEO campaign lies in thorough keyword research. Start by identifying keywords and phrases that are highly relevant to your B2B business, products, or services. Consider long-tail keywords that are specific and have lower competition. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Moz Keyword Explorer can assist you in this process.

 3. Content Marketing for B2B SEO

 Content marketing plays a pivotal role in B2B SEO success. Create high-quality, informative, and engaging content that addresses the pain points and challenges faced by your target audience. Develop a content calendar and focus on producing blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, and industry reports. Remember to optimize your content with relevant keywords, headers, and meta tags to enhance its visibility.

 4. On-Page Optimization

 On-page optimization involves optimizing various elements of your website to improve its search engine rankings. Start by optimizing your title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags with targeted keywords. Pay attention to URL structure, internal linking, and image optimization. Ensure that your website is user-friendly, fast-loading, and mobile-responsive to provide an optimal browsing experience.

 5. Building Quality Backlinks

 Backlinks are a crucial ranking factor in SEO. However, B2B businesses must focus on quality rather than quantity when it comes to link building. Seek opportunities to earn backlinks from reputable industry publications, directories, and authoritative websites. Networking with industry influencers, participating in guest blogging, and creating valuable industry resources can help you establish a strong backlink profile.

 6. Local SEO for B2B Businesses

 Even for B2B businesses operating on a national or global scale, local SEO strategies can be highly effective. Optimize your Google My Business profile, ensure consistency in your NAP (name, address, phone number) information across online directories, and encourage customers to leave positive reviews. Local SEO can enhance your visibility in local searches and establish trust among potential customers.

 7. Analytics and Measurement

 To track the success of your B2B SEO efforts, it is crucial to set up analytics and measurement tools. Utilize platforms like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor website traffic, keyword rankings, and user behavior. Regularly analyze the data to gain insights, make data-driven decisions, and refine your SEO strategies accordingly.

 In the competitive B2B landscape, unlocking success requires a well-rounded SEO strategy tailored specifically for your business. By understanding the fundamentals of B2B SEO, conducting thorough keyword research, optimizing on-page elements, building quality backlinks, leveraging local SEO, and utilizing analytics, you can enhance your online visibility, attract valuable leads, and drive business growth.

 Implementing these B2B SEO strategies will position your business as an industry leader and pave the way for sustained success in the digital realm. So, gear up and embark on your journey to unlock the full potential of B2B SEO!

[shawntheseogeek1]

The Times are Changing: How Digital Marketing has changed

If you are a business owner, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in digital marketing. The landscape of digital marketing changes rapidly, and what worked yesterday might not work today. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the changes that have taken place in digital marketing and how you can adapt your strategy to stay ahead of the curve.

 1. There is a shift from desktop to mobile

A few years ago, the majority of web traffic came from desktop computers. However, this is no longer the case. Nowadays, people are using their smartphones and tablets to access the internet more than ever before. In fact, according to Statista, "mobile phone internet usage exceeded desktop for the first time in October 2016." This trend shows no signs of slowing down, which means that businesses need to optimize their website for mobile devices if they want to stay relevant.

 2. Social media is more important than ever

Social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become essential tools for businesses of all sizes. In the past, social media was mostly used as a way to connect with friends and family members. However, nowadays people are using social media to discover new products and services, learn about brands they are interested in, and much more. If you want to reach your target audience on social media, you need to have a strong presence on the platform/s that they use the most.

 3. Google is changing the way it ranks websites

Google is constantly changing its algorithm, which means that businesses need to be prepared to adapt their SEO Agency strategy on a regular basis. The days of keyword stuffing and other spammy tactics are long gone; now Google values quality content that is informative and relevant to searchers. If you want your website to rank well on Google, you need to make sure that you are regularly publishing high-quality content that contains the keywords your target audience is searching for.

 4. You need to focus on customer retention as well as acquisition

In the past, businesses could get away with focusing solely on acquiring new customers through their marketing efforts. However, nowadays it is just as important (if not more so) to focus on customer retention and loyalty programs. With so much competition out there, it is easier than ever for customers to take their business elsewhere if they are not happy with your product or service. For this reason, it is essential that you focus on creating a good customer experience from start to finish; if you do this, you will be more likely to keep your customers happy and coming back for more.

 Email marketing (What’s old is new again), voice search (Alexa and Siri), Chatbots (How can I help?): These three things are going nowhere anytime soon!

 Digital marketing is always evolving; what worked even just a few years ago might not work today. As a business owner, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends so that you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. If you don’t have time to manage this, you can always hire an SEO Consultant or Digital Marketing Agency. Some of the biggest changes that have taken place in digital marketing include a shift from desktop to mobile devices, an increase in importance of social media platforms.

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SEO Tips for Shopify Sites: How to Optimize Your Store for Google

If you're running an online store on Shopify, you know that getting traffic is step one of a successful store. If you're looking to diversify where you're getting traffic from, you'll want to make sure that your site is as SEO friendly as possible.

This will help you rank higher in Google search results, and drive more traffic to your store. In this blog post, we'll discuss some of the best ways to optimize your Shopify site for Google. We'll cover topics such as title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and more! So if you're looking to increase your traffic from Google, read on!

Step One: Optimize your tags

Title tags are one of the most important on-page SEO factors. They are used to tell Google what your page is about, and they appear in the search results. Make sure that your title tags are descriptive and accurately reflect the content on your page. Meta descriptions are another important on-page SEO factor. They give searchers a brief description of what your page is about. Like title tags, meta descriptions appear in the search results. Make sure that your meta descriptions are interesting and accurately reflect the content on your page.

Step Two: Optimize your Headers

Header tags are used to structure the content on your pages. They give hierarchy to your content, making it easier for readers (and Google) to understand.

Header tags range from H1 to H6, with H1 being the most important. Make sure that you're using header tags to structure your content and make it easy to read!

Step Three: Optimize your images

Images are an important part of any web page, and they can also help you rank higher in Google search results. Make sure that your images are descriptive and have relevant keywords. You can also use alt text to describe your images, which will help Google understand what your image is about.

Step Four: Optimize your site for mobile

Mobile optimization is important for two reasons. First, more and more people are using mobile devices to access the internet. Second, Google has announced that they will be using mobile-first indexing, which means that they will primarily use the mobile version of your site to determine your rankings. Make sure that your site is responsive and easy to use on mobile devices!

Step Five: Optimize your content

Content is still king when it comes to SEO. Make sure that your content is well-written and informative. You should also include relevant keywords throughout your content, but don't stuff your keywords! Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing, and it will make your content difficult to read.

Step Six: Get some backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They help Google understand that your site is authoritative and trustworthy. You can get backlinks by guest blogging, writing informative blog posts, and creating helpful resources.

Step Seven: Monitor your progress

Once you've implemented all of these Shopify SEO tips, it's important to monitor your progress. You can do this by using Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools will help you track your traffic, keyword rankings, and more.

If you follow these SEO tips, you'll be well on your way to ranking higher in Google search results! Drive more traffic to your store and diversify your traffic sources with these simple tips. Do you have any other tips to share? Leave a comment below!

[shawntheseogeek1]

SEO Audit Checklist: How to Perform a Successful SEO Audit

If you’re like most business owners, you want to make sure that your website is performing at its best. That’s why it’s important to perform a SEO audit on a regular basis. In this blog post, we will provide you with a SEO audit checklist that will help you identify any potential problems with your website and fix them.

Here’s what you need to do to perform a successful SEO audit:

Identify your goals: What do you want to achieve with your website? Make sure that your goals are realistic and achievable. It’s amazing how many successful websites don’t have a goal in mind when they are developing their SEO strategy. By simply defining a strategy, you will be ahead of many of your competitors!

Check your website structure: Is your website easy to navigate? Do all of the pages on your website have unique titles and descriptions? Are all of the links on your website working properly? If you answer “no” to any of these questions, then you need to make some changes to your website.

Analyze your content: Does all of your content contain keywords that are relevant to your business? Is all of your content original and well-written? If not, then you need to improve it. More importantly, it is critical to make sure that your website’s content is friendly to your customers and not just Google.

Test your website speed: How fast does your website load? If it’s slow, then you need to work on optimizing your website. Slow websites are bad for SEO because they frustrate users and cause them to leave before they even have a chance to see what you have to offer.

Check your mobile friendliness: Is your website mobile-friendly? If not, then you need to make some changes so that it is. Most traffic generated by Google is on mobile devices, so mobile performance is critical! Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your website measures up.

Analyze your backlinks: Are the backlinks to your website high-quality? If not, then you need to work on getting more high-quality backlinks. One way to do this is by guest blogging on high-quality websites in your industry.

Analyze your competitors: What are your competitors doing that you’re not? This is an important question to ask when performing a SEO audit. By analyzing your competition, you can find areas where you can improve your own website.

Tools for SEO Audits

There are a number of different tools that you can use to perform a SEO audit. Here are some of our favorites:

– Moz

– Screaming Frog

– Google Analytics

– Google Search Console

– SEMrush

With these tools, you will be able to identify any potential problems with your website and fix them. As a result, you will see an improvement in your website’s traffic and ranking.

Identifying Technical SEO issues

One of the most important aspects of a SEO audit is identifying technical SEO issues. Technical SEO refers to the optimization of your website for search engines. It includes things like site structure, titles, descriptions, and keyword usage. By fixing these technical issues, you will see an improvement in your website’s ranking.

To identify technical SEO issues, we recommend using a tool like Screaming Frog. This tool will crawl your website and identify any technical SEO issues that need to be fixed.

Once you have identified the technical SEO issues, you need to fix them. Fortunately, most of these issues are relatively easy to fix. However, if you’re not comfortable making these changes yourself, then we recommend hiring a qualified SEO consultant to help you.

Improving Your Content

Another important aspect of a SEO audit is improving your content. As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to make sure that your content is relevant to your business and keywords. It should also be well-written and original. If you’re not sure how to improve your content, then we recommend hiring a professional copywriter.

By following this SEO audit checklist, you can be sure that you’re doing everything you can to optimize your website for the search engines. Contact us today if you need help with your SEO audit. We’d be happy to assist you.

SEO audits are important because they help business owners identify potential problems with their websites and take steps to fix them. With a little time and effort, anyone can perform a successful SEO audit.

[shawntheseogeek1]

Is Shopify good for SEO?

The simple answer is yes, Shopify is good for SEO. However, it isn’t a magic bullet that will guarantee top rankings and increased traffic overnight. It takes effort and optimization to make a Shopify store rank highly in search engines.

That being said, Shopify is a great platform for SEO because it is built with search engine optimization in mind. When you use Shopify, you get access to features and functionality that make it easy to optimize your store for search engines.

Shopify is good for SEO because:

-It has a clean and simple code structure that makes it easy for search engine crawlers to index your content.

-It allows you to create unique and descriptive URLs for your products and pages, which helps search engines understand what your pages are about.

-It provides built-in tools for generating sitemaps and submitting them to search engines, which makes it easier for them to find and index your pages.

-It offers a wide range of plugins and add-ons that can help you further optimize your store for better search engine visibility.

All that said, Shopify is great out of the box for Search Engine Optimization. But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t work to be done. Launching your website on Shopify doesn’t mean it will instantly rank.

How to do SEO on a Shopify Website

Here are a few tips to get you started on the right track:

-Choose the right Shopify plan: Choose the Shopify plan that gives you access to all the features and functionality you need to optimize your store for search engines. The higher-priced plans come with more features and are generally a better investment if you’re serious about SEO.

-Install an SSL certificate: Google prefers sites that use HTTPS, so it’s a good idea to install an SSL certificate on your Shopify store. This will help your site rank higher in search results.

-Pick a theme that is SEO friendly: Some themes are better than others when it comes to search engine optimization. When choosing a theme for your store, make sure to pick one that is designed with SEO in mind.

-Add alt text to your images: Whenever you upload an image to your store, make sure to include alt text. This helps search engines understand what the image is and how it relates to your page content.

-Create descriptive product pages: Write unique and descriptive product descriptions for each of the products in your store. Make sure to include relevant keywords and phrases so that search engines can easily find and index your pages.

-Generate a sitemap: A sitemap helps search engines understand the structure of your site and find all the pages on it. Use a sitemap generator tool to create a sitemap for your Shopify store and submit it to Google Search Console.

-Submit your site to Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool that allows you to submit your site to Google and track its progress in the search results.

The Biggest “Miss” that hurts Shopify Store Owners

If there’s one thing that I constantly see missed in regards to SEO for shopify, it’s lack of content. Especially on collection pages. This is prime space for getting the most SEO traction.

Tips for creating great content for SEO in Shopify:

For starters, always keep in mind that you are writing for a person first. If you do that well enough, the search engines will like what you wrote and you will eventually rank on Google.

-Include 200+ words per collection page

-Use proper keyword research to find what people are searching for related to your products

-Use headings (H1, H2, H3) to break up your content and make it easy to read

-Include images and videos to help break up the text and keep people engaged

-Make sure your product pages are well optimized with unique titles, descriptions, and images.

Another Important Consideration that will improve your SEO: User Experience Optimization

Google has stated multiple times that the goal of their algorithm is to provide the best user experience possible.

What does that mean for you?

It means that you need to focus on creating a fast, easy-to-use, and informative website if you want to rank well on Google.

Here are a few tips to help you improve your website’s user experience:

-Make sure your site loads quickly: Visitors expect websites to load in 3 seconds or less. If your site takes longer than that to load, they will likely leave before they even see your content. Use a tool like Pingdom to test your site’s speed and make changes accordingly.

-Make it easy to navigate: Your website should be easy to navigate so that visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Use clear and descriptive links, organize your content into logical categories, and use a search feature if your site has a lot of content.

-Use high-quality images: People are visual creatures, so make sure to use high-quality images on your website. This will help visitors understand your products better and make them more likely to buy from you.

-Include informative and helpful content: Your website’s content should be informative and helpful. Make sure to answer any questions that your visitors might have, and provide additional resources if needed.

So, Is Shopify good for SEO?

As we stated above… Yes. Shopify is in fact good for SEO. Much like how the human body is designed to build muscle… It doesn’t happen without work.

Following these tips will help you get started on the right track with SEO for your Shopify store. However, keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process. You’ll need to continuously work on optimizing your store if you want to see long-term results.

Overall, Shopify is a great platform for SEO and can help you rank higher in search engines with the right optimization efforts. If you want to learn more about how to optimize your Shopify store for better SEO, contact an ecommerce SEO consultant today.

[shawntheseogeek1]

The ABCs of an SEO Audit: Tips for Conducting a Thorough and Effective Audit

SEO audits are an essential part of any SEO campaign. They allow you to identify problems and opportunities with your website, and fix them before they have a negative impact on your rankings. In this blog post, we will discuss the ABCs of conducting an effective SEO audit. We will cover everything from setting goals to analyzing your competitors. Let's get started!

Start with your goals in mind.

The first step in any audit is to set goals. What do you want to achieve with your audit? Do you want to improve your website's traffic or rankings? Once you have established your goals, you can start planning your audit.

Next, start gathering data.

Next, you will need to gather data. This data will help you identify areas of opportunity and potential problems. There are a number of different data sources you can use, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and your website's log files.

There are a number of tools you can use to help speed up the process of auditing your website. These include Screaming Frog, DeepCrawl, and Moz's Pro Tools.

Areas of your website that you'll want to observe in your audit:

-Your website's architecture

-Your website's content

-Your website's backlinks

-Your website's technical SEO

Now, let's analyze the data.

Once you have collected your data, it's time to start analyzing it. This is where you will identify any areas of opportunity or potential problems. To do this effectively, you will need to understand how search engines work and what they are looking for on a website.

Thankfully, a lot of the website audit tools give benchmarks to compare your website to. If you notice a shortcoming, this is often a great place to start with taking action.

It's important to note here the importance of also analyzing what you can of your competitor's SEO. Not only will this give you an idea of where they rank for certain keywords, but you can also see what they're doing right (and wrong).

Above all... Question everything that you get in your data. Ask "Why?" for every element.

Build an SEO Action Plan

Finally, once you have identified all of the problems and opportunities with your website, it's time to start fixing them. This can be a daunting task, but it's essential to improving your website's traffic and rankings. Remember to take your time and focus on one problem at a time.

By following these tips, you can conduct a thorough and effective technical SEO audit . By identifying and fixing problems with your website, you can improve your traffic and rankings. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your SEO audit today!