Auditing Your Digital Environment

The starting point to understanding and managing your digital health.

Search engines qualify information on many levels and factors, but the bases have remained the same. How well does a brand provide information (copy, images, and videos) on a subject and a set of related keywords? When discussing a brand’s SEO health, we look at two main sections: the backend technical information and the frontend content and user experience. This article focuses on the backend technical information that plays into your digital health, SEO-wise.

Backend Technical Information

My best practice is to create a spreadsheet of basic details or update the current one. This simple first step is often overlooked and can be your saving grace when diagnosing setup or performance issues, migrating systems or owners, upgrading software or integrating other services. Include details related to your domain(s) and subdomain(s), including the domain(s) host(s) and website(s) host(s), content management system logins (I.e., WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, etc.), IP addresses (internal/external if a larger brand), dates of migrations to other platforms or hosts, settings for email marketing senders, SMTP settings, and other integrations like repositories, PIMs, and so on. I prefer using separate tabs in a spreadsheet to record information about website forms, analytics reports, speed ratings, vendors, and connected services from Google, like Analytics, AdWords, Business, and so on. There are many free resources online for gathering information on a domain. Here are a few:

BuiltWith
ICANN Lookup
WhoIS
MxToolbox
Screaming Frog

MOZ
SEMrush
Ahrefs
Google Search Console
Reddit

Chrome Dev Tools
PageSpeed Insights
GTMerix
Keyword Generator
WordStream

Depending on the size of your company or amount of brands, your spreadsheet may have the following tabs:

Summary	Include domain(s), owners, contact information, website/domain/SSL statuses, background information, locations of how-to’s, etc.
Account Details	List domain(s) host(s), WP login info., Google Tag Manager, Analytics/GA4 status, Google Search Console, DNS, Zip file of site contents / SQL database, Backup Schedule, FTP/SFTP server info., SSH command, FTP/SFTP login info., Site info. – size, # pages, # posts, # forms, IP info., SMTP server & WP key, plug-ins, and other connected services.
Migrations	If applicable, keep information related to migrations of platforms, hosts, and other systems.
Analytics	GA4 reports using key events or from another analytics program. Note – GA4 requires setting up custom dimensions and key events to pull reports.
Forms	List all forms and funnels, including receiving email addresses. Use another tab for CRM nurture settings and email content. See example below.
Performance	Speed and performance statistics with dates recorded. Use multiple tabs for multiple sources. See examples below.
Keywords	A keyword and keyword phrase analysis is the best way to form successful SEO and content strategies.
Vendors	Partners, vendors, and other services.
Reports	CrazyEgg, SEMrush, etc.
Misc.	Other website-related information – BuiltWidth, WhoIS, etc.

Brand XYZ Digital Control Center

Example of Website Forms Documentation

Brand name
Form title
Notification email(s)
Subject
From email
From name
Notes

Use additional tabs for automated email responses through integrated CRMs.

Website Speed & Performance

There are many free resources for understanding your website’s performance related to speed and responsiveness. How fast does your website load, along with the functions users interact with to consume and navigate your website? In addition to online resources, you can A/B test on different platforms and systems. If it’s an important initiative, spend the time to simulate outdated software and get more testers with various desktops and laptop computers, phones, and tablets. Below are examples of multiple domains testing using Google Web Developer tools, PageSpeedInsights, and GTMetrix.

Below are some standard website performance metrics used to predict your core web vitals.

PERFORMANCE – typically a weighted score of 10% FCP, 1-% SI, 25% LCP, 10% TTI, 30% TBT, 15% CLS
ACCESSIBILITY – ARIA roles, associated labels, user focus not accidentally trapped in a region; interactive controls are keyboard focusable, interactive elements indicate their purpose and state; page has logical tab order, user’s focus is directed to new content added to the page, offscreen content is hidden from assistive technology, HTML5 landmark elements are used to improve navigation, visual order on the page follows DOM order.
SPEED INDEX – goal is 1.5 seconds (2.9 s or less is acceptable during remediation; 3 s or more is not good)
FCP – First Contentful Paint – measures when the DOM’s first content is rendered (or the first HTML element is displayed). An FCP goal of 1.3 seconds is good (1.8 or less is acceptable during remediation; 3 or more is not good)
LCP – Largest Contentful Paint – measures how long the largest element becomes visible in the viewport. An LCP goal of 2.5 seconds is good (3.9 s or less is acceptable during remediation; 4 or more is not good)
CLS – Cumulative Layout Shift – measures how a page moves around when loading. A CLS goal of 0.1 seconds is good (0.24 is acceptable during remediation; 0.25 or more is not good).
TTFB – Time to First Byte – is a measure taken from when a user’s browser requests a server to when the browser receives the first byte of data from the server. Goal: 800 ms (1800 ms or more is poor) Sum of redirect time + service worker startup time (if applicable) + DNS lookup + connection & TLS negotiation + Request up until the point of the first byte.
Time to Interactive (TTI) measures when a web page becomes usable and responsive to a user’s input. A TTI goal of 5 seconds is good.
Total Blocking Time (TBT) measures the time during page loading when the main thread is blocked, and users experience delays with a web page. A TBT goal of 200 ms or less is good.

Website SEO Health Snapshot

After performing a baseline technical audit, and hopefully gathering all connected services and accounts painlessly 😉 you can now use all of the great tools… Google Search Console, Analytics, and possibly additional services like SEMrush to form a snapshot of your website’s SEO health.

Questions to ask yourself about this website:

Are meta titles and descriptions present?
How’s the tag hierarchy?
Text to HTML ratio?
HTTP vs HTTPS?
Use of redirects and removal of loops.
Sitemap updated? Submitted in GSC?
Anchor text – descriptive, appropriate?
Alt tags – descriptive, every image, varied because images are?
Are there orphaned files, broken links or duplicate content?

Next, review your email marketing program’s backend setup. Check your setup inside the ESP program, in your website’s SMTP settings, and on the domain’s backend in the DNS. Be sure your SPF, DMARC, and DKIM are in place and correct. Look at your email newsletter code and opt-in settings and review spam rules, GDPR, and unsubscribing best practices. Lastly, pull domain authority reports on brands and referral domains.

Keywords, Traffic & Analysis

Perform a keyword and top search term analysis regularly. Analyze traffic for 3 months, 6 months, 12 or more. Pull statistics by top sections, performing pages, inbound channels, and other metrics. Review posted content on blogs, various social media accounts, and campaigns sent through email. Look for traffic spikes on high-engagement pieces. Compare open and clickthrough rates, along with other delivery information. Draw conclusions and create content to test theories. SEMrush is a beautiful tool for analyzing your keywords against industry opportunities, gauging your competition, and looking for quick wins in producing content for particular topics and trends. Keeping your statistics current and preparing for the market is strategic digital marketing!

4 Steps to Optimize for SEO & UX Goals

Short-term Results

Increased visibility in SERPs
Increased traffic through funnels
Increased conversions
Increased leads

Long-term Results

Higher rankings in SERPs
Increased qualified traffic
Increased referrals
Customers = Brand Advocates

#1 Backend website analytics and technical cleanup

Start with your spreadsheet of account information mentioned at the beginning of this article and walk through your setup. Beginning with your primary domain(s), login to your web host and record account information. Review users and purge old accounts, but ensure you have multiple current administrator accounts. Log into WordPress and clean accounts there as well. Verify login information for Google Analytics, check that Google Tag(s) are correctly installed, and check the Google Console sitemap, page indexing, AdWords, etc. Test your online forms and check SMTP plug-in settings, integrations, and email systems. As you move through checking settings, you’ll clear up broken streams of analytics and other integrations–this may take time to resolve, hours or days. When in doubt, call your web host.

TECH TIP: call the web host technical support and ask the right questions. Use them as your diagnostician partner. If you don’t like that one, call again. Patience and perseverance are key.

#2 Frontend website content, user journey, and conversion points

By now, you should be able to predict what content performs best. Chart your user journeys through your website and preferred paths to conversion. What roadblocks or distractions exist? Pretend you have no idea what product or service is offered—is there enough education for newcomers? Does your UX hide redundant information for experienced visitors? Does your website move each person through their buyer journey at whatever level they were at when they entered? Build all the reports, ask all the questions, draw conclusions, test, repeat, and think outside the box.

#3 Inbound channels – Analyze & optimize

SERPs – keywords, focus phrases, publish regularly, and adding paid search strategically.
Email – code, deliverability, design, messaging, content, related resources/articles/etc.
Social – channel tone, style, frequency, engagement levels/KPIs, and influencers.
Referral – interact with high-domain authority websites, blogs, and forums.

Content Marketing Strategies

Website Optimization

Conversion Strategies

Channel Optimization

Lead Generation

Engagement

Repeat

Need help with your content or website? Let’s Connect!

Raya Bass