Regular audits let you keep your WordPress site healthy and ignoring them, tempting as it may be, could hinder your website’s success. Auditing is an investment in a website’s future, and the time spent on this process pays off, as both users and search engines respond positively to these efforts. As a bonus, you’re likely to see a boost in conversions.
This guide will take you through the process of auditing a WordPress site. It covers different types of audits, their benefits, and how to conduct them effectively. The article also explores how partnering with a professional can help get the most out of an audit and optimize site performance.
Now, let’s dive into the different types of audits you can use to keep your WordPress site running at its best.
Types of WordPress site audits
Each type of WordPress audit zeroes in on a specific area:
SEO
An SEO audit looks at how well your site is set up to attract search engine traffic. It helps you find ways to improve your rankings and bring more visitors to your site.
When doing an SEO audit, you’ll check three main areas:
- On-page SEO: This includes your title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, how you use keywords, and the quality of your content.
- Off-page SEO: Here, you’ll look at your backlink profile, social media signals, and your site’s overall authority.
- Technical SEO: This covers things like how fast your site loads, if it works well on mobile devices, your XML sitemaps, robots.txt file, and structured data.
To help with your SEO audit, you can use tools like Yoast SEO to optimize your title and meta tags, Google Search Console for crawl errors and search performance data directly from Google, and Ahrefs for checking your backlinks and keywords.
Because SEO requires ongoing refinement and adaptation, you’ll need to perform these checks at least quarterly to address SEO issues promptly. Regular maintenance keeps your site aligned with search algorithms, improves keyword rankings, and increases organic traffic.
User experience
A User Experience (UX) audit examines how visitors interact with your site. It helps you identify areas that might frustrate users or prevent them from taking desired actions, such as completing the checkout process in your store or subscribing to your newsletter.
When conducting a UX audit, focus on these key areas:
- Navigation: Check your menu structure, how easy it is to move around your site, and your internal linking strategy.
- Design: Look at your site’s visual appeal, consistency across pages, and how accessible it is for all users.
- Content layout: Assess how readable and scannable your content is, and how you use images, videos, and other media.
- Mobile responsiveness: Make sure your site works well on smartphones and tablets, not just desktop computers.
Tools like Hotjar can create heatmaps and record user sessions, showing you exactly how visitors use your site and helping you identify potential bottlenecks in their journey. Google Analytics provides data on user behavior, including which pages they visit and how long they stay.
Run UX audits regularly, especially after major site changes, to keep your bounce rates low and your conversions high.
Technical
Technical audits assess your website’s behind-the-scenes operations to ensure smooth and secure functioning. These checks help spot and fix issues that could slow down your site or leave it open to security threats.
Technical audits typically cover these main areas:
- Site speed: Check how quickly pages load, how fast your server responds, and find ways to boost overall performance.
- Security: Look for vulnerabilities, verify SSL certificates, and confirm you’re using safe plugins and themes.
- Code quality: Inspect your site’s code for efficiency and errors, particularly in JavaScript.
- Hosting setup: Review server performance, check uptime records, and assess your backup plans.
For speed tests, try tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. To boost security, consider plugins such as Wordfence or Shield Security PRO. Contact your hosting provider to ask about how they can help you improve site performance.
Plan technical audits every few months and after any big site changes. Use what you learn from security checks to tighten up your site’s defenses and keep everything running smoothly.
Content
Content audits help you keep your website’s information fresh, relevant, and aligned with what your visitors are looking for. These checks ensure your content stays valuable and performs well in search results.
While content audits share some elements with SEO audits, they focus more on the quality and relevance of your information rather than just search engine performance. Content audits dig deeper into user engagement and the overall value of your content, while SEO audits primarily target search visibility factors.
A thorough content audit examines several key factors:
- Content quality: Assess how relevant, accurate, and in-depth your content is. Make sure it still meets your readers’ needs.
- SEO: Review your keyword usage, meta tags, and internal linking strategy to boost your content’s visibility.
- Engagement metrics: Look at data like bounce rates, time spent on page, and social shares to see how well your content resonates with visitors.
- Content gaps: Identify topics you haven’t covered or areas where you could provide more detailed information.
Tools like SEMrush can help you analyze your content’s SEO performance, while Google Analytics offers insights into user engagement.
Schedule content audits at least twice a year to spot outdated information, find new content opportunities, and keep your site valuable for both visitors and search engines.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
CRO audits examine how well your site turns visitors into customers or leads. These checks help you identify and remove obstacles that might be stopping people from taking desired actions on your site.
CRO audits often incorporate elements from other audit types, including SEO, UX, and content. This approach considers all these aspects in relation to conversion goals, providing a comprehensive view of your site’s effectiveness in achieving desired outcomes.
A CRO audit typically looks at four main areas:
- Design and layout: Evaluate how your site’s visual elements and structure impact user decisions and actions.
- User experience: Analyze how easy it is for visitors to navigate your site and complete important tasks.
- Customer journey and funnels: Map out the steps visitors take from arrival to conversion, looking for drop-off points.
- Messaging and branding: Review your site’s copy and overall brand presentation to ensure they resonate with your target audience.
You can also use Google Analytics here for data on user behavior, or Hotjar’s heatmap features to show you exactly where users click and scroll.
Conduct CRO audits quarterly or after significant site changes. Regular reviews help you continually improve your site’s ability to convert visitors, boosting your bottom line.
WordPress audit best practices: How to perform a successful audit
To help you unlock your WordPress site’s full potential, here are seven essential best practices for conducting a thorough and effective audit:
- Set clear objectives: Define specific, measurable goals aligned with business needs. Use current performance data to prioritize areas for improvement, such as load time reduction or SEO ranking boosts for key pages.
- Create a structured audit plan: Develop a comprehensive checklist covering performance, security, SEO, and UX. Assign tasks with deadlines and use project management tools to track progress efficiently.
- Leverage comprehensive tools: Combine automated tools, like the aforementioned GTmetrix and Yoast SEO, with manual checks for a thorough analysis. Use both free and premium tools to gain deeper insights into your site’s health.
- Document findings systematically: Use a standardized template to record issues, including screenshots and data points. Prioritize problems based on their impact and implementation difficulty to guide your action plan.
- Implement changes strategically: Start with quick, high-impact wins to build momentum. Test all changes in a staging environment before going live, and closely monitor their effects on site performance.
- Establish ongoing monitoring: Set up automated alerts for critical metrics and schedule regular mini-audits. Create a dashboard of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for easy tracking and quick decision-making.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement: Share audit results with your entire team to increase awareness. Encourage ongoing learning about WordPress best practices and regularly update your audit process to stay current with industry standards.
Bonus tip: Work with a WordPress expert on site audits
While you can conduct audits yourself, partnering with a WordPress expert can provide valuable insights and save you time. These professionals offer a thorough, unbiased review of your site, from planning and beyond monitoring, ensuring no critical areas are overlooked.
Investing in professional audit services can yield significant long-term benefits and potential ROI. You’ll gain peace of mind knowing your site is in expert hands, save time for other important tasks, and benefit from specialized knowledge that can uncover issues you might miss.
Consider hiring and working with a qualified WordPress expert from a platform like Codeable for your next site audit. They can help you navigate the complexities of maintaining a healthy, high-performing website.
Keep your WordPress site in peak health with expert audits
Regular audits help you maintain your WordPress site’s health, performance, and SEO. The process involves planning, running tools, evaluating findings, addressing issues, and ongoing monitoring. Following these steps helps prevent critical problems, enhance user experience, and improve search rankings.
Self-audits are possible, but professional services offer additional benefits: Experts bring specialized knowledge, efficiency, and comprehensive coverage to the audit process. Consider making audits a regular part of your website management through a long-term schedule.
Codeable Retainers offer a convenient way to book experts for scheduled audits, ensuring your site stays competitive and runs smoothly. To get started with your next site audit, submit a project to Codeable and connect with qualified WordPress experts!
