How to do a technical SEO audit for Shopify stores?
Certainly, let’s break down these three essential steps for SEO optimization and technical improvements for your Shopify website:
Step 1: Manual Website Inspection
Begin your SEO optimization process by conducting a thorough manual examination of your Shopify website. Here’s what to focus on:
User Experience (UX):
Ensure that your Shopify website provides an excellent user experience. Check for ease of navigation, page load times, and mobile responsiveness to enhance user satisfaction and retention.
Content Quality:
Review your website’s content for relevance, accuracy, and engagement. Update outdated information, remove irrelevant content, and ensure your product descriptions are informative and enticing.
Internal Linking:
Examine your internal linking structure. Fix broken or irrelevant internal links and ensure that the website’s structure is logical, making it easy for users and search engines to navigate.
Mobile Responsiveness:
Confirm that your Shopify website is fully responsive, adapting seamlessly to various devices and screen sizes. Mobile-friendly design is crucial for both user experience and SEO.
Step 2: Website Crawling with SEO Tools (e.g., ScreamingFrog)
Utilize SEO crawling tools such as ScreamingFrog to conduct a comprehensive technical analysis of your Shopify website. This step involves:
URL Inspection:
Review the structure of your URLs, ensuring they are clean, keyword-optimized, and follow best practices for SEO.
Duplicate Content:
Identify and address any duplicate content issues, and implement canonical tags when necessary to prevent duplicate content from affecting SEO.
Meta Tags:
Evaluate and optimize meta titles and descriptions for each page to improve click-through rates in search engine results.
Status Codes:
Identify and fix broken links, error pages, and any redirect issues, such as 404 errors, to ensure a smooth user experience.
XML Sitemap:
Confirm that your XML sitemap accurately represents your website’s structure and content, facilitating search engine indexing.
Step 3: Google Search Console (GSC) Analysis
Leverage Google Search Console to gain insights into your website’s interaction with Google. This step includes:
Performance Analysis:
Review performance reports to understand how your Shopify website performs in search results. Examine metrics such as click-through rates, impressions, and average positions to assess your website’s visibility.
Index Coverage:
Check for indexing issues, crawl errors, and security concerns reported by Google. Address any critical issues promptly to ensure that your website is properly indexed.
Mobile Usability:
Verify that your website passes Google’s mobile-friendly test and address any mobile usability issues that may affect rankings and user experience.
Structured Data:
Implement structured data (schema markup) to enhance the appearance of your content in search results and provide context to search engines.
By diligently following these three steps, you can effectively manage and optimize your Shopify website for SEO and technical excellence. Regular audits and checks will help keep your website user-friendly, search engine-friendly, and competitive in search rankings.