Benjamin Cook, senior organic search specialist at Perficient Digital, covers why SEO audits fail and then delivers a diagnosis and best practices. He delivered the presentation at Pubcon 2017.

1. DIFFERENTIAL
DIAGNOSIS DURING
SEO AUDITS
PUBCON 2017
11/ 09/ 2017

2. Introduction

3. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
• An SEO since 2004
• Former SEO Manager Network Solutions
• Independent Consultant for 6 Years
• Joined Perficient Digital in January 2017Ben Cook - @Skitzzo
@PRFTDigital

4. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
$487 Million in revenue
1997 Founded
PRFTListed on NASDAQ
90% Repeat Business Rate
Employees
2800+
N. America locations
23
Global US, EU, China + India
@PRFTDigital

5. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
= 350 Strong
STLMKEIRVATLAA CHI
@PRFTDigital

6. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Disclaimer:
I am NOT a Doctor
• I didn’t play one on TV.
• I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
• I DID watch a lot of medical TV shows
and will confidently dispense completely
unqualified medical advice based entirely on
what I saw on those shows.
@PRFTDigital

7. Why Audits Fail

8. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Best Practices != Solutions
Too many site audits focus on best practices
When you’re in the ER with a broken arm,
you don’t need the doctor to tell you about
best practices.
@PRFTDigital

9. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Problem Impact
• Title tags or meta
description length
• Image alt text
• Universal redirects
for www. vs. non-www
• Low click through rate
• Poor usability, accessibility,
or indexation
• Potential confusion
Almost All Audits Mention
@PRFTDigital

10. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
• Checklists are useful to make sure you don’t miss something.
• A checklist does not prioritize or consider context.
• A solution identifies what is causing the problem.
Checklists are Tools, Not Solutions
@PRFTDigital

11. A Better Approach

12. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Doctors use a triage decision tree
The most dangerous injuries are
treated first.
Severity of Impact Determines Priority
@PRFTDigital

13. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Gather Information
from Client
Start by Observing Symptoms
Review Traffic Data
1. 2.
@PRFTDigital

14. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Ask a LOT of questions
• What problems do you see?
• What changed and when?
• What else was going on at that time?
• How did you discover the problem?
Gather Information from Client
Everybody lies
• Use Wayback Machine to verify
• Review Traffic Data
@PRFTDigital

15. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
In Google Search Console
• Indexation
• Impressions
• Click Through Rate
In Analytics
• Traffic Changes
• Conversion Changes
• User Satisfaction Metrics
Review Traffic Data
@PRFTDigital

16. Diagnosing

17. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Crawl as Multiple Users
• Gbot
• Bing
• Regular User
Use Multiple Rendering Techniques
• Java
• AJAX
On Multiple Devices
• Desktop
• Phone
• Tablet
Diagnosing
@PRFTDigital

18. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Look for:
• 404 or 500 Errors
• Redirect Chains
• Redirect Loops
• Robots.txt Mistakes
• Nofollow Tags
• Noindex Tags
• Canonical Conflicts
• Cloaking
Diagnosing
@PRFTDigital

19. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Diagnosing
Server Logs
• Screaming Frog
Historical Comparison
• Analytics
• SEMRush
@PRFTDigital

20. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Solving Symptoms
Leads to Buy In
How do you respond if your doctor tells you
“you could lose some weight”?
How do you respond if your doctor tells you
“being overweight is putting additional strain on
your back, which is causing your severe back
pain”?
@PRFTDigital

21. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Focusing on observable symptoms “bakes in” the priority and importance of solution
Solving Symptoms Leads to Buy In
@PRFTDigital

22. PERFICIENT DIGITAL
Now Use Checklists
& Best Practices
Use your checklist to make sure you
don’t leave a clamp in the patient.
@PRFTDigital

23. Any Questions?