How do you automate and streamline technical SEO audit processes and workflows?

Crawlers are super helpful in identifying site issues and which pages are impacted. They often even provide a variety of priority levels for issues they automatically detect. The thing to keep in mind while going through the list of technical SEO errors is which you have the resources to fix most easily and which will have the biggest impact. For example, some errors might not be fixable based on CMS limitations and a site migration not be in the cards or budget. Don’t forget about this issue long term, but also don’t hyper-fixate on it in the short term. Move onto something you have resources for and can implement more easily instead.

From a professional perspective, the utilization of crawler tools has become an essential aspect of conducting comprehensive website audits and optimizing search engine performance. These powerful software applications simulate the behavior of search engine crawlers, enabling webmasters and SEO professionals to identify and rectify a range of technical issues that may hinder website indexing and visibility. Learn more about it here: https://www.watsonmedia.net/search-engine-marketing/

Looker (data) studio is always really useful for creating dashboards, however beware of the source data not syncing correctly, especially with search console, as it will include the fresh data as well as the finalised. Sometimes it's better to pull data into a Google sheet first with Search Analytics for sheets or a similar automatic tool, then get Looker to use that sheet, instead of the source.

Checklists are a must for tech SEO audits as there are many minor things that are easy to overlook and can have a huge impact on the audit's outcome. One big piece of advice I would give is to get a checklist specific to the type of website you're auditing. Tech SEO audit recommendations can change drastically depending on whether it's built on Wordpress, Wix, Squarespace, or custom. Reach out if you'd like a copy of the WordPress tech audit checklist I normally use!

Scripts are highly useful when analyzing and optimizing content at scale, such as title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and anchor text. Once you find the tool(s) that better fit your needs, considering your resources and processes, it is a game changer!

Quantifying technical SEO is the largest barrier of implementation. Remember: You need to convince developers that your request allows them to hit their goals and is worth their time. To do this effectively, you need to use a scale to quantify tasks. My favorite model is a BRICE model which scores Business impact/importance (B), Reach of traffic or site (R), Impact of recommendation (I), Confidence of impact (C), and Effort of implementation (E). You then calculate the model by B*R*I*C/E to give each recommendation an objective score. From there, you now have a list to provide to developers that helps them fight for resources and time. Go get those recommendations over the finish line!

Especially in relation to e-commerce sites, the ROI is pretty straightforward and clear. For example, optimizing the mobile experience in order to reduce download time. One of our large e-commerce examples had an e-commerce website containing large amounts of custom code. It was a cobbled not crafted approach to coding and required us to analyze and prioritize those pieces of code that were replicated and work with the developer to essentially reduce and eliminate unnecessary code. It can be an involved process but very well worth it and can include a high ROI.

Don't forget about your social media team! SEO is becoming the top used tool in social media. Your insights from non-social sites could be incredibly helpful if used correctly by that team. :)

Remember that an implemented fix, even if it doesn't fix everything, is better than a fix that never gets implemented. Prioritize ruthlessly, and make compromises when possible.