SEO
New Tool: SEO Audit Management π
As you may already know, SERPed.net allows you to generate SEO audit reports, for yourself and your clients.
With SEO Audit, you can run an audit for any site, not just your own sites and clients’ sites, but also prospects’ sites, competitors’ sitesβ¦ In short: more flexibility and opportunities.
Here is what the audit report looks like:
As you can see, we check quite a lot of aspects: on-page, off-page, mobile-friendliness, speed, securityβ¦
In SEO Audit, you can generate 2 types of reports:
- Standard Report: one-off reports, generated once (you can run an audit for a specific site multiple times of course)
- Automated Report: recurring reports, generated every week, month, or quarter (you choose the frequency you want)
Standard Audit Reports
Do you want to create an audit report for a prospect just before a meeting, or simply want to check what your competitors are doing? We suggest you generate a standard (one-off) report.
To do so, simply click on the blue + button located at the top right. This will open the following form:
Fill in the relevant information and click to generate your report. You can then view all your audit reports and their respective scores in the form of a table, as shown below:
The table includes several key metrics, including SEO Score, Speed Score on Desktop, Speed Score on Mobile, MozRank, Domain Authority, Page Authorityβ¦
ClickingΒ the mini graph on the right will open the large-sized version, so you can track progress over time, as well as view the latest recommendations:
You will be able to share the report with your colleagues, clients or prospects, with the help of a public share link.
This link will load a Web-based version of the audit report, which can then be printed or downloaded as a PDF file.
As mentioned before, you can run an audit for a specific site multiple times. You can generate as many standard audit reports as you want, at no extra cost.
Automated Reports
Do you want to regularly run audits for yourself or a client’s site? We suggest you then automate this audit. You can run an audit every week, every month, or every quarter.
The same principles that apply to standard reports also apply to automated reports, with the exception that the audit will automatically run at the frequency of your choice. The table and graph will be automatically updated as the new audit report is generated automatically.
SEO
Content Pruning: Why It Works, and How to Do It
Content pruning sounds pretty appealing: delete a ton of content and see your organic traffic improve. But pruning has risks (like deleting useful pages and useful backlinks), and benefits are not guaranteed: So how does pruning actually work? And when…
SEO
8 Free SEO Reporting Tools
Thereβs no shortage of SEO reporting tools to choose fromβbut what are the core tools you need to put together an SEO report?
In this article, Iβll share eight of my favorite SEO reporting tools to help you create a comprehensive SEO report forΒ free.
Price: Free
Google Search Console, often called GSC, is one of the most widely used tools to track important SEO metrics from Google Search.
Most common reporting useΒ case
GSC has a ton of data to dive into, but the main performance indicator SEOs look at first in GSC is Clicks on the main Overview dashboard.
As the data is from Google, SEOs consider it to be a good barometer for tracking organic search performance. As well as clicks data, you can also track the following from the Performance report:
- Total Impressions
- Average CTR
- Average Position
Tip
But for most SEO reporting, GSC clicks data is exported into a spreadsheet and turned into a chart to visualize year-over-year performance.
Favorite feature
One of my favorite reports in GSC is the Indexing report. Itβs useful for SEO reporting because you can share the indexed to non-indexed pages ratio in your SEO report.
If the website has a lot of non-indexed pages, then itβs worth reviewing the pages to understand why they havenβt been indexed.
Price: Free
Google Looker Studio (GLS), previously known as Google Data Studio (GDS), is a free tool that helps visualize data in shareable dashboards.
Most common reporting useΒ case
Dashboards are an important part of SEO reporting, and GLS allows you to get a total view of search performance from multiple sources through its integrations.
Out of the box, GLS allows you to connect to many different data sources.
Such as:
- Marketing products β Google Ads, Google Analytics, Display & Video 360, Search AdsΒ 360
- Consumer products β Google Sheets, YouTube, and Google Search Console
- Databases β BigQuery, MySQL, and PostgreSQL
- Social media platforms β Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter
- Files β CSV file upload and Google Cloud Storage
Sidenote.
If you donβt have the time to create your own report manually, Ahrefs has three Google Looker Studio connectors that can help you create automated SEO reporting for any website in a few clicks
Hereβs what a dashboard in GLS looksΒ like:
With this type of dashboard, you share reports that are easy to understand with clients or other stakeholders.
Favorite feature
The ability to blend and filter data from different sources, like GA and GSC, means you can get a customized overview of your total search performance, tailored to your website.
Price: Free for 500Β URLs
Screaming Frog is a website crawler that helps you audit your website.
Screaming Frogβs free version of its crawler is perfect if you want to run a quick audit on a bunch of URLs. The free version is limited to 500 URLsβmaking it ideal for crawling smaller websites.
Most common reporting useΒ case
When it comes to reporting, the Reports menu in Screaming Frog SEO Spider has a wealth of information you can look over that covers all the technical aspects of your website, such as analyzing, redirects, canonicals, pagination, hreflang, structured data, andΒ more.
Once youβve crawled your site, itβs just a matter of downloading the reports you need and working out the main issues to summarize in your SEO report.
Favorite feature
Screaming Frog can pull in data from other tools, including Ahrefs, usingΒ APIs.Β
If you already had access to a few SEO toolsβ APIs, you could pull data from all of them directly into Screaming Frog. This is useful if you want to combine crawl data with performance data or other 3rd partyΒ tools.
Even if youβve never configured an API, connecting other tools to Screaming Frog is straightforward.
Price: Free
Ahrefs has a large selection of free SEO tools to help you at every stage of your SEO campaign, and many of these can be used to provide insights for your SEO reporting.
For example, you could useΒ our:
Most common reporting useΒ case
One of our most popular free SEO tools is Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT), which you can use for your SEO reporting.
With AWT, youΒ can:
- Monitor your SEO health over time by setting up scheduled SEO audits
- See the performance of your website
- Check all known backlinks for your website
Favorite feature
Of all the Ahrefs free tools, my favorite is AWT. Within it, site auditing is my favorite featureβonce youβve set it up, itβs a completely hands-free way to keep track of your websiteβs technical performance and monitor its health.
If you already have access to Google Search Console, itβs a no-brainer to set up a free AWT account and schedule a technical crawl of your website(s).
Price: Free
Ahrefsβ SEO Toolbar is a free Chrome and Firefox extension useful for diagnosing on-page technical issues and performing quick spot checks on your websiteβs pages.
Most common reporting useΒ case
For SEO reporting, itβs useful to run an on-page check on your websiteβs top pages to ensure there arenβt any serious on-page issues.
With the free version, you get the following features:
- On-page SEO report
- Redirect tracer with HTTP Headers
- Outgoing links report with link highlighter and broken link checker
- SERP positions
- Country changer forΒ SERP
The SEO toolbar is excellent for spot-checking issues with pages on your website. If you are not confident with inspecting the code, it can also give you valuable pointers on what elements you need to include on your pages to make them search-friendly.
If anything is wrong with the page, the toolbar highlights it, with red indicating a critical issue.
Favorite feature
The section I use the most frequently in the SEO toolbar is the Indexability tab. In this section, you can see whether the page can be crawled and indexed by Google.
Although you can do this by inspecting the code manually, using the toolbar is much faster.
Price: Free
Like GSC, Google Analytics is another tool you can use to track the performance of your website, tracking sessions and conversions and much more on your website.
Most common reporting useΒ case
GA gives you a total view of website traffic from several different sources, such as direct, social, organic, paid traffic, andΒ more.
Favorite feature
You can create and track up to 300 events and 30 conversions with GA4. Previously, with universal analytics, you could only track 20 conversions. This makes conversion and event tracking easier within GA4.
Price: Free
Google Slides is Googleβs version of Microsoft PowerPoint. If you donβt have a dashboard set up to report on your SEO performance, the next best thing is to assemble a slideΒ deck.
Many SEO agencies present their report through dashboard insights and PowerPoint presentations. However, if you donβt have access to PowerPoint, then Google Slides is an excellent (free) alternative.
Most common reporting useΒ cases
The most common use of Google Slides is to create a monthly SEO report. If you donβt know what to include in a monthly report, use our SEO report template.
Favorite feature
One of my favorite features is the ability to share your presentation on a video chat directly from Google Slides. You can do this by clicking the camera icon in the topΒ right.
This is useful if you are working with remote clients and makes sharing your reports easy.
Price: Free
Google Trends allows you to view a keywordβs popularity over time in any country. The data shown is the relative popularity ratio scaled from 0-100, not the direct volume of search queries.
Most common reporting useΒ cases
Google Trends is useful for showing how the popularity of certain searches can increase or decrease over time. If you work with a website that often has trending products, services, or news, it can be useful to illustrate this visually in your SEO report.
Google Trends makes it easy to spot seasonal trends for product categories. For example, people want to buy BBQs when the weather isΒ sunny.
Using Google Trends, we can see that peak demand for BBQs usually happens in June-July everyΒ year.
Using this data across the last five years, we could be fairly sure when the BBQ season would start andΒ end.
Favorite feature
Comparing two or more search terms against each other over time is one of my favorite uses of Google Trends, as it can be used to tell its ownΒ story.
Embellishing your report with trends data allows you to gain further insights into market trends.
You can even dig into trends at a regional level if you needΒ to.
Final thoughts
These free tools will help you put together the foundations for a well-rounded SEO report.
The tools you use for SEO reporting donβt always have to be expensiveβeven large companies use many of the free tools mentioned to create insights for their clientβs SEO reports.
Got more questions? Ping me on X π
SEO
Study Reveals Potential Disruption For Brands & SEO
A new study by Authoritas suggests that Googleβs AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE), currently being tested with a limited group of users, could adversely impact brand visibility and organic search traffic.
These findings include:
- When an SGE box is expanded, the top organic result drops by over 1,200 pixels on average, significantly reducing visibility.
- 62% of SGE links come from domains outside the top 10 organic results.
- Ecommerce, electronics, and fashion-related searches saw the greatest disruption, though all verticals were somewhat impacted.
Adapting to generative search may require a shift in SEO strategies, focusing more on long-form content, expert insights, and multimedia formats.
As Google continues to invest in AI-powered search, the Authoritas study provides an early look at the potential challenges and opportunities ahead.
High Penetration Rate & Industry-Wide Effects
The study analyzed 2,900 brand and product-related keywords across 15 industry verticals and found that Google displays SGE results for 91.4% of all search queries.
The prevalence of SGE results indicates they impact a majority of websites across various industries.
The research analyzed the typical composition of SGE results. On average, each SGE element contained between 10-11 links sourced from an average of four different domains.
This indicates brands may need to earn multiple links and listings within these AI-curated results to maintain visibility and traffic.
The research also suggests that larger, well-established websites like Quora and Reddit will likely perform better in SGE results than smaller websites and lesser-known brands.
Shifting Dynamics In Organic Search Results
With SGE results occupying the entire first page, websites that currently hold the top positions may experience a significant decrease in traffic and click-through rates.
When a user clicks to expand the SGE element, the study found that, on average, the #1 ranked organic result drops a sizeable 1,255 pixels down the page.
Even if a website ranks number one in organic search, it may effectively be pushed down to the second page due to the prominence of SGE results.
New Competition From Unexpected Sources
The study revealed that SGE frequently surfaces links and content from websites that didnβt appear in the top organic rankings.
On average, only 20.1% of SGE links exactly matched a URL from the first page of Google search results.
An additional 17.9% of SGE links were from the same domains as page one results but linked to different pages. The remaining 62% of SGE links came from sources outside the top organic results.
Challenges For Brand Term Optimization & Local Search
The study reveals that SGE results for branded terms may include competitorsβ websites alongside the brandβs own site, potentially leading to increased competition for brand visibility.
Laurence OβToole, CEO and founder of Authoritas, states:
βBrands are not immune. These new types of generative results introduce more opportunities for third-party sites and even competitors to rank for your brand terms and related brand and product terms that you care about.β
Additionally, local businesses may face similar challenges, as SGE results could feature competing local brands even when users search for a specific brand in a regional context.
Methodology & Limitations
To arrive at these insights, Authoritas analyzed a robust dataset of 2,900 search keywords across a spectrum of query types, including specific brand names, brand + generic terms, brand + product names, generic terms, and specific product names. The keywords were distributed across 15 industry verticals.
The study utilized a consistent desktop browser viewport to quantify pixel-based changes in the search results. Authoritas also developed proprietary βalignment scoresβ to measure the degree of overlap between traditional organic search results and the new SGE links.
While acknowledging some limitations, such as the keyword set needing to be fully representative of each vertical and the still-evolving nature of SGE, Authoritas maintains that the insights hold value in preparing brands for the new realities of an AI-powered search ecosystem.
Why We Care
The findings of the Authoritas study have implications for businesses, marketers, and SEO professionals. As Googleβs SGE becomes more prevalent, it could disrupt traditional organic search rankings and traffic patterns.
Brands that have invested heavily in SEO and have achieved top rankings for key terms may find their visibility and click-through rates diminished by the prominence of SGE results.
SGE introduces new competition from unexpected sources, as most SGE links come from domains outside the top 10 organic results. This means businesses may need to compete not only with their traditional rivals but also with a broader range of websites that gain visibility through SGE.
As Google is a primary source of traffic and leads for many businesses, any changes to its search results can impact visibility, brand awareness, and revenue.
How This Could Help You
While the rise of SGE presents challenges, it also offers opportunities.
Taking into account what weβve learned from the Authoritas study, here are some actionable takeaways:
- As SGE favors in-depth, informative content, businesses may benefit from investing in comprehensive, well-researched articles and guides that provide value to users.
- Incorporating expert quotes, interviews, and authoritative sources within your content could increase the likelihood of being featured in SGE results.
- Enriching your content with images, videos, and other multimedia elements may help capture the attention of both users and the SGE algorithm.
- Building a strong brand presence across multiple channels, including social media, industry forums, and relevant websites, can increase your chances of appearing in SGE.
- Creating a trustworthy brand and managing your online reputation will be crucial, as SGE may feature competitors alongside your website.
Looking Ahead
While the long-term impact of SGE will depend on user adoption and the perceived usefulness of results, this studyβs findings serve as a valuable starting point for businesses and SEO professionals.
By proactively addressing the challenges and opportunities SGE presents, you can increase your chances of success in the new search environment.
Featured Image: BestForBest/Shutterstock
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