SE Ranking Website Audit - Detailed Review
SEO Tools
SE Ranking Website Audit - Product Overview
Introduction to SE Ranking Website Audit
SE Ranking’s Website Audit is a comprehensive SEO tool that helps users assess and improve the health and performance of their websites. Here’s a breakdown of its primary function, target audience, and key features:Primary Function
The primary function of SE Ranking’s Website Audit is to conduct a thorough analysis of a website to identify and resolve issues that could be impacting its search engine rankings and overall performance. This tool scans the website against over 120 SEO-related parameters, organized into 16 different categories, to provide a detailed report on its technical status.Target Audience
This tool is designed for a wide range of users, including SEO professionals, digital marketing agencies, and individuals with any level of SEO knowledge. It is particularly useful for businesses of all sizes looking to optimize their website for better search engine visibility and user experience.Key Features
Comprehensive Analysis
The Website Audit tool analyzes more than 120 parameters, including website security, crawling issues, duplicate content, SSL problems, robots.txt issues, slow loading pages, 404 errors, redirects, and crawl errors. These parameters are categorized into 16 different sections, making it easier to identify and address specific issues.Issue Reporting and Resolution
The tool generates a detailed report on all issues found, categorized as Errors, Warnings, Notices, or Passed checks. Each issue is described along with instructions on how to fix it. Users can click on the number of issues in any category to get a complete list of affected pages and detailed information on each page.Health Score and Overview
The audit provides an overall health score for the website, which is influenced by the severity of the detected issues. The Overview section includes the health score, the number and severity of issues, indexing data, and other critical parameters.Comparative Analysis
Users can compare the results of the current audit with previous audits to track improvements or changes over time. This feature helps in monitoring the effectiveness of the fixes implemented.Integration and Reporting
SE Ranking’s Website Audit integrates smoothly with other tools like Google Analytics and Search Console, making data gathering easier. It also allows users to generate customizable and automated reports to showcase the value of their SEO efforts to clients. In summary, SE Ranking’s Website Audit is a powerful tool that helps users identify, fix, and monitor website issues to improve search engine rankings and user experience, making it an essential asset for anyone involved in SEO. SE Ranking Website Audit - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool is known for its clarity and user-friendliness, making it accessible to users of all skill levels, from beginners to SEO professionals.Ease of Use
The interface is clean and intuitive, ensuring smooth navigation. Users can easily set up an SEO audit by specifying the URLs to include or exclude and enabling or disabling client-side JavaScript rendering, a feature that enhances the accuracy of the audit by rendering JavaScript content while crawling the website.Key Features and Reports
The tool provides comprehensive reports that include key metrics such as the number of pages crawled, website health score, Core Web Vitals metrics, indexable and non-indexable pages, HTTP status codes, page depth, and orphan pages. These reports are organized in a way that makes it easy to identify and prioritize issues, categorizing them into notices, warnings, and errors.Data Visualization
SE Ranking’s data visualization is a significant strength, as it presents the indicators in charted forms that make the information easier to grasp. This helps users quickly understand the data without feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information provided.User Experience
Users have praised the tool for its ease of use and professional-looking results. The website audit can be set to run in the background, and users receive notifications when the reports are ready. Additional features like weekly reports, backlink checkers, and keyword tracking further enhance the user experience.Accessibility
While the interface is generally user-friendly, there is a minor drawback noted by some users: the interface could be improved to work better on smartphones.Support and Resources
SE Ranking provides extensive support resources, including tutorials, documentation, and responsive customer service, which helps users get the most out of the tool even if they encounter any issues.Conclusion
Overall, SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool offers a straightforward and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for anyone to conduct a thorough SEO audit and implement necessary improvements to their website. SE Ranking Website Audit - Key Features and Functionality
Health Score and Overall Analysis
The tool provides a revamped health score that gives a realistic picture of your site’s performance from a technical standpoint. This score is based on the severity of issues detected during the audit, categorized into Notices, Warnings, and Errors. A higher health score indicates fewer critical issues.
JavaScript Rendering
SE Ranking’s Website Audit now includes JavaScript rendering, which allows the tool to crawl and analyze JavaScript content on your website. This feature enhances the accuracy of the audit by considering interactive elements that might be missed by traditional crawlers.
Extensive SEO Checks
The tool performs over 115 checks across 16 categories, including website security, crawling issues, duplicate content, Core Web Vitals, page speed, and more. These checks help identify technical SEO issues that could impact your site’s search rankings.
Issue Reporting and Fixing
The audit results are presented in an easy-to-read format, using symbols to indicate the severity of issues: green check marks for no issues, blue exclamation marks for noteworthy comments, yellow triangles for warnings, and red crosses for critical issues. Each issue comes with a description and instructions on how to fix it.
Page-by-Page Analysis
The tool provides a detailed analysis of each page on your website, including reports on HTML tags such as title tags, meta descriptions, robots meta tags, canonical tags, and more. This helps in optimizing each page for better SEO performance.
Crawlability and Indexability
SE Ranking’s audit checks the crawlability and indexability of your website’s pages, ensuring that search engines can properly crawl and index your content. It also monitors HTTP status codes and link attributes.
Competitor Analysis
You can run a website performance audit on your competitors’ websites to identify their technical SEO strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to compare and find opportunities to improve your own site’s SEO.
Audit Comparison and History
The tool enables you to compare the results of the current audit with previous audits, helping you track improvements and identify recurring issues over time.
Sitemap Generation and Monitoring
SE Ranking’s Website Audit allows you to generate sitemaps and monitor changes to your website’s pages. This ensures that your site’s structure and content are always optimized for search engines.
AI Integration
While the primary features of the Website Audit tool are not explicitly AI-driven, the enhanced accuracy and comprehensive analysis are supported by advanced algorithms and data processing capabilities. The JavaScript rendering feature, for example, uses sophisticated crawling techniques to analyze interactive content, which can be seen as an indirect benefit of advanced technological capabilities.
Flexible Pricing and Usage
The tool offers various pricing plans with different page audit limits, allowing you to choose a plan that suits your website’s size and needs. You can also test the tool with a 14-day free trial to see its benefits before committing to a paid subscription.
Conclusion
In summary, SE Ranking’s Website Audit is a powerful tool that provides a detailed and accurate analysis of your website’s SEO health, helping you identify and fix technical issues to improve your site’s performance and search rankings.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Performance and Accuracy
When evaluating the performance and accuracy of SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool, several key aspects stand out:
Technical Health Score and Accuracy
SE Ranking’s Website Audit 2.0 features a revamped health score that provides a more realistic picture of a website’s technical performance. This score is based on various factors such as site security, redirects, server errors, broken links, and content, among others. The tool’s internal research and collaboration with the SEO team have ensured that it prioritizes issues that most significantly impact the website’s functionality, user experience, and search engine visibility. This enhancement significantly boosts the accuracy of the tool.JavaScript Rendering
The addition of a JavaScript rendering feature allows the tool to crawl and analyze JavaScript content, which is crucial for modern websites that heavily rely on JavaScript. This feature increases the accuracy of the audit by ensuring that all content, including dynamic elements, is considered during the crawling process.Customizable Settings
Users have the flexibility to configure various settings to suit their needs. This includes setting the maximum number of pages to scan, maximum scanning depth, and the maximum number of requests per second. These settings help in managing server load and ensuring the audit is conducted efficiently. Additionally, users can specify the maximum number of redirects the crawler will follow, which helps in avoiding infinite loops and improving the audit’s efficiency.Comprehensive Reports
The tool generates detailed reports that include key metrics such as the number of pages crawled, website health score, Core Web Vitals metrics, HTTP status codes, and a summary of top issues categorized into notices, warnings, and errors. This helps users prioritize actions to improve their website’s technical SEO. The reports also include features like guest links for easy sharing with colleagues or clients.Limitations and Areas for Improvement
One of the limitations is that the tool does not allow crawling of a site that is in production by providing login credentials, a feature available in some competitor tools like Semrush. This can be a drawback for users who need to audit sites that are not publicly accessible. Another area for improvement is the visualization of data. While SE Ranking provides detailed reports, users who prefer visual representations of data, such as charts and graphs, might find the tool less engaging compared to alternatives like Semrush, which offers more interactive and graphical reports.Subscription Plan Restrictions
The capabilities of the tool can vary based on the subscription plan. For example, the number of pages to scan, the number of backlinks to audit, and other features are limited by the subscription level. This means users on lower-tier plans might not have access to all the features and depth of analysis available to users on higher-tier plans.Conclusion
In summary, SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool offers significant improvements in accuracy and performance, particularly with its revamped health score and JavaScript rendering capabilities. However, it has some limitations, such as the inability to crawl production sites with login credentials and less graphical reporting compared to some competitors. Despite these, it remains a trustworthy tool for assessing a site’s technical SEO and providing actionable insights. SE Ranking Website Audit - Pricing and Plans
Plans and Pricing
Essential Plan
- This plan is priced between $39 and $69 per month, depending on the billing cycle.
- It allows for website audits of up to 7,000 to 15,000 pages per project.
- This plan is suitable for individual SEO professionals and small businesses.
Pro Plan
- The Pro plan costs between $89 and $149 per month, with discounts for annual billing.
- It supports website audits for up to 40,000 to 50,000 pages per project.
- This plan is ideal for agencies and marketing teams managing multiple clients, offering additional features like competitor analysis for up to 10 competitors and local SEO tools.
Business Plan
- This plan ranges from $189 to $899 per month, with the higher end reflecting more extensive usage.
- It allows for website audits of up to 80,000 to 200,000 pages per project.
- The Business plan includes advanced features such as white-label SEO reports, API access, and analysis for up to 20 competitors. For larger needs, it can scale up to 15,000 keywords, increasing the price to $599 per month.
Features Across Plans
- Website Audits: All plans include the ability to perform full-site SEO audits, subdomain audits, XML sitemap file analysis, and file analysis from downloaded TXT or CSV files.
- SEO Error Detection: The tool scans for SEO errors including missing meta tags, HTTP status codes, image optimization, and website speed issues.
- Core Web Vitals: Checks for core web vitals to improve website performance.
- Resources Optimization: Analyzes resources such as unresized and uncompressed images, unoptimized CSS and JS files.
- Site Audit Comparison and Report Builder: Available across all plans to help in creating and comparing site audit reports.
Customization and Discounts
- Users can customize their plans based on the subscription period and the frequency of rankings checks, which can lead to discounts. For example, paying annually can provide a 20% discount, and reducing the frequency of keyword position checks can also lower costs.
Free Options
- While the full-fledged plans require a subscription, SE Ranking offers various free SEO tools that can help with basic SEO tasks. These include tools for analyzing website performance, checking IP addresses, domain age, and other metrics. However, these free tools do not include the comprehensive website audit features available in the paid plans.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Integration and Compatibility
SE Ranking Website Audit Tool Overview
The SE Ranking Website Audit tool integrates and compatibility features are quite comprehensive, making it a versatile tool for SEO management.
Integration with Other Tools
- One of the notable integrations is with Looker Studio. You can pull crawl data from the Website Audit into Looker Studio to create professional reports, which is particularly useful for presenting SEO health and progress to clients or stakeholders.
- The tool also integrates with other SE Ranking features such as the Rank Tracker, Backlink Monitor, and Backlink Checker, allowing for a holistic approach to SEO management. For example, users on the Pro plan can analyze single webpages using the On Page SEO Checker, which complements the site audit reports.
Compatibility Across Platforms and Devices
- The SE Ranking Website Audit tool is accessible via a web interface, making it compatible with various devices that have internet access, including desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. There is no specific mention of native apps for mobile devices, but the web-based interface ensures broad compatibility.
Customization and Settings
- The tool offers flexible settings that allow users to customize the audit process. For instance, you can choose the frequency of audits (manually, weekly, or monthly), specify URLs to include or exclude, and enable or disable client-side JavaScript rendering. This customization ensures the tool can adapt to different website configurations and needs.
Compatibility with Website Technologies
- The tool supports JavaScript rendering, which is crucial for websites that load content dynamically using JavaScript. This feature ensures that the audit includes all interactive elements of the website, providing a more accurate SEO health score.
User Agent and Authentication
- For websites that restrict certain crawlers, SE Ranking allows you to choose from 14 different User Agent options, ensuring the audit can be completed accurately even on restricted sites. Additionally, you can provide login credentials for Base HTTP authentication to access restricted pages.
Conclusion
In summary, the SE Ranking Website Audit tool is well-integrated with other SEO tools and offers broad compatibility across different platforms and devices, making it a versatile and effective tool for managing and improving website SEO.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support
SE Ranking provides responsive and helpful customer support. Users can expect:
- Responsive Support Team: The support team is known for being incredibly responsive and helpful, as highlighted by user feedback.
- Documentation and Guides: The SE Ranking knowledge base includes detailed articles and guides on how to use the Website Audit tool, such as the “How to use Website Audit” section, which walks users through the process step-by-step.
Additional Resources
Several resources are available to enhance the user experience and provide valuable insights:
Tutorials and Videos
- SE Ranking offers video tutorials, such as the one on YouTube, that explain how to conduct a comprehensive website audit using their tool. These videos provide a visual guide to help users get started and understand the tool’s features.
Blog and Articles
- The SE Ranking blog features articles like “How to Do a Website Audit Mindfully,” which provides in-depth guidance on analyzing a website, checking for errors, and prioritizing fixes. These articles are updated regularly to keep users informed about best practices and new features.
Automated Audit Settings
- Users can set up automated audits on a weekly or monthly schedule and receive notifications once the audit is complete. This ensures that users can keep their website’s health in check without manual intervention.
Customizable Reports
- The tool allows users to download audit reports in PDF format, making it easy to share findings with development teams or clients. Users can also compare audit results over time to track improvements and identify new issues.
Flexible Audit Parameters
- Users can customize the audit settings according to their specific needs, such as setting meta tag title length, meta tag description length, and other parameters. This flexibility ensures that the audit is relevant to the user’s website.
User Feedback and Community
- SE Ranking is trusted by over 1 million users and 40,000 businesses, indicating a strong community of users who can share experiences and tips. User feedback is also used to drive innovation and improve the tool.
By leveraging these support options and resources, users of SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool can ensure their website is optimized for SEO and maintain its health over time.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Pros and Cons
Advantages of SE Ranking Website Audit
Comprehensive Audit Capabilities
SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool is highly comprehensive, scanning your entire website to identify a wide range of SEO issues. It checks for problems such as SSL issues, robots.txt problems, slow loading pages, 404 errors, redirects and redirect loops, crawl errors, and duplicated content, among over 130 SEO-related factors.
Fast and Efficient
Although there are some mentions of slower crawling speeds for larger sites, the tool generally provides a quick scan of the website, generating a thorough report in minutes.
Actionable Reports
The audit reports are detailed and provide practical optimization suggestions for each page, prioritized based on their impact. This helps users address issues efficiently and improve their website’s technical SEO.
Scheduled Audits
Users can set up scheduled monthly audits, which helps in regularly monitoring and improving the website’s performance over time.
On-Page SEO Analysis
In addition to the website audit, SE Ranking offers an On-Page SEO Checker that scrutinizes individual web pages for optimization opportunities. It checks elements like meta descriptions, title tags, keyword density, and more, providing actionable suggestions to improve content.
User-Friendly Interface
Despite some initial learning curve due to the amount of data presented, the tool simplifies the data into an easily workable format, making it accessible for both SEO professionals and individuals with less SEO knowledge.
Disadvantages of SE Ranking Website Audit
Crawling Speed Issues
One of the notable drawbacks is the crawling speed, which can be slower for larger websites. This can hinder the ability to quickly identify and fix problems.
Limited Features in Basic Audit
Some users have noted that the basic website audit feature could be more extensive. For example, it lacks checks for webpage text to HTML ratio, meta description length, and meta title length, though these features are available in the On-Page tool report.
Cluttered UI
The interface can feel overwhelming due to the amount of data and navigation options, which may require some time to get accustomed to.
Additional Costs for Advanced Features
While SE Ranking offers a lot of value, some advanced features, such as real-time backlink status checks, require an extra fee. This can be a drawback for users on a tight budget.
Overall, SE Ranking’s Website Audit tool is a valuable resource for improving a website’s SEO, offering a balance of comprehensive features and actionable insights, though it has some areas for improvement.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Comparison with Competitors
When Considering the SE Ranking Website Audit in the Context of SEO Tools
It’s important to highlight its unique features and compare it with some of its competitors.
Unique Features of SE Ranking Website Audit
- Website Audit 2.0: SE Ranking has introduced a revamped health score that provides a more realistic picture of your site’s technical performance. This update enhances the accuracy of the tool.
- JavaScript Rendering: The tool now includes JavaScript rendering, which allows it to crawl and analyze JavaScript content on websites, improving the overall accuracy of the audit.
- Comprehensive Issue Report: The audit analyzes over 120 parameters organized into 16 categories, providing detailed reports on errors, warnings, notices, and passed checks. It also offers specific recommendations on how to fix the issues found.
Comparison with Competitors
Ahrefs
- Ahrefs is known for its in-depth competitor analysis tools, content gap feature, and advanced keyword research capabilities. While SE Ranking excels in website audits, Ahrefs provides more comprehensive tools for analyzing competitors’ strategies and identifying keyword opportunities.
- Ahrefs’ content gap tool helps in comparing your content with that of your competitors to identify keyword gaps, which is not a primary focus of SE Ranking’s Website Audit.
Semrush
- Semrush offers a Site Audit tool as part of its broader suite of SEO tools. Semrush Copilot, an AI-powered assistant, provides personalized SEO recommendations based on data from various Semrush tools, including site audits. This integrates well with other Semrush features like backlink gap, keyword gap, and position tracking.
- While SE Ranking’s Website Audit focuses on technical site health, Semrush’s tools offer a more integrated approach to SEO, combining site audits with other critical SEO metrics.
SEO.AI
- SEO.AI is another alternative that focuses on content-driven SEO. It offers a powerful AI SEO Editor that is easier and quicker to use compared to SE Ranking. SEO.AI’s editor includes features like competitor benchmarking, semantically rich keyword distribution, and built-in AI optimization. However, it does not have the same level of technical site audit capabilities as SE Ranking.
Indexly
- Indexly is another tool that, while not a direct competitor in terms of website audits, helps in getting pages indexed faster and tracking technical SEO issues automatically. It does not offer the same detailed technical audit as SE Ranking but can be used in conjunction with such tools for a more comprehensive SEO strategy.
Potential Alternatives
If you are looking for alternatives to SE Ranking’s Website Audit, here are some options:
- Ahrefs: For a more comprehensive competitor analysis and keyword research.
- Semrush: For an integrated SEO approach that includes site audits along with other critical SEO metrics.
- SEO.AI: For a focus on content optimization with advanced AI-driven editing features.
- Indexly: For automating the process of getting pages indexed and tracking technical SEO issues.
Each of these tools has its strengths and can be chosen based on the specific needs of your SEO strategy.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about the SE Ranking Website Audit tool, along with detailed responses to each:
What does the SE Ranking Website Audit tool do?
The SE Ranking Website Audit tool scans all pages of a website to provide a comprehensive analysis of its technical and SEO-related issues. It checks for problems such as broken links, duplicate content, missing meta tags, and slow page loading speed, among other parameters.
What are the key features of the updated Website Audit 2.0?
The updated Website Audit 2.0 features a revamped health score that gives a more realistic picture of your site’s performance from a technical standpoint. Additionally, it includes a JavaScript rendering feature that renders JavaScript content while crawling websites, increasing the accuracy of the tool.
How does the Website Audit tool identify and report issues?
The Website Audit tool analyzes over 120 parameters organized into 16 different categories. It categorizes issues as Errors, Warnings, Notices, or Passed checks based on their severity. The tool provides detailed reports on each issue, including descriptions and suggestions on how to fix them. You can click on the number of found issues to get a complete list of affected pages along with detailed information.
What types of issues does the Website Audit tool check for?
The tool checks for a variety of common issues, including broken links, duplicate content, missing meta tags, slow page loading speed, and other technical and SEO-related problems. It also analyzes page elements, URL structure, and content to ensure the website is optimized for search engine visibility and user experience.
How often should I conduct a website audit using SE Ranking?
It is recommended to conduct regular website audits to ensure your website remains optimized for search engine visibility, user experience, and mobile responsiveness. The frequency can depend on your website’s activity and changes, but regular audits can help identify and fix issues promptly.
Can the Website Audit tool help improve my website’s SEO?
Yes, the Website Audit tool is essential for identifying and fixing technical and SEO-related issues that can impact your website’s ranking on search engine results pages. By addressing issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and slow page loading speed, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more organic traffic.
How does the JavaScript rendering feature benefit my website audit?
The JavaScript rendering feature allows the tool to crawl and analyze JavaScript content on your website, which is crucial for modern websites that heavily rely on JavaScript. This feature increases the accuracy of the audit by ensuring that all content, including dynamic content generated by JavaScript, is evaluated.
What kind of support or resources are available for using the Website Audit tool?
SE Ranking provides various resources, including a comprehensive FAQ section, video tutorials, and detailed guides on how to use the Website Audit tool effectively. These resources help you understand the tool’s features and how to interpret and act on the audit results.
Can I customize the frequency and scope of the website audits?
Yes, you can customize the frequency of website audits and the scope of what is audited based on your subscription plan. For example, you can choose how often SE Ranking checks your keyword positions and the number of keywords you wish to track, which can affect the cost and frequency of the audits.
Is there a free trial available for the Website Audit tool?
Yes, SE Ranking offers a free trial that allows you to test the Website Audit tool and other features of the platform before committing to a subscription. This trial helps you determine if the tool is suitable for your needs.
SE Ranking Website Audit - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of SE Ranking Website Audit
SE Ranking’s Website Audit is a comprehensive and powerful tool within the SEO tools category, offering a wide range of features that can significantly benefit website owners, marketers, and SEO professionals.Key Features
Comprehensive Audit
The tool scans your website against over 115 parameters, including page-by-page analysis, Core Web Vitals, technical SEO issues, website speed and security, domain metrics, and more. It also examines HTML tags such as title, meta description, and headings.
Health Score and JavaScript Rendering
The updated Website Audit 2.0 features a revamped health score that provides a more realistic picture of your site’s performance. Additionally, it includes JavaScript rendering capabilities to analyze interactive elements, enhancing the accuracy of the audit.
Competitor Analysis
You can run SEO audits on your competitors’ websites to identify their technical issues and compare them with your own site’s metrics, helping you to strategize and improve your SEO.
Flexible Pricing Plans
The tool offers various pricing plans that cater to different website sizes, allowing you to audit up to 700,000 pages per account, depending on your plan.
Who Would Benefit Most
Website Owners
Those looking to optimize their websites for better search engine visibility and user experience will find this tool invaluable. It helps identify and fix technical issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and slow page loading speeds.
Marketers and SEO Professionals
These individuals can leverage the competitor analysis and keyword research features to develop effective content marketing strategies and stay ahead of their competition.
Agencies
SEO agencies can use this tool to manage multiple projects and provide detailed, actionable reports to their clients.
User Experience and Ease of Use
Users have praised the tool for its ease of use, even for those without extensive SEO experience. The audit reports are detailed yet easy to understand, and the tool allows you to set audits to run in the background with notifications when ready. The visual interface helps quickly identify issues that need fixing.
Overall Recommendation
SE Ranking’s Website Audit is a highly recommended tool for anyone serious about improving their website’s SEO health. Its comprehensive features, ease of use, and flexible pricing plans make it a valuable asset for both beginners and experienced SEO professionals. The ability to run free trials and the positive feedback from users further support its credibility and effectiveness.
In summary, if you are looking for a tool that can help you identify and fix technical SEO issues, analyze competitors, and optimize your website for better search engine rankings, SE Ranking’s Website Audit is an excellent choice.