Using Screaming Frog SEO Spider for website audits is an effective way to identify on-page SEO issues, improve website performance, and enhance your search engine rankings. Follow these steps to get started:
1. Download and Install Screaming Frog SEO Spider:
- Visit the Screaming Frog website and download the SEO Spider tool (both free and paid versions are available).
- Install the tool on your computer by following the installation instructions.
2. Launch the SEO Spider:
- Open Screaming Frog SEO Spider after installation.
3. Enter Your Website URL:
- In the “Enter URL to spider” field, input the URL of the website you want to audit.
- Click the “Start” button to begin crawling your website.
4. Wait for the Crawl to Complete:
- The tool will crawl your website, analyzing various aspects like URLs, meta tags, headings, images, and more.
- Wait for the crawl to finish. The time it takes depends on the size of your website.
5. Review the Crawled Data:
Once the crawl is complete, you’ll see various tabs at the bottom of the tool’s interface. Explore these tabs to access different sets of data:
Internal: Lists all the pages on your website, including their status codes, titles, meta descriptions, and more.
External: Shows external links from your website.
Images: Lists all images on your site with their file sizes and alt text.
Page Titles: Displays a summary of page titles and their lengths.
Meta Descriptions: Provides an overview of meta descriptions and their lengths.
H1: Lists all H1 headings on your site.
H2: Lists all H2 headings on your site.
Images: Offers insights into image-related issues like missing alt text, oversized images, and more.
6. Identify SEO Issues:
- Analyze the data to identify potential SEO issues. Common issues to look out for include missing meta tags, duplicate content, broken links, and pages with excessive redirects.
7. Filter and Export Data:
- Use the filter and export options in Screaming Frog to narrow down specific issues or data sets for further analysis or reporting.
8. Address SEO Issues:
- Once you’ve identified issues, work on resolving them. For instance, you can optimize meta tags, fix broken links, and improve page load times.
9. Re-Crawl If Necessary:
- After making changes to your website, you can re-crawl it using Screaming Frog to ensure that the issues have been resolved.
10. Regular Audits:
- Conduct regular website audits using Screaming Frog to monitor and maintain your site’s SEO health.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a powerful tool for website audits, and it can provide valuable insights into your site’s SEO performance. By identifying and addressing issues, you can improve your website’s search engine rankings, user experience, and overall online visibility.