Step by step guide to a technical SEO audit for beginners featured image

A step-by-step guide to a technical SEO audit for beginners.

Across the boundless reach of e-tailing you’ve built your empire of fine jewellery, polished to perfection and ready for the spotlight—but what if your site’s backstage mechanics are tripping the curtain before the show even begins? Performing a technical SEO audit is like inspecting the showroom lighting, making sure the glass is crystal-clear, and checking that the spotlight hits every diamond just right. It’s fun, rewarding, and yes, a little nerdy—but absolutely necessary for your brand to shine in search engines and be discovered by the customers you deserve.

In this guide for beginners we’ll walk you through each phase of a technical SEO audit—no PhD required—so you can confidently review your site’s technical health and give your online presence the structural sparkle it needs. Grab a cup of tea, open your analytics tools, and let’s dive in with a wink and a nod because yes, this can be enjoyable (really!).

1. Prep Your Toolkit (Because even fine jewellery needs good tools)

Before you wander around your site hunting for hidden issues, you’ll want to gather your equipment. Make sure you have access to your Google Search Console and Google Analytics (or GA4) so you can see how search engines view your site and how users navigate it. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2} Then pick a crawler tool like Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free for small sites) or the site audit tool within Ahrefs to scan your pages. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5} Back up your site if possible (just in case you decide to make major structural changes) and open a spreadsheet or document to log every issue you find.

2. Check Crawlability & Indexability

This is the heart of your audit—can search engines crawl and index your pages? If not, everything else you optimize might go unseen. First, in Google Search Console check the Coverage report for errors like 404s, server errors or pages blocked by robots.txt. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6} Then run your crawler to identify redirect chains, orphan pages (pages without any internal links), and blocked resources. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} Review your robots.txt file and ensure you’re not accidentally blocking important content. Ensure your sitemap is submitted and reflects the pages you want indexed. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}

3. Site Architecture & Internal Linking

Imagine your fine jewellery website as a luxury boutique: if the main entrance is hidden and corridors lead nowhere, clients (and search engines) get lost. Your site architecture should be logical, with your most important pages (like collections or product pages) close to the homepage and easily reachable in a few clicks. Use breadcrumb navigation if your CMS supports it. Clean URLs help both users and search engines (“/diamond-studs” is better than “/page?id=123”). :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9} Internal linking matters too—link from high-authority pages to newer or important pages so search engines can spread that “link juice.” Check for orphan pages and fix them by linking appropriately. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}

4. Page Speed & Core Web Vitals

Now let’s talk performance—because a slow site is like a velvet rope that keeps customers waiting outside your boutique. Use Google PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse to check metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID) or now Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13} Compress images (especially if you’re showing high-resolution jewellery shots), enable browser caching, minify CSS/JS and consider a CDN if your audience spans continents. The faster and smoother your user experience, the more Google will reward you (and your customers will stay and shop longer!).

5. Mobile Usability & HTTPS Security

With more people browsing and buying jewellery on mobiles, your site must shine on small screens. In Google Search Console’s Mobile Usability report check for issues like text too small, links too close together or content wider than screen. Mobile-first indexing means your mobile version must be rock solid. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14} Also, do you have a secure connection? If your site is still HTTP instead of HTTPS you risk losing trust and rankings. Ensure your SSL certificate is valid, and that no mixed-content warnings exist. :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15}

6. Duplicate Content, Canonicals & URL Versions

Even jewellery that’s cut the same way can look entirely different depending on how it’s displayed—your content is no different. Duplicate or near-duplicate pages confuse search engines about which version to show. Check for URLs with “www” vs “non-www” or “http” vs “https” or query parameters that spawn duplicate content. Use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16} Remove unnecessary indexed tag or filter pages, implement 301 redirects for outdated URLs and ensure your canonical tags point consistently to the version you want indexed. This leaves no doubt in Google’s mind which page should appear. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17}

7. Structured Data, Sitemaps & Robots

Technical SEO isn’t just about speed and links—it’s about helping search engines understand your content, and structured data is the secret handshake. If you sell fine jewellery, you might implement schema markup for Products, Offers, Reviews, even Jewellery types so search engines can show rich snippets. Check that your XML sitemap is up-to-date, includes only canonical URLs and has no errors. Verify that your robots.txt file isn’t blocking content that should be indexed and that you don’t have crawl budget wasted on low-value pages. :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18}

8. Diagnose Errors & Set Fix Priorities

By this point you’ll likely have a long list of findings: broken links, slow-loading pages, orphan URLs, missing schema, redirect loops. Now is the time to triage. Score issues by severity: critical (affecting indexing or ranking), major (affecting user experience), minor (nice-to-have). Prioritize fixes that unlock visibility first. Document recommended actions, assign ownership if you have a team, and plan a re-crawl to verify the fixes. :contentReference[oaicite:19]{index=19}

9. Ongoing Monitoring & Repeat Audits

Your site isn’t static—product lines change, pages get added, themes get updated—so your technical SEO health needs periodic check-ups. Many SEOs recommend at least a quarterly audit, or after major site changes. :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20} Set up monitoring tools or alerts for crawl errors, mobile usability regressions or sitemap issues. Treat your audit like jewellery maintenance: regular, thorough and careful so your website stays as radiant as your collection.

10. How BlogCog Can Help You Shine

At BlogCog we specialise in AI-driven blog subscription services tailored to help your fine jewellery brand grow visibility, drive traffic and convert browsers into buyers. If your technical foundation is solid, our content engine can lock in strong rankings and keep your blog humming week after week. To find out how we assist, check out our services summary. And if you’re wondering why blogs are essential for SEO domination, take a peek at why blogs. When your site is technically sound and your content machine is firing, you’re set for gold.

Whether you do this audit yourself or partner with experts, the message is clear: a site that’s technically healthy gives your beautiful jewellery the stage it deserves in search results and in browsers’ hearts. So roll up your sleeves (or your velvet gloves) and give your website the technical polish it needs. Your sparkle is waiting.

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