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SEO basics

What an SEO audit checks, and why it matters

An SEO audit checks whether search engines can understand your page and whether a search result looks useful to people. Start with this example of a shared link.

A tag in action

A clear link preview

Open Graph and Twitter Card details let many apps show an image, headline, and short summary when somebody shares your page.

Nine important parts of an SEO audit

These page details help search engines understand what your page is about and help people decide whether to visit it.

Page title

The title appears in the browser tab and may become the main link in search results. WebWatch looks for a clear title between 20 and 70 characters.

Write: a short, specific title that says what the page offers.

Meta description

This short summary may appear below the title in search results. It does not directly raise a ranking, but it can help somebody decide to visit. WebWatch checks for 50 to 160 characters.

Write: one useful sentence that matches what the visitor will find.

H1 tag

The H1 is the main heading people see on the page. WebWatch checks for exactly one so the page has a clear main subject.

Check: that the heading describes this page, not only the name of the business.

Canonical URL

A canonical URL tells search engines which address is the preferred version when similar or identical content appears at more than one address.

Check: that it points to the page you want search engines to list.

Open Graph & Twitter Cards

These details control the title, description, and image shown when a link is shared in many social and messaging apps.

Check: the preview before sharing an important page.

Structured data

This is extra page information, often written as JSON-LD, that identifies content such as a product, article, or event. Correct structured data can make a page eligible for richer search results.

Check: that the information matches what visitors can see on the page.

Sitemap.xml

A sitemap is a file listing the page addresses you want search engines to know about. It can help them discover pages that are difficult to reach through links.

Check: that /sitemap.xml opens and contains current addresses.

robots.txt

This file tells search engine crawlers which parts of a site they may request. It guides crawling, but it does not guarantee that an address will disappear from search results.

Check: that it does not accidentally block pages you want people to find.

Image alt text

Alt text describes a meaningful image for people using a screen reader and can help search engines understand it. Decorative images should usually have empty alt text so they are skipped.

Write: the useful information the image adds, without starting with “image of”.
Check again after making changes

WebWatch saves each audit for a saved site. The score history can show whether a change fixed the expected issue or introduced a new one. Focus on useful fixes, not only a perfect score.