technical seo screaming frog cheatsheet

Here is an extensive technical SEO checklist using Premium Screaming Frog:

Pre-Crawl Checks

1. Verify website accessibility:
   • Check if the website is accessible and crawlable by search engines.
   • Use tools like site: operator in Google to check indexing status.
2. Check website speed:
   • Use tools like Pingdom, GTmetrix, or WebPageTest to analyze page load times.
   • Identify areas for improvement (e.g., image compression, caching).
3. Verify SSL certificate:
   • Check if the website has a valid SSL certificate installed.
   • Use tools like SSL Labs or Mozilla Observatory to test SSL configuration.

Crawl Settings

1. Set crawl mode:
   • Choose between “Spider” and “List” modes depending on your needs.
2. Select crawl depth:
   • Set the maximum crawl depth to ensure all pages are crawled.
3. Configure crawl speed:
   • Adjust the crawl speed to avoid overwhelming the website or server.
4. Set user agent:
   • Choose a user agent that mimics a search engine bot (e.g., Googlebot).
5. Respect robots.txt:
   • Ensure Screaming Frog respects the website’s robots.txt file.

Crawl

1. Start crawl:
   • Begin the crawl process and monitor progress.
2. Monitor crawl errors:
   • Identify and address any crawl errors or issues that arise during the crawl.

Analysis

1. Review crawl overview:
   • Analyze the crawl summary, including pages crawled, errors, and warnings.
2. Check for broken links:
   • Identify broken internal and external links using Screaming Frog’s link analysis feature.
3. Analyze meta tags and titles:
   • Review meta tags (e.g., title, description, keywords) and page titles for consistency and optimization.
4. Review header tags:
   • Analyze the use of header tags (H1-H6) on each page.
5. Check image optimization:
   • Identify images without alt text, descriptive file names, or excessive file sizes.
6. Analyze internal linking structure:
   • Review the website’s internal linking structure to ensure it’s logical and easy to navigate.
7. Identify duplicate content:
   • Use Screaming Frog’s duplicate content feature to identify identical or similar content across pages.
8. Check for mobile-friendliness:
   • Analyze the website’s mobile responsiveness using Screaming Frog’s mobile-friendly test.
9. Review page speed insights:
   • Use Screaming Frog’s page speed analysis feature to identify areas for improvement.
10. Analyze schema markup:
    • Review the website’s schema markup implementation and identify potential issues.

Technical SEO

1. Check for canonicalization issues:
   • Identify duplicate pages with different URLs (e.g., www vs. non-www).
2. Verify XML sitemap:
   • Check if an XML sitemap is present, up-to-date, and submitted to search engines.
3. Review robots.txt file:
   • Analyze the website’s robots.txt file for errors or unnecessary directives.
4. Check for meta refresh tags:
   • Identify pages using meta refresh tags, which can cause indexing issues.
5. Analyze HTTP headers:
   • Review HTTP headers (e.g., cache-control, expires) to ensure proper caching and expiration settings.
6. Verify HTTPS implementation:
   • Check if the website’s HTTPS implementation is correct and secure.
7. Check for mixed content issues:
   • Identify pages with mixed content (HTTP and HTTPS resources).
8. Analyze website architecture:
   • Review the website’s architecture to ensure it’s logical, easy to navigate, and follows best practices.

Link Equity and Internal Linking

1. Analyze link equity distribution:
   • Use Screaming Frog’s link equity feature to analyze how link equity is distributed across pages.
2. Review internal linking structure:
   • Analyze the website’s internal linking structure to ensure it’s logical and easy to navigate.
3. Identify orphaned pages:
   • Find pages that are not linked to from anywhere else on the website.

Content Optimization

1. Analyze content length and quality:
   • Review page content to ensure it’s high-quality, engaging, and optimized for target keywords.
2. Check for keyword cannibalization:
   • Identify pages targeting the same keywords, which can lead to cannibalization.
3. Review content duplication:
   • Identify duplicate or similar content across pages.

International SEO

1. Analyze hreflang implementation:
   • Review the website’s hreflang implementation to ensure correct language and region targeting.
2. Check for geotargeting issues:
   • Identify issues with geotargeting, such as incorrect country codes or IP addresses.

Local SEO

1. Analyze Google My Business listing:
   • Review the website’s Google My Business listing to ensure accuracy and consistency.
2. Check for local business schema markup:
   • Verify that the website uses local business schema markup to provide search engines with crucial business information.

Accessibility and User Experience

1. Analyze accessibility issues:
   • Use Screaming Frog’s accessibility feature to identify accessibility issues, such as missing alt text or inadequate color contrast.
2. Review user experience:
   • Analyze the website’s user experience, including navigation, content layout, and mobile responsiveness.

This extensive technical SEO checklist using Premium Screaming Frog should help you identify and address various technical SEO issues, improving your website’s crawlability, indexability, and overall search engine rankings.