ax paris audit and analysis

December 2014Tom Markowicz

AX ParisSEO Audit

AX ParisSEO Audit December 2014

Evolutia • Williams House • Manchester Science Park • Manchester • M15 6SE

Although the website receives a significant amount of traffic, the vast majority of this traffic comes from brand related search terms. We are aware that AX Paris carries out a number of offline marketing activities and we have assessed that a large amount of your website traffic is coming through this channel. Further investigation into this matter could be carried out through your Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools. SEO develops non brand traffic and enhances a broader visibility online.

Currently there are a large number of areas across the website which aren’t optimised for SEO and there are also areas which could currently incur a penalty from Google through the Panda update. The website’s main problems technically are that there are over 100,000 pages indexed by Google with the majority of these pages being very similar to each other. This, along with the duplicate product descriptions, creates mass duplication for the website which makes it difficult for Google to identify which page should rank for each keyword term.

After an initial scan through the external link profile it appears that it remains fairly natural with a well optimised anchor text profile. We would need to conduct a full link audit to remove any low quality links which may be holding the website back in the search engines.

In addition, compared to many key competitors the website has a low overall authority, which means you aren’t currently competing for a range of high search volume keyword terms.

Initial Analysis



Technical Audit

Layered Navigation is a major problem for webmasters because each time a filter option is selected a new URL is created which duplicates all of the on-page content. This also applies to paginated pages where a large number of products cannot be all listed on one page so are spread into a series of pages.

As well as creating mass duplication it also increases link dilution and reduces crawl equity. This is part of the reason why there are currently 134,000 pages from your website indexed by Google.

We would recommend blocking these pages from being indexed to avoid the websitebeing penalised by Google. If this isn’t a feasible option we could look to implement the rel_canonical and rel_next and rel_prev to indicate to Google which pages are a copy of the master and are part of a series of pages.

High priorityLayered Navigation Issues

Google has recently started to list site speed as an important factor in ranking the quality of a website. It is therefore crucial that we look to improve the site speed for both desktop and mobile across the website where possible. There are numerous ways that we can achieve this. An example of this would be to leverage browser caching and to Minify JavaScript/HTML/CSS

High prioritySite Speed



Technical Audit

Keyword Research

There doesn’t appear to have been a significant amount of keyword research and analysiscarried out throughout the website. We would recommend doing this across the whole site so each page can be updated to improve on page relevancy and avoid more duplication.

We would then recommend undertaking keyword mapping to ensure that each page is as targeted as it can be for the relevant search terms.

Please see an example below;

Url - http://www.axparis.com/categories/Dresses/?page=1

Title - <title>All Dresses | AX Paris</title>

The “all” in this case is unnecessary and as Google places the weight from left to right we would recommend placing rich, relevant keywords at the start.

Currently there are 114,000 of your search results being indexed within Google’s search results. In turn, this can create “thin content” pages which Google deems to have little to no use to the user.

“Use robots.txt to prevent crawling of search results pages or otherauto-generated pages that don’t add much value for users comingfrom search engines.”

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en

Search Pages Being IndexedHigh priority

High priority



Technical Audit

Google loves unique content and uses it as a major factor when deciding how to rankwebsites. They also look to target websites which have very similar or duplicate contentbecause of the lower value that this can offer to the end user.

Currently a large amount of your content is duplicated from external website’s and shouldbe re-written to add value to the end user and avoid duplication issues with Google.

Google will generally see the first indexed page as the most relevant and as a result we would recommend re-writing this content to provide unique, valuable information to the end user.

Duplicate Product Page ContentHigh priority

The meta description is the small extract of text which features under the URL on thesearch engine results pages. Although it has been said that it doesn’t have a direct impact on SEO it can improve the click through rate.

There are a large number of missing meta descriptions across the website. This is resulting in Google creating its own meta descriptions which will be having a negative effect on your click through rate.

Mass Missing Meta DescriptionsHigh priority



Technical Audit

Google uses the <h1> tag as an element to help determine what a page is about andas such it’s crucial that there is only one clear <h1> tag per page which highlights thekeywords/key information of that page.

There are currently no relevant H1 tags throughout the website. These should be applied and re-written to improve on page relevancy.

Mass Missing H1 Tags

Another area identified where Google is crawling and indexing very similar pages is the colour selection options on the product pages.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site%3Awww.axparis.com%2Fproducts%2F-Bonded--Self-Coloured--Jacket.html&oq=site%3Awww.axparis.com%2Fproducts%2F-Bonded--Self-Coloured--Jacket.html&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i58.1375j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&rlz=1C1ASUM_enGB510GB510&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=site%3Awww.axparis.com%2Fproducts%2FBonded--Self--Coloured--Jacket.html

These should be blocked to avoid any duplication and decrease authority loss and link dilution.

Duplicate Pages Being Indexed Due to Colour OptionsHigh priority

High priority

Title tags are one of the most important aspects of your on page optimisation as they are a great way to tell Google exactly what the webpage is about. Currently your title tags are very poorly optimised throughout the website with a large amount of duplication across a number of pages.

These should be re-written to improve on page relevancy for each page or the rel_canonical tag should be applied to indicate to Google that the page in question is a copy of the master page.

Mass Duplicate Title TagsHigh priority



Technical Audit

ALT tags are a way of increasing the on-page relevancy by adding text to an image so thatGoogle can identify what the image is about.

ALT tags can also help to enhance your sitelink extension in the brand organic search results which can help you to increase your presence within your brand space.

We have identified various images for which the ALT tag could be revised to increase therelevancy of the page.

Large Amount of Missing Alt Text

Keyword cannibalisation occurs when there are a number of website pages trying to rank for the same or very similar keywords. This essentially confuses the search engines and make it difficult for them to distinguish which pages to rank for certain search terms which can cause the pages to compete and a loss of rankings.

We would therefore recommend re-evaluating your on page targeting and re-writing page attributes where possible. We would also consider utilising the rel_canonical tag to indicate to Google which pages are a duplicate of the master page.

Keyword Cannibilisation

High priority

High priority

The robots.txt file is used to guide the Googlebot in crawling your website. It can be utilised to block unnecessary or “thin pages” and also highlight to Google where the sitemap is contained to enable it to be quickly and effectively indexed.

We would recommend creating a robots.txt file which will help to resolve some of the areas previously mentioned earlier in the audit.

No Robots.txt FileHigh priority

Your website is currently available on it IP address. This can create major duplication issues if Google crawls this and can even end up with the entire website indexed under its IP address creating mass duplication issues.

We would therefore recommend redirecting this IP address into the main domain with a 301 redirect to prevent this issue arising.

Website Available Via IP AddressHigh priority



Technical Audit

Google has recently rolled out their Google Certified Shops Scheme in the UK which aims to assure shoppers of the high customer service standards they can expect from participating retailers.

The Scheme allows retailers to display the logo, alongside their own statistics illustrating the number of transactions, their success rate and the percentage of deliveries dispatched on time. This should have a positive impact on the conversion rate.

Google Trusted ShopsMedium

priority

The product mark-up schema is used to identify information relating to a product such as price, reviews, product ID and manufacturer information. You can also add your aggregate rating information based on your average rating and overall number of reviews.

Here is an example of a Google search result that has been marked up with the Product Schema:

Medium

priority

Product Schema

No Home Page or Category Page ContentHigh priority

Currently there is a lack of category content on many of the website’s pages. Categorycontent can be a key way to explain to Google what a page is about and enhance itsrelevancy. Without category content, Google could be led to believe that the page holdslittle value to the user and as such fail to rank it as highly.

As a result we would recommend implementing category content across the website onpages which currently have little to no content.



External Link Overview

The current link profile for AX Paris is moderately well optimised but does contain a number of low quality links which we would recommend removing.

We will need to carry out a full link profile audit to analyse all of the negative links which are pointing to the site and then from there we will need to email all of the various sites to request for the links to be removed.

Link Profile



INITIAL ANALYSIS: LINK PROFILE AUDIT

Another important factor to consider is the anchor text that are being used to link to your site. Previously, it was considered, to increase your site’s ranking on the various internet search engines when targeting a specific term you would need to ensure that your links originated from many other sites using that term. This has now been flagged as a major problem as Google will see the practice as underhand and will potentially penalise you for it. Therefore, it is now critical that you ensure that your anchor text is distributed so that it appears natural to Google. Currently the AX Paris anchor text profile is fairly well optimised but may require some further attention.

Anchor Text Distribution



The website currently ranks for no high volume search terms in the premium positions one to three which are non-brand related. This is likely to be due to a lower authority than your competitors and confusing Google with diluted on-page relevancy.

Competitor Analysis



Positions four to ten on the first search engine results page receives a significantly lower amount of traffic than position one to three in accordance with the chart below.

The competitor analysis diagram above shows us that Lipsy has a much greater authority in the search and this is the main contributing factor as to why they rank for nearly three times as many search terms than the AX Paris website.



I have used two examples of search terms which receive a high volume of search traffic. Although individual keyword rankings shouldn’t be the main focus of an SEO campaign it does show you where you are falling short in comparison to your competitors.

Keyword Search Volume Current position Maxi Dresses 90,500 20

Poor on page relevancy;Title tag is;

<title>Dresses - Maxi Dresses - AX Paris</title>

Google gives the most weight to the start of the title tag and truncates it at around 65 characters. We would therefore recommend moving Maxi Dresses to the beginning of the title tag to give you more chance of ranking in a higher position, avoiding keyword cannibalisation with dresses being at the start and to aid on page relevancy efforts.

Additionally if we remove dresses from the start of the title tag we can target another search term which will bring in more traffic to this part of the website. H1 tag;

There is currently no H1 tag on this page. The H1 tag is the main header tag on a webpage and like the title tag google uses this as part of the puzzle when deciding what a web page is about. This should be applied to indicate to Google that this page is relevant for maxi dresses.

Indexing;

There have been 45 pages indexed by Google which are exactly the same as the maxi dress page due to the layered navigation problems mentioned earlier in the audit;

Keyword Analysis



Due to no Meta Description applied Google is creating its own as per the image below. This will significantly decrease CTR and even indicates to the potential customer that you are listing your products in $ rather than £ which it shouldn’t do for UK based customers.

Keyword Analysis

Keyword Search Volume Current position Midi Dresses 9,900 6

The same on page relevancy problems and indexing issues also apply to the midi dress search term. The image below from the search engine results page highlights the benefits of creating your own meta descriptions to improve your click through rate if you look at your competitors in comparison to your own.



The table below shows us that the AX Paris has a much lower number of external linking root domains and linking C-block domains to that of its competitors. This is currently one of the most important ranking factors used by Google and is corroborated by the table below. This also highlights why you are being outranked by your competitors.

Keyword Analysis

The next table explores your on page standings from a top level perspective in comparison to your competitors for the Midi Dress search term. Without the correct technical optimisation and on page targeting it is nearly impossible for Google to distinguish what the page is about and what terms it is trying to target.



User Testing

Commented positives

The website can be easily navigated in most areas with a good layout overall.

The shipping prices are good and very competitive.

The checkout overall is smooth and streamline.

Good to see Paypal as an option to purchase.

All of the information that you would require to make a purchase is available on the product pages.

Commented issues

Initial sales bombardment could appear patronising. Offering 10% sign up pop up and then 50% all over the website may cheapen the brand. The flashing 50% off banner can also appear too intrusive.

Poor appearance on the search engine results pages in comparison to your competitors.

No guest checkout available. If someone wants to buy a product but not create an account, this is not possible.

We have carried out some top level usability testing to attempt to rectify any issues that potential customers may have in carrying out purchases on your website. At the start of any campaign we would do more in depth audits of all areas mentioned in this audit. Hopefully this will provide you with a few areas to improve your conversation rate.

International SEO Auditing

Given the nature of the website we would recommend also considering an International SEO strategy to ensure that your website is targeted appropriately to each international market



Summary

The main problem the website currently faces is a lack of keyword targeting and a lack of technical on-page optimisation. The low authority is due to a low number of external linking domains in relation to your competitors is low and there are over one hundred thousand pages indexed by Google which shouldn’t be.

We would recommend initially conducting a full technical audit with implementable changes alongside an on page content audit and strategy. After exploring the link profile in more detail we would then look to utilise your social following to gain links from content marketing. This would allow you to gain a large number of links/authority in a natural way to essential catch up to your competitors. Concurrently we would also recommend carrying out further usability testing to gain the most from the visitors the website already receives while we are waiting on a rise in traffic levels from the points mentioned earlier.

ax paris audit and analysis

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