How to Audit Your Site’s Technical SEO with the MozBar

Technical SEO is a crucial aspect of any website’s overall SEO strategy. Taking the time to audit your site’s technical SEO can help uncover issues that may be hindering its performance and discover opportunities for improvement. One handy tool for conducting a technical audit is the MozBar, a free browser extension created by Moz. In this post, we’ll explore how to use the MozBar to audit your site’s technical SEO.

Installing and Activating the MozBar

The first step is to install the MozBar extension in your preferred browser. It is compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Once installed, the MozBar will appear as an additional toolbar in your browser. You’ll need to log in with your Moz account credentials to access the full suite of technical SEO analysis features. If you don’t already have a Moz account, it’s free to sign up.

Auditing On-Page Technical SEO

With the MozBar activated, start by auditing the technical aspects of individual pages on your site. Navigate to a page and the MozBar will analyze various on-page technical SEO factors in real-time. Some key things to check include:

• Page speed – The MozBar grades page load time to indicate if it may negatively impact user experience and search engine rankings. Aim for a grade of B or higher.
• Mobile friendliness – Check if the page renders and functions well on mobile devices. This is important for technical SEO and user experience.
• HTTPS implementation – Ensure the page is served over HTTPS to satisfy Google’s security requirements.
• HTML improvements – The bar suggests optimizations like adding page descriptions, simplifying the HTML structure, and more.
• Backlink analysis – See which pages are linking to the current page and get metrics on the quality of those links.

Audit a representative sample of important pages to identify any technical SEO issues needing attention. Pay close attention to slow-loading or mobile-unfriendly pages.

Evaluating Site-Wide Technical SEO

For a holistic view of your site’s technical SEO, the MozBar has a Site Overview report. To access it, click the menu icon and choose “Site Overview.” This report analyzes numerous site-wide technical factors and grades your performance in each area. Some things it evaluates include:

• Crawlability – Assessing if search engines can easily crawl and index your entire site.
• Rendering speed – Average page speed performance across the site.
• HTTPS implementation – Percentage of pages using HTTPS.
• HTML improvements – Common issues found across site pages.
• Backlinks – Summary of total backlinks and their estimated quality.

The Site Overview gives a technical SEO report card for your entire website. Review any underperforming metrics and prioritize technical optimizations in those areas.

Auditing Technical SEO with the MozBar

In summary, the MozBar is a powerful free tool for auditing a website’s technical SEO. Its on-page analysis and comprehensive Site Overview report make it easy to evaluate key technical factors and identify areas for optimization. Taking the time to regularly audit technical SEO with the MozBar can help ensure a site stays search engine optimized.

Common Technical SEO FAQs

Here are answers to two common technical SEO questions: