How to Perform an SEO and Accessibility Audit for WordPress

January 5, 2025
WordPress Optimization (SEO & Accessibility)
3 min read

Conducting a combined SEO and accessibility audit for your WordPress website ensures that your site is both user-friendly and optimized for search engines. By addressing both aspects, you can improve your website’s performance, increase traffic, and ensure inclusivity for all users. This guide outlines the steps to perform a comprehensive audit for WordPress.

Why an SEO and Accessibility Audit is Essential

An SEO and accessibility audit is crucial for several reasons:

Improved Rankings: Search engines prioritize websites that are user-friendly and accessible.
Legal Compliance: Accessibility ensures your site meets legal requirements, reducing the risk of penalties.
Enhanced User Experience: Combining SEO and accessibility ensures a better experience for all users, including those with disabilities.

Steps to Perform an SEO and Accessibility Audit

1. Evaluate Your Website’s Structure

Start by assessing the overall structure of your WordPress site. Look for issues such as missing navigation menus, improperly used headings, and broken links.

Tools to Use:

Screaming Frog for site crawling and identifying broken links.
WAVE Accessibility Tool to evaluate your website’s structure and identify accessibility issues.

2. Analyze Page Speed

Page speed is a critical ranking factor for SEO and significantly impacts user experience. Ensure your website loads quickly on both desktop and mobile devices.

How to Test:

Use Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze load times and receive improvement suggestions.
Minimize file sizes and enable caching to improve speed.

3. Check for Mobile Accessibility

Most users access websites on mobile devices. Test your site’s responsiveness and ensure it’s accessible on all screen sizes.

Best Practices:

Ensure text is resizable and readable on smaller screens.
Test navigation with touch controls.

4. Audit Alt Text for Images

Alt text provides descriptions of images for visually impaired users and helps search engines understand the content of your images.

Checklist:

Ensure every image has descriptive and relevant alt text.
Avoid keyword stuffing in alt text.

5. Test Keyboard Navigation

Accessible websites should be fully navigable using a keyboard. Ensure all menus, forms, and buttons are operable without a mouse.

How to Test:

Navigate your website using the Tab key to check for accessibility issues.
Ensure focus indicators are visible.

Make your website accessible
with just 1-click

6. Optimize Metadata

Meta titles and descriptions play a crucial role in both SEO and accessibility. They help users and search engines understand the purpose of your pages.

Best Practices:

Ensure meta descriptions are concise and accurately describe the page content.
Use relevant keywords naturally in titles and descriptions.

7. Review Content Structure

Proper content structure improves readability for all users, including those using screen readers. Use headings hierarchically and ensure content flows logically.

How to Improve:

Start with an H1 for the main title, followed by H2 and H3 for subsections.
Use bullet points and short paragraphs for better readability.

8. Use an Accessibility Plugin

Accessibility plugins can simplify compliance and improve your WordPress site’s usability.

Recommended Plugins:

Case Studies: SEO and Accessibility Audit Success

Case Study 1: E-commerce Site

An online retailer conducted an SEO and accessibility audit, fixing broken links and optimizing alt text. The results included a 30% increase in organic traffic and improved user feedback.

Case Study 2: Local Business

A local restaurant implemented accessibility features like keyboard navigation and readable fonts. Within three months, their bounce rate dropped by 20%, and customer satisfaction improved.

Make your website accessible
with just 1-click