Alchemy Systems Western - Website Report

Key Aspects Impacting Performance and Conversions

The website under review exhibits both strong performance metrics and areas that require enhancement to boost efficiency and user experience. By addressing the following key findings, the site could see improved load times and user engagement, leading to higher conversions.

10 Key Findings

1. Image Optimisation: There is significant potential to improve load times by optimising images. Efficient encoding and using next-generation formats like WebP or AVIF could save over 300 KiB.

2. Caching and Resource Management: Serving static assets with an efficient cache policy and reducing unused CSS and JavaScript can enhance repeat visit load speeds and reduce unnecessary data transfer.

3. Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources: Reducing render-blocking resources, such as CSS and JS, can improve the initial load time by up to 640 ms, enhancing the perceived speed of the site.

4. Server Response Time: The initial server response is slower than ideal. Addressing server-side bottlenecks could significantly cut load times, improving the overall user experience.

5. HTTPS Implementation: Ensuring all resources are served over HTTPS will not only improve security but also boost user trust and potentially improve search rankings.

6. Canonicalisation Errors: Fixing canonicalisation issues and 4xx errors can prevent duplicate content problems and ensure important pages are accessible, which is crucial for search engine optimisation.

7. Keyword Strategy: Focusing on high search volume, low competition keywords can lead to improved rankings and visibility, especially for keywords like “alchemy” which have high potential but low current visibility.

8. Backlink Profile Enhancement: Strengthening the backlink profile with high-authority links can improve the website’s domain authority and keyword rankings.

9. JavaScript Modernisation: Transitioning to modern JavaScript frameworks like React or Vue.js could improve site performance and maintainability, replacing older libraries like jQuery.

10. WordPress and Plugin Updates: Regular updates to WordPress and its plugins are essential to maintain security and performance, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities and ensuring optimal operation.

In summary, by focusing on these areas, the website can enhance both its technical performance and its ability to convert visitors into engaged users or customers. Regular audits and updates will further ensure that the site remains competitive and efficient.

Summary

The website’s performance shows a mix of strengths and areas for improvement. Key metrics such as Time to Interactive and First Contentful Paint are relatively strong, indicating that the page becomes usable quickly. However, there are several optimisations that could significantly enhance the site’s efficiency and user experience, such as optimising images, reducing unused resources, and improving server response time. Implementing these recommendations could lead to faster load times and a more seamless user experience.

Detailed Analysis and Recommendations

Time to Interactive

• • Score: 1.7 seconds
  • Analysis: This metric indicates a good performance, as the site becomes interactive relatively quickly.
  • Recommendation: Continue monitoring this metric to maintain or improve performance further.

Efficiently Encode Images

• • Potential Savings: 110 KiB
  • Analysis: Images are not fully optimised, leading to longer load times.
  • Recommendation: Compress images using more efficient encoding techniques to reduce their size.

Serve Static Assets with an Efficient Cache Policy

• • Issues: 53 resources found needing optimisation
  • Analysis: Many resources could benefit from a longer cache duration to improve load speeds on repeat visits.
  • Recommendation: Implement a cache policy that extends the lifetime of static assets.

Reduce Unused CSS

• • Potential Savings: 14 KiB
  • Analysis: The presence of unused CSS can slow down page loading.
  • Recommendation: Audit and remove unused CSS rules and defer non-critical styles to improve loading efficiency.

Serve Images in Next-Gen Formats

• • Potential Savings: 218 KiB
  • Analysis: Current image formats are not the most efficient.
  • Recommendation: Convert images to next-generation formats like WebP or AVIF to enhance compression and loading speeds.

Cumulative Layout Shift

• • Score: 0.076
  • Analysis: The layout shift is minimal, indicating a stable page layout.
  • Recommendation: Maintain current practices to ensure layout stability.

Minify CSS

• • Potential Savings: 3 KiB
  • Analysis: CSS files are not fully optimised.
  • Recommendation: Minify CSS files to reduce their size and decrease network payloads.

Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources

• • Potential Savings: 640 ms
  • Analysis: Certain resources are delaying the first paint of the page.
  • Recommendation: Deliver critical CSS/JS inline and defer non-critical resources to speed up initial rendering.

First Contentful Paint

• • Score: 1.2 seconds
  • Analysis: The site displays initial content quickly, indicating a good user perception of load speed.
  • Recommendation: Optimise further by improving server response times and resource loading.

Does Not Use HTTPS

• • Issue: 1 insecure request found
  • Analysis: Using HTTP exposes users to potential security risks.
  • Recommendation: Transition fully to HTTPS to secure communications and avoid mixed content issues.

Largest Contentful Paint

• • Score: 1.7 seconds
  • Analysis: The largest visible element loads quickly.
  • Recommendation: Optimise main elements further to enhance user experience.

Reduce Unused JavaScript

• • Potential Savings: 152 KiB
  • Analysis: Unused JavaScript increases the page’s load time.
  • Recommendation: Identify and remove unnecessary scripts to improve performance.

Avoid Multiple Page Redirects

• • Potential Savings: 340 ms
  • Analysis: Redirects introduce delays.
  • Recommendation: Minimise the use of redirects to improve loading times.

Max Potential First Input Delay

• • Score: 80 ms
  • Analysis: The delay is minimal, indicating responsive user interactions.
  • Recommendation: Continue optimising JavaScript execution to maintain low delays.

Largest Contentful Paint Element

• • Score: 1,740 ms
  • Analysis: The largest element loads relatively quickly.
  • Recommendation: Further optimisation can be achieved by focusing on critical elements.

Properly Size Images

• • Potential Savings: 33 KiB
  • Analysis: Images are not optimally sized for different devices.
  • Recommendation: Use responsive images to ensure appropriate sizing across all device types.

Speed Index

• • Score: 3.0 seconds
  • Analysis: The site could improve in how quickly content is visually populated.
  • Recommendation: Focus on optimising resources and scripts to enhance visual load speed.

Reduce Initial Server Response Time

• Issue: Root document took 990 ms
• Analysis: Server response time is longer than ideal.
• Recommendation: Investigate server-side performance bottlenecks to reduce response times and improve overall load speed.

Technical SEO Report Summary

The technical SEO audit for alchemysystems.co.uk reveals several key areas that require attention. The website’s SSL certificate is valid, and it is served over HTTPS, which is a positive aspect for security and SEO. However, there are critical issues such as canonicalisation errors and 4xx status codes that could significantly impact the website’s performance and search engine visibility. Addressing these issues promptly will improve the site’s overall health and SEO standing.

Detailed Issues and Recommendations

Canonicalisation Issues

Issue: The canonicalisation status code is 403, which indicates a permissions issue preventing the correct canonical tag from being read by search engines.

Impact: This can lead to duplicate content issues, causing confusion for search engines and potentially harming search rankings.

Fix: Ensure that the canonical tag is correctly implemented on all pages. Check server permissions to allow access to canonical URLs and verify that the canonical tag points to the correct version of each page.

4xx Errors

Issue: There is a 4xx error present, indicating a page that cannot be found (status code 403).

Impact: This can lead to a poor user experience and might negatively affect search engine rankings if important pages are inaccessible.

Fix: Identify the page(s) causing the 4xx error and rectify the issue by ensuring that they are accessible. This might involve correcting URL typos, ensuring pages are published, or setting the correct permissions on the server.

HTTP to HTTPS Redirects

Issue: The site passes the HTTPS redirect test, yet there is no indication of a www. redirect in place.

Impact: Lack of consistent URL structure can lead to duplicate content issues and may dilute page authority.

Fix: Implement a 301 redirect from http to https and non-www to www (or vice versa) to ensure a consistent URL structure across the site.

Sitemap and Robots.txt Verification

Issue: Both the sitemap and robots.txt files are present, which is beneficial for SEO.

Impact: These files help search engines understand site structure and which pages should be crawled or ignored.

Fix: Regularly update the sitemap to reflect any changes in site structure and review the robots.txt file to ensure no important pages are inadvertently blocked.

SSL Certificate

Issue: The SSL certificate is valid, issued by Google Trust Services, and set to expire on 20th February 2025.

Impact: A valid SSL certificate is crucial for security and gaining user trust, and it is a ranking factor for search engines.

Fix: Continue to monitor the SSL certificate and renew it before expiration to maintain secure site status.

Internal and External Links

Issue: There are no internal or external links recorded.

Impact: A lack of links can affect user navigation and the passing of link equity, which is essential for SEO.

Fix: Implement a strategy to incorporate relevant internal and external links throughout the site to improve navigation, user engagement, and SEO.

Overall Recommendations

To enhance the site’s SEO performance, it is crucial to address the canonicalisation and 4xx error issues immediately. Further, implementing a consistent URL structure and maintaining the sitemap and robots.txt files will help optimise the site for search engines. Increasing internal and external linking can also enhance usability and authority. Regular audits should be conducted to ensure the site remains optimised for SEO best practices.

Summary

The website utilises a robust technology stack primarily built around WordPress, with Cloudflare for CDN, MySQL for database management, and Google Analytics for tracking. Security is bolstered by HSTS, and the site ensures cookie compliance using Cookiebot. For web development, the site uses several JavaScript libraries including jQuery and its variants. PHP is the primary programming language. The overall stack is well-rounded, but there are several areas where improvements can be made for enhanced performance, security, and modernisation.

Detailed Technology Stack Assessment

Servers

• • CDN: The site employs Cloudflare, which is excellent for performance optimisation and DDoS protection.
  • Databases: Utilising MySQL, a popular choice for WordPress, offers reliable database management.

Recommendations: Consider implementing a caching mechanism such as Redis or Memcached to enhance database query performance.

Privacy

• • Cookie Compliance: Cookiebot is used to ensure compliance with cookie laws.

Recommendations: Regularly review and update cookie policies to ensure ongoing compliance with GDPR and other relevant regulations.

Analytics

• • Analytics: Google Analytics provides robust tracking and insights capabilities.

Recommendations: Explore Google Analytics 4 for advanced features like enhanced measurement and event tracking.

Location

• • Maps: The website uses Google Maps, which is comprehensive for mapping needs.

Recommendations: Ensure that the implementation of Google Maps complies with usage limits and consider alternatives like OpenStreetMap if usage costs are a concern.

Security

• • Security: HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) is in place, which strengthens security by enforcing the use of HTTPS.

Recommendations: Regularly update SSL/TLS certificates and consider implementing additional security layers such as a Web Application Firewall (WAF).

Web Development

• • JavaScript Libraries: The site relies on jQuery, jQuery Migrate, jQuery UI, and Slick.

Recommendations: Consider modernising the JavaScript stack by gradually migrating to native JavaScript or frameworks like React or Vue.js for better performance and maintainability.

• • Programming Languages: PHP is the primary language, which is suitable for WordPress development.

Recommendations: Ensure PHP versions are kept up-to-date to leverage performance improvements and security patches.

Content

• CMS: WordPress is employed as the content management system, offering extensive flexibility and plugin support.

Recommendations: Regularly update WordPress and its plugins to the latest versions to mitigate security risks. Additionally, review installed plugins and deactivate any that are unnecessary to improve site performance.

Conclusion

The current technology stack is effective for the site’s needs; however, by implementing the above recommendations, the website can achieve superior performance, security, and future-proofing. Regular audits and updates are essential to maintaining an optimal technological environment.

Summary

This SEO report provides an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses in rankings, keywords, and backlinks. The data indicates a strong position for specific keywords like “alchemy system” and “alchemy systems,” with significant potential for improvement in other areas. The analysis includes a breakdown of keyword performance, competition levels, and strategic insights to enhance the overall SEO strategy.

Rankings Analysis

• • Total Ranked Keywords: 15
  • Position 1 Keywords: 2
  • Position 2-3 Keywords: 0
  • Position 4-10 Keywords: 0
  • Position 11-20 Keywords: 1
  • Position 21-50 Keywords: 4
  • Position 50+ Keywords: 8

The data reveals that two keywords are positioned at rank 1, which is a notable achievement. However, there are no keywords within positions 2-10, indicating an opportunity to improve rankings for a broader range of keywords.

Keywords and Search Volume

• • Top Ranked Keyword: “alchemy system”
  • Highest Search Volume: 60,500 for “alchemy”
  • Total Search Volume: 0 (This appears to be an error; the sum should reflect the individual keyword search volumes.)

The keyword “alchemy” has the highest search volume but is ranked at position 47, suggesting a need for targeted SEO efforts to improve its visibility.

Backlinks and Competition

• • Average Competition: 0
  • Keywords with CPC > $1: 3

The competition levels for most keywords are relatively low, which presents an opportunity to enhance visibility with strategic backlinking and content optimisation.

Estimated Traffic Value (ETV)

• ETV: 196.78

The estimated traffic value indicates potential revenue from organic traffic. With strategic improvements, this value can be increased significantly.

SEO Strategies and Recommendations

1. Content Optimisation: Focus on improving the content quality and relevance for keywords ranked beyond position 20, particularly those with high search volumes.

2. Link Building: Enhance the backlink profile by acquiring high-authority links, especially for keywords with strong competition.

3. Targeted Keyword Strategy: Prioritise keywords with high search volume and low competition for immediate impact, such as “alchemy” and “alchemy office.”

4. Competitor Analysis: Conduct a detailed analysis of competitors ranking higher for similar keywords to identify gaps and opportunities.

5. Technical SEO Improvements: Ensure the website’s loading speed, mobile-friendliness, and overall user experience are optimised to support higher rankings.

In conclusion, while the SEO strategy shows strengths in top-ranking keywords, there is considerable room for growth in other areas. By focusing on the recommended strategies, the site’s visibility and traffic can be substantially increased.