Caching issue on your server
In general, if you are seeing an incorrect number in any section of Audit, it is worth checking if there is no caching issue on your server. Caching may cause our crawler and regular visitors to see an outdated version of your site - which, in general, is not good for you, and you should rather try to avoid that.
If that's the case, we suggest contacting your hosting provider and inquiring about clearing the cache of your servers completely. We want to underline that what needs to be cleared is the server cache directly from the server provider, not the browser or page cache.
Depending on the environment you have, this issue can also be connected to the site, the page, the CDN (If you are using one, like Cloudflare), or a setting on your server. Also, some WordPress plugins are aggressive and prevent our crawler from seeing the new version of the site.
If you're not sure how to clear the cache from your website correctly, contacting your hosting is the way to go, as they will be able to advise you.
Why your image number may differ
If Audit is not counting all of your images, please remember that there are some instances in which an image is not counted towards the image count. Those instances include:
Hyperlinked images. Any hyperlinked content is excluded from the image count, as it allows us to get closer to the main content. Anchored content rather describes the page it links to rather than the page it's on. It also lets us exclude the footers, navigation bars, and other similar elements of your page.
Images with lazyloading applied. Lazy loading is a feature that is great for increasing your page's performance - but it will also cause bots like ours not to be able to see the whole content upon crawling. Our crawler is only looking at the version of your page visible upon initial loading, while lazy-loaded content requires the user to stay on the website and scroll down to specific sections.
Audit will only count images that are placed as <img> tag and ignore if they are placed as <div style="background-image:xxx.png">. The reason is that these image types essentially carry different meanings. <img> is like a framed painting, while background-image is more of a wallpaper.
There may be a caching issue on your server.
If Audit is counting more images than you believe you have, there are also a few possible reasons behind that:
You may be forgetting about the images that are outside of your article, such as non-hyperlinked logos, star rating icons, and other surrounding images. We are scanning everything within the <body> tags of your page, and any non-hyperlinked <img> element will be included in the report.
There may be a caching issue on your server.
Why your words number may differ
If Audit is not counting all of your words, there are a few possible reasons behind that:
Hyperlinked words. Any hyperlinked content is excluded from the word count, as this approach allows us to get closer to the main content. Anchored content rather describes the page it links to rather than the page it's on. It also lets us exclude the footers, navigation bars, and other similar elements of your page.
The word may not be typed in exactly as we suggest - i.e., plural vs. singular form.
Some characters, like the German "Ü", might have a few different character encoding variations. As we base the analysis on competitors from Google, it might happen that selected competitors are using different characters than you, and thus we don't detect them as matching.
There may be a caching issue on your server.
If Audit is counting more words than you have on your page, there are a few possible reasons behind that as well:
Please note that we analyze your entire <body> tag, including hidden content and things like image alt-texts. Searching through the page using the browser's search function under CTRL+F may not always show you all occurances of a word, as some of those words may be hidden from regular visitors and serve a purpose to crawlers only.
There may be a caching issue on your server.
Why your bold text number may differ
If the words in strong or b section are showing an incorrect number, you may need to check if these factors are not affecting this:
<b> or <strong> is not equal to <p style="font-weight:bold"> - Surfer will only count <b> or <strong> tags, but not styles.
Hyperlinked words. Any hyperlinked content is excluded from the word count, as this approach allows us to get closer to the main content. Anchored content rather describes the page it links to rather than the page it's on. It also lets us exclude the footers, navigation bars, and other similar elements of your page.
There may be a caching issue on your server.
Why your internal links section may be incorrect
Some users are applying internal linking suggestions on the audited page, whereas internal links should actually point from the links on the list to the audited page. If your already existing or freshly added internal links are not reflected on the list, make sure that you interpret the list correctly.
This issue may also be caused by caching, as mentioned in the first paragraph of this article.
Do you still need help? Don't worry! You can contact us at [email protected] or via live chat by clicking the icon in the bottom-right corner and we will be happy to help you investigate the issue further.