SEO Audit Checklist
A complete checklist to audit your website’s SEO performance, identify critical issues, and uncover growth opportunities.
Tick the box after completing each task. Click Reset if you want to restart
Indexing & Crawlability Audit
Check Indexing Status in Search Console
Review Search Console’s indexing report to identify pages that are “Excluded” or “Erroring” and ensure critical pages are indexed.
Crawl the Site for Errors
Use a crawler (Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, Semrush) to detect broken links, redirect chains, duplicate content, and missing meta tags.
Validate robots.txt Rules
Fetch your robots.txt and verify it doesn’t block important pages, CSS, JS, or images that Google needs to render the site.
Verify XML Sitemap Integrity
Open your sitemap and confirm it contains only canonical, non-redirecting, indexable pages. Ensure it’s submitted in the Search Console.
Confirm Single HTTPS / Domain Version
Test that HTTP, non-www, and www versions all redirect via 301 to a single, preferred HTTPS domain to avoid duplicates.
Audit rel=canonical Implementation
Check that each page’s canonical tag points correctly (to itself or preferred version) and that Google honors it in practice.
Detect Redirect Chains and Loops
Use a crawling tool (like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs) to check how your URLs redirect. Make sure every redirect takes users straight to the final page, not through multiple steps or back to itself.
Test Internal & External Links
Crawl or run a link audit to find broken internal or outbound links (404s, DNS errors), and correct or remove them.
Check Server Error Patterns (5xx)
Look for pages that show server errors (codes starting with “5,” like 500 or 503) in Google Search Console or your hosting logs. These mean your site temporarily stopped working — fix them so search engines can crawl your site smoothly.
Review Crawl Logs / Crawl Budget Use
Analyze server logs to see how often Google crawls pages, which errors arise, and whether low-value pages are using too much crawl budget.
Technical SEO & Performance
Run Core Web Vitals / Speed Audits
Use PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and GSC to measure LCP, INP, CLS and flag pages that don’t meet “Good” thresholds.
Verify Mobile Usability
Run Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or check mobile view in Search Console to ensure pages are usable on phones (no overlaps, readable text).
Confirm Resources Aren’t Blocked
Fetch & render key pages and verify CSS, JS, and images aren’t blocked from Googlebot. Missing resources can break page rendering.
Review CSS & JavaScript Performance
Check scripts and styles that block rendering. Use tools or audit reports to find unused CSS/JS, large bundles, or critical render-blocking files.
Image Audit: Size, Formats, and Alt Text
Scan images across pages for missing alt text, oversized files, missing dimensions, or unoptimized formats like JPEG vs WebP.
Audit Pagination / “Next / Prev” Pages
If your site uses paginated content, ensure unique titles/meta descriptions, internal linking, and correct rel links to assist indexing.
Verify SSL / Security Headers
Test for certificate validity, correct redirections, the absence of mixed content, and presence of security headers (HSTS, CSP, X-Frame, etc.).
Site Architecture & Structure
Inspect URL Parameters & Structure
List parameterized URLs (sort/filter pages). Check canonicalization or URL parameter settings so search engines don’t treat them as duplicate pages.
Analyze Site Depth & Architecture
Map internal link structure and depth — ensure important pages are accessible within ≤3 clicks and have sufficient internal linking.
On-Page SEO Audit
Check Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Review every page’s title and meta description to ensure they reflect page content, include target keywords, and entice clicks.
Audit Heading Structure (H1, H2, etc.)
Go through pages to confirm exactly one H1 per page, meaningful H2/H3s, and keywords in headings used naturally.
Assess Content Depth and Originality
Check for pages that lack depth (thin) or mirror others. Mark pages for expansion or content merging if they don’t offer value.
Review Use of Semantic / Related Keywords
Check if pages include synonyms and related terms instead of overusing the main keyword. Highlight over-optimization or repetition.
Ensure One Main Topic per Page
Scan content to see if a page tries to cover multiple unrelated topics. Where found, split into separate pages for clarity and ranking focus.
Find Thin or Duplicate Content
Sort pages by word count or content similarity. Mark pages with minimal unique content or near-duplicates for consolidation or improvement.
Review Content Freshness
Find pages that haven’t been updated in 12+ months. Check for outdated stats, broken links, or stale examples and flag them for refresh.
Evaluate E-E-A-T Signals on Key Pages
On pages like “About,” “Services,” or “Case Studies,” confirm author bios, credentials, sources cited, and contact identity are present.
Internal & External Linking Audit
Internal Linking Audit
List pages with few or zero internal links. For pages with many, confirm anchor text is descriptive and relevant, not generic like “click here.”
Audit External / Outbound Links
Check outbound links to ensure they point to credible, relevant sources. Mark broken external links or ones pointing to low-quality sites.
Review Local / Niche Link Opportunities
Check whether you’re missing links from local organizations, industry associations, or niche blogs. Highlight opportunities for authority building.
Backlink Profile Quality Check
Use a backlink analysis tool to list referring domains, anchor text, and link quality. Flag low-quality or spammy links and consider disavow.
Monitor Brand Mentions and Requests for Links
Search for unlinked brand mentions. Make a list of pages that mention you and outreach to request linking. Track new PR opportunities.
Structured Data, Schema & AI Overview Checks
Audit Structured Data / Schema
Run Rich Results Test on pages with schema. Identify errors, missing properties, or invalid markups and fix them.
Validate FAQ / Q&A Schema Implementation
Check pages with FAQs to ensure correct schema markup (FAQPage) and that content is visible to users (not hidden) for AI indexing.
Check for Triggered AI Overview / AI Summary Presence
Search your target topics and see if AI summaries or “AI answer boxes” cite your site. Note which competitors appear and compare structure.
Check hreflang / International Taggings
On multilingual sites, review hreflang tags to ensure all alternates point to canonical URLs, include self-references, and avoid conflicts.
Media Review
Review Image Optimization & Alt Text
Find pages where images lack alt text, are oversized, or missing width/height markup. Note ones needing compression or adjustments.