SEO Audit Checklist for Technical and On-Page Checks
A one-page technical and on-page SEO audit checklist covering crawling, indexing, on-page basics, speed, content, links and local search.
Use this list when you audit a site. Copy it into your own notes, mark what passes, write down what fails, and fix the failures in the order shown. If you want the reasoning behind each step, read how to do an SEO audit.
1. Crawling and indexing
- The site loads over HTTPS, and HTTP redirects to it
- robots.txt does not block pages you want found
- No important page is set to noindex by mistake
- An XML sitemap exists and lists the pages you want indexed
- No important page returns a 404 or 500 error
- Redirects go straight to the final page, with no chains
- Each page has one canonical address, and duplicates point to it
2. On-page basics
- Every page has a unique title that fits in search results
- Every page has a unique meta description
- Every page has one H1 that matches what the page is about
- Headings follow a logical order
- Images have useful file names and alt text
- Internal links use clear anchor text
3. Content
- No two pages target the same keyword with the same content
- Thin pages are expanded, merged or removed
- Each key page matches the search intent of its keyword
- Old posts are updated or redirected
4. Speed and mobile
- Pages load quickly on a mobile connection
- Images are compressed and sized for the screen
- The layout works on a small phone without sideways scrolling
- Buttons and links are large enough to tap
5. Links
- No broken internal links
- No broken outbound links on key pages
- Your best pages receive internal links from related pages
- Backlinks are checked for lost links and risky domains
6. Local and trust signals
- The Google Business Profile is complete and verified (see the Google Business Profile checklist)
- Name, address and phone match across directories
- Contact details, an About page and policies are easy to find
After the audit
Fix Critical issues first, then Warnings, and leave Notices for later. Check each fix with a single-page re-check, then re-run the audit and compare with the last crawl.