Introduction
SEO audits can be overwhelming. With so many things to check, it's easy to miss critical issues or waste time on low-priority items. This comprehensive checklist ensures you cover all aspects of technical SEO systematically.
Use this checklist for every audit to ensure consistency and completeness.
Pre-Audit Setup
- ✓ Define audit scope (full site vs. sections)
- ✓ Set up crawling tool
- ✓ Configure crawl settings (depth, limits, robots.txt)
- ✓ Gather access to Google Search Console
- ✓ Gather access to Google Analytics
- ✓ Document current site structure
Crawlability & Indexability
- ✓ Check robots.txt for blocking issues
- ✓ Verify XML sitemap exists and is valid
- ✓ Check for meta noindex tags
- ✓ Verify canonical tags are correct
- ✓ Check for orphaned pages
- ✓ Verify important pages are crawlable
- ✓ Check for crawl errors in GSC
On-Page SEO
- ✓ Title tags (unique, proper length, optimized)
- ✓ Meta descriptions (unique, compelling, proper length)
- ✓ H1 tags (one per page, descriptive)
- ✓ Heading hierarchy (H2, H3, etc.)
- ✓ Image alt text (descriptive, relevant)
- ✓ URL structure (clean, descriptive, SEO-friendly)
- ✓ Internal linking (strategic, descriptive anchors)
Technical Issues
- ✓ Broken links (404 errors)
- ✓ Redirect chains
- ✓ Redirect loops
- ✓ Duplicate content
- ✓ Missing or duplicate meta tags
- ✓ HTTPS implementation
- ✓ SSL certificate validity
- ✓ Mobile responsiveness
Page Speed & Performance
- ✓ Page load times
- ✓ Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS)
- ✓ Image optimization
- ✓ CSS/JS minification
- ✓ Render-blocking resources
- ✓ Server response times
- ✓ CDN implementation
Structured Data
- ✓ Schema markup implementation
- ✓ Schema validation (Rich Results Test)
- ✓ Appropriate schema types
- ✓ Schema errors in GSC
Mobile SEO
- ✓ Mobile-friendly design
- ✓ Viewport configuration
- ✓ Touch-friendly elements
- ✓ Mobile page speed
- ✓ Mobile usability in GSC
Site Structure
- ✓ Information architecture
- ✓ Internal linking structure
- ✓ Click depth (max 3-4 clicks)
- ✓ Breadcrumb implementation
- ✓ Navigation structure
Content Quality
- ✓ Content uniqueness
- ✓ Content depth and quality
- ✓ Keyword optimization
- ✓ Content freshness
- ✓ Content gaps
Reporting & Documentation
- ✓ Document all findings
- ✓ Prioritize issues
- ✓ Create action plan
- ✓ Assign owners
- ✓ Set deadlines
- ✓ Track progress
Using This Checklist
For each audit:
- Work through each section systematically
- Document findings as you go
- Use tools to automate checks where possible
- Prioritize issues after completing the checklist
- Create an action plan based on findings
Tools to Help
Automate checks with:
- Barracuda SEO: Comprehensive crawling and issue detection
- Google Search Console: Indexing and search performance
- Google Analytics: Traffic and user behavior
- PageSpeed Insights: Performance metrics
- Rich Results Test: Schema validation
Conclusion
This checklist ensures you don't miss critical SEO issues. Use it for every audit to maintain consistency and completeness.
Remember: A thorough audit is the foundation of effective SEO.
Start Your SEO Audit
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