An SEO audit checks whether search engines can crawl, index and understand your pages, and whether those pages are good enough to rank. This checklist gives you 25 checks in six groups: crawl and index, on-page, content, performance, structured data and links. For each check you get what to look at, a free way to check it and what good looks like.

Before you start

Verify your site in Google Search Console. Several checks below use its reports, and it is the only free source of Google's own data about your site. Then run a free SEO audit on your homepage and two or three pages that bring in leads or sales. Each audit checks one URL per run, so start with the pages that matter most and work outwards.

Keep a simple sheet with three columns: check, result, fix needed. Work through the groups in order, because a page that cannot be crawled or indexed will not benefit from on-page fixes.

Crawl and index checks

  1. robots.txt allows important sections. Open the file at the root of your host, for example https://example.com/robots.txt, and test your live robots.txt. Good: it returns a 200 status, blocks only admin, cart or internal search paths, and lists your sitemap.
  2. An XML sitemap exists and is valid. Use the Sitemap Finder and Validator, then open the Sitemaps report in Search Console. Good: the sitemap is submitted, reads without errors, lists only indexable URLs that return 200, and each file stays under 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed.
  3. Key pages are indexed. Open the Page indexing report in Search Console and use URL Inspection for single pages. Good: your important pages show as indexed, and every exclusion reason makes sense, for example "Alternate page with proper canonical tag" for a deliberate duplicate.
  4. No accidental noindex. Check canonical tags and robots meta on each key page. Good: no noindex on pages you want in search. Pages you do want out of the index use noindex and are not blocked in robots.txt, because Google has to crawl a page to see the noindex.
  5. One version of every URL. Test the http, https, www and non-www versions of your homepage with the Codesala Redirect Checker. Good: every variant reaches one final URL with a single 301 redirect.

On-page checks

  1. Unique, descriptive titles. Inspect title and meta tags on each key page. Good: every page has its own title that describes the page, with the main topic near the start. Google may rewrite title links, but a clear title gives it the best starting point.
  2. Useful meta descriptions. Use the same Meta Tags Analyzer. Good: each page has a unique description that summarises the page and gives a reason to click. See how to write a meta description for a formula and examples.
  3. One H1 and a logical heading outline. Use the Codesala Heading Structure Analyzer. Good: one H1 that matches the page topic, H2s for main sections, H3s nested under them, no headings used only for styling.
  4. Image alt text. Use the Codesala Image ALT Checker. Good: informative images have short alt text describing the image, decorative images use an empty alt="".
  5. Clean URL slugs. Read the URLs of your key pages. Good: lowercase, words separated by hyphens, readable by a person, no session IDs or long parameter strings.

Content checks

  1. Content matches search intent. Search your main keyword and look at the top results. Good: your page is the same type (guide, product page, local service page) and answers the question the searcher has.
  2. No thin or duplicate pages. Check the Page indexing report for "Duplicate without user-selected canonical" and use the Codesala Word and Readability Counter on short pages. Good: each indexable page has a distinct purpose and enough content to serve it.
  3. Clear authorship and trust signals. Look at your articles and service pages. Good: visible author or business name, an About page, contact details, and evidence of first-hand experience where it matters.
  4. Nothing outdated. Scan titles and pages for old years, expired offers, old prices and dead products. Good: dates, prices and stock status are current.
  5. No keyword cannibalisation. In the Search Console Performance report, filter by a main query and open the Pages tab. Good: one page clearly earns most impressions for that query, not three similar pages splitting them.

Performance checks

  1. Core Web Vitals pass. Open the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console. Good: URLs are in the "Good" group at the 75th percentile: LCP 2.5 s or less, INP 200 ms or less, CLS 0.1 or less. Our Core Web Vitals guide explains fixes.
  2. Fast server and light pages. Use the Codesala Page Speed Analyzer, which measures load time, page weight and request counts (not Core Web Vitals). Good: quick server response, compressed images, no unused scripts.
  3. Mobile-friendly layout. Use the Codesala Mobile-Friendly Test. Good: a viewport meta tag is present, text is readable without zooming and tap targets are not crowded.
  4. Valid HTTPS. Use the Codesala SSL Certificate Checker. Good: the certificate is valid, not close to expiry, and pages load no mixed http content.

Structured data checks

  1. The right schema type on each template. Look at the page source or the Enhancements section in Search Console. Good: Organization or LocalBusiness on the homepage, Product on product pages, BlogPosting or Article on posts.
  2. Markup matches visible content. Compare JSON-LD values with the page. Good: price, rating, name and dates in the markup match what users see. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test.
  3. No reliance on FAQ or HowTo rich results. Good: you understand that since August 2023 Google shows FAQ rich results only for well-known government and health sites, and HowTo rich results were removed. FAQ markup is valid schema but will not produce rich results for most sites.
  1. No broken links. Find dead links on a page. Good: no internal or outbound links return 4xx or 5xx errors, and old URLs redirect to the closest live page.
  2. No orphan pages. Use the Codesala Link Extractor on your main hub pages and the "Top linked pages" internal view in the Search Console Links report. Good: every important page is linked from at least one relevant page with descriptive anchor text.
  3. A healthy backlink profile. Open the Search Console Links report for top linking sites. The Codesala Backlink Checker only counts links on the page you enter, so use Search Console for the full list. Good: links come from relevant sites, with no large set of spammy domains you did not build.

Summary table

# Check Free way to check
1 robots.txt Robots.txt Tester
2 XML sitemap Sitemap Finder, Search Console Sitemaps
3 Indexing status Search Console Page indexing, URL Inspection
4 No accidental noindex Canonical and Index Checker
5 One URL version Redirect Checker
6 Titles Meta Tags Analyzer
7 Meta descriptions Meta Tags Analyzer
8 Headings Heading Structure Analyzer
9 Image alt text Image ALT Checker
10 URL slugs Manual review
11 Search intent Manual search of top results
12 Thin or duplicate pages Page indexing report, Word Counter
13 Authorship and trust Manual review
14 Outdated content Manual review
15 Cannibalisation Search Console Performance
16 Core Web Vitals Search Console Core Web Vitals
17 Server and page weight Page Speed Analyzer
18 Mobile layout Mobile-Friendly Test
19 HTTPS SSL Certificate Checker
20 Schema types Page source, Search Console Enhancements
21 Markup accuracy Rich Results Test
22 FAQ and HowTo expectations Google documentation
23 Broken links Broken Link Checker
24 Orphan pages Link Extractor, Search Console Links
25 Backlinks Search Console Links

Next steps

  1. Fix crawl and index problems (checks 1 to 5) first, since they block every other improvement.
  2. Run the on-page checks on your top 10 revenue or lead pages.
  3. Review content for intent, freshness and duplication.
  4. Work through performance, then structured data, then links.
  5. Repeat the audit each quarter and after any redesign or migration.