Free SEO Audit Template — Complete Website Audit Checklist

Use this checklist on every new client site and again quarterly on sites you manage. We score each item Pass, Fail, or N/A in the CSV — then prioritize fixes by traffic impact, not checklist order. A site can "pass" 90 items and still lose rankings on one broken canonical chain.

Download the spreadsheet: seo-audit-checklist.csv — import into Google Sheets or Excel. Columns: Category, Checklist Item, Status, Notes, Priority.

How to Run the Audit

1. Crawl the site (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or GSC export) and pull CrUX field data for top templates.
2. Work section by section below. Mark Fail items with the URL or template affected.
3. Fix High-priority items first — indexation, canonicals, CWV on money pages.
4. Re-crawl after deploys. One pass rarely catches everything on sites over 500 URLs.

1. Crawlability & Indexation (15 items)

• robots.txt exists and returns 200
• robots.txt does not block CSS or JavaScript
• robots.txt does not block money pages or key templates
• XML sitemap submitted in Google Search Console
• Sitemap contains only canonical indexable URLs
• Sitemap under 50MB and 50,000 URL limit
• No orphan pages without internal links
• Important pages return HTTP 200
• 404 rate acceptable in crawl logs
• 301 redirects used for permanently moved pages
• Redirect chains limited to two hops or fewer
• No redirect loops detected
• Canonical tags present on all indexable pages
• Self-referencing canonicals match actual URL
• No conflicting canonical vs hreflang signals

2. Site Architecture & URLs (15 items)

• Key pages reachable within three clicks from homepage
• URL structure is logical and human-readable
• Lowercase URLs used consistently
• URL parameters not creating duplicate content
• Trailing slash policy consistent sitewide
• HTTPS enforced on all pages
• Mixed content warnings resolved
• WWW vs non-WWW consolidated to one version
• Pagination handled correctly (view-all or rel next/prev)
• Faceted navigation controlled (noindex or canonical)
• No session IDs or tracking params in indexed URLs
• Breadcrumb navigation visible on key templates
• BreadcrumbList schema markup present
• Primary nav links to important category and pillar pages
• Footer links curated (not excessive sitewide spam)

3. Page Speed & Core Web Vitals (15 items)

• LCP under 2.5s on mobile field data
• INP under 200ms on mobile field data
• CLS under 0.1 on mobile field data
• TTFB under 800ms on top templates
• Images served in WebP or AVIF where supported
• Images have explicit width and height attributes
• Below-fold images lazy-loaded
• Critical CSS prioritized for above-fold content
• Render-blocking JavaScript minimized
• Third-party scripts audited and deferred
• Fonts use font-display swap or optional
• Static assets served via CDN
• Gzip or Brotli compression enabled
• Browser caching headers set for static assets
• No unminified CSS or JS bundles over 200KB

4. Mobile & UX (10 items)

• Google Mobile-Friendly Test passes
• Viewport meta tag configured correctly
• Tap targets at least 48px with adequate spacing
• No horizontal scroll on common mobile viewports
• Body text readable without pinch-zoom
• Intrusive interstitials not blocking main content
• Mobile and desktop serve equivalent primary content
• Mobile navigation accessible and usable
• Forms completable on mobile devices
• Primary CTA visible above fold on mobile

5. On-Page Elements (15 items)

• Unique title tag on every indexable page
• Title length roughly 50–60 characters
• Primary keyword appears naturally in title
• Unique meta description on every indexable page
• Meta description length roughly 150–160 characters
• One H1 per page that matches page topic
• H1 distinct from title tag where appropriate
• Heading hierarchy logical (no skipped levels)
• Meaningful images have descriptive alt text
• Open Graph tags present (og:title, og:description, og:image)
• Twitter Card tags present
• Structured data validated in Rich Results Test
• Internal links use descriptive anchor text
• Paid and UGC links use appropriate rel attributes
• hreflang implemented correctly if multilingual

6. Content Quality (15 items)

• Thin pages identified and improved or noindexed
• Duplicate content resolved with canonicals or consolidation
• About, Contact, and author pages present (E-E-A-T)
• Content matches dominant search intent for target query
• Stale content flagged for refresh or removal
• No keyword stuffing or unnatural repetition
• FAQ sections answer real user questions
• Images support and clarify content
• Video content has transcripts or captions
• Content depth appropriate for query competitiveness
• Topic clusters linked with hub-and-spoke internal links
• Pillar pages link to supporting cluster content
• AI-assisted content reviewed by subject-matter expert
• Statistics and claims linked to primary sources
• User-generated content moderated for spam

7. Off-Page & Links (10 items)

• Backlink profile audited for toxic patterns
• Disavow file used only after manual action or clear spam
• Branded search volume trend reviewed
• NAP consistent across web (if local business)
• Google Business Profile complete and accurate (if local)
• Review acquisition strategy documented (if local)
• Unlinked brand mentions identified for outreach
• Competitor backlink gaps analyzed
• Link velocity appears natural (no sudden spikes)
• Anchor text distribution looks natural, not over-optimized

8. Analytics & Reporting (5 items)

• Google Analytics 4 installed and receiving data
• Google Search Console verified and monitored
• Key conversion events tracked in GA4
• GSC coverage and enhancement errors reviewed monthly
• SEO KPI dashboard defined and reviewed on schedule

For deeper walkthroughs on each section, see our technical SEO guide and Core Web Vitals guide.