SEO Audit Checklist Updated List 2024

Website audits are essential, for assessing your sites performance. Whether you're conducting your website audit or preparing for a redesign this post serves as your go to checklist.

Assess the strength of your website by using The below Website checklist In this guide you'll understand the purpose of a website audit, checklist of website audit and the various types of audits available.

What does a website audit entail?

A website audit involves evaluating page performance in preparation for search engine optimization (SEO) efforts or a site redesign. By auditing your site you can assess its optimization status in relation to your traffic objectives. Identify areas, for improvement.

Site Audit Checklist

Basics

1. Analytics installed
2. Search engine properties set up
3. Recommended: Run a site crawl

Crawling & Indexing

1. URL is indexed
2. Important content indexed
3. Returns a 200 status code
4. Indexable by robots meta tag and X-robots-tag
5. URL not blocked by robots.txt file
6. URL listed in XML sitemap file
7. Sitemap file location defined in robots.txt
8. Sitemap file submitted to search engines
9. URL is discoverable via internal links/navigation
10. Content is available at a single, canonicalized URL
11. Google-selected canonical matches user-selected canonical
12. No canonical/indexation mixed signal errors
13. Friendly URL structure
14. Content can be rendered with basic JavaScript
15. Important CSS, JS, and images not blocked by robots.txt

Meta & Structured Data

1. Page contains a title element
2. Title contains important keywords visible in first 60 characters
3. Title tag is unique
4. Page contains a unique meta description
5. Favicon defined
6. OG and social meta data
7. Structured data markup
8. Uses max-image-preview:large setting

Content

1. Content isn't substantially duplicate
2. Content organized with hierarchical HTML tags
3. Content is keyword-targeted
4. Content doesn't violate Google's Quality Guidelines
5. Avoids intrusive interstitials
6. Avoids heavy ads above the fold
7. Content isn't loaded in an iFrame
8. Content isn't loaded in Flash
9. Lazy-loaded content is visible in the viewport
10. Supports paginated loading for infinite scroll
11. Current publication and updated dates
12. Clear who the author and/or publisher Is
13. Content doesn't trigger Google Safe Search filters

Links & Navigation

1. Links are crawlable
2. Page doesn't link to broken pages (404)
3. Links use descriptive anchor text
4. Links are qualified when appropriate (nofollow, ugc, sponsored)
5. Faceted navigation doesn't lead to duplicate content
6. Paginated pages are clearly linked
7. Page does not contain an excessive amount of links
8. Page does not link to redirected chains

Images

1. Images contain descriptive alt attributes
2. Image heights and widths are defined
3. Use descriptive titles, captions, filenames, and text for images
4. Images don't contain important text
5. Images are listed in image sitemaps

Video

1. Video is available on a public, indexable page
2. Video is wrapped within an appropriate HTML tag
3. Video is included in video sitemap
4. Video schema markup

Mobile

1. Passes Google Mobile-Friendly Test
2. Preference responsive web design
3. Mobile content and links match desktop site
4. Special considerations for separate URLs

Speed

1. Content fully loads within a reasonable time
2. URL passes Google's Core Web Vitals assessment
3. Address common speed traps

Security

1. Site uses proper HTTPS
2. Site supports HSTS
3. No hacked content, malware, or other security issues

International & Multilingual Sites

1. Signal location targeting
2. Valid hreflang annotation
3. Page language is obvious
4. Avoid automatic redirection

Backlinks (Off-Page)

1. URL has relevant backlinks
2. Backlinks don't violate Google Guidelines
3. Disavow file doesn't block important links

Type Of Website Audit

Competitive Website Audit

A competitive website audit involves analyzing competitors online strategies to uncover opportunities that align with your brands goals.

In essence conducting an analysis enables you to observe what strategies are effective, for businesses in your industry allowing you to integrate those tactics into your own approach.

To begin start by conducting a SWOT analysis on a competitors website. In this analysis you evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the website. For instance;

1. A strength might be that their website is more user friendly than yours.
2. A weakness could be that their website experiences page loading times.
3. Opportunities could include features or tools missing from their website that you could incorporate into yours for an advantage.
4. A threat may arise if their website ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) than yours leading to leads for your site.

During this assessment it's crucial to assess the tools and software they utilize to streamline operations. This examination can offer insights into improving the efficiency of your site and enhancing its accessibility for consumers.

SEO Backlink Evaluation

This specific audit involves analyzing the links directed towards your site to identify concerns or opportunities, within your backlink profile. By scrutinizing these links this audit aims to enhance your sites optimization for keywords.

Link audits assess the source URL, domain and anchor text to determine if value and equity (referred to as "link juice") are being transferred to your page. This helps measure the impact of a link, on your websites visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Links from websites hold weight than those from smaller less known sites.

To conduct an SEO link audit start by compiling all your link data. Utilize Google Search Console by entering your domain and selecting "Links to Your Site" under "Search Traffic."

Next download the links and create a spreadsheet for the link audit. Then manually review your links focusing on aspects like anchor text, IP address and page content. Additionally tools such as Ahrefs backlink checker can simplify the process of evaluating the value of acquired links.

Audit for Lead Conversion Optimization

An audit for lead conversion optimization examines a websites conversion challenges and prospects. This analysis involves assessing how traffic arrives at your website and its sources.

Google Analytics is a resource, for this stage

Understanding the sources of your website traffic is key, to gaining insights into your audiences behaviors and tailoring your content to meet their needs effectively.

When it comes to the content on your site it's essential to ensure that it is not informative and up to date but also structured in a way that enhances user experience.

Are you regularly updating your website with relevant information? Are you incorporating keywords to improve search engine rankings? Outdated or irrelevant content can negatively impact conversions and SEO performance.

Additionally pay attention to the following aspects of your website; Forms; Are you collecting information through forms for lead generation?

Checkout process

High cart abandonment rates may indicate issues with the checkout process.

Design and layout

Ensure that calls to action are clear text is legible and navigation is user friendly.

User experience

Identify any sources of frustration, for visitors navigating your site

Conducting a social media audit can also play a role in enhancing your brands online presence.If your social media presence isn't driving traffic to your website it might be an idea to review your social media activity.

To kick off the review compile a list of all the social media profiles linked to your company. Take some time to check. Ensure you haven't overlooked any accounts, including those created by other departments.

Next go through each profile to check if they align with the companys branding. Using images, logos and tone of voice.

After that assess the performance of each profile. Identify which type of content resonates best with your audience and which doesn't perform well. Are these profiles being regularly updated?

Lastly use insights gathered from the assessment to gain an understanding of your audience and enhance your social media strategy, for engagement. By refining your approach you can captivate your audience. Drive traffic to your website effectively.

SEO Website Audit

While an SEO link audit focuses on examining the links associated with your site an SEO website audit looks at all factors influencing its performance, in search engine results pages (SERPs).

This involves including hyperlinks as considering other factors, like keyword usage, content quality, metadata, page loading speed, user experience and optimizing videos.

While it's possible to conduct an SEO assessment seeking assistance from an agency usually results in comprehensive insights in a shorter timeframe. To begin an SEO audit for your website start by examining all your web pages. Various tools like SE Rankings website audit can help assess SEO metrics such as crawling efficiency, indexing status, security measures, usability issues and technical errors that might hinder your site from ranking in search engine results.

Reviewing Data Privacy Measures

A data privacy review confirms compliance with data protection regulations. Ensures a secure environment for website visitors. Search engines take into account privacy focused pages when determining the authority of a website.

For instance Google aims to deliver quality and reliable content to users, from sources. Websites that adhere to data privacy standards are likely to be perceived as authoritative compared to those lacking these legal protocols.When conducting a data privacy audit start by identifying the information gathered from visitors on your website understanding the laws to adhere to listing all cookies utilized on your site and crafting and sharing website policies to ensure legal compliance.

Although you could create these documents independently opting for managed solutions such, as a privacy policy generator can make the process smoother and more effective. Selecting a trusted generator endorsed by professionals and data privacy specialists can streamline privacy compliance efforts. Additionally it should contain clauses that align with the requirements of data protection regulations.