SEO Audit Checklist: 10 Steps to Better Rankings

An SEO audit is your first step to improving your website’s performance. This 10-step checklist covers everything you need to boost rankings, including fixing technical issues, optimizing content, and improving user experience. Here’s what you’ll achieve:

• Improve site speed: Slow websites lose visitors. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help.
• Optimize for mobile: With over 60% of web visits on mobile, test your site’s mobile performance.
• Fix on-page SEO: Ensure meta tags, headings, and keywords are properly optimized.
• Resolve technical issues: Address crawl errors, broken links, and indexing problems.
• Enhance content quality: Refresh outdated content and align it with user search intent.
• Clean up backlinks: Remove harmful links and build high-quality ones.
• Strengthen local SEO: Consistent business info and a solid Google Business Profile are key.

Quick Overview of Key Areas

Start with these steps to fix issues, improve rankings, and drive more traffic to your site.

Technical SEO Audit Checklist: Boost Speed & Performance

Step 1: Check Website Speed and Performance

Your website’s speed plays a big role in both search rankings and user experience. According to a Google study, bounce rates increase by 32% when load times go from one to three seconds .

Run Speed Tests

Start by testing your website’s speed. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help you analyze Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS) , while GTmetrix offers real-user metrics and global performance scores. For the best results, aim for load times under 4 seconds – anything beyond 5 seconds can hurt conversions .

Here are a few ways to improve your speed:

• Compress images with formats like WebP.
• Minify CSS and JavaScript to reduce file sizes.
• Enable browser caching to load assets faster.
• Improve server response times for quicker data delivery.

After addressing speed, check how well your site performs on mobile devices.

Test Mobile Display

With 60.67% of web visits coming from mobile , optimizing for mobile is no longer optional. Plus, Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning your mobile site is prioritized in search rankings. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to evaluate your site’s performance.

Key areas to review for mobile optimization:

• Ensure your site has a responsive design that works smoothly across all devices.
• Make sure tap targets are at least 48×48 pixels for easy interaction.
• Format content with short paragraphs and readable fonts.
• Use properly sized and compressed images to maintain load speed.

To stay on top of mobile performance, regularly monitor your site using Google Search Console. This is crucial, as 40% of users prefer mobile websites for their entire shopping journey .

Step 2: Review On-Page SEO Elements

After optimizing your site’s speed and mobile performance, it’s time to focus on on-page elements. These play a key role in improving your rankings. Did you know that nearly 75% of top-ranking pages include a meta description?

Check Meta Tags

Title tags and meta descriptions are your website’s first impression in search results. According to Google’s John Mueller, "Titles are important. They are used as a ranking factor."

Here’s how to optimize your meta tags:

Title Tags:

• Keep titles between 50-60 characters , ensuring they stay under 600 pixels in width .
• Use relevant keywords that align with search intent.
• Make sure each page has a unique title.
• Ensure your H1 tags align with the title tag for consistency.

Meta Descriptions:

• Aim for 150-160 characters to avoid truncation .
• Include keywords, as Google may bold them in search results.
• Add a call-to-action to encourage clicks.
• Write unique descriptions for each page.
• Include product-specific details when relevant.

Review Content Structure

Meta tags are just one piece of the puzzle. A well-organized content structure not only boosts SEO but also improves user engagement. A clear layout helps visitors and search engines understand your page better.

Key Content Structure Tips:

• Use a logical hierarchy with headings (H1, H2, H3) to organize sections.
• Break up your text into smaller, easy-to-read chunks.
• Add relevant internal links to guide users to related content.

For a more detailed breakdown, refer to the table below:

Step 3: Fix Technical SEO Issues

After optimizing for speed and on-page elements, it’s time to tackle technical issues that could hinder your site’s performance. While some problems might not directly hurt rankings, others – like canonical misconfigurations (affecting 2.6% of sites) – can have a major impact .

Find Crawl Errors

Google Search Console is your go-to resource for spotting crawl errors that prevent search engines from accessing your content effectively .

Server Errors:

• Look for 5xx errors, which indicate server availability problems.
• Check 4xx errors that point to broken or missing pages.
• Monitor server response times across your site.

Crawl Budget Problems:

• Identify pages blocked by robots.txt.
• Fix redirect chains that waste crawl budget.
• Address duplicate content issues.

"Googlebot needs to crawl and index your site properly for your web pages to rank in the search results which means crawlability issues can sink any SEO effort." – Tyson Braun

Once crawl errors are addressed, the next step is ensuring search engines can properly index your pages.

Check Index Status

Indexing is what makes your content visible in search results.

• Use the site:yourdomain.com search query on Google to see which pages are indexed .
• Review your robots.txt file and canonical tags to confirm that important pages are accessible.
• Ensure your HTTPS implementation is set up correctly.
• Submit and monitor sitemaps through Google Search Console.
• Review index coverage reports for errors or warnings.
• Check if your site is mobile-friendly.
• Keep an eye on Core Web Vitals metrics.

"If your site’s pages are properly linked, our web crawlers can usually discover most of your site. Even so, a sitemap can improve the crawling of your site, particularly if your site meets one of the following criteria:

• Your site is really large.
• Your site has a large archive of content pages that are isolated or well not linked to each other.
• Your site is new and has few external links to it." – Google

For critical pages, use Google’s URL Inspection tool. It provides detailed insights into how Google crawls, indexes, and serves your content directly from its index.

Step 4: Update Content Quality

Creating content that aligns with search intent is key. Did you know the average word count for top 10 SERP results is around 2,200 words? But here’s the thing: it’s not just about word count. Relevance, timeliness, and engagement carry much more weight.

Evaluate Content Performance

To see how your content is performing, tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush are your best friends. Focus on metrics like page views, bounce rate, time on page, and organic traffic trends. For a deeper dive, head to Google Analytics: go to Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages, filter for organic traffic, and sort by traffic to spot pages with declining performance . These insights will guide you in identifying content that needs a refresh.

"Satisfying search intent is a primary goal for Google, which in turn makes it a primary goal for SEOs." – Dawn Macri

Refresh Old Content

Refreshing outdated content can make a huge difference. In fact, Arkadium boosted their organic traffic by 230% in 2019 by systematically updating their content using insights from Semrush .

Here’s what to focus on when refreshing:

• Match competitor formats and topics that resonate with your audience.
• Replace outdated stats and examples with up-to-date data.
• Improve headings to make them clear and optimize for featured snippets.
• Make sure content is mobile-friendly, especially since 56% of organic traffic now comes from mobile devices .

Want to go even deeper? Use SEMrush’s Topic Research tool to spot missing subtopics and expand your content’s coverage .

"With the help of Semrush, we empowered every single marketing team within the university to double their traffic like we did for the central sites." – Shefali Joshi, Marketing Optimization Analyst, Monash University

Step 5: Check Backlink Quality

Bad backlinks can wreck your SEO efforts. Just look at what happened to Easy Branches – they dropped from over 36,000 monthly visitors to zero, despite having 2.6 million backlinks . Keeping your backlink profile clean is crucial for maintaining strong search rankings.

Remove Problematic Links

Start by running a detailed backlink audit with tools like Semrush or Ahrefs. Look for these warning signs:

• Links from spammy or ad-heavy websites
• Backlinks with unnatural anchor text patterns
• Links originating from private blog networks (PBNs)
• Hidden or undisclosed paid links
• Links from irrelevant websites or directories

"Most backlinks, even in a worst-case scenario, will not cause negative SEO, but rather will just be ignored by Google. In cases where a backlink is especially spammy, such as a bad traffic trend, or has outbound anchor texts like ‘casino’ AND it is completely irrelevant to your business, then taking action is recommended." – Greg Heilers and Morgan Taylor, Jolly SEO

Once you’ve identified toxic links, here’s what to do:

1. Contact site owners
Reach out via email and ask them to remove the harmful links .

2. Use Google’s Disavow Tool
If removal requests fail, turn to Google’s Disavow Tool as a last resort.

"If there are some links that you can’t remove yourself, or some that require payment to be removed, then having those in the disavow file is fine as well." – John Mueller

After cleaning up your backlink profile, shift your focus to building stronger, more reliable links.

Build Better Backlinks

Once harmful links are gone, aim for backlinks from trusted, industry-relevant sources. Tools like Semrush, used by 30% of Fortune 500 companies , can help you find worthwhile opportunities.

"Links obtained primarily for artificial manipulation of Search rankings are link spam. Our algorithms and manual actions aim to nullify these unnatural links at scale, and we will continue to improve our coverage." – Google

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Step 6: Improve Local Search Presence

Local search plays a key role in online success. Businesses with consistent location information see local search rankings jump by 350% . On the flip side, 73% of consumers lose trust in brands with incorrect business details .

Match Business Information

Accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone) data is crucial. It not only boosts local rankings but also builds customer trust. In fact, businesses with precise listings can see up to 18% more website visits .

Here’s how to keep your NAP details spot-on:

"Businesses should keep a spreadsheet of all the places where their name, address, and phone number appear. This is one of those things that seems like busy work initially, but when you need it, it’s a real lifesaver. You can easily update your NAP if you have a change without having to Google yourself and hope you find all your listings." – Sarah Moon

For example, a client in a niche industry saw their traffic plummet after moving locations without updating their online listings. Once they corrected the NAP inconsistencies, their rankings bounced back quickly .

Once your NAP is in order, the next step is improving your Google Business Profile.

Update Google Business Profile

After ensuring your NAP is accurate, shift your focus to optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP). Tools like BrightLocal’s Active Sync (starting at $49/month) can help keep your details consistent across platforms like Google, Apple Maps, Facebook, and Bing .

To make the most of your GBP:

• Verify ownership to take control of updates .
• Fill out all details and upload high-quality photos .
• Respond promptly to reviews and inquiries .

"Like any other marketing channel, it is important to cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s when creating NAP. Having improper info will cause poor use behavior, which is a major factor in getting ranked higher in the local listings section. We believe being complete and diligent with this info is crucial." – Sam Yadegar, CEO of HawkSEM

You might also consider a tool like Chatmeter to manage accurate business information across 140+ directories . Maintaining consistency across these platforms strengthens your SEO efforts overall.

Step 7: Fix Internal Links

Internal links play a crucial role in helping search engines navigate your site. Broken links, on the other hand, can waste authority and frustrate visitors. This step ensures your site has a clear, functional structure that benefits both users and search engines.

Find Dead Links

Broken internal links can send a poor signal to Google, implying your site is outdated or poorly maintained. These links often appear when pages are deleted without proper redirects in place .

Here are some tools to help you identify and address broken links:

"Google wants to recommend useful, up-to-date sites. Too many broken links can signal that your site isn’t current or is poorly maintained." – Semrush

For instance, Spotify, a Mailchimp client, faced technical challenges in March 2023. By systematically verifying and fixing broken links, they reduced their bounce rate from 12.3% to 2.1% in just 60 days. This also led to a 34% improvement in deliverability .

Once you’ve addressed broken links, focus on optimizing your internal linking strategy to enhance authority flow.

Connect Related Pages

Internal linking isn’t just about fixing broken links – it’s also about creating meaningful connections between related pages. This helps distribute authority across your site and creates a logical content hierarchy.

To make the most of your internal links:

• Structure Your Site Hierarchy
  Organize your site like a pyramid: your homepage at the top, followed by category pages, and then individual posts. This structure makes it easier for search engines to understand your content .
• Use Descriptive Anchor Text
  Vary your anchor text with descriptive phrases. For example, instead of always using "SEO tools", try terms like "recommended optimization software" or "top SEO platforms" .
• Place Links Strategically
  Position important internal links higher on the page to capture attention. Link from high-authority pages to boost traffic to newer or less-visited content .

A well-planned internal linking strategy not only makes navigation easier for users but also strengthens your SEO efforts.

Step 8: Speed Up Page Load Times

Page load speed plays a big role in both user experience and search rankings. According to Google, 53% of visitors leave a site if it takes more than three seconds to load .

Optimize Image Sizes

Images are typically the heaviest part of a webpage. By optimizing them, you can improve loading speed while keeping the visuals sharp .

Here’s a quick guide to choosing the right image format:

To make your images web-friendly:

• Resize before uploading
  Make sure your images match their display size on your site. For example, if your content area is 800px wide, don’t upload a 2000px-wide image .
• Compress without losing quality
  Use tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, or JPEGmini to shrink file sizes while keeping them visually appealing .

"Image optimization is the act of decreasing file size without losing quality…The goal is to reduce the amount of data users have to download, so they can get the content they’re looking for faster without sacrificing quality." – Tyler Stokes

But image optimization is just the start. You’ll need more technical tweaks to speed things up.

Reduce Page Load Time

Mobile pages often load slower, which makes technical fixes even more important.

Here are some simple ways to cut down load times:

• Cut back on HTTP requests
  Merge CSS and JavaScript files where possible. Place CSS in the head and scripts just before the closing body tag.
• Enable compression
  Use HTTP compression to shrink the size of data being transferred.
• Use caching
  Set up browser caching for static files and server-side caching for dynamic content.

Finally, tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom can help you pinpoint specific areas to improve .

Step 9: Make Site Mobile-Ready

Optimizing your site for mobile devices is essential for both user satisfaction and better search rankings. Building on earlier tests, this step ensures your site performs smoothly on mobile, improving engagement.

Test Mobile Display

To make sure your site looks and works well across different devices, you need to test its mobile display thoroughly. Focus on these key areas:

Take a close look at your layout. A well-organized mobile design improves how users interact with your site, keeping content clear and easy to navigate on any screen size.

Fix Mobile Problems

Use Google Search Console to identify and address mobile usability issues. Here are some common fixes to focus on:

• Viewport Configuration
  Add a viewport meta tag to ensure your site adapts to different screen sizes.
• Touch Elements
  Make sure buttons and links are at least 44px to avoid accidental taps.
• Content Scaling
  Adjust text and images so they display properly without requiring horizontal scrolling.

Responsive Design
Incorporate fluid grids and flexible images that adapt to any screen size automatically.

Pop-up Handling
If your site uses pop-ups, make sure they’re easy to close and don’t block essential content.

Loading Speed
Improve performance by enabling lazy loading for images and using browser caching to speed up page loads on mobile devices.

Step 10: Monitor SEO Progress

Keeping an eye on your SEO progress helps you understand what’s working and where you need adjustments. By tracking key metrics consistently, you can make smarter, data-driven decisions to boost your rankings.

Track User Behavior

Google Analytics is your go-to tool for understanding how visitors interact with your site. Here are some important metrics to watch:

Don’t forget to set up conversion tracking. This allows you to measure how effectively your SEO efforts are driving business results. For instance, the top organic search result typically gets a 31.7% click-through rate, emphasizing the importance of tracking your position for critical keywords .

Check Search Performance

Google Search Console is essential for monitoring your site’s search visibility and rankings. Focus on these areas:

Search Query Performance
Analyze which keywords are bringing traffic to your site and their click-through rates. Pay extra attention to mobile-specific queries to fine-tune your mobile targeting .

Landing Page Analysis
Go beyond the numbers to understand which pages are driving organic traffic and why. This insight helps you refine your content strategy.

Technical Performance
Keep an eye on crawl errors, indexing issues, and mobile usability problems. Also, ensure your site loads quickly to maintain engagement, particularly for mobile users.

For a complete picture, integrate Google Analytics with Search Console. This combination allows you to connect user behavior data with search visibility insights, giving you the tools to continually improve your SEO approach.

Conclusion

Running an SEO audit is a powerful way to improve search visibility and drive growth. With nearly half of marketers (49%) stating that organic search provides the best return on investment , taking a structured approach to SEO is key. This checklist has outlined practical steps to help you stay ahead in the ever-changing search landscape.

Here are three areas to prioritize during your audits:

Technical Foundation
Ensure your site runs smoothly. Regular technical checks can prevent user drop-offs. Pay special attention to mobile optimization – it’s crucial for staying competitive.

Content Quality
Deliver content that meets user needs. Optimizing meta descriptions can boost click-through rates by up to 6% , while keeping title tags under 60 characters makes them more effective for search engines.

Regular Maintenance
SEO isn’t a one-time task. Stick to these schedules to stay on top of your game:

Succeeding in SEO takes ongoing effort and regular fine-tuning . By sticking to this 12-step process and committing to consistent maintenance, you’ll set the stage for strong organic performance and long-term business growth.

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Jeff Lizik