SEO · Free template

Free SEO Audit Checklist Template

A practical, no-fluff SEO audit checklist we actually use — technical, on-page, content, schema, and off-page. Work top to bottom.

Who it's for

  • Marketers auditing their own site
  • Founders sanity-checking an agency's work
  • Anyone diagnosing why a site won't rank

How to use it

  1. Copy the checklist
  2. Work through each section top to bottom
  3. Fix technical issues before content
  4. Re-run after changes to confirm

The template

# SEO Audit Checklist

## Technical
- [ ] Site is crawlable (robots.txt not blocking key pages)
- [ ] XML sitemap exists and is submitted to Search Console
- [ ] HTTPS everywhere, no mixed content
- [ ] No broken links or 404s on key paths
- [ ] Canonical tags on every page (no duplicate content)
- [ ] Mobile-friendly / responsive
- [ ] Core Web Vitals pass (LCP < 2.5s, INP < 200ms, CLS < 0.1)

## On-Page
- [ ] Unique title tag per page (~50-60 chars, keyword near front)
- [ ] Unique meta description per page (~150-160 chars)
- [ ] One clear H1 per page
- [ ] Logical heading hierarchy (H2/H3)
- [ ] Descriptive, keyword-relevant URLs
- [ ] Image alt text on meaningful images
- [ ] Internal links to and from important pages

## Content
- [ ] Pages match real search intent
- [ ] Content is genuinely useful and unique
- [ ] No thin or duplicate pages
- [ ] Primary keyword + related terms covered naturally

## Structured Data
- [ ] Organization / WebSite schema sitewide
- [ ] Breadcrumb schema
- [ ] FAQ / Article / Product schema where relevant
- [ ] Validated in Google's Rich Results Test

## Off-Page
- [ ] Backlink profile reviewed (quality > quantity)
- [ ] Google Business Profile complete (if local)
- [ ] Consistent NAP across directories (if local)

FAQs

What order should I fix SEO issues in?

Technical foundations first (crawlability, speed, canonicals), then on-page, then content, then off-page. There's no point scaling content on a broken foundation.

How often should I run an SEO audit?

A full audit quarterly, with lightweight checks after any major site change or Google update.

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