SEO Audit Checklist 2026

Check that robots.txt exists, blocks no important pages and states which crawlers (search, AI) may fetch your content

Sitemap should contain all important URLs and be up to date

Every page loads over HTTPS and HTTP URLs redirect to it

Prevents duplicate content and consolidates ranking signals

Organization, LocalBusiness, BreadcrumbList, Article. The markup must match the visible content

Google indexes the mobile version of your pages, so test with Lighthouse and on real phones

Contains helpful links and returns a real 404 status, not a soft 404

Check the Page indexing and Crawl stats reports; fix server errors, 404s and redirect errors

Avoid cryptic parameters and use keywords in URLs

Needed when you serve the same content in several languages; every version references all versions, itself included

Google may rewrite titles; put the main keyword first and the brand last

Google may show its own snippet; write a summary that gives a reason to click

Should contain main keyword and be descriptive

Logical structure without skipping levels

Describe what the image shows; no keyword stuffing

Important pages have many internal links with good anchor text

Mark paid links and user-generated links as Google documents; use nofollow for links you do not vouch for

Improves user experience and crawlability

og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url

Each page should target unique keywords

Google sets no minimum word count; answer the question completely

Copied or scaled pages without added value fall under Google's spam policies

There is no target keyword density; write for the reader

Google lists no extra technical requirements; do not block snippets on pages you want shown

Add images or video where they explain something the text cannot

Update pages when facts change; a new date without new content helps nobody

Clear prompts that lead to a conversion

Short sentences and plain words; a score such as Flesch Reading Ease is only a rough guide

Author profile, references and first-hand experience shown

Answers real customer questions. FAQ rich results now appear only for well-known, authoritative government and health sites

Core Web Vital: the main content should load fast. Judge it on field data (75th percentile)

Core Web Vital: the page must respond to input without delay

Visual stability: nothing jumps around while the page loads

Serve the size the layout needs and set width and height to avoid layout shifts

Reduces file size and load time

Static resources should be cached

Server-side compression for faster transfer

Cloudflare, CloudFront or similar for global performance

Media loads only when it nears the viewport. Never lazy-load the LCP image

Lighthouse is lab data and does not measure INP; Total Blocking Time is its proxy. Compare with field data

Check quantity, quality and diversity of backlinks

Google judges most links itself, so most sites do not need the disavow tool

404 links hurt user experience and crawling

Google Business Profile, Yelp, industry directories, etc.

Create linkable assets like guides, statistics, tools

Name, Address, Phone identical across all directories

Contact relevant websites; do not buy or swap links at scale

Press, partners, associations and profiles that name your business the same way

Google ranks local results mainly by relevance, distance and popularity. Add photos and updates; update posts archive after about 6 months

Title, H1, meta description with location reference

Structured data with full address and opening hours

More reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and they build trust

Blog posts about location-relevant topics

Local directories and business portals

Local newspapers, regional blogs, local businesses

Helps visitors find you; load the map only after consent

Subway, train, bus connections mentioned