SEO Audits9 min read

The Complete SEO Site Audit Checklist for 2025

A systematic audit checklist covering every SEO element that matters in 2025. Print it, work through it, fix what you find.

By Oh So SEO·20 March 2025

How to Use This Checklist

Work through each section systematically. Mark each item as:

✅ Done / not an issue

⚠️ Needs attention

🔴 Critical — fix immediately

Start with anything marked critical. Then work through the warnings.

Technical SEO

[ ] Site loads over HTTPS (padlock in browser)

[ ] HTTP to HTTPS redirects in place

[ ] www to non-www (or vice versa) redirect in place — one canonical version

[ ] robots.txt exists and doesn't block important pages

[ ] XML sitemap exists and has been submitted to Google Search Console

[ ] No important pages blocked by noindex tags

[ ] Google Search Console set up and verified

[ ] No manual actions in Search Console

[ ] Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5s

[ ] Core Web Vitals: CLS under 0.1

[ ] No 404 errors on important pages

[ ] No redirect chains (A → B → C — fix to A → C)

[ ] Mobile-friendly (tested with Google's Mobile-Friendly Test)

[ ] Page speed score above 70 on mobile (PageSpeed Insights)

On-Page SEO

For each important page, check:

[ ] Unique title tag under 60 characters

[ ] Title tag includes primary keyword

[ ] Unique meta description under 160 characters

[ ] Meta description includes primary keyword and a reason to click

[ ] Exactly one H1 per page

[ ] H1 includes primary keyword

[ ] H2s used to organise content into sections

[ ] Primary keyword appears in the first paragraph

[ ] All images have descriptive alt text

[ ] No keyword stuffing (keyword appears naturally, not excessively)

[ ] Content is at least 300 words on key pages

Content Quality

[ ] No pages with duplicate or near-duplicate content

[ ] No thin pages (under 200 words) that should have more content

[ ] Blog content published regularly (at least monthly)

[ ] All content accurate and up to date

[ ] Content matches the search intent for target keywords

[ ] FAQ sections on key pages

[ ] No plagiarised content

Internal Linking

[ ] No orphan pages (pages with no internal links pointing to them)

[ ] Key pages linked from the homepage and other high-traffic pages

[ ] Blog posts link to relevant product/service pages

[ ] Descriptive anchor text used (not "click here")

[ ] No broken internal links

Off-Page SEO

[ ] Google Business Profile set up and verified (for local businesses)

[ ] NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistent across all directories

[ ] Listed in relevant industry directories

[ ] No toxic backlinks pointing to your site (check in Search Console)

[ ] At least a handful of quality backlinks from relevant sites

Structured Data

[ ] Schema markup added to key page types (LocalBusiness, Product, Article, FAQ)

[ ] Structured data tested with Google's Rich Results Test

[ ] No errors in structured data implementation

What to Do Next

After completing the audit:

List all items marked as 🔴 Critical

Estimate the time/effort to fix each

Fix the highest-impact, lowest-effort items first

Set a date to re-audit (quarterly is the standard)

FAQ

How long does a full site audit take? Using an automated tool, the crawl takes minutes. Reviewing the results and planning fixes: 1–2 hours. Implementing fixes: depends on how many you find. Should I hire someone to do my audit? You can do a thorough basic audit yourself with the right tools. For complex technical issues or large sites, a professional may be worthwhile.