The Complete SEO Audit Checklist: 50+ Points to Review

Why Regular SEO Audits Are Essential

You know that sinking feeling when a customer walks out of your shop because the line is too long or the layout is confusing?

Your website faces that same judgment every second.

An SEO audit is the diagnostic foundation of any effective search optimization strategy. We often see businesses spending thousands on ads while their website has underlying technical “leaks” that drain their budget.

Think of an audit like a building inspection for your digital storefront. You might have a fresh coat of paint (a great design), but structural issues could be quietly hurting your safety rating.

Broken links, slow page speeds, thin content, or technical errors effectively lock your doors to potential customers.

For businesses investing in organic SEO services, regular audits ensure your strategy remains effective as search algorithms evolve. Google updates its algorithm thousands of times a year.

We recommend conducting a comprehensive audit every quarter. This cadence allows you to catch issues before they impact your revenue.

Technical SEO Checklist (20 Points)

Technical SEO is the infrastructure that allows search engines to read your site.

If Google cannot efficiently crawl and index your pages, no amount of keyword stuffing will help you rank.

Crawlability and Indexation

1. Robots.txt file: Verify your robots.txt is properly configured. We have seen sites accidentally block their entire store from Google with a single line of code.
2. XML sitemap: Confirm your sitemap is current and submitted to Google Search Console. It should only include pages you actually want people to land on (no admin or cart pages).
3. Crawl errors: Check Google Search Console for 404 errors or server timeouts. A 2024 study showed that sites with high error rates lose up to 30% of their crawl budget.
4. Indexation status: Compare the number of indexed pages in Google (search site:yourdomain.com) against the pages in your sitemap. A large discrepancy usually signals a technical block or quality issue.
5. Canonical tags: Verify that every page has a proper canonical tag pointing to the preferred URL version. This prevents “duplicate content” confusion when parameters change URLs.
6. Noindex tags: Audit all noindex tags to ensure important pages are not accidentally excluded. We use tools like Screaming Frog to scan for these specifically.

Site Architecture

7. URL structure: URLs should be clean, descriptive, and use hyphens. Search engines prefer yourdomain.com/honolulu-plumbing over yourdomain.com/?p=123.
8. Internal linking structure: Every important page should be reachable within three clicks from the homepage. This “flat architecture” helps authority flow to your deepest product pages.
9. Breadcrumb navigation: Implement breadcrumbs with proper BreadcrumbList schema markup. This helps mobile users navigate and appears directly in search results.
10. Orphan pages: Identify pages with no internal links pointing to them. Search engines often de-index these pages because they assume they are unimportant.

Performance and Speed

Page experience is a confirmed ranking factor.

Mobile users in Hawaii often rely on variable data connections, making speed even more critical for local capture.

11. Core Web Vitals: Check LCP, INP, and CLS scores in Google Search Console. The Interaction to Next Paint (INP) metric is now the gold standard for responsiveness.
12. Page load time: Test with PageSpeed Insights. We target a load time of under 2.5 seconds on mobile networks (4G) for our clients.
13. Image optimization: Verify images use modern formats (WebP/AVIF), proper sizing, and lazy loading. Uncompressed images are the most common cause of slow local business sites.
14. JavaScript rendering: Confirm critical content is not hidden behind JavaScript that search engines cannot execute. Google renders JS, but it takes longer and can be prone to errors.

Security and Accessibility

15. HTTPS: Ensure all pages load over HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate. Browsers now label HTTP sites as “Not Secure,” which kills user trust immediately.
16. Mobile-friendliness: Test with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Since the switch to mobile-first indexing, the mobile version of your site is the only version Google ranks.
17. Structured data: Validate all schema markup with Google’s Rich Results Test. Proper schema helps you get “rich snippets” like star ratings or event times in search results.
18. Hreflang tags: For multilingual sites (common in tourism), verify hreflang implementation is correct. This ensures the right language version appears for the right user.
19. 301 redirects: Audit redirect chains. Chains (Page A -> Page B -> Page C) dilute ranking power and slow down the user experience.
20. Broken links: Scan for internal and external broken links. These frustrate users and act as dead ends for search engine crawlers.

On-Page SEO Checklist (15 Points)

On-page SEO ensures each page communicates clearly with search engines.

It connects your content to the specific keywords your customers are typing into the search bar.

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

21. Title tag uniqueness: Every page must have a unique title tag. Duplicate titles confuse Google about which page to rank for a specific query.

22. Title tag length: Keep titles between 50-60 characters. Anything longer gets cut off in the search results with an ellipsis (…).

23. Title tag keywords: Include your primary target keyword near the beginning of the title. Front-loading the main keyword has a higher correlation with ranking.

24. Meta description uniqueness: Each page needs a unique, compelling meta description. This is your ad copy in the search results.

25. Meta description length: Aim for 150-160 characters with a clear value proposition.

    Comparison: Standard vs. Optimized Metadata

Feature	Standard (Avoid)	Optimized (Target)
Title Tag	Home - Nekko Digital	Web Design & SEO Agency Honolulu
Meta Description	We do digital marketing and websites.	Award-winning Honolulu digital agency specializing in SEO and custom web design. Get your free audit today.
Impact	Low click-through rate	Higher visibility and clicks

Content Structure

26. H1 tag: Every page should have exactly one H1 tag that includes the primary keyword. This tells Google exactly what the page is about.
27. Heading hierarchy: Use proper heading hierarchy (H2, H3, H4) to structure content logically.
28. Keyword placement: Include target keywords in the first 100 words. We find that early placement signals relevance immediately to both bots and humans.
29. Image alt text: Every image should have descriptive alt text. This aids accessibility for visually impaired users and helps you rank in Google Images.
30. Internal links: Each page should link to at least 2-3 related pages on your site using descriptive anchor text. “Click here” is wasted opportunity; use “view our pricing packages” instead.

Content Quality

31. Content length: Compare your content length against top-ranking competitors. If the top 3 results average 1,500 words, a 300-word page is unlikely to compete.
32. Content freshness: Update older content with current information, statistics, and examples. Google favors “freshness” for topics that change frequently.
33. Duplicate content: Check for duplicate or substantially similar content across your site.
34. Thin pages: Identify pages with fewer than 300 words. We usually recommend consolidating these “thin” pages into a single, comprehensive resource.
35. Content gaps: Use competitor analysis to find topics your site should cover but currently does not.

Content Quality Checklist (10 Points)

Quality is subjective to humans but measurable to algorithms.

Google’s “Helpful Content” system specifically rewards content that demonstrates genuine expertise.

36. EEAT signals: Does your content demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness? Adding specific author bios with LinkedIn links is a quick win here.
37. User intent match: Does each page match the search intent of its target keyword? If a user wants to buy a surfboard, do not send them to a history of surfing blog post.
38. Readability: Use clear, concise language. We aim for a Grade 8 reading level to maximize accessibility for all users.
39. Multimedia: Include relevant images, diagrams, or videos that add value.
40. Originality: Provide unique insights, data, or perspectives. We always encourage clients to include their own case studies or local market data.
41. CTAs: Include clear calls to action that guide users to the next step.
42. Social proof: Include testimonials, case studies, or data points that build trust.
43. Updated statistics: Verify all statistics and data points are current. Quoting a study from 2018 makes your entire article feel obsolete.
44. Formatting: Use tables, comparison charts, and structured lists where appropriate. These elements often get pulled into “Featured Snippets” at position zero.
45. Topical authority: Build clusters of related content around your core topics. Being the “encyclopedia” for your specific niche builds massive trust.

Backlink Profile Checklist (8 Points)

Your backlink profile remains one of the strongest ranking factors.

A link from a reputable source (like the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce) is a vote of confidence in Google’s eyes.

46. Total backlinks: Track your total backlink count over time. A sudden drop often indicates a technical issue where links are breaking.
47. Referring domains: Quality matters more than quantity. We would rather have 10 links from 10 different local websites than 1,000 links from a single directory.
48. Domain authority distribution: Analyze the authority scores of your linking domains.
49. Anchor text diversity: Examine your anchor text profile. If 90% of your links say “best SEO agency,” Google may flag this as manipulation.
50. Toxic links: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify potentially harmful backlinks.
51. Competitor backlink gap: Compare your backlink profile against top competitors.
52. Link velocity: Monitor the rate at which you gain and lose backlinks. Natural growth is a slow curve; spikes look suspicious.
53. Internal link distribution: Use tools to visualize internal link flow. Ensure your most profitable service pages are getting the most internal link love.

Tools for Running Your SEO Audit

You cannot tighten a screw without a screwdriver.

Here are the essential tools we use daily at Nekko Digital to diagnose issues.

Crawling and Technical SEO

• Screaming Frog: The industry standard for crawling. It is free for up to 500 URLs, which covers most small local sites.
• Sitebulb: Offers excellent visual reports if you prefer charts over spreadsheets.

Search Console

• Google Search Console: This is essential and free. It provides the only data that comes directly from Google regarding your performance.

Keyword and Ranking

• Ahrefs: Our go-to for backlink analysis and competitor gaps.
• SEMrush: Excellent for tracking daily ranking fluctuations and local map pack positions.

Page Speed

• Google PageSpeed Insights: The official scorecard for Core Web Vitals.
• GTmetrix: Provides a waterfall chart to see exactly which file is slowing down your load time.

Content Auditing

• Surfer SEO: Analyzes top-ranking pages to tell you exactly what terms to include.
• Clearscope: Focuses heavily on relevance and semantic comprehensiveness.

Structured Data

• Rich Results Test: Google’s official tool to validate your schema markup.

Prioritizing Fixes by Impact

An audit often reveals dozens of red flags.

Trying to fix them all at once is a recipe for burnout. We prioritize based on “Business Impact” vs. “Effort.”

Critical (Fix Immediately) Issues that prevent pages from being indexed or threaten security.

• Server errors (5xx).
• Robots.txt blocks on key pages.
• Security vulnerabilities or hacked content.

High Priority (Fix This Week) Items that directly hurt user experience or ranking ability.

• Core Web Vitals failures (especially LCP).
• Missing or duplicate title tags.
• Broken internal links on high-traffic pages.
• Thin content on core service pages.

Medium Priority (Fix This Month) Optimizations that improve visibility but aren’t emergencies.

• Missing schema markup.
• Unoptimized images (large file sizes).
• Content gaps relative to competitors.

Low Priority (Ongoing) Maintenance tasks and minor improvements.

• Minor formatting tweaks.
• Cosmetic URL structure changes (be careful with redirects here).
• Updating older blog posts.

The most effective approach is tackling critical and high-priority items first.

Once the “bleeding” stops, you can move to the growth phase with medium-priority items.

Need help identifying and fixing your site’s SEO issues? Contact Nekko Digital for a complimentary audit that covers every point on this checklist.