2026-11-05

Website SEO Audit Checklist: 25 Checks You Can Run

A website SEO audit checklist is a list of things to verify so Google can find, read and show your pages properly. This one has 25 checks in six groups — indexing, titles, headings and content, links, speed and mobile, structured data and language versions — and every check can be done with free tools such as Google Search Console.

What is a website SEO audit checklist?

It is a structured look at your site to find what stops Google from indexing your pages or understanding them, and what puts visitors off once they arrive. The goal is a short, prioritised list of fixes, not a long report.

An audit doesn't tell you what to write next; it tells you whether what you already have can perform at all. That's why it comes before keyword research and new content, not after.

Before you start: the free tools you need

You need four things, all free:

Google Search Console, with your site verified. If you haven't set it up, our Google Search Console guide walks you through it.
PageSpeed Insights, for speed and mobile checks on individual pages.
The Rich Results Test, for structured data.
Your browser, to view page source (right-click, then "View page source") and to run site: searches on Google.

Keep a simple document open and write each problem next to the page it affects. You will use that list at the end.

Indexing and crawl

1. Your site is verified as a domain property. In Search Console, check that you have verified a Domain property, not just one URL-prefix property. A domain property covers http, https, www and non-www together, so you see the whole site.
2. Your important pages are indexed. Open the Pages report under Indexing and read the reasons listed under "Why pages aren't indexed". Then paste your homepage and main service pages into the URL Inspection tool and confirm each says the URL is on Google.
3. No important page carries a noindex tag. URL Inspection shows whether indexing is allowed. You can also view page source and search for noindex. On WordPress, make sure "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" under Settings, then Reading, is unticked.
4. robots.txt doesn't block what matters. Open yourdomain.com/robots.txt in a browser and look for Disallow lines covering pages or folders you want in search. Search Console's robots.txt report, under Settings, shows the version Google last fetched.
5. Your XML sitemap is submitted and clean. In the Sitemaps report, check that the status is a success and that the sitemap lists only pages you want indexed — no test pages, no redirected URLs.
6. Only one version of your site loads. Type the http, https, www and non-www versions of your address into the browser. All of them should end on the same https address.

Titles and descriptions

7. Every page has its own title. Run site:yourdomain.com on Google and scan the results. Repeated titles such as "Home" or your brand name alone on many pages are a problem.
8. Titles say what the page is about, first. Put the service or topic before your brand name. Titles of roughly 50–60 characters are usually shown in full; longer ones may be cut off or rewritten.
9. Each page has a meta description that matches it. View page source and search for name="description". Google may show its own snippet instead, but a clear, accurate description gives it a good option.
10. Titles and descriptions match the page's language. An Arabic page needs an Arabic title and description. English leftovers from a theme or plugin are common on Arabic pages.

Headings and content

11. Each page has one clear main heading (H1). View page source and search for <h1. Google can handle more than one H1, but readers need one main heading that describes the page's topic — not your logo or a slider caption.
12. Headings follow a logical order. Sections use H2, sub-points use H3. Headings chosen only for their font size confuse readers and search engines alike.
13. Your main service pages answer real questions. Read each one as a customer would: what you offer, where, for whom, how to get a quote or book. Then search the phrase you want it to appear for and compare with what already shows.
14. No duplicate or near-duplicate pages compete with each other. In URL Inspection, compare the user-declared canonical with the Google-selected canonical. If Google picked a different page, you likely have duplicates to merge or redirect.

Speed and mobile

18. Check the Core Web Vitals report. In Search Console, open Core Web Vitals and look at the mobile and desktop groups marked Poor or Need improvement. The thresholds for a good experience are LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP within 200 milliseconds and CLS of 0.1 or less, at the 75th percentile of visits.
19. Test your key page types in PageSpeed Insights. Run the homepage, one service page and one article. Look first at the real-user data at the top, then at the suggestions below it.
20. Large images are compressed and sized correctly. PageSpeed Insights flags oversized images. Hero banners and sliders are a common cause of slow loading on business sites.
21. Pages work properly on a phone. Open your key pages on an actual phone: text readable without zooming, buttons easy to tap, no sideways scrolling, and Arabic pages laid out right-to-left correctly.

Structured data and language versions

22. Structured data is valid. Run key pages through the Rich Results Test and check the Enhancements reports in Search Console for errors. Google lists the structured data types it supports.
23. Your business details are consistent. Compare your name, address and phone number across your contact page, footer, structured data and Google Business Profile. They should match exactly.
24. Language and direction are declared. View page source and check the <html> tag: Arabic pages should have lang="ar" and dir="rtl", English pages lang="en".
25. Arabic and English versions point to each other. Search the page source for hreflang. Each version should list itself and its counterpart, and both sides must link back. Google explains this in its guide to localized versions of your pages.

If you'd rather not start by hand, Rankshoot gives you a free SEO audit of your site, plus a look at your competitors and a content plan; you create a free account and no card is needed.

What should you fix first after the audit?

Fix what blocks indexing first, then what confuses Google, then what weakens pages. A slow page that is indexed can still be found; a fast page with a noindex tag cannot.

A sensible order:

Indexing blockers: noindex tags, robots.txt blocks, pages missing from Google (checks 2–6).
Duplicates and canonicals (check 14).
Titles, descriptions and headings on your main service pages (checks 7–12).
Broken links and weak internal linking (checks 15–17).
Speed and mobile problems (checks 18–21).
Structured data and language versions (checks 22–25).

Many of these fixes live in WordPress settings and plugins; our guide to technical SEO for WordPress covers where to find them. For speed problems, our guide to page speed and Core Web Vitals explains what to ask your developer.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I audit my website?

Run a full audit once now, then repeat it after any redesign, theme change, plugin change or site migration, since these are when things usually break. Between audits, checking Search Console's Pages report once a month catches many new problems early.

Do I need paid tools to audit my site?

No. Every check on this list can be done with Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, the Rich Results Test and your browser. Paid tools can speed up crawling large sites, but they don't replace the data Google gives you about your own site.

Search Console shows little or no data. What does that mean?

If you only just verified the site, Search Console needs time to collect data, so check back later. If the site has been verified for a while and still shows almost nothing, start with checks 2 to 5, because Google may not be indexing your pages.

Can I run this audit without a developer?

Most checks, yes: they involve reading reports and viewing page source, not changing code. Some fixes, especially speed and structured data, may need a developer or a careful plugin change.

Once your fixes are done, return to the SEO guide for businesses in Saudi Arabia and Egypt for the next steps: keywords, content and measurement.