Technical SEO Audit Checklist

1. Check robots.txt

Make sure robots.txt exists, is accessible, and is not blocking important page paths by mistake. It should also reference your sitemap if possible.

2. Check whether key pages are indexable

Look for accidental noindex tags, blocked canonicals, login walls, or JavaScript-only rendering problems on pages you want in search results.

3. Review canonical tags

Each important page should normally self-canonicalize unless there is a genuine duplicate or preferred version elsewhere. Incorrect canonical tags can suppress pages from indexing.

4. Review status codes

Important pages should return 200 status codes. Broken pages, redirect chains, and unnecessary redirects make audits look worse and create crawl waste.

5. Check sitemap coverage

Your sitemap should include important pages and avoid low-value or broken URLs. A mismatch between sitemap URLs and indexable URLs is a common technical weakness.

6. Review internal linking

Important pages should be reachable through normal links, not only through search or isolated menus. Weak internal linking makes it harder for crawlers to discover and prioritize your content.

7. Confirm mobile viewport and responsive layout

Every key page should have a mobile viewport and work cleanly on smaller screens. Mobile usability remains a core technical baseline for search visibility.

8. Check page speed basics

Look for oversized images, excessive scripts, poor caching, and bloated assets. You do not need a perfect lighthouse score to rank, but obvious slowness hurts both users and audit quality.

9. Review heading and HTML structure

Technical SEO is not only server-side. A page with missing H1s, broken heading order, or messy structure can still underperform, especially when content is already thin.

10. Look for duplicate or near-duplicate pages

Multiple pages targeting the same intent can split relevance. If two pages overlap too closely, consolidate, retarget, or improve one clearly over the other.

11. Check image and asset handling

Meaningful images should have alt text, and all assets should load consistently without broken URLs or mixed-content problems.

12. Recheck after changes

A technical checklist only becomes useful when you rerun it after fixes. That second pass shows whether the site is actually cleaner or whether hidden issues remain.