The Comprehensive 13-Step SEO Audit Checklist for 2024

When did you last audit your site’s SEO health?

An SEO audit checklist is an effective way to knock it out of the park.

Search engines like Google roll out search updates frequently. Without a way to proactively find threats to your site’s visibility, an algorithm shakeup might leave it at rock bottom, overnight.

Imagine waking up to lower visibility, reduced traffic, and skimpier earnings.

Don’t risk it in 2024.

Luckily for you, this 13-step SEO audit checklist can help.

The Only SEO Audit Checklist You’ll Ever Need

Think of an SEO audit checklist as your website's buddy, ensuring it stays in perfect SEO shape. With tools like Google Analytics and LinkStorm, you can proactively spot SEO issues.

Addressing them early prevents potential damage to your website. Use this 13-step SEO audit checklist to conduct a thorough audit of your website.

1. Check Website Crawlability and Indexability

Crawlability ensures easy navigation for search bots, while indexability gauges the likelihood of your pages appearing in search results.

Checking for issues related to these is a vital step in your 2024 SEO audit checklist.

It makes pages eligible to appear in search results.

Use SEO audit tools like Lumar, Screaming Frog, or Semrush to analyze your entire site. They identify crawlability and indexability issues and produce a site health score report.

Take a look at the example below showing a crawlability and indexability analysis by Semrush.

Image via Semrush

So, how do you keep these two components in check?

Here are some tips:

• Use the IndexNow protocol
• Submit a sitemap to Google
• Strengthen your linking strategy
• Update robot.txt files
• Weed out low-quality and duplicate content

2.  Audit Site Speed and Performance

Your audience is an impatient lot.

That’s why site speed remains one of the most significant ranking factors, especially for measuring real-world user experience (UX).

According to Portent, a 0-4 second load speed is best for optimum conversion rates. If it goes over five seconds, conversion rates drop significantly.

Leverage website speed test tools like Google Analytics and PageSpeed Insights for page-by-page load time analysis.

Check this example of Google Analytics in action.

Image via Loves Data

Boost your site speed and performance through:

• Compressing and resizing visuals
• Enabling browser caching
• Minifying resources
• Reducing page elements
• Distributing content globally via CDNs
• Eliminating unnecessary code
• Upgrading hosting infrastructure
• Understanding Core Web Vitals reports

Trimming even a few seconds off page load times can make a huge difference.

3.  Review the Linking Structure

The dreaded 404 error from broken or dead links can frustrate your visitors and confuse search bots.

That's why auditing internal and external links should be on every SEO checklist.

Use website audit tools like Semrush, Screaming Frog, or Majestic to visually map your current link landscape and analysis through:

• Crawling your site

• Evaluating internal link structure to identify broken, dead, or excess internal links

• Identifying and creating links between related content

• Discovering and implementing new internal linking opportunities. Check out this LinkStorm Review on how to do that

• Assessing external links for quality and disavowing irrelevant ones using Google's Disavow Tool

• Reviewing redirects and URLs

• Optimizing Anchor Text

If you use Semrush, for example, you’ll get a backlink audit report like this.

Image via Semrush

The right linking strategy strengthens organic search visibility; so a backlink audit is a must-have step on your SEO audit checklist.

4.  Check Content Quality

Unlike spinning straw into gold, a mere SEO audit won't miraculously enhance poor content. You may have to run it through various readability checkers, plagiarism checkers, and AI content detectors to ensure what you publish is of high quality.

Your SEO audit checklist should prioritize evaluating your content’s quality.

To achieve this goal consider a comprehensive content quality audit that involves the following tasks:

• Employ content audit tools like Semrush, Google Analytics, or Hemingway for a detailed content audit

• Identify low-performing content, flagging them for further assessment

• Weed out duplicate, poorly written, or irrelevant content

• Assess affiliate content or doorway pages

• Spot areas for content enhancement

For instance, Hemingway examines each sentence by evaluating its length, structure, and word order. The tool determines if it follows principles of proper sentence construction, including correctness, readability, and style consistency.

Image via Hemingway

Sharing high-quality content is one of the best customer retention strategies that builds loyalty and encourages repeat visitors.

5.  Check Mobile Friendliness and Responsiveness

Over 95% of the global population can access the internet via mobile. Moreover, as of November 2023, mobile search constitutes 56% of all organic traffic.

Ensuring excellent mobile UX is non-negotiable.

However, Google discontinued its Mobile Friendly test starting December 1, 2023.

Alternative testing tools, such as Website Grader, MobiReady, and WebPage Test will help you complete the following:

• Check how your site appears on multiple devices and browsers
• Scroll around and tap elements to ensure everything works perfectly
• Conduct page speed tests
• Optimize images and site navigation
• Test forms, input fields, and popups
• Evaluate incorrect signals in structured data

Here’s a sample report provided by Website Grader on Google.

Image via Website Grader

An excellent mobile experience matters to reach today's predominantly mobile searchers and site visitors.

6.  Evaluate User Experience (UX)

Alarmingly, 60% of customers abandon their purchases due to poor UX.

Google values sites that provide good UX aligned with user intent.

Here’s a checklist of things to do when you conduct an SEO audit of your website to test its UX:

• Assess site navigation, loading speed, information architecture, typography, page layout, and design

• Check content quality and mobile responsiveness

• Assess interactivity elements and forms

• Ensure accessibility standards follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

• Review site error handling

• Gather user feedback

• Use tools, such as Google Analytics to evaluate time on site

• Assess social proof and trust elements

• Implement user journey mapping

The following image shows some UX metrics to keep an eye out for during your next SEO audit.

Image via Search Engine Land

7.  Audit Site Security Protocols

Are you aware that your site is attacked on average 172 times daily?

It’s important to address hacking threats, especially with the expansion of Core Web Vitals in 2021.

Unless you’ve got $ 4.45 million to spare, you need to add a security audit to your SEO audit checklist:

• Run the site through basic SSL checkers like SSL Shopper to test expired certs, DNS vulnerabilities, and data transmission gaps

• Examine security measures for logins and transactions

• Use tools like Sucuri SiteScanner for hardcore security audits, including firewall rules, malware detection, intrusion prevention, and DDoS resilience

• Update software and plugins

• Assess secure password policies and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) with a secure password solution.

• Ensure there are regular backups

• Review third-party integrations

• Establish easy-to-understand security measures

Here’s an example of a site security audit report.

Image via Asper Brothers

A secure website is a trusted website, so make sure you do your best to improve your site’s security

8.  Audit XML Sitemaps and robots.txt Files

Make time for XML sitemaps and robots meta tags in your SEO audit checklist.

XML site maps list all important pages to be indexed, while robot files guide search bots. Double-checking these components boosts your site’s visibility in Google search results.

Look at this example of a robots.txt audit report.

Image via Search Engine Roundtable

Auditing for XML Sitemaps and robots.txt files is as simple as:

• Verifying XML Sitemaps using Google Search Console
• Analyzing robots.txt files using Google's Robots.txt Report
• Submitting Sitemaps to Google
• Running a crawl test of your site
• Checking for disallowed pages and adjusting directives if necessary

Use SEO software like LinkStorm and Google Analytics to gain insights to streamline this task on your checklist.

9.  Improve Social Media Integration with Your Site

Did you know that 61.4% of the global population are active social media users?

And 82% of Gen Z use social media to discover brands?

That’s why it’s important to seamlessly integrate your social media accounts with your website.

As an integral part of the SEO audit checklist, auditing social media integration involves:

• Using tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Debugger, or Twitter Card Validator
• Checking the visibility of social media icons and share buttons
• Verifying and optimizing your social media profiles
• Checking social media feeds and widgets
• Evaluating social sharing integration user-friendliness
• Monitoring your social reputation and activity
• Ensuring the social integration elements have a responsive design and are visually appealing
• Implementing social media meta tags
• Testing social sharing on mobile devices.

Check out the various social media platforms you can integrate into your site.

Image via InfoTrust

Leverage some good social media management tools to streamline this process.

10.  Optimize Your Google Business Profile

According to estimates, Google processes nearly 99,000 search queries per second, translating to 8.5 billion searches daily. Before customers visit your physical store or call, they’ll research your brand online.

GBP is a crucial local SEO tool for local businesses, hence including it in the SEO audit checklist is a must.

See what an optimized GBP looks like; notice all the important business information it provides.

Image via Google

Here are the steps you need to complete as part of your GBP audit checklist:

• Complete profile verification
• Create accurate listing data across all locations
• Ensure you use engaging photos, videos, posts, and messaging.
• Assess and optimize links to your website
• Missing or incorrect services offered

11.  Review Internal Site Search Relevancy and Results

Internal search optimization is an integral part of a modern SEO audit checklist.

It identifies your readers’ needs and preferences and content development opportunities. It reveals the search terms visitors used and their path through your site, showing how well search results drove engagement.

This Google Analytics search report displays, among other results, the search terms users entered on the sample website.

Image via Tracking Success

Use Semrush, Google Analytics, or your site’s internal search function to initiate an audit. Here’s what you need to do:

• Identify common search queries.
• Check if the search results match the searcher's intent
• Check and analyze for zero-results pages
• Analyze CTRs on listings
• Evaluate mobile responsiveness
• Check for zero-result pages, redirects, and broken links

Fine-tune things so visitors can easily find helpful content on your site.

12.  Check On-Page SEO Elements

Let's delve into the most important step on any SEO audit checklist—the on-page audit.

Tools like Semrush or On-page SEO Checker can help you audit key landing pages and blog posts.

The tasks involved in a complete on-page SEO audit checklist include:

• Extensive keyword research
• Optimizing meta descriptions, title tags, H1/H2 headings, URLs, and content bodies
• Checking that the keyword appears in the first 100 words in the content body
• Using headings and subheadings for page structuring
• Checking that proper alt text is added for images
• Ensuring high-quality visuals

Here’s an example of a detailed on-page audit report.

Image via Slide Geeks

Overlooking on-page SEO can lead to visibility drops, a strong reason to include it in your 2024 SEO strategy and SEO audit checklist.

13.  Audit Duplication Issues

Duplicate content can be a ranking roadblock. It often confuses search engines on what to prioritize.

Whether accidental or repurposed, duplication dilutes your content and authority.

Besides, Google values unique information.

Image via Backlinko

So, make sure you include a duplicate content audit in your SEO audit checklist:

• Use tools like Siteliner to spot duplicates
• Check Google Search Console for thin pages
• Scrutinize internal site search results
• Manually inspect pages
• Employ canonical tags or 301 redirects
• Consolidate duplicate content
• Disavow low-value pages

Remember, a timely check on duplicates can safeguard your rankings.

FAQs

Q1. Why is an SEO audit checklist necessary?

A. This SEO audit checklist will help you:

• Optimize your site to meet the latest search engine standards
• Boost visibility, UX, and overall performance
• Improve mobile and local SEO
• Adapt to evolving trends and enhance content relevance

Q2. Can I execute the 15-step SEO audit checklist independently, or should I hire a professional?

A. Yes, you can use this checklist to conduct an SEO audit for your website, without requiring professional help. You will, however, need SEO audit tools to carry out the various steps in the checklist.

Q3. Will this SEO audit checklist remain effective as search engine algorithms change?

A. Yes, it’s adaptable, focusing on the core elements that impact search engine rankings. This adaptability helps future-proof your website and content against search engine updates.

Q4. Are the steps in this SEO audit checklist applicable to any type of website?

A. Yes. This SEO audit checklist is versatile, catering to different types of content, websites, and industries. You might, however, need to customize the checklist based on your specific business needs and SEO goals.

Q5. How frequently should I use the SEO audit checklist?

A. Given the constant changes, quarterly audits ensure you're in the SEO health loop. This helps to make timely adjustments to align with updates and maintain organic search prowess.

Ready to Elevate Your SEO Game in 2024?

You now have a comprehensive 13-step SEO audit checklist to optimize your site for the latest standards and adapt to evolving trends.

Use this checklist to make sure your site is all set to rank high on Google SERP.

And when SEO audits get technical, our search engine optimization services are at your disposal. Attrock’s SEO experts are ready to help you use this SEO audit checklist and elevate your 2024 SEO strategy.