An SEO audit is a structured check of your website's health across the signals search engines use to rank pages. For a small business or blog, a basic audit covers the things most likely to be holding rankings back — and it doesn't require an agency or expensive software.
The Audit, In Order
1. Run the SEO Checker
Start with SEO Checker on your key pages. It identifies missing tags, thin content, link issues and other common problems in one pass. Note everything flagged and work through it systematically.
2. Technical Basics
- HTTPS: does the site load with a padlock? See how to force HTTPS on your website.
- Mobile: does the site work properly on a phone? Run through Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.
- Speed: run PageSpeed Insights on the homepage and a key landing page. Note the "opportunities" flagged.
3. Indexing
- Check Google Search Console's Coverage report for any URLs with indexing errors.
- Do a
site:yourdomain.comsearch to confirm key pages are indexed.
4. On-Page Elements (Check Per-Page)
For each important page:
- Title tag: present, under ~60 characters, includes the primary keyword.
- Meta description: present, under ~160 characters, describes the page well.
- H1: present, one per page, matches the topic.
- Image alt text: descriptive alt text on images (not empty or "image").
5. Internal Links
- Do all internal links work? (Broken ones can be found in Google Search Console under Crawl → Links.)
- Are key pages linked from other pages on the site?
6. Content Quality
- Do your key pages fully cover what a searcher needs?
- Are there thin pages (under 300 words of genuine content)?
- Do multiple pages target the same keyword? See how to avoid keyword cannibalization.
7. Local (If Applicable)
- Is NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistent on the site and in Google Business Profile?
- Is Local Business schema in place?
Making an Action List
After working through these checks, you'll have a list of issues in rough order of impact. Fix the technical basics first (HTTPS, mobile, speed), then on-page elements on the highest-traffic pages, then content issues. For a pre-launch version of this check, see SEO checklist before launching a new website.
Making the Audit Actionable
A checklist only helps if the findings turn into changes. After the audit, group issues by effort and impact: quick wins (missing meta descriptions, broken images) are worth doing immediately. Medium-effort fixes (speed improvements, schema additions) can be batched into a sprint. Structural issues (URL changes, site architecture) need planning. For an ongoing check that doesn't require a full audit, running the SEO Checker on newly published pages as part of your publishing workflow catches most issues before they accumulate.
