Free SEO audit checklist template
A free, no sign-up SEO audit checklist for small business websites. It’s 37 simple checks, in plain English, that you can work through in an afternoon with free tools.
Download the Excel version to track your progress (it works in Google Sheets too), or print the PDF and tick things off with a pen. Old school, but satisfying.
Excel file (.xlsx) and a 3-page PDF. No email needed.
What’s in the checklist
Each check comes with a short note on how to check it, a free tool that helps, and a priority, so you know what to do first.
- Search Console and tracking (3 checks)
- Indexing (5 checks)
- Technical health (6 checks)
- Page titles, descriptions and headings (7 checks)
- Content (5 checks)
- Internal links (3 checks)
- Local SEO (4 checks)
- Links and trust (4 checks)
How to use it
- Open the Checklist tab. Each row is one thing to check.
- Set the Status column as you go: Done, Needs fixing, Not sure or Not relevant.
- Start with the checks marked Fix first. They can stop Google showing your website at all.
- Check your score on the Start here tab, then work through what’s left.
Not sure what something means? Our guide to SEO audits explains each step in more detail, and the plain English SEO glossary covers the jargon.
The full SEO audit checklist
Here’s every check in the template, so you can see what you’re getting before you download it.
Search Console and tracking
- Google Search Console is set up and your website is verified (Fix first)
- Your sitemap is submitted and shows “Success” (Fix first)
- Google Analytics is set up so you can see what visitors do (Important)
Indexing
- Your important pages are indexed (Fix first)
- Nothing important is set to noindex by mistake (Fix first)
- You’ve checked any “Crawled” or “Discovered, currently not indexed” pages (Important)
- Your robots.txt file isn’t blocking important pages (Important)
- Only one version of your website loads (Important)
Technical health
- The whole website loads over HTTPS (the padlock) (Fix first)
- No broken pages (404 errors) in your menus or on key pages (Important)
- No redirect chains (one redirect pointing to another) (Nice to have)
- Mobile speed scores aren’t in the red (Important)
- Core Web Vitals pass (or say there isn’t enough data yet) (Nice to have)
- Your website is easy to use on a phone (Fix first)
Page titles, descriptions and headings
- Every page has its own unique, descriptive page title (Fix first)
- Page titles fit without being cut off in Google (Important)
- Every important page has its own meta description (Important)
- Each page has one clear main heading (H1) (Important)
- Each page says what you do, and where, in the first few lines (Fix first)
- Images have alt text (a short description of the image) (Nice to have)
- Page addresses (URLs) are short and readable (Nice to have)
Content
- Key pages have enough useful content (no thin pages) (Fix first)
- Pages don’t repeat each other (no duplicate content) (Important)
- Each main service has its own page (Important)
- Your website answers the questions customers ask you (Important)
- Prices, opening hours, team and dates are up to date (Nice to have)
Internal links
- Your most important pages are linked from the menu or homepage (Important)
- No orphaned pages (pages nothing else links to) (Nice to have)
- Links use descriptive words, not “click here” (Nice to have)
Local SEO
- Your Google Business Profile is claimed, verified and complete (Fix first)
- Your name, address and phone number match everywhere (Important)
- You’re listed in a few relevant directories (Nice to have)
- You ask happy customers for Google reviews (Important)
Links and trust
- You know roughly which websites link to you (Nice to have)
- You have a short list of genuine local websites that could link to you (Nice to have)
- Your contact details and an About page are easy to find (Important)
- Your business details are marked up with schema (structured data) (Nice to have)
SEO audit checklist FAQs
It’s a list of the things that affect whether your website shows up in Google, written as checks you can tick off one by one. This one covers setup, indexing, technical health, page titles and descriptions, content, internal links, local SEO and links, with a note on how to check each item and a free tool that helps.
Yes. Download it, use it, share it with whoever does your website. There’s no sign-up and we don’t ask for your email address.
Yes. Upload the Excel file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. The status dropdowns and the progress score on the Start here tab work there too.
For most small business websites, an afternoon. Start with the checks marked Fix first, as they’re the ones that can stop Google showing your website at all.
No. Every check can be done with free tools: Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, our meta description checker, Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and the free version of Screaming Frog, which crawls up to 500 pages.
That’s normal, and it’s exactly what our £150 No Nonsense Audit is for. We check everything on this list and more, then give you a plain English list of what to fix first. If you’d like a hand fixing things afterwards, it’s £50 an hour, with no retainer.
Rather someone else did it?
Our £150 No Nonsense Audit checks everything on this list (and more) for you, and gives you a plain English list of what to fix first. No retainer, no jargon, no nasty surprises.