Technical SEO Audit Checklist: 30+ On-Page & Technical Factors

"Improve your SEO" isn't a task list. Most of what actually moves the needle on technical SEO is a specific, checkable set of factors - here they are, grouped by what they actually affect.

On-Page Factors

• Every page has a unique, descriptive <title> under ~60 characters
• Every page has a unique meta description that reads like ad copy, not a summary
• Exactly one H1 per page, with a logical heading hierarchy below it (no skipping from H2 to H4)
• Every meaningful image has descriptive alt text (this also helps accessibility)
• Internal links use descriptive anchor text, not "click here"
• URLs are readable and stable - lowercase, hyphenated, no query-string-only identifiers for indexable pages

Crawlability & Indexing

• robots.txt isn't accidentally blocking pages you want indexed
• sitemap.xml exists, is linked from robots.txt, and reflects your actual current pages - not a stale export from months ago
• Canonical tags point to the correct, single preferred URL for every page - especially important if the same content is reachable through multiple URL patterns
• No orphaned pages - every indexable page is reachable by at least one internal link, not just the sitemap
• Redirect chains are collapsed to a single hop - A→B→C should become A→C
• No accidental noindex tags left over from a staging environment

Structured Data

• JSON-LD structured data validates for any content type that supports rich results (Article, Product, FAQ, breadcrumbs)
• Structured data accurately reflects visible page content - mismatched structured data can trigger a manual action, not just a missed opportunity
• Organization and website-level schema present on the homepage for brand knowledge panel eligibility

Mobile & Core Web Vitals

Google has used mobile-first indexing for years now - your mobile rendering is what gets evaluated, not a secondary concern.

• Site renders correctly and is fully usable on a mobile viewport, not just visually shrunk
• Tap targets are large enough and spaced apart on mobile
• Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) pass for real mobile traffic in Search Console, not just a desktop lab test

Content Quality

• No duplicate or near-duplicate pages competing for the same query without a canonical relationship between them
• No thin, low-value pages generated purely to target keyword variations
• Content actually answers the query it's trying to rank for, not just mentions the keyword

A Practical 30-Point Checklist

Run through this before considering a technical SEO pass done:

• Unique titles and meta descriptions on every page
• One H1 per page, logical heading order
• Alt text on every meaningful image
• Descriptive internal link anchor text
• Clean, readable, stable URLs
• robots.txt not blocking real content
• Current, linked sitemap.xml
• Correct canonical tags site-wide
• No orphaned pages
• Collapsed redirect chains
• No stray noindex tags
• Valid structured data matching visible content
• Mobile rendering fully usable, not just shrunk
• Core Web Vitals passing on real mobile traffic
• No duplicate/thin content competing with itself