Guide · Search & AI visibility

Technical SEO audit checklist

A technical SEO audit checks whether search engines can find, crawl, render, understand and index a website's pages — and whether anything on the technical side holds good content back. This checklist is the structure we follow. Each finding should be prioritised by impact: a site-wide indexing block matters more than a missing alt text.

Updated September 25, 2026 · 3 min read · DealPro

[ 01 ]

In short

01
Start with data: Search Console, a full site crawl and, where available, server logs.
02
Check indexing first: are the important pages indexed, and are unimportant ones kept out?
03
Check rendering: is the content present in what search engines receive?
04
Check duplicates, redirects and canonical tags.
05
Check speed, mobile usability, structured data and multilingual setup.
06
Deliver a prioritised list with concrete fixes.

[ 02 ]

Guide

1. Data sources

Google Search Console: indexing report, page experience, sitemaps, manual actions, queries.
Bing Webmaster Tools.
A crawl of the whole site with a crawler tool.
Analytics: landing pages from organic search.
Server logs, for large sites, to see what crawlers actually request.

2. Crawling

robots.txt allows important content and blocks only what should be blocked.
No important pages blocked accidentally, and no rendering resources blocked.
Internal links reach all important pages within a few clicks.
No crawl traps: infinite calendars, parameter combinations, session IDs.

3. Indexing

Important pages are indexed; compare the sitemap with Search Console.
No accidental noindex on important pages.
Low-value pages (search results, filters, thin tag pages) are kept out of the index.
Soft 404s: pages returning 200 for missing content, including unknown URLs that show the home page.
Correct status codes: 404/410 for removed pages, 301 for moved ones.

4. Rendering

Main content, links and meta data are present in the HTML delivered to crawlers.
For JavaScript-heavy sites, server rendering or prerendering works for all important pages.
The rendered page in Search Console's URL inspection matches what users see.

5. Duplicates and canonicals

One version of the domain: HTTPS, with or without www, redirects from others.
Trailing slash and case handled consistently.
Canonical tags point to the correct, indexable version.
No near-duplicate pages competing for the same queries.

6. Redirects

No chains or loops.
Old URLs from previous versions redirect to relevant pages.
Internal links point directly to final URLs.

See redirects when changing a website.

7. Page-level elements

Unique, descriptive titles and meta descriptions.
One h1 and logical headings.
Alt text for meaningful images.
No important content only in images.

8. Speed and mobile

Core Web Vitals from field data for key templates.
Mobile usability: readable text, tap targets, no horizontal scrolling.
Heavy scripts and third-party tags identified.

See Core Web Vitals for business owners.

9. Structured data

Organization, LocalBusiness, BreadcrumbList, Product, Article and others as relevant.
Valid, consistent with visible content, no errors in Search Console.

10. Multilingual setup

Each language on its own URL.
hreflang reciprocal, with self-references and x-default.
Alternates only for real translations.
Canonicals not pointing across languages.

See multilingual URL structure.

11. Sitemaps

Generated automatically, only canonical indexable URLs, real lastmod dates, submitted to search engines. See XML sitemaps and robots.txt.

12. Security and access

HTTPS everywhere without mixed content.
Staging and admin areas protected and not indexed.

The report

For each issue: what it is, where it occurs, why it matters, how to fix it, and the priority. Group by effort and impact so the team can plan work.

[ 03 ]

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How often should a technical audit be done?

After major changes — redesigns, migrations, platform updates — and periodically, for example yearly, with ongoing monitoring in Search Console between audits.

Can we fix everything at once?

Rarely necessary. Fix critical issues first — indexing blocks, rendering, major duplicates — then improvements.

Does a technical audit include content and links?

This checklist covers the technical side. Content quality and authority are assessed separately.