SEO12 min readUpdated May 2025
Technical SEO Audit Checklist 2025: 47 Checks to Dominate Google
A complete, actionable checklist covering every technical SEO signal that matters in 2025. Use this before publishing any new page, after a site migration, or as a quarterly audit routine.
Run all 47 checks automatically with AuditAI →10
Meta & Content
10
Technical
8
Performance
7
Security
6
Mobile
6
Structured Data
10 checks
Meta & Content (10 checks)
1
Title tag present
Every page must have a <title> tag. Missing titles default to the URL — a major missed opportunity.
2
Title under 60 characters
Titles over 60 chars get truncated in SERPs. Keep primary keyword in the first 30 characters.
3
Meta description present
While not a direct ranking factor, meta descriptions drive click-through rates from search results.
4
Meta description 140–160 characters
Long enough to be compelling, short enough to avoid truncation on mobile SERPs.
5
Each page has a unique title
Duplicate titles dilute ranking signals. Every page needs a distinct, descriptive title.
6
Each page has a unique meta description
Duplicate descriptions aren't penalized but miss the opportunity to target different intents.
7
One H1 per page
Multiple H1s confuse Google about the page's primary topic. Use exactly one H1 with your target keyword.
8
H1 contains target keyword
The H1 is one of the strongest on-page SEO signals. It should clearly state the page topic.
9
Heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3)
Don't skip levels. No H3 without a preceding H2 — it signals poor content structure.
10
Images have alt text
Alt text is both an SEO signal and an accessibility requirement. Describe the image content specifically.
10 checks
Technical (10 checks)
1
Canonical URL set on every page
Self-referencing canonical tags prevent duplicate content issues from URL parameters and trailing slashes.
2
No accidental noindex tags
Developers often add noindex during staging and forget to remove it. Check every page, especially after deployments.
3
Robots.txt not blocking crawlers
A misconfigured robots.txt can accidentally block Googlebot from crawling your entire site.
4
XML sitemap present
Sitemap.xml helps Google discover all your pages faster, especially on large sites or sites with deep link structures.
5
Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
Submitting manually accelerates crawl discovery. Check for sitemap errors in GSC regularly.
6
No broken internal links (404s)
Internal 404 links waste crawl budget and create a poor user experience. Audit with Screaming Frog or AuditAI.
7
Redirect chains are short (max 2 hops)
Each redirect wastes crawl budget and adds latency. Chains of 3+ redirects should be collapsed to direct redirects.
8
Hreflang tags set for multilingual sites
If you serve different languages/regions, hreflang prevents duplicate content penalties and routes users to the correct version.
9
Open Graph tags present (og:title, og:description, og:image)
OG tags control how your page appears when shared on LinkedIn, Twitter, Slack, and Facebook.
10
Twitter card meta tags present
twitter:card, twitter:title, and twitter:image enable rich previews when links are shared on X/Twitter.
8 checks
Performance (8 checks)
1
LCP under 2.5 seconds
Largest Contentful Paint is the most important Core Web Vital. Optimize hero images and minimize render-blocking resources.
2
INP under 200ms
Interaction to Next Paint replaced FID in 2024. Long JavaScript tasks are the primary culprit.
3
CLS under 0.1
Images and ads without explicit dimensions cause layout shifts. Reserve space before content loads.
4
Page weight under 1MB
Especially critical for mobile users on 3G/4G. Audit images, CSS, and JavaScript bundle sizes.
5
Images in WebP or AVIF format
WebP is 25–35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality. AVIF is even better but with lower browser support.
6
No render-blocking resources above the fold
CSS and JS loaded synchronously in <head> delay the First Contentful Paint. Defer what isn't needed immediately.
7
Browser caching headers set
Cache-Control and ETag headers reduce repeated asset downloads for returning visitors.
8
TTFB under 800ms
Time to First Byte reflects server speed and CDN effectiveness. Over 800ms usually means a hosting or CDN problem.
7 checks
Security (7 checks)
1
HTTPS enforced sitewide
All pages must load over HTTPS. HTTP pages trigger Chrome's 'Not Secure' warning and hurt user trust.
2
HSTS header present
HTTP Strict Transport Security forces browsers to always use HTTPS, even if the user types 'http://'.
3
Content-Security-Policy header set
CSP prevents XSS attacks by whitelisting which sources can load scripts and media.
4
X-Frame-Options header set
Prevents your page from being embedded in iframes on other sites — blocks clickjacking attacks.
5
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Prevents browsers from MIME-sniffing responses, which can lead to executing malicious file types.
6
No exposed sensitive files (.env, .git)
Check that /.env, /.git/config, /phpinfo.php, and similar paths return 404, not 200.
7
SSL certificate not expiring within 30 days
An expired SSL certificate causes browsers to show a full-page warning that almost all users will bounce from.
6 checks
Mobile (6 checks)
1
Viewport meta tag present
<meta name='viewport' content='width=device-width, initial-scale=1'> is required for mobile rendering.
2
No horizontal scroll on mobile
Content wider than the viewport forces horizontal scrolling — a major UX failure on mobile.
3
Touch targets at least 48x48px
Google's mobile usability guidelines require tap targets to be large enough to tap accurately.
4
Font size at least 16px for body text
Text under 12px triggers Google's 'text too small to read' mobile usability issue.
5
No interstitials that block content on mobile
Full-screen popup ads on mobile are a Google ranking penalty since 2017.
6
Mobile page speed passes Core Web Vitals
Mobile CWV is assessed separately from desktop. A site can pass on desktop and fail on mobile.
6 checks
Structured Data (6 checks)
1
JSON-LD schema implemented (not Microdata)
Google recommends JSON-LD for structured data. It's easier to maintain and less error-prone than inline Microdata.
2
Organization schema on homepage
Tells Google your brand name, URL, logo, and contact information — often displayed in Knowledge Panels.
3
BreadcrumbList schema on interior pages
Enables breadcrumb display in SERPs, which increases CTR and helps Google understand site hierarchy.
4
FAQPage schema on FAQ content
FAQ schema can generate rich results in SERPs that take up more SERP real estate and increase clicks.
5
Article schema on blog posts
Enables rich article snippets and helps Google understand publication dates for freshness signals.
6
No schema validation errors
Test all structured data with Google's Rich Results Test. Invalid schema is ignored and can't generate rich results.
Don't check these manually — automate it
AuditAI runs all 47 of these checks automatically in under 30 seconds. Get a scored report with specific fixes for every issue found — free, no signup required.
Run all 47 checks automatically with AuditAI →Frequently Asked Questions
How often should you run a technical SEO audit?+
Run a full technical audit quarterly, or after any significant site change — CMS migration, template update, new development work, or adding new URL structures. Run a lightweight check (meta tags, canonicals, HTTPS) on every new page before publishing.
What is the most important thing to check in a technical SEO audit?+
Indexability first. If your pages can't be crawled and indexed, nothing else matters. Check robots.txt isn't blocking important pages, confirm there are no unintended noindex tags, and verify canonical URLs are set correctly. Then focus on Core Web Vitals and meta tags.
Can I run all 47 checks manually?+
Yes, but it takes 1–3 hours per site. AuditAI automates the majority of these checks in under 30 seconds. Manual review is still needed for content quality, schema markup accuracy, and some mobile UX checks.