Ultimate SEO Checklist

GOOGLE

Is Google Analytics Installed?
GA duplication check
Is Search Console setup?
Are there any Search Console errors?
Google cache analysis
Is there a sitemap.xml file?
Is there a discrepancy between indexed pages in Google and Sitemap?
Are any invalid pages in the sitemap?
Are there any negative search results for the brand?
Are there any negative Google Autosuggest?
Is there a Google News sitemap.xml file?
Any manual actions?
Are there any crawl errors?

BENCHMARKS

Total Pages Indexed in Google
Total Number of Backlinks
Total Number of Linking Root Domains
Total Number of Organic Keywords
Domain Age

COMPETITION ANALYSIS

Top 3-5 competitors identified?
Has the competition been benchmarked?
Competitor top 10 keywords
Competitor average search positions
Top ranking keywords
Competitor Content Analysis

SITE ARCHITECTURE

Site protocol checks
Pagination checks
Canonical checks
Print version Noindexed?
Has Internal Linking been classified on primary pages?
Site Visualisation Checks
Internal redirects
Redirect chains & Redirect loops
Robots.txt present?
Robots.txt review
Are pages being correctly blocked by Robots.txt?
Are pages being correctly blocked by Meta Robots?
Site Structure & Silo Use
Category Use (eCommerce)
URL naming convention – is this well optimized?
Error Pages
Is an HTML Sitemap in use?
Are Tag Pages being used?
Is the site using a crumb trail?
Is primary navigation easy to use?
Footer navigation checks?
Is all good content under 4 clicks from home?
Menu setup and use

CONTENT AUDIT

Are all fonts large enough to read clearly?
Are hyperlinks clear?
Could font color be considered too light?
Are there clear primary and supplementary content types?
Is content Evergreen or Fresh?
Are there any thin pages? <200 words of content?
Does the site carry an up-to-date Privacy Policy?
Does the site carry up-to-date TOS’s?
Is there any duplicate content internally?
Is there any duplicate content externally?
Is the contact page easy to find and use?
Content Gap Analysis
Copy and classification checks
Has page grammar been checked?
Has page spelling been checked?

TECHNICAL SEO CHECKS

Primary Protocol Use (HTTP / HTTPS)?
Does the site have a valid SSL certificate?
Do all pages redirect from HTTP to HTTPS correctly?
Is an HSTS policy in place?
Does the site use Subdomains?
Does the site carry a Favicon?
Broken / Redirected Internal Links
Broken / Redirected External Links
Javascript Use
Is the .htaccess file configured correctly?
Are Dynamic Pages being served correctly?
Malware & Security Checks
Blacklist check
Site Speed Checks
Are any pages being duplicated due to poor architecture?
Structured Data & Schema Use
Are there any Chrome Console Errors?
Is CSS being minified?
Is Inline CSS being used?
Is every site page secure and without errors?
Are there any canonical errors?
Are all ads and affiliate links nofollowed?
Can the site be crawled and used without Javascript on?
Server location by IP
Check all sites on webserver
Do any pages have more than 100 external links?
What platform is the site built on?
Does the platform come with known restrictions?
Is a CDN in use?
Check domain history

IMAGE OPTIMIZATION

How many images are used sitewide?
Are images being optimized?
Are ALT tags being regularly used?
Are images named sympathetically?
Are there any dead images?
Are too many stock images used?
Are there any images in excess of 100Kb?

MOBILE AUDIT CHECKS

Responsive check
Popups/Interstitials
Mobile Page Size
Image use
Image optimization
Image resizing
Search console errors
AMP Check
Mobile UX issues (see UX)
Mobile Navigation
Use of video on mobile
Are buttons and links easy to click?
Is the Favicon being displayed in mobile SERPs?
Parity checks – Content, Meta & Directives the same as desktop?
Mobile Testing

PAGE LEVEL & ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Are any Deprecated HTML Tags being used?
HTML Validation
Accessibility Checks
CSS Checks

PAGE TITLES

— Are all page titles under 65 characters? (570 pixels)
— Are any Page Titles under 30 characters?
— Are any page titles being duplicated without canonical/pagination?
— Any signs of keyword cannibalization?
— Is the primary keyword/phrase close to the start?
— Are page titles descriptive of the page content?
— Are any page titles missing?

META DESCRIPTIONS

— Are all Meta Descriptions unique and descriptive?
— Are any Meta Descriptions missing?
— Are any Meta Descriptions being duplicated without canonical/pagination?
— Are any Meta Descriptions below 70 characters?
Are Meta Keywords in use?
Are there any redirects other than 301?
Are there any 5xx errors?
Are images ALT tags in use?
Are there too many ads on any pages?
Does the site bombard you with popups?
Does the site carry clear Call to Actions?
Does each page have a clear H1 tag?
Are H2’s being used across the site?
Is the site W3C Compliant?
Does site:brand show expected sitelinks?
Is the site using a Cookie Acceptance notice?

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Site keyword research for Benchmarks
Brand search – Does the homepage come up #1 when searched?
Primary homepage term
Is a keyword strategy in place?
Is there evidence of keyword duplication or overuse?
Are keywords in Page Titles?
Are keywords in H1?
Are keywords in H2?
Are keywords in Meta Description?
Are keywords in the main page document?

USER EXPERIENCE (UX)

Site video use?
Homepage check
Internal page checks
Contact page check
404 page check
Category Pages (eCommerce)
Mobile UX Priorities

BACKLINKS & ANALYSIS

Backlink health & Score
Spammy domains
Has disavow file been created?
Has disavow file been checked?
Anchor Text Use
Backlinks lost
Broken Backlinks
Are there a large number of backlinks from 1 domain or more?

INTERNATIONALIZATION

Does the site have an international audience?
Is the site using rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x” ?
Is the site being translated without errors?
Is the site using an international URL structure?
Are the correct localized web pages being used?
Does the site have backlinks from target countries?
Is the site Multilingual, Multiregional, or both?
Does the site location need to be set up in Search Console?
Checks from international locations

LOCAL SEO AUDIT

Does the site need and gain traffic from local audiences?
Are local titles tags being used?
Is there a consistent NAP across the site and external sites
Is local structured data being used?
Is there a Google MyBusiness listing?
Is the site listed in reputable business directories?
Does the site have local citations?
Does the site carry good local content?
Does the site have too many thin content local pages?

NEGATIVE PRACTICE CHECK

Hidden text
Cloaking
Doorway pages
Meta Refresh
Javascript redirection
Link Exchanges
Is Flash being used?
Are iFrames in use?