SEO T echnical A udit C hecklist
This c hecklist c overs t he m ain p oints t hat s hould b e i ncluded i n a t echnical a udit o f y our w ebsite
to e nsure t hat t he b asic s etup o f y our w ebsite i s n ot i nhibiting t he r anking o f y our p ages. Y ou
can u se t his t o e nsure t hat y our S EO e xpert i s c overing a ll o f t he b asic b ases f or y ou.
❏ Detoxify l inks
Links t o/from y our w ebsite t o b roken o r n onexistent p ages, o r p ages t hat h ave p oor
reputations g reatly i mpact G oogle's v iew o f y our w ebsite. Y our a udit s hould d etect a nd
remove/disavow l inks t hat a re u ndesirable a nd a re h arming t he h ealth o f y our w ebsite
❏ Crawl E rrors a nd S pider T raps
Can b e f ound i n y our G oogle s earch c onsole a nd s pecialist S EO s oftware. T hese c an b e
dead e nds w here t he s pider c an’t p rogress o r r ead y our p ages. R emoving t hese w ill
improve G oogle’s i mpression o f y our s ite a s a w hole.
❏ Page L oad S peed
One m ajor f actor t hat G oogle p ays a ttention t o i s p age l oad t ime. S o m aking p ages
efficient a nd u p t o t he l atest s tandards i s a m ust. S low l oading p ages, e specially o n
mobile d evices, a rea a m ajor s ource o f l ost v isitors a nd a re p unished b y G oogle.
❏ Mobile F riendliness
Is y our s ite m obile f riendly, d oes i t h ave A MP p ages? T his i s b ecoming a n i ncreasingly
important m etric b y w hich G oogle m easures t he u sefulness o f y our w ebsite.
❏ Duplicate c ontent
Google w ants u s t o o ffer u nique c ontent w here p ossible b ecause y our u nique
information i s w hat G oogle w ants t o s erve t o i ts o rganic s earch u sers. S o e nsure t hat
your c ontent i s n ot d uplicated w ithin y our s ite o r o n o ther s ites.
❏ Cannibalization
With G oogle i ncreasingly s howing o ne w eb p age p er d omain f or a p articular s earch
query, i t m ay b e t hat y our w eb p ages a re c ompeting a gainst e ach o ther f or r anking f or
particular t erms, r esulting i n y our s ite n ot r anking a s s trongly a s i t s hould, o r a p oorer
converting p age r anking i n p lace o f a b etter c onverting o ne. D ecide w hich p age y ou w ish
to r ank f or e ach t erm a nd t ake s teps t o e nsure t his i s t hat i s b est o ptimised f or t hose
particular s earch q ueries.
These a re j ust s ome o f t he f actors t o l ook a t i n a r egular a udit. A f ull w ebsite a udit w ill
evaluate a s ignificantly g reater n umber o f e lements.
This l ist w as d erived f rom t he p resentation b y S tephen M cTaggart o f B uild B usiness O nline f or t he L ife S cience
Marketing S ociety, w hich c an b e v iewed b y s ociety m embers a t t his p age:
b
it.ly/LSMSMcTaggart