Technical SEO Audit Checklist: What to Check and in What Order

Section 01

What a technical SEO audit covers, and what it doesn't

A technical SEO audit covers how search engines access and process your site: crawling, rendering, indexing, duplicate URLs, speed, mobile setup, security and structured data. It doesn't judge whether your content is good or whether your keywords are right.

Those other jobs belong to different reviews. Content quality, search intent and keyword targeting fall under on-page SEO, covered in our on-page SEO checklist. Links and mentions from other sites fall under off-page work. A technical audit makes sure none of that effort is wasted on pages Google can't reach or won't keep.

Who should run it? On a small site, the business owner or marketer can run most of these checks with the free tools below. Fixing what they find, such as templates, redirects or server settings, often needs a developer, so plan for both roles from the start.

One more boundary: the audit finds problems, and fixing them is a separate step. The final section of this guide shows how to turn findings into tickets someone can act on.

Section 02

The free tool stack

You can run a full technical audit on a small site without paying for software. Five free tools cover nearly every check below.

Screaming Frog's pricing page lists the free version's crawl limit as 500 URLs, which covers most small business sites. Larger sites need a paid licence or a cloud crawler.

Section 04

1. Indexing blockers

Indexing blockers come first because they can remove pages from Google entirely. Check for stray noindex tags, misused robots.txt rules and pages Google has chosen to leave out.

Start with Search Console's Page Indexing report. It groups every known URL by status, such as "Crawled – currently not indexed" or a page Google skipped because it found a noindex directive. Don't panic at the excluded total. Google's own help page says "Non-indexed URLs can be fine" and advises: "Don't expect every URL on your site to be indexed." Filtered category pages, thank-you pages and login screens often belong out of the index.

What you're hunting for are important pages in the wrong bucket. Look for:

• Service or product pages with a noindex tag, often left over from a staging site or a plugin setting.
• Robots.txt rules blocking whole folders that hold real content.
• Pages marked "Duplicate without user-selected canonical", where Google picked a different URL than the one you want.

The fixes are usually simple once found. Remove the noindex tag from the template or plugin setting, narrow the robots.txt rule to the folder that should stay private, and add a canonical tag pointing to the version you want indexed. Then use URL Inspection to request indexing for the most important pages.

Robots.txt deserves a special warning. Google says plainly that robots.txt "is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google." A blocked page can still appear in results if other sites link to it. To keep a page out, Google's robots.txt guide points to a noindex tag or password protection instead.

Section 05

2. Crawling and site structure

Google finds pages by following links and reading sitemaps, so check that every important page is linked from somewhere and listed in your sitemap. Pages with no internal links pointing to them, called orphan pages, are easy for crawlers to miss.

Three checks cover this step:

• XML sitemap: list your indexable pages and submit the sitemap in Search Console. Google's sitemap guide says a single sitemap is limited to "50MB (uncompressed) or 50,000 URLs," and notes that Google ignores the priority and changefreq values.
• Internal links: crawl the site and compare the list of crawled pages with your sitemap. Pages in the sitemap but not found by the crawler are likely orphans.
• Click depth: key pages should be reachable within a few clicks of the homepage.

If you find orphan pages, link to them from a relevant service page, category page or blog post. A page worth keeping is worth linking to. A page nobody links to and nobody visits may be a candidate for removal instead.

Small business owners often worry about "crawl budget." Google's crawl budget guide is written mainly for sites with 1 million or more unique pages that change weekly, or 10,000 or more that change daily. If your site is smaller, you can skip that worry and focus on clean links.

Section 06

3. Rendering and JavaScript

Google processes JavaScript sites in three phases: crawling, rendering and indexing, according to its JavaScript SEO basics. If key content only appears after scripts run, check that Google can see it after rendering.

The quickest test is URL Inspection's live test in Search Console. Run it on a key page, open the rendered HTML and confirm your main text, links and headings are there. Pay special attention to:

• Product details, prices or reviews loaded by scripts
• Navigation menus built entirely in JavaScript
• Content that only loads after a click, scroll or tab change

If something important is missing from the rendered version, your developer may need to render it on the server or load it without user interaction.

Most small business sites built on standard platforms render fine. JavaScript problems show up more often on custom-built sites, single-page apps and stores with heavily customized themes, so give this step extra attention if your site falls into one of those groups.

Section 07

4. Canonicals, redirects and duplicate pages

Canonicals and redirects tell Google which version of a page to index when several URLs show the same content. Get them right and your signals point at one page; get them wrong and Google may pick a version you didn't intend.

Google's canonicalization guide ranks the signals clearly. Redirects are "A strong signal that the target of the redirect should become canonical." A rel="canonical" tag is also "A strong signal." Sitemap inclusion is "A weak signal."

Check for these common problems:

• Duplicate versions: http and https, or www and non-www, both loading as separate pages, when one should redirect to the other.
• Redirect chains: page A redirects to B, which redirects to C. Point A straight at C.
• Parameter URLs: tracking or filter parameters creating many copies of one page.
• Canonicals pointing at the wrong page, such as every product canonicalized to the category.

A quick example: if yoursite.com/services and yoursite.com/services/ both load, and so do the http and www versions, one page may exist at four or more addresses. Pick one, redirect the others to it with a 301, and make sure the canonical tag and internal links all use the same version.

Section 08

5. Speed and Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals measure loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability, and Google recommends that site owners achieve good scores. Check them in PageSpeed Insights for individual pages and in Search Console's Core Web Vitals report for the whole site.

Google's Core Web Vitals page sets these targets:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): the main content should load within 2.5 seconds.
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): aim for less than 200 milliseconds.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): aim for less than 0.1.

Fix problems at the template level wherever you can. If every blog post loads a huge hero image, compressing that one template image fixes hundreds of pages at once. Common culprits include oversized images, heavy third-party scripts, web fonts that block rendering and ads or banners that push content down as they load.

Pay attention to which data you're looking at. PageSpeed Insights shows field data from real Chrome users when enough exists, and lab data from a single simulated test. Field data reflects what visitors experience, so prioritize it. Lab data is useful for testing a fix before real-user numbers update.

Section 09

6. Mobile-first indexing

Google indexes the mobile version of your site, so check your pages on a phone as well as a desktop. Google's mobile-first indexing guide puts it directly: "Google uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with the smartphone agent, for indexing and ranking."

The most common problem is content that exists on desktop but is hidden or missing on mobile, such as reviews, FAQs or product details collapsed away for smaller screens. Google advises: "Make sure that your mobile site contains the same content as your desktop site." Open your key pages on a phone and confirm the same text, images and links are there.

Also check the basics a phone user notices: text readable without zooming, buttons large enough to tap, and no pop-ups covering the main content as the page loads.

Section 10

7. HTTPS, structured data and on-page basics

Every page should load over HTTPS, structured data should be valid and match the visible content, and each page needs a unique title. These checks rarely cause dramatic drops, but they affect trust and how your pages appear in results.

• HTTPS: confirm every page loads securely and http URLs redirect to https. Check for "mixed content," where a secure page loads images or scripts over http.
• Security certificate: confirm the SSL certificate is valid and set to renew automatically, since an expired certificate shows visitors a warning page.
• Structured data: run key pages through the Rich Results Test. Fix errors, and make sure the markup describes what's visible on the page, since Google advises that all content in your markup should also be visible.
• Titles and descriptions: your crawler will flag missing, duplicate or empty title tags. Our on-page checklist covers how to write them.

Section 11

8. AI crawler access

Check your robots.txt for the crawlers that AI search tools use, so you don't block them by accident. OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot finds pages for ChatGPT search, and Perplexity's PerplexityBot does the same for Perplexity.

Google works differently. AI Overviews draw on Google's normal index, so Googlebot access covers them. Google also offers a separate token, Google-Extended, for controlling whether your content trains its AI models. Google's crawler documentation states that "Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search."

Look for broad "Disallow" rules that catch AI crawlers unintentionally, and check firewall or CDN bot settings that may block them. Our guides to what generative engine optimization is and how to rank in ChatGPT explain the setup in more detail.

Section 12

Turning findings into fixes

An audit only helps once its findings become specific tasks with an owner. Turn every issue into a ticket that says what's wrong, where, how serious it is, who fixes it and how you'll confirm the fix.

The examples above are illustrations, so swap in your own findings. Sort the list by severity, then by the number of pages affected. A template-level fix that repairs 200 pages usually beats a dozen one-page fixes.

Section 14

How often to run a technical audit

Run a full technical audit at least once a year, and a quick check every month in Search Console. Run a full audit straight away after any redesign, platform migration, domain change or big batch of new pages.

The monthly check takes about 30 minutes: review the Page Indexing report for new exclusions, scan Core Web Vitals for new problems, and confirm your sitemap still processes without errors. Catching a problem in week one is far cheaper than finding it after months of lost traffic. Our technical SEO audit service can run these checks for you on a schedule.

Section 15

Technical SEO audit FAQs

How do you perform a technical SEO audit?

Work in priority order. Check indexing blockers in Search Console first, then crawling and sitemaps, JavaScript rendering, canonicals and redirects, Core Web Vitals, mobile content, HTTPS and structured data, and AI crawler access. Turn each finding into a ticket with an owner and a test.

How much does an SEO audit cost?

Costs vary with site size and depth. Ahrefs' pricing survey found one-off SEO projects, audits among them, most often priced between $2,501 and $5,000. Small sites can run a basic audit themselves with free tools. See our guide to how much SEO costs.

Can ChatGPT do an SEO audit?

ChatGPT can explain audit findings, suggest fixes and help write tickets, but it can't crawl your site or read your Search Console data on its own. Use real tools to collect the data, then use AI to help interpret and prioritize it.

Which tool is best for an SEO audit?

Start with Google Search Console, since its data comes straight from Google. Add PageSpeed Insights for speed, the Rich Results Test for structured data, and a crawler such as Screaming Frog, which is free for up to 500 URLs. Paid tools add scale and automation.

How often should I run one?

Run a full audit once a year and after any redesign, migration or major site change. Check Search Console monthly for new indexing or Core Web Vitals issues, so problems get fixed before they cost much traffic.

Section 16

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Introduction to robots.txt," updated December 10, 2025: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro
2. Search Console Help, "Page indexing report": https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203
3. Google Search Central, "Build and submit a sitemap," updated July 8, 2026: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/build-sitemap
4. Google Search Central, "Crawl budget management for large sites," updated July 22, 2026: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/large-site-managing-crawl-budget
5. Google Search Central, "JavaScript SEO basics," updated March 4, 2026: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/javascript/javascript-seo-basics
6. Google Search Central, "Consolidate duplicate URLs," updated July 10, 2026: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls
7. Google Search Central, "Core Web Vitals," updated December 10, 2025: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals
8. Google Search Central, "Mobile-first indexing best practices," updated December 10, 2025: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/mobile/mobile-sites-mobile-first-indexing
9. Google, "Google's common crawlers," updated October 15, 2026: https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers
10. Screaming Frog, SEO Spider pricing: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/pricing/