Website Audit Checklist: 50 Checks in the Order That Finds Problems

An audit isn’t a random tour of tools — it’s a pipeline: pages must be crawlable before they can be indexed, indexed before they can rank. This 50-point checklist runs in that order, uses only free tools, and every checkbox saves your progress visually as you work. Tick as you go.

1. Setup & Baselines

Before touching anything — establish the truth sources.

• Google Search Console verified and collecting dataThe audit’s ground truth — nothing below works without it.
• GA4 installed with key events configuredEnquiries, calls, WhatsApp clicks — so findings connect to business value.
• Baseline exported: clicks, impressions, top pages, top queries (last 3 months)The before-photo every fix gets measured against.
• Crawl the site with a crawler Run with MakdiA full crawl surfaces broken links, redirect chains, missing tags and orphans in one pass.
• Check Search Status Dashboard for active Google updatesAuditing mid-rollout misreads temporary turbulence as site problems.

2. Indexing & Crawlability

The gate: can Google reach and store your pages?

• site:yourdomain.com sanity checkRough indexed count — wildly high means bloat, wildly low means blocking.
• GSC Pages report: indexed vs excluded reviewedInvestigate changes in exclusion categories, not their existence.
• “Discovered/Crawled – currently not indexed” pages assessed for qualityAt scale this is a quality verdict, not a bug — improve or consolidate, don’t resubmit.
• robots.txt reviewed — nothing valuable blockedOne wrong Disallow line can hide whole sections; check /robots.txt directly.
• No accidental noindex tags on important pages Run with MakdiPlugin and theme toggles add these silently — the classic invisible-site cause.
• XML sitemap submitted, fetches without errors, contains only indexable canonical URLsA sitemap full of redirects and noindexed pages wastes trust and crawl attention.
• Important pages reachable within 3–4 clicks of the homepageDeeply buried pages get crawled less and rank worse.
• Orphan pages identified and linked Run with MakdiPages with zero internal links pointing in barely get discovered.

3. Duplicates, Canonicals & Redirects

One address per page — signals consolidated, not split.

• One canonical domain version — http/https and www/non-www all 301 to oneTest all four variants; each should land on the same URL.
• Self-referencing canonicals on key pagesAnd GSC URL Inspection confirms Google accepted your declared canonical.
• No redirect chains or loops Run with MakdiA→B→C leaks signals and speed; repoint everything to the final URL.
• Internal links point to final URLs, not through redirectsCommon after migrations — the links “work” but waste every hop.
• 404s reviewed: valuable dead URLs 301’d to nearest equivalentBacklinked or bookmarked pages deserve redirects; genuine junk can 404.
• Parameter/filter URLs not creating index bloat?sort= and ?utm= permutations should be canonicalised or blocked.

4. On-Page Essentials

Spot-check the money pages; the full on-page checklist goes deeper.

• Every important page has a unique title under ~60 characters Run with MakdiDuplicated and truncated titles are the fastest audit wins available.
• Meta descriptions present, unique, under ~160 charactersNot a ranking factor — a CTR factor, which is the point.
• Exactly one H1 per page, matching the page’s topicMultiple or missing H1s confuse structure — a theme-level bug worth one global fix.
• No two pages targeting the same keyword clusterCheck GSC: query → Pages dimension — swapping positions = cannibalization.
• Images have descriptive alt text and compressed file sizesAccessibility, Google Images traffic, and speed in one fix.
• Structured data validates without errorsGSC Enhancements reports + Rich Results Test; markup must match visible content.
• Thin, outdated or zero-traffic pages listed for refresh/merge/prune decisionsA decayed tail drags the site-wide quality assessment down.

5. Speed & Core Web Vitals

Field data decides — lab scores only diagnose.

• GSC Core Web Vitals report: all page groups “Good”This is real-user data — the version that affects rankings.
• LCP under 2.5s on key templatesUsual suspects: slow hosting response, render-blocking assets, heavy hero images.
• INP healthy — no laggy taps and clicksOn WordPress this is almost always plugin JavaScript bloat.
• CLS near zero — no layout jumpingSet width/height on images and reserve space for embeds and banners.
• Caching active and images served compressed/WebPThe two highest-ROI WordPress speed fixes.
• Server response time (TTFB) reasonableIf the server takes 1.5s to answer, nothing downstream can save LCP — hosting matters.

6. Mobile

Google indexes the mobile version — audit what Google sees.

• All key pages checked on an actual phone (or DevTools mobile view)Mobile-first indexing means the phone version is the site.
• Content parity: nothing important missing on mobileContent removed on mobile doesn’t exist for ranking.
• Tap targets big enough, text readable without zoomingViewport meta tag present; buttons not stacked pixel-tight.
• No intrusive popups smothering mobile contentInterstitial-heavy pages are penalised in experience signals.
• Tested on a budget device over mobile data, not just Wi-Fi flagshipYour actual Indian audience reality — that’s the experience being ranked.

7. Security & Trust

• HTTPS everywhere with no mixed-content warningsPadlock intact on every template, all http assets updated.
• GSC Security & Manual Actions reports emptyThe two reports you want permanently blank — check first, not last.
• CMS, theme and plugins updated; unused ones removedHacked-site cleanups cost 100× the prevention.
• Contact page, About page, and privacy policy present and findableBaseline trust signals both raters and customers look for.
• Author bylines on content with real author pagesAnonymous content is a trust handicap, especially anywhere near YMYL.

8. Off-Page Snapshot

Quick reputation read; the off-page checklist covers the building.

• GSC Links report: referring domains counted, top linked pages notedYour accidental linkable asset is in this report — study it.
• Linking sites sanity-checked for relevanceA profile of topic-relevant sites is healthy; don’t panic over normal junk noise.
• Brand search check: your name returns your site cleanlyKnowledge panel/profile results coherent, nothing embarrassing above you.
• NAP consistent on GBP, site, and major directoriesFor local businesses — full treatment in the local SEO checklist.

9. Findings → Action

• Every finding logged: URL, issue, severity, ownerAn audit without a findings sheet is sightseeing.
• Prioritised blockers-first: indexing/crawl issues before optimisationsNothing else matters on pages Google can’t reach.
• Quick wins scheduled: position 8–20 pages, duplicate titles, low-CTR rewritesShortest path from audit to visible movement.
• Re-audit scheduled quarterlySites decay; a repeatable audit is maintenance, not a one-time event.