This SEO checklist is for people whose website is already live and who want to find out where it is falling short, not for someone just getting to know SEO. You can tick off each item, note its status and, at the end, use the prioritization table to decide where to start. If you are not yet familiar with the basics, first read our article where does SEO start? and then come back to this list. If you want to tick off these same checks and get a weighted score, use the interactive version of the SEO checklist.
Before you start: how to run this SEO checklist
An SEO audit done without a plan ends in a long list of "problems" that nobody ever gets to. To make the output actionable:
- Gather your access: Google Search Console, an analytics tool (such as Google Analytics), the website's admin panel and, if possible, access to the hosting.
- Run a full crawl: with a crawler such as Screaming Frog or similar tools, list every URL on the site so you can see status codes, titles, canonicals and page depth in one place.
- Take a snapshot of where you are now: save organic clicks, impressions and conversions for the last three months. Without this baseline, you won't be able to tell later whether your changes had an effect.
- Build a task sheet: for each item, add "status", "priority", "owner" and "fix date" columns.
1. Technical SEO checklist: crawling, indexing and speed
The technical part is the foundation for everything else; if Google can't crawl or index a page properly, even great content on that page won't be seen.
Crawling and indexing
- Open the Page indexing report in Google Search Console and check why important pages are not indexed; no important page should be on the "not indexed" list.
- robots.txt does not block important pages or the CSS and JavaScript files needed for rendering.
- The sitemap contains only indexable, canonical URLs that return 200, and it is submitted in Google Search Console.
- Only one version of the domain is accessible; the http, https, www and non-www versions redirect with a 301 to the main version.
- The canonical tag on each page points to the correct URL, and no page has been canonicalized to the home page by mistake.
- The noindex tag is only on pages that really shouldn't appear in results; this tag sometimes carries over from the staging environment to the live site.
- Internal 404 errors, redirect chains and redirect loops have been fixed.
- Important pages are not "orphans", meaning at least one internal link points to each of them.
- In online stores, filters and sorting have not created thousands of indexable duplicate URLs.
Speed and page experience
- Check the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console; it is based on real-user data and matters more than a single test.
- The largest element above the fold (usually the main image) loads quickly, and lazy loading is not enabled on that image.
- Images, videos and banners have defined dimensions so the page doesn't shift while loading.
- Heavy scripts and unused plugins are removed or deferred.
- Web fonts, including Arabic fonts, load in woff2 format and only in the weights you need.
- The server's initial response time is acceptable and page caching is enabled.
If this section reveals serious problems, our guide to website speed optimization explains how to fix them step by step.
Mobile, security and structured data
- All pages display on mobile without horizontal scrolling, tiny text or buttons crammed together.
- The mobile version has the same content as desktop; anything hidden or removed on mobile may not be seen in Google's evaluation.
- The whole site runs on HTTPS and no file loads from an http URL (mixed content).
- The right schema for each page type, such as Organization, Product, Article and BreadcrumbList, is implemented and checked with Google's Rich Results Test. Note that not every schema necessarily leads to a rich result being shown.
2. On-page SEO checklist: titles, headings and page structure
In this section, check each important page separately. The crawl output speeds things up because it shows duplicate titles and headings in one place.
- Each page has a unique title with the main phrase near the start; very long titles are usually cut off in the results.
- The meta description is unique and persuasive, and it makes a promise the page actually keeps.
- Each page has exactly one H1, and the H2 and H3 subheadings follow a logical order; headings are not used just to make text bigger.
- Page URLs are short, readable and stable. Choosing between Arabic and English URLs matters, but URLs of pages that already rank should only be changed with a 301 redirect and a strong reason.
- Two or more pages are not competing for the same phrase (keyword cannibalization). Check in Google Search Console whether different URLs are being shown for the same phrase.
- Money pages, meaning your services and main categories, receive internal links from related articles with descriptive anchor text, not "click here".
- Images have descriptive alt text and meaningful file names.
- Breadcrumbs are present on deeper pages.
Tips for Arabic-language websites
- Arabic letter variants are consistent across content, titles and URLs (for example ي and ى, or ة and ه). Content copied from different sources often brings mixed letter forms with it, and this also breaks the site's internal search.
- The page's lang and dir attributes are set correctly (ar and rtl).
3. Content checklist: which pages should you update, merge or remove?
On a website that has been live for a while, the main issue is usually not a lack of content; it is worn-out, duplicate and aimless content that drags down the credibility of the whole site.
- The search intent of each important page matches its format; for a phrase whose results are comparisons and guides, a bare sales page has little chance.
- Pages that have had almost no impressions in Google Search Console over the past year have been identified and dealt with.
- Time-sensitive information, such as prices, regulations and screenshots, is up to date, and the year in the title matches the content.
- Product descriptions are not copied from the manufacturer's website or from competitors.
- The author of expert content is identified, and the "About us" and "Contact" pages have real, verifiable information; these are signals of experience and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
- Real customer questions, coming from support and sales, are answered in the content of the relevant pages.
- Topics that competitors rank for and you have no page for have been listed.
What to do with weak pages
| Page status | Recommended action |
|---|---|
| Important topic, outdated or incomplete content | Rewrite and update at the same URL |
| Several short pages on the same topic | Merge into one complete page and 301-redirect the rest to it |
| A page users need but that has no search value | Keep it with noindex |
| A worthless page with no traffic and no backlinks | Remove it (404 or 410 response) and take it out of the sitemap |
| A removed page that has backlinks or traffic | 301-redirect it to the closest related page |
4. Link building and off-site authority checklist
- Check the Links report in Google Search Console: which sites link to you, and to which pages.
- Backlinks pointing to 404 pages are recovered with a 301 redirect to a relevant page; this is one of the easiest wins in link building.
- The pattern of inbound links is natural; a large volume of links from unrelated sites, or repetitive exact-match anchor text, is a warning sign.
- The Disavow tool is only used if you have received a manual action or know that a large number of artificial links, for example bought ones, point to your site; according to Google itself, most sites don't need it.
- Places that mention your brand name without linking have been identified so you can ask for a link.
- For local businesses, the Google Business Profile is complete, and the name, address and phone number are the same across all profiles (full guide: local SEO).
- Past sponsored articles and paid links have been listed so their quality and topical relevance can be reviewed.
5. Measurement and reporting checklist
Without proper measurement, no part of this audit can be evaluated.
- Google Search Console is verified as a Domain property so that all versions and subdomains are covered.
- The analytics code is installed only once on every page; a duplicate installation shows doubled figures.
- Real conversions are defined: form submissions, purchases, clicks on the phone number or starting a chat.
- Internal visits by your own team are excluded from the figures.
- Major site changes, such as a migration, a theme change or removing pages, are recorded with dates in a document so that swings in the figures can be explained.
- The monthly report does not focus on rankings alone; it also shows organic clicks, impressions, click-through rate and conversions, and compares each period with the same period last year so that seasonal effects are visible.
Prioritization table: where should you start?
After an audit, you will usually have dozens of open items. Sort them by likely impact and effort. The table below is a general starting point; the real priority depends on the state of your own website.
| Item | Likely impact | Effort | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Important pages not indexed, or a wrong noindex | Very high | Low | Urgent |
| Wrong robots.txt or canonical | Very high | Low | Urgent |
| Multiple domain versions without redirects | High | Low | Urgent |
| Incorrect analytics setup or no conversions defined | High (for decision-making) | Low | Urgent |
| Duplicate titles on money pages | High | Low | High |
| Backlinks pointing to 404 pages | Medium to high | Low | High |
| Keyword cannibalization | High | Medium | High |
| Poor Core Web Vitals | Medium to high | Medium to high | Medium |
| Pruning and merging weak content | Medium to high | Medium | Medium |
| Implementing schema | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Making Arabic letter variants consistent | Low to medium | Low | Low |
A simple rule: first, anything that stops important pages from being seen; then anything that has a big effect at low cost; and last, heavy projects such as rebuilding the theme. If you don't have an in-house team to handle the urgent and high-priority items, you can hand them over to our SEO services.
How often should you repeat this checklist?
- Every week: a quick look at Google Search Console for new errors, a sudden drop in clicks or security messages.
- Every month: the measurement and reporting section, plus a review of newly published pages.
- Every three months: a full audit of all sections with a fresh crawl.
- Before and after every major change: a redesign, a theme change, a domain migration or a change in URL structure. These are the riskiest moments for SEO and should also be checked on a staging version before going live.
Frequently asked questions
How is this checklist different from an SEO getting-started guide?
A getting-started guide explains what parts SEO is made of and where to take the first step. This checklist is for auditing a website that has been live for a while, when you want to find its specific problems and prioritize them. If you are not yet familiar with the concepts, start with the introductory guide.
Can I run this checklist without technical knowledge?
Much of it, yes; the content and measurement sections and many of the on-page items only need care and time. Technical items such as canonicals, redirects and speed may need a developer's help. It is better not to learn about mistakes in these areas by trial and error on the live site.
After fixing the items, when will we see results?
There is no fixed timeline. Fixing indexing errors may show an effect once the pages are recrawled, but improvements in content and off-site authority usually take months. No checklist guarantees a specific ranking; what you can control is removing obstacles and improving the quality of your pages.
Which tools should we use for the audit?
Google Search Console is the most important source, and it is free, because it shows Google's own data. Alongside it, a crawler, an analytics tool and PageSpeed Insights are enough for most websites. Paid SEO tools mainly help with competitor and backlink analysis.
Should we do the audit ourselves or hand it to a specialist?
If the site is small and you have enough time, working through this list on your own gives you a good picture. For large websites, online stores, or when you see a sudden drop in traffic, a professional audit usually gets to the root of the problem faster. Our SEO consulting service is designed for exactly these situations.
An SEO audit isn't something you do once and finish; a website that is checked regularly gets fewer surprises. If you want this checklist run on your website with a full crawl, prioritization and an action plan, MyTarh SEO services start with exactly this audit, and the first consultation is free.