Khizar Anwar
By Khizar Anwar·12 min read·Updated May 2026

A technical SEO audit is the most leverage-positive thing you can do for any website. Get the foundations right and every other SEO action — content, links, on-page — compounds. Get them wrong and nothing works. This is the exact 47-point checklist I run on every new client as a freelance technical SEO consultant.

TL;DR — Technical SEO Audit Essentials
  • Crawlability and indexation come first — nothing else matters if Google can't access your pages.
  • Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) are real ranking factors. Aim for green on all three.
  • Schema markup is now table stakes for both Google rich results and AI search citations.
  • JavaScript SEO is the #1 hidden issue on modern sites — render-blocked content is invisible to crawlers.

Section 1: Crawlability (Items 1–10)

  1. Robots.txt is correctly configured — blocks /wp-admin/ but not actual content; allows GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot.
  2. XML sitemap is present and valid — submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
  3. Sitemap includes only canonical URLs — no parameter URLs, no redirects, no 404s.
  4. No accidental blocks — check site:yourdomain.com matches expected count.
  5. No infinite crawl traps — faceted navigation, calendar pages, parameter URLs all handled.
  6. Internal linking depth — every important page reachable in 3 clicks from home.
  7. Crawl budget is not wasted — log files reviewed, low-value URLs deindexed.
  8. Hreflang correct for international sites.
  9. No conflicting canonical tags — every page has exactly one self-referencing canonical.
  10. www vs non-www and HTTP vs HTTPS all redirect to a single canonical version.

Section 2: Indexation (Items 11–18)

  1. Google Search Console index coverage report reviewed — no unexpected exclusions.
  2. Important pages indexed — manually verify with site:domain.com/page.
  3. Thin content pages excluded — tag pages, paginated archives, low-value URLs are noindex.
  4. Duplicate content addressed via canonical tags or rel=alternate.
  5. Soft 404 errors fixed — pages should return correct HTTP status codes.
  6. Redirect chains eliminated — all redirects are single hop, 301 not 302 for permanent moves.
  7. Orphan pages identified — every URL has at least one internal link pointing to it.
  8. Broken internal links fixed — Screaming Frog crawl shows zero 4xx internal links.

Need a full technical SEO audit?

I'll run all 47 items on your site and deliver a prioritized action plan within 7 days. Free 20-minute discovery call.

Book a free audit call →

Section 3: Core Web Vitals & Performance (Items 19–28)

  1. LCP < 2.5s on mobile (PageSpeed Insights — field data, not lab).
  2. INP < 200ms on mobile.
  3. CLS < 0.1 on mobile.
  4. Images optimized — WebP format, proper sizing, lazy-loaded below the fold.
  5. Hero image uses fetchpriority="high".
  6. Render-blocking CSS minimized — critical CSS inlined, rest loaded async.
  7. JavaScript bundles split — code-splitting reduces initial payload.
  8. Third-party scripts audited — every script measured for performance impact.
  9. Font loading optimized — preconnect, font-display: swap, woff2 format.
  10. HTTPS + HSTS enabled with no mixed content warnings.

Section 4: On-Page SEO Foundations (Items 29–35)

  1. Unique title tags on every page (50–60 chars, focus keyword early).
  2. Unique meta descriptions (140–160 chars, with a CTA verb).
  3. Single H1 per page, matching primary intent.
  4. Logical H2/H3 hierarchy — never skip levels.
  5. Image alt text on every image; descriptive filenames (no IMG_4582.jpg).
  6. Internal anchor text uses descriptive language, not "click here".
  7. URL structure is clean — short, descriptive, no parameters in canonical URLs.

Section 5: Structured Data (Items 36–42)

  1. Article schema on every blog post.
  2. Person + Organization schema on Home/Footer with sameAs links.
  3. Service schema on each service page.
  4. FAQPage schema wherever there's a Q&A section.
  5. BreadcrumbList schema on all interior pages.
  6. HowTo schema for tutorial content.
  7. All schema validates at validator.schema.org and Google's Rich Results Test.

Section 6: JavaScript & Modern Frameworks (Items 43–47)

  1. Critical content rendered server-side — not dependent on JS execution.
  2. Lazy-loaded content not delayed beyond viewport — Google's WRS may not trigger interactions.
  3. Internal links use real <a href> tags — not onClick handlers.
  4. Soft 404s in SPAs handled — proper 404 status returned for missing routes.
  5. JavaScript-rendered schema validates after rendering — verify with Google's Rich Results Test (Live URL mode).

How to Use This Checklist

Don't try to fix all 47 items at once. Prioritize by impact:

  1. Week 1: Items 1–10 (crawlability) and 19–22 (Core Web Vitals).
  2. Week 2: Items 11–18 (indexation) and 36–42 (schema).
  3. Week 3: Items 23–28 (performance) and 29–35 (on-page).
  4. Week 4: Items 43–47 (JavaScript) plus monitoring setup.

Document everything in a spreadsheet — what was found, what was fixed, who fixed it, and the date. This becomes a living asset that pays off across every future audit.

Khizar Anwar
Khizar AnwarTechnical SEO Consultant · 6+ years · Lahore, Pakistan