In the search engine optimization trade, it pays to have a checklist when auditing any given website for SEO issues. You can probably find quite a few of them online, or you can build up one of your own based on your unique SEO experiences. The following list was put together in-house at Web.com Search Agency and is presented here as a public service to anyone who needs a good DIY SEO checklist or a set of points to look for when doing an SEO audit. Some of the content in this list contains industry jargon, or would be considered advanced. Also, some of what we look for is open to debate, such as W3C compliance. However, we have often found that it is better to inform a client of an issue which may have some bearing on SEO, user experience, or sales opportunities. In our field, we often find potential competitors (and “SEO Expert” friends of decision makers) doing audits of our clients’ sites, so it pays to show that an issue was noted and addressed even if it is not critical for SEO.
So, without further ado, here is a useful SEO checklist for auditing the average website:
Domain/URL Related:
Domain Name
Does the domain contain the top keyword?
Domain Age
How long has the domain been registered?
Website Age
Archive.org
URL Structure & Parameters
Are there “?” or “&” characters which may make search engines stop reading?
Session IDs
Look for Session IDs in the URL, listings on search engines
Blog on site (not subdomain)
site.com/blog works better than blog.site.com
Find Subdomains
(search site:example.com on Google with no “www”) multiple subdomains may dilute content/link strength
Does site present as http or https?
Mixed secure and non-secure pages create problems, can create duplicate content.
Look For mixed uppercase and lowercase URLs
Use All Lowercase. Mixed case may create duplicate content.
Tag Related:
Titles
Titles should contain top keywords near the beginning
Descriptions
Descriptions should contain keywords, main message in first 150 characters.
Keywords
Keywords tag not essential, but should not be stuffed.
H1, H2, H3 Tags
Are there heading tags? Only 1 H1 tag per page. Should contain topical keywords.
Keyword Blurring in Titles
Is the same keyword being used on multiple titles?
Alt text on images
Alt text should be compact, contain keywords, describe image.
Eliminate spammy tags (including alt tags)
Noscript, Noframes, and other tags should not contain excess content.
Nocache/Nofollow
Remove any nocache/nofollow metatags from site.
No metatags that restrict spider frequency
“Revisit after” tags may slow recaching.
Canonical Tags
Canonical link element prevents duplicate content.
Code Issues:
Known Shopping Cart Issues
Make sure cart is SEO friendly, readable in search engine. Do a search on the cart to find SEO issues.
Table Layout/Nesting
Tables within tables may not present content in a reliable way.
Javascript Usage
Search engines are getting better at reading JS, but it should not replace other link navigation.
Robots.txt
Make sure Robots file is not excluding good content (or all content)
Sitemap.xml (Eliminate priority, update feed)
Eliminate Priority in sitemap and ensure that it is up to date, covers all important pages.
Flash readability
Search engines don’t read Flash well. Don’t embed text in images in Flash.
SEO Friendly URL rewrites
See if shopping cart can rewrite URLs automatically.
Works with multiple browser types
Check major browsers for usability. Problems may indicate spiderability issues, other necessary repairs.
Page speed
Check for loading speed. Low speed may reduce rankings.
No Cloaking
Presenting different results to spiders may cause problems.
CSS
Does the CSS hide text?
Frames
Are there any frames?
W3C Compliance
Check site compliance.
Host Image on own website
Search engine should index images on your own site.
Descriptive filenames for images
Images contribute to SEO, get found in image search.
Internal Linking:
Canonical Links & 301
Does the non-www redirect to the www (or vice versa). Do header check for 301.
Internal Linking
See how pages link internally.
Page Navigation
Ensure that page navigation is spiderable, hierarchical.
Footers
Footer links for sitemap, any page that can’t be otherwise found.
Broken Links
Are all links to live pages on site, and off site? Use broken link checker.
Descriptive Filenames
Do files in directory (page names) describe content.
HTML Sitemap
Is the HTML sitemap organized in hierarchy, contain all major pages?
Breadcrumbs
Is there breadcrumb navigation? Can it be added?
All pages link back to homepage
Homepage should have #1 internal link count.
Alt text on images used as links – serves as anchor
Alt text on logo link, other links, should describe destination page
Absolute URLs in links
Whenever possible use whole URL with domain name.
Same anchor pointing back to homepage
Describe homepage top keyword/brand, don’t just use “home”
Absolute link to homepage domain from interior pages
Homepage link from interior pages goes to domain http://www.example.com with no “index.html” etc.
Outbound Links – Bad Neighborhood, etc.
Do any of the outbound links go to bad neighborhoods?
301 Old Domains (ensure they are 301)
Are old domain names 301 redirected?
Look out for 302 redirects
Ensure 302s not used for SEO friendly redirects.
Look for Reciprocal Links
Dated SEO Tactic. Remove Old Reciprocal Pages.
Look For Cross Linking to Other Sites
Interconnected sites can get penalized.
Content Issues:
Page Freshness
How fresh is page content?
Keyword Theming/Silos
Do the keywords on each page copy other topics?
Page Segmentation
Where is content getting placed on page? Placement in margins/bottom may not give same value.
Content not embedded in images
Search engines can’t read content in images.
Duplicate Content
Does the content match content on other sites or the same site?
Hidden Text – No CSS Tricks
Make sure text is not presented outside the margins of the page.
Similar color of text and background
Make sure text is not hidden in background.
Tiny text
Make sure text is not so tiny a person could not easily read it.
Address & Phone Number
Any site that wants to be found in local results should include local contact info, also use LBC.
Follow Webmaster Guidelines
See Google and Bing Webmaster Guidelines
Make sure blogs are SEO friendly
Host at site.com/blog and avoid deep directory structure
Have basic Privacy Policy
Search Engines/States/Countries look for these
About Us
Opportunity to describe company, common page on trusted websites
Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions may contain relevant keywords not normally used on other parts of site.
Tools To Use:
Spider Emulator
Find Links on page, see if pages are spiderable.
Google Webmaster Tools
Indicates many different opportunites for improvement.
Google Analytics
Shows traffic, bounce rate, rankings improvement.
Google Local Business Center
Allows brick and mortar shops to claim listings, improve local rankings.
Google Shopping
Add products to Google shopping and some SERP Results.
Off Page:
Check anchors
Make sure anchors contain top keywords, are descriptive
Check Link Quantity
Look for low quality links from bad neighborhoods.
Compare competitive Site Backlinks
Check quantity and quality of competitive links.
Varied anchor texts
Too many identical anchors can cause penalties.
No Sitewide links
Look for multiple links from a single site.
Look for nofollow links
If you’re paying for a nofollow link, stop paying.
Link diversity
Look for links from multiple sources of different types, not all from blogs or directories.
Link Age
Use archive.org to see if top links have been around for a long time.
Allinanchor Score in Google
See how Google rates link strength of site.
Look for links to pages that no longer exist (301)
Webmaster tools shows inbound links, may be seen in “not found” section.
Links from trust indicators (BBB, Hackersafe)
Links from trusted sites add value.
Yahoo Directory/Business.com/DMOZ
Is site in human edited directories?
Link Bait
Has any kind of link bait been used in the past?
Are links canonical?
Do links go to www or non-www?
