SEO audit: the complete 2026 checklist (technical, content, popularity, local and GEO)
An SEO audit is not a list of errors generated by a tool. It is a diagnosis that connects the state of the website to its business goals and leads to an action plan ranked by impact. This checklist covers, in the order we handle them, the points we verify during a complete audit: crawling and indexing, performance, content, popularity, local SEO, visibility in AI engines and, for online stores, catalogue specifics. It can be used to audit your own website, to read an audit received from a provider, or to understand what ours contains. Updated September 2026.
Before starting: goals, access and tools
An audit without a goal produces a list without priorities. Before opening a tool, write down what the website must achieve: quote requests, online sales, job applications, local awareness. List the five to ten queries that really matter. Then gather access: Google Search Console (the source of truth for indexing and real queries), Google Analytics 4, Bing Webmaster Tools, the Google Business Profile if the business is local. On the tool side, a crawler (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb), a keyword and backlink tool (Semrush, Ahrefs), PageSpeed Insights and Google's structured data validator are enough. For a standard-sized site, allow one to two days for a serious audit.
Area 1: technical, crawling and indexing
The technical area answers one question: can Google find, read, understand and rank every important page? Technical blockers are invisible in the browser and often weigh more than everything else.
Crawling and indexing
Check the robots.txt file (nothing important blocked), the XML sitemap (only indexable URLs, returning 200, with real modification dates), canonical tags (no contradictions between pages), noindex tags (intentional only), orphan pages (no internal links) and the Search Console indexing report: excluded pages, "crawled, not indexed", duplicates. On a site with more than a few thousand URLs, examine crawl budget: filters, pagination and parameters that generate useless pages.
Response codes and redirects
List 404 errors (especially those receiving links or traffic), 5xx server errors, redirect chains (A to B to C) and 302 redirects that should be 301. Check that www, non-www, http and https variants all redirect to a single version, and that trailing-slash URLs do not create duplicates.
Performance and Core Web Vitals
Measure LCP (main content display, target under 2.5 s), INP (interaction responsiveness, under 200 ms) and CLS (visual stability, under 0.1) on real data from the Chrome User Experience Report, not only in the lab. Common causes: unsized or uncompressed images, blocking fonts, third-party scripts, unused CSS, no caching. Our guide optimising your Shopify website performance details the method for a store.
Mobile, security and structure
The website must be fully usable on mobile (Google indexes the mobile version). HTTPS everywhere, with no mixed content. Readable, short URLs without useless parameters. Correct hreflang tags if the site is multilingual, with reciprocity between versions. A breadcrumb and a reasonable click depth: every important page within three clicks of the homepage.
Area 2: content and semantics
The content area checks that each important page targets a precise search intent, answers it better than the competition, and that the site as a whole does not compete with itself.
Targeting and cannibalisation
Match each key page with a main query and its variants. In Search Console, spot queries for which several pages rank alternately: that is cannibalisation, to be solved by merging or differentiating. Also identify high-impression queries without a dedicated page: these are your content opportunities.
Tags and structure
Unique title tags, 50 to 60 characters, with the main query at the start. Unique, compelling meta descriptions. One H1 per page, a logical H2 and H3 hierarchy that reflects user questions. Alt text on images. These are basics, yet one in two sites we audit has duplicate titles or missing H1s.
Quality, depth and freshness
Thin pages (under 300 words with no added value), content duplicated internally or copied from elsewhere, outdated text (prices, years, discontinued tools): each case is handled by enrichment, merging, updating or removal with a redirect. Check that content displays an update date and an identified author: these reliability signals count for Google as for AI engines.
Internal linking
Every important page must receive links from other pages of the site, with descriptive anchors. Spot strategic pages with few links, links to redirected or broken pages, overloaded menus. Internal linking is the most under-used lever: it costs nothing and directs authority straight to the pages that generate revenue.
Area 3: popularity and backlinks
The inbound link profile measures the trust the web places in the site. The audit checks its size, quality and risks.
Link profile
Number of referring domains, distribution by authority, share of dofollow links, most-linked pages, acquisition velocity. Compare with three to five direct competitors: the authority gap often explains a ranking ceiling that content alone will not break through.
Anchors and toxic links
A majority of brand and bare-URL anchors is normal; a high proportion of exact-match anchors on commercial keywords is an over-optimisation signal. Spot links from spam sites, artificial networks or off-topic pages, and prepare a disavow file only if the volume justifies it.
Opportunities
List the links your competitors have and you do not (trade directories, local media, partners, suppliers), unlinked brand mentions, and the pages of your site that deserve links (guides, comparisons, tools). These findings feed a measured link building strategy.
Area 4: local SEO and AI engines
Two recent areas in audits, but now essential for a business serving a geographic area or wanting to be recommended by assistants.
Local
Complete Google Business Profile (categories, services, hours, photos, posts), reviews and replies to reviews, consistency of name, address and phone across the website, the listing and directories, local pages on the site with genuinely differentiated content per city, LocalBusiness structured data. Our article on local SEO in Marseille illustrates these criteria on a competitive market.
Visibility in AI engines (GEO)
AI crawlers allowed in robots.txt and not blocked by the CDN, llms.txt file, content served in HTML, direct answers under headings, FAQs with self-contained answers, valid structured data, identified author. Test around ten customer questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode to see whether the site is cited. Our guide GEO: optimising your website for AI engines details each point.
Specifics of an e-commerce SEO audit
An online store accumulates risks specific to its catalogue. Faceted filters and sorting generate thousands of URLs with identical content: check they are canonicalised or excluded from indexing. Out-of-stock or removed products must keep their page (with alternatives) or redirect to the category, never return 404 in bulk. Variants (sizes, colours) must not create competing pages. Category pages, which carry most of the traffic, need their own content and links to subcategories. Product structured data (price, availability, reviews) must be valid to obtain rich results. On Shopify, check duplicated collection URLs (/collections/x/products/y and /products/y); on WooCommerce, tag pages, attribute pages and sort parameters. Finally, compare revenue by landing page with traffic: the pages that earn deserve priority in the action plan.
Prioritise and deliver: from list to action plan
An audit easily produces two hundred findings. Its value lies in the hierarchy. Rank each finding on two axes: expected impact on traffic or conversions, and effort to fix. Handle first the indexing blockers and errors affecting revenue pages (high impact, low effort), then the structuring projects (architecture, content, link building), and postpone cosmetic details. Formalise a 30, 60 and 90-day plan with an owner per action, and plan a measurement: positions, impressions and clicks in Search Console, conversions in GA4. This is the format of our complete SEO audit, delivered with a video call readout, and of the SEO competitor analysis that complements it when the market is contested.
Key takeaways
- Set goals and key queries before opening a tool
- The technical area checks that Google finds, reads and ranks every important page
- Content must target one intent per page, without cannibalisation, with date and author
- The backlink profile often explains the ranking ceiling
- Local and GEO are now full areas of the audit
- The audit's value lies in impact / effort prioritisation and the 30, 60, 90-day plan
Checklist
- Goals and 5 to 10 priority queries defined
- Access to Search Console, GA4, Bing Webmaster Tools, Google listing
- robots.txt, XML sitemap, canonical, noindex checked
- Search Console indexing report analysed (excluded, duplicates)
- 404, 5xx, redirect chains, www / https variants handled
- Core Web Vitals on real data: LCP, INP, CLS
- Complete mobile version, HTTPS without mixed content, hreflang
- Unique titles and meta descriptions, one H1 per page
- Cannibalisation identified and resolved
- Thin, duplicate or outdated pages handled
- Internal linking to strategic pages
- Backlink profile, anchors, toxic links, competitor gap
- Complete Google Business Profile and NAP consistency
- AI crawlers allowed, llms.txt, citable content, valid structured data
- E-commerce: facets, out-of-stock, variants, Product schema
- Prioritised 30, 60, 90-day action plan with tracking indicators
Pitfalls to avoid
- ✗Trusting a tool's overall score without reading the findings
- ✗Fixing 200 details and ignoring the 3 blockers that matter
- ✗Auditing without Search Console, hence without real queries
- ✗Forgetting local and AI engines in a 2026 audit
- ✗Delivering a list without prioritisation or owner
- ✗Not measuring after fixes
Frequently asked questions
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Complete SEO audit at €290 excl. VAT: technical, content, popularity, local and GEO, with prioritisation and a video call readout.
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