Free template

SEO audit template: the checklist behind our audits

37 checks in five parts, each with what to look at, how to look and how to judge it.

• Free
• Google Sheet
• Last updated 22 October 2026

Made by Dimitar Srbinoski, founder. Checked by Dimitar Srbinoski, founder.

The SEO audit template, in full

• Technical
• On-page
• Content
• Links
• AI search

Technical

Can search engines reach, read and index the pages that matter? Start here: these problems block everything else.

Technical: 11 checks. Mark each one Pass, Check or Fix, with the date you looked.

Check	What to look at	How to look	How to judge
Indexing	Which of your important pages Google has indexed, and why others are not.	Search Console, Pages (the Page indexing report).	Pass: the pages you want found are indexed. Fix: an important page sits under “Why pages aren’t indexed”.
robots.txt	The rules at yoursite.com/robots.txt.	Open the file in a browser.	Pass: nothing you want found is blocked. Check: a whole folder is blocked. robots.txt does not keep a page out of Google; that takes noindex.
noindex	Pages that tell search engines not to index them.	The page source (search for “noindex”), or a crawler.	Pass: only pages you mean to hide carry noindex. Fix: noindex on a page you want found.
Canonical tags	Which address each page names as its main version.	The page source: the rel=”canonical” link.	Pass: each page names itself, or the one right version. Fix: canonicals that point to another page or a broken address.
XML sitemap	A sitemap that lists the pages you want indexed.	Open /sitemap.xml, then Search Console, Sitemaps.	Pass: submitted, and it lists live pages only. Check: redirects, missing pages or noindex pages in it.
Redirects	Chains, loops and old addresses.	A crawler’s redirect report.	Pass: every old address reaches its new page in one hop. Fix: chains of two hops or more, and loops.
Broken internal links	Links on your site that lead to pages that no longer exist.	A crawler, and Search Console’s Not found (404) list.	Pass: no internal link ends on a 404. Fix: menus or body links to missing pages.
HTTPS	Every page on https.	Visit the http:// version of a few pages.	Pass: http always redirects to https. Fix: pages that load on http.
Speed (Core Web Vitals)	LCP, INP and CLS for your key page types.	Search Console, Core Web Vitals, and PageSpeed Insights.	Pass: Google’s “good” thresholds at the 75th percentile of page loads: LCP 2.5 s or less, INP 200 ms or less, CLS 0.1 or less. Check: anything above.
Phones	Your key page types on a phone.	Open them on a phone, not only in a desktop browser.	Pass: no sideways scroll, readable text, buttons easy to tap. Fix: content cut off or hard to tap.
Site structure	How far important pages sit from the homepage.	A crawler’s click depth and inlinks.	Pass: pages that sell are a few clicks from home and linked from related pages. Check: pages no other page links to.

On-page

Does each page say clearly what it offers, to people and to search engines?

On-page: 8 checks. Mark each one Pass, Check or Fix, with the date you looked.

Check	What to look at	How to look	How to judge
Titles	Each page’s title tag.	A crawler export, or our meta title and description checker for one page.	Pass: unique, says what the page offers, 59 characters or fewer (the limit we use on our own pages). Check: duplicates and titles that get cut.
Meta descriptions	Each page’s meta description.	A crawler export, or the same checker.	Pass: unique, 154 characters or fewer (our own limit). Check: missing or copied descriptions.
One H1	The main heading of each page.	The page source, or a crawler.	Pass: one H1 that names the page’s topic. Fix: no H1, or several.
Headings	The H2 and H3 outline.	Read the outline on its own.	Pass: the H2s follow the questions buyers ask, in order. Check: headings used only for their look.
Images	Alt text and file sizes.	A crawler, or the page source.	Pass: images that carry meaning have alt text that describes them. Check: missing alt text, very large files.
Internal links	Links between related pages, and their anchor text.	A crawler’s inlinks per page.	Pass: anchors that name the topic of the page they lead to. Check: “click here” anchors, pages that sell with few links.
Duplicate or thin pages	Pages with the same content, or very little of it.	A crawler’s near-duplicate report.	Pass: every page has its own job. Fix: copies that compete for one search.
Structured data	Schema markup on key pages.	Google’s Rich Results Test.	Pass: valid, and it describes only what the page shows. Fix: errors, or markup for things that are not on the page.

Content

Which pages to improve, which to merge and which are still missing?

Content: 6 checks. Mark each one Pass, Check or Fix, with the date you looked.

Check	What to look at	How to look	How to judge
Pages close to winning	Pages with impressions but few clicks.	Search Console, Performance: queries per page and average position.	Pass: you know which pages to improve first. Check: pages just off the first page for buyer searches.
Competing pages	Two of your pages showing for the same search.	Search Console: filter one query and see which pages appear.	Pass: one page per search. Fix: two pages that keep swapping places.
Content gaps	Searches your buyers make that no page of yours answers.	Keyword research, held against your list of pages.	Pass: each buyer question has one page that owns it. Check: each gap goes into the plan as a page to write.
Freshness	Dates, prices and facts on your top pages.	Read the pages that bring the most visits.	Pass: facts are dated and current. Fix: old prices, dead links, claims that are out of date.
Answer first	The opening of each page that sells.	Read the first 60 words.	Pass: it says what it is, who it is for and the next step. Check: a long intro before the answer.
Sources	Numbers and claims on your pages.	Read them as a sceptical buyer would.	Pass: every number shows its source and its date. Fix: numbers with no source.

Links

Who points to you, and do your own pages point to the pages that sell?

Links: 5 checks. Mark each one Pass, Check or Fix, with the date you looked.

Check	What to look at	How to look	How to judge
Who links to you	The sites that link to yours.	Search Console, Links.	Pass: real sites in your field. Check: few or no links to your key pages.
Unnatural patterns	Links you did not earn.	The Links report, or your link tool.	Pass: nothing you would mind a person seeing. Check: patterns from paid link networks. Ask someone experienced before you disavow anything.
Broken backlinks	Links from other sites that land on pages you removed.	Your link tool’s list of linked pages, held against your 404s.	Pass: removed pages redirect to their closest live page. Fix: good links landing on a 404.
Links to pages that sell	How your own pages link to them.	A crawler’s inlinks.	Pass: each one is linked from related pages. Check: linked only from the menu.
Link gap	Sites that link to competitors and not to you.	A link tool’s competitor comparison.	Pass: you know which sites are worth earning a link from. Check: list them for outreach.

AI search

Can AI search tools reach your pages, and do they find clear, sourced answers there? Mostly the same work as good SEO, done properly.

AI search: 7 checks. Mark each one Pass, Check or Fix, with the date you looked.

Check	What to look at	How to look	How to judge
Crawler access	robots.txt rules for search crawlers and AI search crawlers.	Open /robots.txt and look for user agents such as Googlebot, Bingbot and OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI’s search crawler).	Pass: the search crawlers you want can reach your pages. Check: a rule that blocks one. Blocking training crawlers is a business choice.
Indexed, with a snippet	Your key pages in Google.	The Page indexing report, and the page source for nosnippet.	Pass: indexed and allowed a snippet, which Google says its AI features need. Fix: noindex or nosnippet on a key page.
Clear facts about you	Your name, what you do, where you work and your prices.	Read your About, contact and pricing pages side by side.	Pass: the same name and description everywhere. Check: different names or descriptions on different pages.
Answer-first pages	Pages that answer the questions buyers ask.	Read the first lines of each one.	Pass: each answers its question at the top. Check: the answer is buried.
Sources and dates	The claims on your pages.	Read them.	Pass: numbers carry their source and date. Fix: claims with no date.
Profiles and reviews	Your listings on sites you do not control.	Search for your brand name.	Pass: real profiles with the same facts as your site. Check: missing or out-of-date profiles.
A dated baseline	What AI tools answer today when your buyers ask.	Ask the questions your buyers ask, in the AI tools they use, and save the answers with the date.	Pass: a dated baseline to compare every later check against. Check: nothing saved yet.

Version 1, 22 October 2026. First version.

Want the full picture? The deep audit adds competitors, an AI visibility baseline and a 90-day plan.

A worked example

How to use the SEO audit template

1. Make a copy, or work from this page. Write today’s date at the top.
2. Start with the technical part. Its problems block everything else.
3. Work through each check and mark it Pass, Check or Fix.
4. Write down what you saw for every Fix: the address, a screenshot, the date.
5. Rank the fixes by what they should move and the work each one takes.
6. Put the top fixes into a plan by month, quickest wins first.
7. Run the checklist again after the fixes, and compare against your dated notes.

On timing, plainly: technical fixes can show within weeks, content usually takes three to six months to really move.

Mistakes to avoid

• Trusting a single score. An automatic score mixes small and large problems. Judge each check on its own.
• Fixing everything at once. Start with what blocks indexing, then the pages closest to winning.
• Checking only the homepage. Most problems sit in templates: product, category, article.
• Skipping the dates. Without a dated note, you cannot tell later what changed.

Related templates and tools

All free templates and tools

Sources

1. Search Console Help: Page indexing report. Checked 22 October 2026.
2. Google Search Central: Introduction to robots.txt, last updated 10 December 2025. Checked 22 October 2026.
3. Google Search Central: Learn about sitemaps, last updated 10 December 2025. Checked 22 October 2026.
4. web.dev: Web Vitals, last updated 31 October 2024. Checked 22 October 2026.
5. Google Search Central: AI features and your website, last updated 10 December 2025. Checked 22 October 2026.
6. OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers. Checked 22 October 2026.

SEO audit template: questions

Written by Dimitar Srbinoski, founder. AI helped with the outline and the first draft. Checked by Dimitar Srbinoski, founder. Published 22 October 2026. Last checked 22 October 2026.