Complete SEO audit: the 12-point checklist for a small business site

A SEO audit is a structured picture of your site as Google sees it: what is stopping it being crawled, indexed, understood and recommended. Done well, it replaces hunches ("we need more content") with a list of actions ranked by impact. It is the starting point of any organic searchstrategy, and the document you should demand before signing with an SEO supplier.

This article gives you the checklist we use at GreenRed, in 12 points across four parts, each with the free tool for checking it.

When should you run an SEO audit?

• Before a redesign or a migration : so you don't lose the traffic you've built (redirects, URLs, deleted content).
• After a fall in traffic visible in Google Analytics or Search Console, especially if it coincides with an algorithm update.
• At the start of work with an agency or a freelancer: the audit sets the baseline and the objectives.
• Once a year as a routine, even with no apparent problem: pages accumulate, links break, competitors move.

Part 1: the technical audit (points 1 to 4)

Google must be able to go through your site quickly and without errors. Four checks are enough to detect 80% of the technical problems on a small business site.

1. Crawling and indexing

Open the "Pages" report in Google Search Console. Compare the number of indexed pages with the number of pages you consider useful. Two warning signs: important pages showing "Crawled, currently not indexed" (Google judges them to have no value) and junk pages indexed (filters, parameters, test pages). Also check the robots.txt file and the noindex.

2. Crawl errors and redirects

A crawler such as Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) lists the HTTP status codes : 404 errors, chains of 301 redirects, loops. Alert threshold: more than 2% of URLs in error, or internal links pointing to redirects.

3. Speed and Core Web Vitals

PageSpeed Insights measures the three Core Web Vitals: LCP (the main content appearing, target under 2.5 s), INP (responsiveness, under 200 ms) and CLS (visual stability, under 0.1). Concentrate on the field data (the "Discover what your real users are experiencing" section) rather than the lab score. A tool such as Pingdom Tools completes the diagnosis on page weight.

4. Mobile, HTTPS and structured data

The site must be fully usable on mobile (Google indexes the mobile version), served over HTTPS with no mixed content, and carry valid Schema.org structured data (Organization, Article, FAQ, LocalBusiness). Test it with Google's rich results test.

Part 2: the content audit (points 5 to 8)

5. Search intent and keywords

For each strategic page, check it targets a specific keyword and that this keyword matches a clear intent (to learn, to compare, to buy). The Search Console Performance report shows the queries you already appear on: positions 5 to 20 are your quickest wins.

6. Title tags, meta descriptions and headings

A title tag a unique one of 50 to 60 characters, a written meta description of 120 to 155 characters, a single H1 and H2s that structure the argument. Screaming Frog exports missing, duplicate or over-long titles in one click.

7. Duplicate content and thin pages

The aim of duplicate content (internal or copied from a supplier) and pages under 300 words with no added value dilute your site. Merge them, enrich them, or set them to noindex.

8. Internal linking

Every important page should receive links from other pages on the site, with descriptive anchors. Orphan pages (no inbound link) and pages more than three clicks from the home page rarely rank well. The logic of semantic cocoon helps organise that linking.

Part 3: popularity (points 9 and 10)

9. The backlink profile

Count your referring domains, their quality and the diversity of your anchors. A healthy profile grows steadily, with no artificial spike. Our guide how to audit the links to your site sets out the method, and analysing competitors' backlinks gives you targets.

10. Toxic links and penalties

Check in Search Console that there is no manual action. Spot links from spam or off-topic sites; a disavowal is only needed in blatant cases.

Part 4: local and AI visibility (points 11 and 12)

11. Local presence

If you have a physical location or a service area, check your Google Business Profile listing (categories, hours, photos, reviews, posts) and the consistency of your details across the web. The detail is in the local search audit.

12. Citation by AI (GEO)

Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini about your products, your sector and your brand: are you cited, and with what information? This part, still rare in classic audits, is becoming essential. See how to audit your visibility in AI engines.

The summary checklist

Prioritising: the impact / effort matrix

An audit easily produces 50 to 100 recommendations. They aren't all equal. Rank each action on two axes: the expected impact on traffic or conversions, and the effort (time, budget, dependence on a supplier). Deal first with the high-impact, low-effort actions: fixing the titles of your 10 most visited pages, repairing the 404 errors that receive backlinks, setting junk pages to noindex. The heavy workstreams (a redesign, a migration) come next, with a schedule.

How much does an SEO audit cost?

These ranges match the quotes we see; they vary with the size of the site and the depth requested. To judge value for money, read how to measure your SEO agency's results.