SEO Checklist for your next Audit (and their whys)

Each website evaluation uses SEO techniques that change depending on the platform. But you can never miss keyword analysis, competitor analysis, site health, etc. So, what should we always include in an audit? That’s why we created this SEO Checklist.

We will not focus on analyzing what an SEO Audit is (we already did that in another article of this blog). Instead, we will review general points that should be included in an SEO Checklist.

1. Technical SEO

Here, we find everything related to a site’s technical and mechanical performance, such as security protocols, speed, indexing, etc.

Here, we should always include.

• Crawlability & Indexability. Ensure your site is accessible to search engines (check robots.txt, XML sitemap, and canonical tags).
• Site Speed & Core Web Vitals. Page load time affects rankings and user experience (check LCP, FID, CLS).
• HTTPS Security. Secure sites rank better and build trust (SSL certificate required).
• Structured Data (Schema Markup). It helps search engines understand your content and

2. On-Page SEO

Here, we find all the content optimizations. The content is the visible part of the website, both for users and search engines.

Pay attention to the following points in your following SEO checklist:

• Title Tags & Meta Descriptions. Optimize for keywords and click-through rates (CTR).
• Header Tags (H1, H2, etc.). Improve readability and keyword targeting.
• Keyword Optimization. Ensure relevant keywords are naturally placed in the content.
• Internal Linking. It will help us distribute link equity and improve user navigation.
• URL Structure. Keep URLs short, descriptive, and keyword-rich.

3. Off-Page SEO & Backlinks

This is the counterpart of the previous point. Here, we do internal SEO optimizations. We work with the backend and more technical aspects related to search engines and algorithms.

Include in your SEO checklist the following:

• Backlink Profile Audit. Identify toxic links and disavow them if necessary.
• Authority Building. Focus on high-quality, relevant backlinks for credibility.
• Brand Mentions. Track and leverage unlinked brand mentions for SEO gains.

4. User Experience (UX) & Engagement

User experience is indispensable in an SEO checklist. We have to check how users respond to certain types of content (and their optimizations). The idea is that we can improve the site as much as possible so that users feel comfortable using our portal.

To do so, we recommend the following:

• Mobile-Friendliness. Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing, so test responsiveness.
• Bounce Rate & Dwell Time. Improve content engagement to retain users longer.
• Navigation & UX Design. Avoid distractions! Ensure that your SEO is seamless, and it offers an intuitive experience.
• Call-to-Actions (CTAs). Encourage conversions through clear CTAs.

5. Content Quality & Strategy 

By “content quality,” we do not mean improving content. Instead, we suggest implementing strategies and suggestions. The idea is that you also offer suggestions for putting together an SEO plan and a more technical analysis.

For this, on your SEO checklist, you should never forget:

• Content Relevance & Freshness. Regularly update and improve content for relevance.
• E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). A new concept in Marketing. Please keep in mind that your content must be credible and well-researched. That helps in your long-term SEO.
• Thin & Duplicate Content. Remove or consolidate low-value pages to avoid penalties.
• Multimedia Optimization. Use alt text and compress images for better rankings.

Do we follow this SEO Checklist at RPB Marketing?

It depends entirely on the project whether we can use this SEO Checklist (or not). Some projects demand these insights; others require more.

We normally follow it when we do an SEO Marketing analysis. When we move on to other strategies, such as Market Research, we delve into topics such as competition research, market strategies, and sales efficiency techniques.

What we propose with this SEO checklist is to have a step-by-step guide of everything that, minimally, you should always find in an SEO analysis.