Technical SEO Audit Checklist for Small Businesses
A simple technical SEO checklist for business owners: HTTPS, sitemap, robots.txt, broken links, canonicals, titles, headings, alt text, thin content and speed.
You can write great content, but if search engines struggle to read your website, that content may never get the attention it deserves. A technical SEO audit finds the hidden problems that hold a website back. You do not need to be a developer to understand the basics, and this checklist covers what to look at first.
1. Security: HTTPS
Every page should load over https://. Also check that the http:// and non-www versions redirect to one single address. Otherwise, search engines may treat them as separate copies of your site.
2. Crawling: robots.txt and sitemap
- robots.txt tells search engines what they may crawl. Make sure it is not blocking important pages by accident
- sitemap.xml lists the pages you want found. Keep it up to date and submit it in Google Search Console
3. Indexing: can Google show your pages?
A stray noindex tag can remove a page from search results. This often happens when a site moves from staging to live. Check your key pages in Google Search Console to confirm that they are indexed.
4. Broken links and redirects
Links that lead to a 404 error frustrate visitors and waste the attention of search engines. Fix them or redirect them to the best matching page. Also avoid long redirect chains, where one address redirects to another and then another.
5. Canonical tags
If similar content is available at several addresses, a canonical tag tells search engines which version is the main one. Check that each page's canonical points to the correct address.
6. Titles and meta descriptions
Every important page needs its own title and description. Titles of about 50 to 60 characters and descriptions of about 140 to 160 characters usually display well. Duplicate or missing ones are among the most common and easiest problems to fix.
7. Headings
Use one clear H1 that says what the page is about, with H2 and H3 headings for sections. Headings help both readers and search engines follow the page.
8. Image alt text
Describe meaningful images in their alt text. It helps people who use screen readers, and it helps search engines understand your images. Purely decorative images can keep an empty alt.
9. Thin content
Pages with only a few lines rarely satisfy a visitor. Expand your important pages with useful detail, and combine or remove weak pages that add nothing.
10. Speed and mobile
Most visitors arrive on a phone. Compress large images, remove what you do not need and test your pages with Google's PageSpeed Insights.
Fix in the right order
Not every issue matters equally. Start with anything that stops pages being crawled or indexed, then broken pages, then titles and content, and finally the smaller improvements. After each fix, check again to make sure it worked.
Do it faster with MarketOrbit
MarketOrbit, our AI SEO and AEO platform, crawls your website safely and checks all of these points, then gives you a health score from 0 to 100 and a prioritised list of issues. Its Action Center explains each fix in plain steps and re-checks the affected pages after you change them. The Free plan covers one website. If you would rather have experts handle the work, see our SEO services.