On Page Seo Audit Checklist: 11 Key Steps & Facts [Full DIY]

You've probably heard about SEO audits if you're trying to improve your website's visibility and performance on search engines. If you want to enhance your website's visibility and performance on search engines, you must know SEO audits. But what is an SEO audit, and why does it matter?

An on-page SEO audit checklist typically includes evaluating manual actions, indexability, and security, along with checking organic traffic, keyword optimization, and competitor analysis.
It also involves assessing website structure, design, content quality, loading speed, mobile friendliness, Core Web Vitals, metadata, linking, Google Business Profile, review management, local content, and Google Search Console.

In this blog post, we'll walk you through a checklist for on-page SEO. It doesn't matter if you're a professional or a beginner, this guide will improve your website's SEO and drive more organic traffic.

On Page Seo Audit Checklist: Tools You Need

A search engine-optimized website will help you succeed online. This on-page SEO audit checklist will guide you through the essential steps to improve your site's performance and visibility.

Tools Needed for an SEO Audit

Before starting your audit, gather the right tools. These tools help track, analyze, and optimize various aspects of your website.

Semrush Webmaster Tools (AWT)

Semrush Webmaster Tools is essential for tracking backlinks, monitoring site health, and analyzing keyword rankings.

• Track Backlinks: See which websites link to your pages and evaluate their quality.
• Monitor Site Health: Identify technical issues and get recommendations for fixes.
• Analyze Keyword Rankings: Track how your site ranks for specific keywords over time.

Google Search Console (GSC)

Google Search Console lets you track your site's performance and identify potential issues.

• Performance Monitoring: Track clicks, impressions, and average position in search results.
• Index Coverage: Check which pages are indexed by Google and fix any errors.
• Mobile Usability: Check your site's mobile compatibility and fix any usability issues.
• Security Issues: Identify and resolve security problems on your site.

Google Analytics (Optional)

Google Analytics helps you analyze traffic data and user behavior. While optional, it provides valuable insights.

• Traffic Analysis: Understand where your visitors come from and which pages they visit.
• User Behavior: Track user behavior on your site, including page views and session duration.
• Conversion Tracking: Measure conversions and set up goals to track important actions on your site.

This tool can help you perform an on-page SEO audit to improve your site's performance.

On-Page SEO Audit Checklist: 11 Key Steps

Performing an SEO audit on your website can help you boost your search engine rankings. Here are some essential steps to follow for an effective SEO audit.

Run a Crawl of Your Website

A website crawl is when software scans your site to find SEO problems. Use tools like SemRush or Screaming Frog to crawl your site and gather data.

• How to run a crawl:
• Go to the Site Audit section in SemRush.
• Click on "+ New project" and authorize your account.
• Import data from Google Search Console, then select your site and click "Import" to start the audit.

Once your audit is complete, Semrush will email you the results. This audit can find over 100 issues, but if you're new to SEO, focus on the most critical ones.

Analyze Organic Traffic Drops

It's important to analyze historical traffic data to see if there are any drops in organic traffic. This helps you understand what may be causing these changes.

• Common causes for traffic drops:
• Google algorithm updates: Google updates its search algorithms often, affecting your site's ranking.
• Manual actions: These are penalties Google gives if your site doesn't comply with their guidelines.

To check for traffic drops:

• Use Ahref's Site Explorer to input your URL and look for traffic drops that align with Google updates.
• Double-check in Google Search Console by going to the "Search results" report and setting the date range to the last 12 months. Look for significant drops and check against Google's Search Status dashboard.

Check for manual actions in Google Search Console under the "Manual actions" report if your traffic has dropped to zero. If there are any issues, refer to the Google penalties guide.

Check for Website Duplicates

Duplicate versions of your website can confuse search engines and hurt your SEO. Ensuring your site has a single accessible URL is crucial.

Why Duplicates Matter

If your site is accessible through multiple URLs, it can cause problems:

• Crawling and Indexing Issues: Google may see them as different sites.
• Diluted Link Equity: Link value gets split, affecting rankings.

How to Identify Duplicates

1. List All Possible URLs: Common variations include:
• https://domain.com
• https://www.domain.com
• http://domain.com
• http://www.domain.com
2. Check Redirects Using SemRush SEO Toolbar: Type each URL into your browser and check the HTTP headers.
• Example: Visiting http://Semrush.com should redirect to https://Semrush.com.
• Visiting https://www.Semrush.com should also redirect correctly.
3. Implement Redirects if Necessary: Ensure all variations redirect to the main version.

Find and Diagnose Indexability Issues

Search engines need to index your pages to appear in search results. Identifying and fixing indexability issues is essential.

What Are Indexability Issues

Google's search results are based on its index, a large database of web pages. Pages not in the index won't rank.

Steps to Find Indexability Issues

1. Use Site Audit's Indexability Report: Look for "Noindex page" warnings.
2. Check Meta Robots Tags: Ensure important pages don't have tags that prevent indexing.

Addressing these issues helps ensure your key pages can rank in search results.

Maintain A Mobile-Friendly Website

Mobile-friendliness has been a significant Google ranking factor since 2019. It is vital to check whether your website is mobile-friendly to ensure optimal user experience and maintain good search engine rankings.

How to Test Mobile Usability

• Google Search Console: Use the Mobile Usability report to identify any URLs with errors affecting mobile usability.
• Google's Mobile-Friendly Test Tool: If you lack access to Google Search Console, test any page from your website using this tool.

Tips for Enhancing Mobile-Friendliness

• Use a Mobile-Friendly Layout or Theme: Opt for designs that adapt to different sizes of screens.
• Prioritize Content: Ensure content is easy to read and navigate on mobile devices.
• Compress Images: Reduce image file sizes for faster loading without sacrificing quality.
• Test Across Devices: Regularly test your website on various mobile devices to catch any issues.

Scores for Core Web Vitals

Google uses Core Web Vitals to measure your website's user experience. They focus on three key aspects:

• Loading Performance: How quickly does the main content of your page load?
• Interactivity: How quickly can users interact with your page?
• Visual Stability: Is the content stable as it loads, or does it shift around?

These metrics are critical because Google considers them as ranking factors. As of March 2024, First Input Delay (a measure of interactivity) will be replaced by Interaction to Next Paint.

Core Metrics to Benchmark:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance.
• First Input Delay / Interaction to Next Paint (FID/INP): Measures responsiveness and interactivity.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability.

Tools for Monitoring:

• Google Page Speed Insights: Offers detailed reports on your Core Web Vitals.
• Google Search Console's Core Web Vitals Report: Provides insights into your site's performance.
• SemRush' Site Audit Performance Report: For additional data.

Resolve Broken Pages

Broken pages are detrimental to your site's authority and user experience. When a page with backlinks is broken, the link equity from those backlinks is wasted, negatively impacting your site's SEO.

Steps to Identify and Fix Broken Pages:

1. Use Tools to Identify Broken Links:

1. Google Search Console: Alerts you to errors like 404s.
2. SemRush Site Explorer: You can filter for broken URLs and sort by referring domains.

1. Fix or Redirect Broken Pages:

• Fix the URL: Restore the page if the content is still relevant.
• 301 Redirect: If the content has moved, redirect the old URL to the new one.
• 410 Error: If the content is no longer relevant and there's no replacement, return a 410 "Gone" status.

Make Sure Your Sitemap Is Error-Free

A well-maintained sitemap is crucial for a successful SEO strategy. It guides search engines in indexing your website effectively, improving your search engine rankings.

Why Sitemaps Are Important

Understanding the role of sitemaps can help you see why they are vital for SEO.

• Improves indexing: Helps search engines discover and index new or updated content.
• Prioritizes important pages: Ensures your most valuable pages are indexed.
• Avoids mixed signals: Keeps redirects, non-canonicals, and dead pages out of sight.

How to Check Your Sitemap

Regularly checking your sitemap can prevent errors that might affect your site's performance.

1. Access Google Search Console: Click to the Sitemaps section.
2. Monitor issues: Look for errors or warnings.
3. Validate URL inclusion: Make sure your crucial pages are included.

Action Steps:

You can follow these steps to keep a clean and effective sitemap.

• Regularly review your sitemap for errors.
• Remove any URLs that don't need indexing.
• Submit your updated sitemap to search engines.

Optimize On-Page Elements According to SEO Best Practices

A site's title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags are important to improving a site's SEO. You can use these elements to help search engines understand your content and drive more traffic to your site.

Key On-Page Elements

Each on-page element has a specific role in enhancing your SEO strategy.

• Title Tags: Should include target keywords and be unique for each page.
• Meta Descriptions: Craft compelling descriptions that encourage clicks.
• H1 Tags: Use these to define the main heading of your page.

Common Issues to Look For

You can improve these elements by identifying common problems.

• Missing or Empty Title Tags: Affects how your page is displayed in search results.
• Missing or Empty Meta Descriptions: Can result in lower click-through rates.
• Missing H1 Tags: This may indicate underlying issues with your website's coding or theme.

How to Identify and Fix Issues

Use the right tools and methods to identify and address issues with your on-page elements.

1. Use Site Audit Tools: Tools like Google Search Console can help you find missing or problematic elements.
2. View Affected URLs: Click on specific issues to see which pages are impacted.
3. Prioritize Fixes: Organize the report by estimated organic traffic to focus on high-impact pages first.

Action Steps:

Implement these steps to enhance your on-page SEO elements.

• Add or optimize title tags for all pages.
• Write enticing meta descriptions for high-priority pages.
• Ensure every page has a properly coded H1 tag.

Reclaim Falling Content

Content can lose its rankings as it becomes outdated. This section will show you how to find and update declining content to regain your traffic.

Why Content Declines

Even the best content can drop in rankings over time if it's not updated. For example, our list of top Google searches saw a huge decline in 2021 because we had not updated it for over a year. After refreshing and republishing the post, we saw a big increase in organic traffic.

How to Find Declining Content

Use Google Search Console to identify your content that needs updating. Here's how:

1. Go to the Search Results Report: This is where you see how your pages are performing.
2. Set the Date Filter to Compare Mode: Select "Compare last 6 months to a previous period" to see changes over time.
3. Click the "Pages" Tab: This tab shows individual page performance.
4. Sort the Table by "Clicks Difference" from Low to High: This sorting of your pages based on the change in clicks highlights those that have lost the most traffic.

For example, an article on the top 100 most visited websites has dropped in traffic, making it a good candidate for an update.

Automate the Process

You can automate this process if you use WordPress. These plugins monitor your site for underperforming pages and suggest updates.

Analyze Competitor Keywords

You can find new opportunities by seeing what your competitors rank for that you don't. This section explains how you can find these gaps.

Why Find Competitor Keywords

Your competitors might be ranking for keywords that you haven't targeted yet. Finding these keywords can help you understand what content you must create or improve.

How to Identify Competitor Keywords

You can find these keywords by using Ahref's Content Gap tool. Here's how to do it:

1. Paste Your Domain into Site Explorer: You start your analysis.
2. Go to the Content Gap Report: This report shows you where you have gaps in your keyword targeting.
3. Paste in Your Competitor's Domains: Enter the domains of your main competitors.
4. Hit Show Keywords: This will display all the keywords your competitors rank for, but you don't.

Checklist for On-Page SEO Audits: 11 Major Facts

A well-executed on-page SEO audit can significantly boost your website's visibility and rankings. The following are critical components of an on-page SEO checklist:

Keyword Identification

Begins on-page SEO optimization by identifying target keywords. Keywords make search engines understand your content, which helps potential visitors find you.

Why Keywords Matter

Search engine users type keywords into their search engines. When your content matches these searches, your pages can rank higher in search results.

Steps to Identify Target Keywords

1. Perform Keyword Research: Use tools like Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool to discover relevant keywords. This tool provides data on:
• Intent: Understand whether the searcher wants to buy, learn, or navigate.
• Volume: Look at the average number of monthly searches.
• KD% (Keyword Difficulty): Determine how hard it will be to rank in the top 10.
2. Analyze Search Intent: Ensure the keywords you choose match the intent of the searchers. For instance, if you own a flower shop, targeting "blue flowers" might not be effective if most searchers are looking for information rather than making a purchase.
3. Evaluate Keyword Potential: Balance between high search volume and lower competition. High-difficulty keywords require more effort and resources to rank for.

Example in Action

Suppose you run a flower shop. You discover that "blue flowers" has a high search volume but also high competition, with primarily informational content dominating the SERP. Therefore, it might not be the best keyword if your goal is to drive sales.

Title Tag Optimization

Title tags are crucial for both search engines and users. They tell Google what your page is about and make users want to click.

Importance of Title Tags

The title tag is a key element seen in both search engine results and the browser tab. You should include your primary keyword in it.

Best Practices for Title Tags

1. Include Primary Keywords: Ensure your main keyword appears in the title, ideally at the beginning.
2. Avoid Keyword Stuffing: Do not overuse keywords; it can look spammy and hurt your rankings.
3. Keep It Concise: Aim for a length of 50 to 60 characters. Longer titles may get cut off in search results.

Tools and Tips

• Use SEO Tools: SemRush's On-Page SEO Checker can help you evaluate your title tags for keyword presence and potential spam.
• Monitor Length: Titles that are too long will be truncated by Google, reducing their effectiveness.

H1-tagged Headlines

An H1 tag is used for the main headline of a webpage. Having one H1 tag per page is necessary for good SEO.

Why H1 Tags Matter

• SEO Benefits: H1 tags tell search engines what the page is about.
• User Experience: They provide a clear and concise headline for your visitors.

How to Optimize H1 Tags

• Include Primary Keyword: Make sure your main keyword is in the H1 tag.
• Reflect the Title Tag: The H1 can be similar to your title tag but be more detailed.
• No Character Limit: H1 tags don't have a strict character limit, but they should make sense and be engaging.

Tips for H1 Tags

• Use Tools: Tools like Semrush's On-Page SEO Checker will help you check if your H1 tag contains target keywords and avoid keyword stuffing.

Optimize Meta Descriptions to Increase Clicks

A meta description is a short description of your page that shows up in search engine results pages (SERPs). Writing a good meta description can increase the number of clicks to your site.

Importance of Meta Descriptions

• Not a Ranking Factor: Meta descriptions do not directly affect rankings, but they influence click-through rates.
• Attraction: They help make your page stand out in search results.

How to Write Effective Meta Descriptions

• Explain the Content: Clearly describe what users will find on your page.
• Include Keywords: Use your main keyword in the description, as Google often highlights these in search results.
• Character Limit: Aim for a maximum of 120 characters to prevent truncation in SERPs.

Tips for Meta Descriptions

• Optimization Tools: Use the On-Page SEO Checker by SemRush to ensure your meta descriptions are optimized and not being rewritten by Google.

SEO-Friendly URL Slugs

URL slugs are unique parts of the URL that help describe the page's content. It should be concise, descriptive, and include your primary keyword.

Why It Matters

A well-crafted URL slug can improve your site's ranking and help users understand what the page is about before they click on it.

Best Practices

Follow these tips to create an SEO-friendly URL slug:

• Use Primary Keywords: Consider using your page's primary keyword as the URL slug.
• Hyphenated Words: Separate words using a hyphen (“-”) for better readability.
• Avoid Dates: Exclude years or dates that might change over time (e.g., instead of "best-headphones-2023," use "best-headphones").
• Redirection: If you change your URL slug, make sure to redirect the old version to avoid broken links.

Use Target Keywords In Your Body Content

Google uses keywords and context to determine that a page is relevant to a specific search query. Including your target keywords naturally within your content helps Google understand your page's topic.

Why It Matters

Using target keywords in your content ensures that your page is recognized as relevant for those terms, improving your chances of ranking higher.

Best Practices

Here are some guidelines to follow when adding keywords to your content:

• Early Placement: Mention your primary keyword within the first paragraph.
• Natural Integration: Scatter repeats and secondary keywords throughout the content, but avoid keyword stuffing, which can hurt readability and ranking.
• Focus on Users: Write primarily for your audience, not just search engines. Ensure the content is informative and engaging.

Tools for Assistance

To save time and ensure you're following best practices, consider using tools like Semrush's SEO Content Template. This tool provides key recommendations based on the top-ranking pages for your target keyword(s) and helps you analyze your competitors' keyword usage.

Content Quality Review

Good content is key to keeping readers engaged and ranking well in search results.

Key Indicators of Content Quality

Accuracy

Your content should be accurate and up-to-date.

• Best Practice: Avoid mistakes in facts, spelling, and grammar.
• Tip: Regularly review and update old content to keep it relevant.

Originality

The content you create should be unique and not copied from other websites.

• Best Practice: Do not duplicate content on your own site or from other sites.
• Tip: Use plagiarism checkers to ensure your content is original.

Length

Provide comprehensive information that meets the searcher's needs without being overly lengthy.

• Best Practice: Be brief but comprehensive.
• Tip: Give all the details a reader needs without overloading them with too much text.

Readability

Your audience should be able to understand and read your content.

• Best Practice: Write at a level that matches your audience's reading skills.
• Tip: Avoid overly complex words or sentences that are too simple.

Formatting

You should use proper formatting to make your content easier to read.

• Best Practice: Include paragraph breaks, headings, tables, and bullet points.
• Tip: Break up long blocks of text to make the page look more inviting.

Tone of Voice

Match your tone to your subject matter and target audience.

• Best Practice: Match your tone to your topic and audience.
• Tip: Adjust your style to keep readers interested and engaged.

Header Tags for Subheadings

Organizing your content with header tags helps with both readability and SEO.

Benefits of Using Header Tags

Improves Readability

You can improve the readability of your content by using header tags.

• Best Practice: Use H2, H3, etc., tags to break up text.
• Tip: This helps users quickly scan through your content.

Enhances SEO

You can use header tags to help search engines understand the structure of your page.

• Best Practice: Use header tags to show the hierarchy of your content.
• Tip: Include secondary keywords in your header tags naturally.

You should only use one H1 tag for the main title, but you can use multiple H2 through H6 tags based on your content's depth. Here's an example:

• H1: Only use one H1 per page, typically for the main title.
• H2: Use H2 tags for the main sections of your content.
• H3: Subsection
• H4: Further Subsection

Internal Links Improve Navigation

Internal links are essential for guiding users and helping search engines understand your site's structure. They connect different pages on your site, making it easier for users to find and for Google to index your content.

Key Points:

• Definition: Hyperlinks internal to a website point to other pages within the same website.
• Benefits: They improve user experience and distribute link equity across your site.
• Example: Linking to related product categories, like “single duvets” and “single mattresses” on a “single bedding” page.

Tips:

• Use descriptive anchor text instead of generic phrases like “Click here.”
• Consider adding external links to high-quality resources to show thorough research and enhance credibility.

Create Engaging Visual Content

A visual medium, such as images or videos, can significantly boost user engagement. You can make your content more engaging with them, and they can lead to higher page views, shares, and backlinks.

Key Points:

• Types of Visual Content: Photos, illustrations, how-to videos, infographics.
• Benefits: Articles with images and videos tend to perform better regarding engagement metrics.

Tips for Images:

• Each image should have descriptive alt text to improve accessibility and SEO.
• Resize and compress images to ensure they don't delay page loading time.

Tips for Videos:

• Create videos that match the search intent, such as tutorial videos for how-to guides.
• Host videos on YouTube and embed them on your site to leverage YouTube's search engine capabilities.

Use Schema Markup

Structured data is a common form of markup that helps search engines better understand your site's content. The result is higher rankings and richer search results.

Schema Markup Explained

Schema markup tells Google more about the different types of data on your site. With a clearer understanding, Google can rank your content more accurately and create rich snippets that provide extra information in search results.

Benefits of Schema Markup

Applying schema markup has several advantages:

• Improved Search Rankings: Accurate data helps Google rank your pages better.
• Rich Snippets: Rich snippets like ratings and reviews can attract more clicks.
• Enhanced User Experience: Users get more detailed information directly from the search results.

Types of Supported Schema Markup

Google supports 32 types of schema, including:

• Article: For blog posts and news articles.
• Event: For promoting events.
• FAQ: For frequently asked questions.
• How-to: For step-by-step guides.
• Product: For product pages.
• Local Business: For businesses with a physical location.

How to Implement Schema Markup

Implementing schema markup might seem complex, but tools like Google's Structured Data Markup Helper make it easier. Here's how to start:

• Choose the Type: Select the type of schema that suits your content.
• Add the Code: Use the markup helper to generate the necessary code.
• Test Your Markup: Use Google's Rich Results Test to check for errors.

Conclusion

You should continue with an on-page SEO audit. Your next step is to address any issues identified by your audit using the insights and data you have obtained from your audit. Focus on resolving technical barriers to crawling and indexing, enhancing on-page elements like title tags and meta descriptions, and capitalizing on new content opportunities.

A regular SEO audit is crucial to maintaining optimal website performance and staying ahead of the competition. By continuously refining your on-page SEO strategies, you'll improve your site's rankings, increase organic traffic, and improve user experience.

So, grab your tools, follow this checklist, and boost your website's SEO performance today! Ready to get started? Let's dive into the world of on-page SEO audits and unlock your site's full potential.