Free Website SEO Audit Checklist for Small Businesses (25 Checks)

Not sure why your website does not bring enquiries? Before paying anyone, run through this checklist. Most items take minutes, and you can check many of them with free tools.

Indexing (checks 1–5)

1. Is the site on Google? Search site:yourdomain.com. If nothing appears, find out why first.
2. No accidental noindex. In WordPress, check Settings → Reading → Search engine visibility.
3. robots.txt is not blocking the site. Open yourdomain.com/robots.txt and look for Disallow: /.
4. An XML sitemap exists and is submitted in Google Search Console.
5. One preferred address. http, https, www and non-www versions should all redirect to one version.

Page basics (checks 6–12)

6. Each important page has a unique title of about 50–60 characters.
7. Each page has a clear meta description of about 150–160 characters.
8. There is one H1 per page, describing the topic.
9. URLs are short and readable, such as /services/website-design/.
10. Images have descriptive alt text.
11. Every service has its own page, rather than one page listing everything.
12. Contact details are easy to find on every page.

Check items 6–10 on any page in seconds with our free website SEO checker, and preview titles with the meta checker.

Speed and mobile (checks 13–17)

13. The site works well on a phone, with no sideways scrolling or tiny text.
14. Large images are resized and compressed. Try the image compressor.
15. The homepage loads quickly on mobile data. Test it with Google PageSpeed Insights.
16. Unused plugins and heavy sliders are removed.
17. The site uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate.

Content (checks 18–21)

18. Service pages explain who you help, what you do, where, and how to contact you.
19. Pages answer common customer questions, ideally in an FAQ section.
20. There is no copied or near-identical content across pages.
21. Important pages link to each other where it is helpful.

Local and trust signals (checks 22–25)

22. Your Google Business Profile is verified and complete, with real photos.
23. Your name, address and phone match exactly across the website, Google and directories.
24. You regularly ask happy customers for reviews and reply to them.
25. Your site has structured data such as Organization or LocalBusiness. Add FAQ markup with the FAQ schema generator.

Set up Google Search Console

Search Console is free. It shows which searches bring you visitors, which pages Google has indexed, and any problems it has found. If you only do one thing after reading this, set it up.

What to fix first

Fix indexing problems first, because nothing else matters if Google cannot show your pages. Then improve your most important service pages, then speed, then the remaining details.

Tools you can use for free

A simple monthly SEO routine (30 minutes)

1. Open Search Console and check for new errors or pages dropping out of the index.
2. Look at the top searches and pages. Is anything rising or falling sharply?
3. Find a page with many impressions but few clicks, and improve its title and description.
4. Reply to any new Google reviews.
5. Publish or update one useful page or post.

Signs you may need expert help

• Your site has dropped sharply in traffic and you cannot find the cause.
• Pages are not being indexed even though they are useful and linked.
• You are planning a redesign or changing your domain name. Mistakes during a migration can lose rankings.
• Competitors consistently outrank you for your most valuable services.

Keep a simple record

Note the date of every important change, such as a new page, a title rewrite or a redesign, in a spreadsheet. When traffic changes later, you can see what you did and when, which makes the cause much easier to find.

Prefer an expert review? Our SEO team can audit your site for you.