Can search engines reach and list your pages?
Nothing else matters if a page cannot be indexed. A single stray setting can hide a whole site, and it is the most common cause of a site that “just does not show up”.
- No page you want found carries a noindex instruction.
- robots.txt exists and does not block important sections.
- A sitemap lists every page and is submitted to Google Search Console.
- Every page declares its preferred (canonical) address.
- The site loads over https, and http and www versions redirect to one address.
- Addresses that do not exist return a 404, not a normal page.
Does each page say clearly what it is about?
These are the on-page basics: what searchers read in results and what search engines read first.
- A unique title of 30 to 60 characters, leading with the main topic.
- A unique description of 70 to 160 characters that gives a reason to click.
- Exactly one main heading (H1), and subheadings that structure the page.
- Enough useful text to answer what the searcher came for.
- A short description (alt text) on every meaningful image.
Do the links work?
Follow the links on your own pages. Each broken one is a dead end. Fix the link, restore the page, or redirect the old address to the closest live page.
Is the site fast and stable on a phone?
Most searches happen on phones, and Google ranks using the mobile version of your pages.
- The page declares a mobile viewport and the layout adapts.
- The server answers in well under a second.
- Scripts do not hold up the page; compression is on.
- Images are sized, compressed and given a width and height.
- Core Web Vitals are in the good range.
Is the site trustworthy and shareable?
These do not move rankings much on their own, but they affect clicks, trust and security.
- Security headers are set and nothing loads over an insecure connection.
- Link previews have a title, description and image.
- A site icon is declared.
Can machines understand who you are?
Structured data states facts about your organisation and pages in a standard vocabulary. It powers rich results in search and helps AI assistants describe you correctly. Check too that you have not blocked AI crawlers by accident.
Can you measure what happens next?
Before spending on ads, make sure analytics and the tracking tags for each ad platform are installed. Without them you cannot tell which visits become customers.
How often should you run an SEO audit?
After any redesign or platform change, and otherwise about once a week for an active site. Problems creep in as pages are added and edited. A saved history lets you see whether a change helped or hurt.