Overview
This comprehensive technical SEO audit template helps you systematically identify and resolve technical issues that impact search visibility and user experience. Perfect for post-redesign audits, ongoing maintenance, or troubleshooting traffic drops.
Critical Insight: 68% of traffic drops after website redesigns are caused by technical SEO issues, not content problems. A thorough technical audit can recover lost rankings within 30-60 days.
Phase 1: Crawlability & Indexation
Robots.txt Audit
- Verify robots.txt is accessible at /robots.txt
- Check for unintended blocks (Disallow: /)
- Ensure critical directories aren't blocked
- Validate sitemap references
- Test with Google's robots.txt tester
- Review crawl-delay directives
- Check for duplicate robots.txt files
XML Sitemap Analysis
- Verify sitemap exists and is accessible
- Check submission in Google Search Console
- Validate all URLs return 200 status
- Ensure no redirects in sitemap
- Confirm sitemap is under 50MB/50,000 URLs
- Check lastmod dates are accurate
- Verify priority values make sense
- Test sitemap index files if used
Indexation Status
- Run site: search to check indexed pages
- Compare indexed vs submitted pages in GSC
- Identify pages excluded from index
- Check for duplicate content issues
- Review noindex tags usage
- Validate canonical tag implementation
- Audit pagination handling
Phase 2: Site Architecture & Navigation
URL Structure
- Check for clean, descriptive URLs
- Identify and fix dynamic parameters
- Ensure consistent URL format (trailing slashes)
- Review URL depth (max 3-4 levels)
- Check for keyword usage in URLs
- Identify duplicate URL patterns
- Validate HTTPS implementation
↪ Redirects & Status Codes
- Audit all 301/302 redirects
- Identify and fix redirect chains
- Eliminate redirect loops
- Find and fix 404 errors
- Check for soft 404s
- Review 5xx server errors
- Validate redirect mapping post-migration
- Test redirect response times
Internal Linking
- Identify orphaned pages
- Check click depth from homepage
- Review anchor text distribution
- Find and fix broken internal links
- Optimize link equity flow
- Check navigation consistency
- Validate breadcrumb implementation
Phase 3: Page Speed & Core Web Vitals
2024 Core Web Vitals Thresholds
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): < 2.5s (Good), 2.5-4s (Needs Improvement), > 4s (Poor)
- INP (Interaction to Next Paint): < 200ms (Good), 200-500ms (Needs Improvement), > 500ms (Poor)
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): < 0.1 (Good), 0.1-0.25 (Needs Improvement), > 0.25 (Poor)
Performance Optimization
- Test with PageSpeed Insights
- Run Chrome Lighthouse audit
- Check Core Web Vitals in GSC
- Analyze server response times (TTFB)
- Review resource loading waterfall
- Identify render-blocking resources
- Check third-party script impact
Image Optimization
- Audit image file sizes
- Check for next-gen formats (WebP, AVIF)
- Verify lazy loading implementation
- Review responsive image setup
- Check alt text coverage
- Validate image CDN usage
- Test image compression levels
Resource Optimization
- Enable text compression (gzip/brotli)
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, HTML
- Review browser caching policies
- Implement critical CSS
- Check for unused CSS/JS
- Optimize web font loading
- Review CDN configuration
Phase 4: Mobile Optimization
Mobile Usability
- Test with Mobile-Friendly Test tool
- Check viewport configuration
- Verify responsive design breakpoints
- Test touch target sizes (min 48x48px)
- Review font sizes (min 16px)
- Check horizontal scrolling issues
- Test form usability on mobile
Mobile Performance
- Test on 3G/4G connections
- Check mobile Core Web Vitals
- Review mobile-specific redirects
- Test AMP implementation (if used)
- Verify mobile sitemap
- Check app deep linking
Phase 5: Structured Data & Rich Results
Schema Markup
- Test with Rich Results Test tool
- Validate JSON-LD syntax
- Check schema type relevance
- Review required/recommended properties
- Test breadcrumb markup
- Validate organization schema
- Check product/review markup
- Test FAQ/How-to schemas
Search Features
- Check sitelinks eligibility
- Review knowledge panel data
- Test featured snippet optimization
- Validate local business markup
- Check video schema implementation
- Review image metadata
Phase 6: Security & International
Security Audit
- Verify SSL certificate validity
- Check for mixed content issues
- Test HTTPS redirect implementation
- Review security headers (HSTS, CSP)
- Check for malware warnings in GSC
- Validate form security
International SEO
- Audit hreflang implementation
- Check language/country targeting
- Review URL structure for multi-regional
- Validate alternate tag usage
- Test geo-targeting in GSC
- Check for duplicate content across regions
Redirect Audit Checklist (Post-Redesign)
Special Focus: For sites experiencing traffic drops after redesign, pay special attention to redirect mapping.
Step 1: Export Old URLs
- Use Wayback Machine to capture old structure
- Export from old sitemap if available
- Pull from analytics (top traffic pages)
- Check backlink data for linked pages
Step 2: Map to New URLs
- Create redirect mapping spreadsheet
- Match old URLs to new equivalents
- Identify missing/deleted content
- Plan for category/tag redirects
Step 3: Test Redirects
- Use Screaming Frog to crawl redirect paths
- Check for redirect chains (max 1 hop)
- Verify status codes (301 not 302)
- Test high-value pages manually
Step 4: Monitor Impact
- Track 404 errors in GSC daily
- Monitor organic traffic recovery
- Check ranking positions for key terms
- Review crawl stats for anomalies
Tools & Resources
Essential Audit Tools
- Screaming Frog: Comprehensive crawling
- Google Search Console: Index & performance data
- PageSpeed Insights: Core Web Vitals
- Chrome DevTools: Performance profiling
- GTmetrix: Speed analysis
- SEMrush Site Audit: Technical issues
Testing Tools
- Mobile-Friendly Test: Mobile usability
- Rich Results Test: Schema validation
- Robots.txt Tester: Crawl directives
- AMP Test: AMP validation
- Security Headers: Security audit
- Lighthouse CI: Automated testing
Monitoring Tools
- Google Analytics 4: Traffic analysis
- Ahrefs: Backlink monitoring
- ContentKing: Real-time monitoring
- Pingdom: Uptime monitoring
- CrUX Dashboard: Real user metrics
- New Relic: Application performance
Priority Matrix
| Issue Category | Impact | Effort | Priority | Timeline |
|---|
| Crawl blocks (robots.txt) | Critical | Low | P0 | Immediate |
| 404 errors on key pages | Critical | Low | P0 | 24 hours |
| Redirect chains/loops | High | Medium | P1 | 1 week |
| Core Web Vitals (Poor) | High | High | P1 | 2 weeks |
| Missing meta descriptions | Medium | Low | P2 | 1 month |
| Schema markup | Medium | Medium | P2 | 1 month |
| Image optimization | Low | Medium | P3 | Ongoing |
Audit Report Template
Executive Summary
- Overall technical health score
- Critical issues found
- Impact on traffic/rankings
- Prioritized recommendations
- Expected outcomes
Detailed Findings
- Issue description
- Pages affected
- Business impact
- Recommended fix
- Implementation guide
- Priority level
Implementation Roadmap
- Quick wins (Week 1)
- High priority (Month 1)
- Medium priority (Quarter 1)
- Ongoing maintenance
- Success metrics
Next Steps
Ready to Fix Your Technical SEO?
Use this template to conduct a thorough technical audit and recover lost traffic. Need expert help? Our technical SEO specialists can perform a comprehensive audit and implementation.