SEO Checks: 12 Things to Check on Your Website (Plain-English Checklist)

Running regular SEO checks is the simplest way to find out why your website isn't showing up in Google, and what to fix first. You don't need to be technical. Most SEO problems are small, easy to spot, and quick to fix once you know where to look.

This checklist covers the 12 SEO checks that matter most, in plain English, starting with the ones that make the biggest difference.

What is an SEO check?

An SEO check (or SEO audit) looks at your website the way Google does. It finds problems that make your pages harder for Google to find, understand, or trust. Fix those problems, and your pages have a much better chance of ranking.

You can run these checks by hand, page by page, or use a tool that checks every page at once.

The 12 SEO checks every website needs

1. Page titles

The page title is the blue headline people click in Google's results. Every page needs its own title that says clearly what the page is about.

Check for: missing titles, duplicate titles across pages, and titles longer than about 60 characters (Google cuts them off).

2. Meta descriptions

The meta description is the short summary under your title in Google. It doesn't directly affect rankings, but a good one gets more people to click.

Check for: missing or duplicate descriptions, and anything over about 160 characters.

3. Headings (H1)

Each page should have one main heading (an H1) that tells visitors and Google what the page is about.

Check for: pages with no H1, or several H1s competing with each other.

4. Broken links

Links that lead to "page not found" errors frustrate visitors and waste Google's time crawling your site.

Check for: internal links that return a 404 error, and fix or remove them.

5. Redirects

Redirects send visitors from an old address to a new one. They're useful, but chains of redirects (A to B to C) slow things down and dilute their value.

Check for: redirect chains and redirects that loop back on themselves.

6. XML sitemap

A sitemap is a list of your pages that helps Google find them all.

Check for: a sitemap at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml, and make sure you've submitted it in Google Search Console.

7. Robots.txt

The robots.txt file tells search engines which parts of your site they may crawl. One wrong line can hide your whole website from Google.

Check for: any rule that blocks pages you want people to find.

8. Canonical tags

A canonical tag tells Google which version of a page is the "main" one when similar versions exist. If any term here is unfamiliar, our website audit glossary explains it in plain English.

Check for: missing canonical tags, or tags pointing at the wrong page.

9. HTTPS and security

Google prefers secure websites, and browsers warn visitors about sites without HTTPS.

Check for: a valid SSL certificate, and make sure every page loads over https:// rather than http://.

10. Page speed

Slow pages lose visitors and rank lower. Speed is one of the SEO checks that most often turns up problems, especially on phones. Our guide on how to check if your website is slow walks through the fixes step by step.

Check for: slow loading on mobile, and oversized images.

11. Mobile-friendliness

Google looks at the mobile version of your site first. If it's hard to use on a phone, your rankings suffer.

Check for: text that's too small to read, buttons that are too close together, and pages wider than the screen.

12. Structured data

Structured data (also called schema) is extra code that helps Google understand your business, products, or reviews. It can earn you richer listings in search results, like star ratings.

Check for: basic business or organization schema on your homepage, and check that it has no errors.

How often should you run SEO checks?

Run a full set of SEO checks at least once a month, and always after a big change, like a redesign, a new plugin, or moving to a new host. Problems like broken links and accidental "noindex" tags often appear after updates without anyone noticing.

What to fix first

Not every problem is equally important. Fix them in this order:

1. Anything that hides pages from Google: robots.txt blocks, noindex tags, missing sitemap.
2. Anything that breaks the visitor's experience: broken links, missing HTTPS, slow mobile pages.
3. Anything that affects clicks: missing or duplicate titles and descriptions.
4. Nice-to-haves: structured data and small heading fixes.

Working from the top means your first fixes have the biggest impact.

Frequently asked questions

Are SEO checks free?
You can run many SEO checks for free, either by hand or with free tools. Free tools usually check a handful of pages, while paid audits crawl your whole site.

How long does an SEO check take?
Checking one page by hand takes 10 to 15 minutes. An automated SEO check can scan hundreds of pages in a few minutes.

Will fixing SEO problems get me to the top of Google?
Fixing technical problems removes what's holding your site back, but rankings also depend on your content, your competition, and links from other websites. Think of SEO checks as building a solid foundation.

What's the most common SEO problem?
Missing or duplicate page titles and descriptions are the most common, followed by slow mobile pages and broken links. The good news is they're also among the easiest to fix.