The SEO Audit Checklist: 15 On-Page Factors That Actually Matter

Most SEO checklists bury the 20 factors that matter under 180 that don't. This is the short version, based on the 15 factors our On-Page SEO Checker grades on every page, ordered by how often we see them fail.

The essentials (fail these and nothing else matters)

1. 1. Indexable page: no noindex tag, no robots block.
2. 2. One unique H1 that states the page topic.
3. 3. Title tag, 50 to 60 characters, keyword near the front.
4. 4. Meta description, 120 to 158 characters, written for clicks.
5. 5. Canonical tag present and correct.

The content layer

1. 6. H2 and H3 headings that structure the answer.
2. 7. Enough substance: thin content fails 27% of audits.
3. 8. Images with alt text.
4. 9. Internal links to related pages.
5. 10. No duplicated content from other pages.

The trust layer

1. 11. HTTPS.
2. 12. Structured data where relevant (FAQ, HowTo, Product).
3. 13. Open Graph tags so shares look right.
4. 14. Mobile viewport.
5. 15. Fast enough response time to be crawled efficiently.

How to check all 15 in one run

The free On-Page SEO Checker grades every factor with a pass, warn or fail and shows the exact values it found. Run the Full SEO Plan afterward to get the fixes sorted into a 30/60/90-day order. Want it on paper? Grab the free printable audit checklist.

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