SEO Audit Checklist: How to Audit Your Website’s Technical Health in 2026

A healthy website leads to better rankings, more leads, and fewer headaches. If you're a marketing manager, business owner, or in-house team preparing for a site rebuild or SEO strategy, this blog gives you a no-jargon SEO audit checklist you can use right now.

Why Technical SEO Still Matters in 2026

Search engines like Google are evolving fast, but one thing remains constant — if your website is not technically sound, it will struggle to rank. Broken pages, slow load times, crawl errors and poor mobile experiences quietly drag your performance down, even if your content is great. This checklist helps you fix that.

How to Run a Technical SEO Audit: Our Methodology

Our approach at Altitude Marketing is simple: start with impact, work through the essentials, and make each fix count. We use tools like:

• Google Search Console (for indexing, sitemaps, errors)
• PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse (for Core Web Vitals and load speed)
• Screaming Frog (for crawl and structure analysis)

We also prioritise fixes using an Impact vs Effort model:

• High impact, low effort: Fix now
• High impact, high effort: Plan
• Low impact, low effort: Batch or schedule
• Low impact, high effort: Reassess

Your 2026 Technical SEO Audit Checklist

1. Check Crawlability and Indexation

• Use the Page Indexing report in Google Search Console
• Make sure key pages are crawlable and not blocked by robots.txt
• Submit or resubmit your sitemap.xml

2. Review Site Architecture and Internal Linking

• Use Screaming Frog to visualise your site structure
• Ensure key pages are no more than 3 clicks from the homepage
• Add internal links from high-authority to lower-performing pages

3. Assess Core Web Vitals

• Check LCP, FID, CLS in Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report
• Use PageSpeed Insights to diagnose mobile and desktop issues
• Prioritise image compression, font loading and server response time

4. Test Page Speed

• Aim for sub-2.5 second load time on key pages
• Remove unused JavaScript and CSS
• Consider lazy loading images and videos

5. Ensure Mobile Usability

• Use Google’s Mobile Usability report
• Avoid tap targets that are too close or content that overflows

6. Check HTTPS and Security Settings

• All pages should load on HTTPS with valid SSL certificates
• No mixed content (HTTP elements on HTTPS pages)

7. Check Redirects and Canonical Tags

• Identify broken redirects (302s instead of 301s)
• Ensure canonical tags are in place and not conflicting

8. Validate Structured Data

• Use Google’s Rich Results Test to validate schema
• Focus on Breadcrumb, Article, Product or FAQ schema where relevant

9. Spot Common Technical Pitfalls

• Orphan pages with no internal links
• Duplicate pages or thin content
• Multiple H1 tags on a single page

‍

FAQ: Quick Answers to Common Technical SEO Questions

1. What is a technical SEO audit?
It’s a full review of your website’s back-end and front-end structure to ensure search engines can crawl, index and understand your content effectively.

2. How often should I run a technical audit?
Ideally once a quarter, or before major changes like redesigns or migrations.

3. Do I need to be a developer to do this?
No – many of these tools are accessible and beginner-friendly. For more complex fixes, work with a technical SEO specialist.

4. Are Core Web Vitals a ranking factor in 2026?
Yes. While not the only factor, they contribute to page experience signals that affect visibility.

What Does Success Look Like?

After implementing technical SEO fixes, you should see:

• Improved page indexing in Search Console
• Faster load times and better Core Web Vitals
• Increased organic traffic
• Fewer crawl errors or warnings

Get in touch

If you have questions about your website’s performance or would like support with any aspect of digital marketing, we’re here to help. Contact us today.