How to Use This
Open Your Site. Score Each Item.
This checklist isn't a theory document. It's the operating diagnostic I personally run on every client site before I scope an engagement. Each item is a binary — either your site does it, or it doesn't. The score tells you where you sit.
Below 30 / 45: Your site is leaking revenue. Foundation work needed before anything else compounds.
30–37 / 45: You have a working site. The next ~8 items are where the biggest gains usually live.
38+ / 45: Your foundation is solid. Look at conversion and analytics for compounding gains.
Technical SEO Foundation
If these aren't right, nothing else compounds. Google has to be able to find, crawl, and understand your site before anything you do matters.
- 01You have an active Google Search Console property.And you've checked it in the last 14 days. If you haven't — start here, before anything else.
- 02Your sitemap is submitted and indexing without errors.Open GSC → Sitemaps. Status should read "Success." Any errors here block crawl.
- 03Robots.txt isn't blocking pages you want indexed.Visit yoursite.com/robots.txt. No Disallow: / on your main pages or directories.
- 04Every important page has a unique title tag and meta description.No "Untitled," no duplicate boilerplate, no descriptions over 160 characters.
- 05Each page has exactly one H1 — and it matches search intent.Not "Welcome to our website." Something specific to the page's job.
- 06Canonical tags are set on every indexable page.Either self-referencing or pointing to the canonical version. Avoid orphan canonicals.
- 07Internal linking is intentional, not random.Every important page has 3+ internal links pointing to it from other pages on the site.
- 08Schema markup is implemented where it earns visibility.Organization or Person, ProfessionalService or LocalBusiness, FAQPage on Q&A blocks.
- 09No 4xx or 5xx errors on indexed URLs.Run a free Screaming Frog crawl (500-URL limit) and check the response codes.
- 10HTTPS is enforced site-wide with no mixed content.HTTP versions redirect to HTTPS. No "Not Secure" warnings in any browser.
On-Page SEO & Content Architecture
Ranking is half technical, half intent. This section is about whether each page is built to win the search it's supposed to win.
- 11Every page targets a specific keyword or query intent.You can name the search query each page is built to win. If you can't — that's the work.
- 12The target query appears in the H1, URL, and first 100 words.Not stuffed. Naturally placed. Match what the user actually typed.
- 13URL slugs are short, readable, and keyword-aligned./seo-consultant-los-angeles beats /index.php?p=247.
- 14Content depth matches the query's intent.Transactional queries get short, scannable pages. Informational queries get depth and structure.
- 15Heading hierarchy is logical: H1 → H2 → H3.No skipping levels. No multiple H1s. Headings read like a table of contents.
- 16Every image has descriptive alt text.Not "image1.jpg." A short, accurate description of what's in the image.
- 17Topic clusters exist around your money pages.Each core service has 3–8 supporting pages or articles linking back to it.
- 18Local landmarks appear on local pages.If you serve LA, the page about LA mentions LA neighborhoods, landmarks, or context.
- 19Content is updated when it ages out."Best X for 2023" needs to become 2026. Set a quarterly content review.
- 20No keyword cannibalisation — one page per primary query.If three pages all target "los angeles seo consultant," Google can't rank any of them.
Performance & Core Web Vitals
Run your site through PageSpeed Insights and Search Console's Core Web Vitals report. Score against the actual metrics.
- 21LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) under 2.5 seconds.The hero image / headline appears within 2.5s for 75%+ of visits.
- 22INP (Interaction to Next Paint) under 200ms.Replaced FID as the responsiveness metric in 2024. Click-to-respond feel.
- 23CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) under 0.1.Nothing jumps around as the page loads. Reserve space for images and ads.
- 24Images are properly sized and modern format.WebP or AVIF where possible. No 4000px-wide images displayed at 600px.
- 25Above-the-fold content loads eagerly. Below loads lazily.loading="lazy" on below-fold images. loading="eager" on hero.
- 26CSS and JS are minified, deferred where appropriate.No render-blocking scripts above the fold.
- 27Fonts use display:swap and are preloaded.No invisible text while fonts load. Critical fonts preconnect / preload.
- 28Mobile performance is benchmarked separately.PageSpeed Insights mobile tab. Most traffic is mobile. Score it like a separate site.
Conversion & UX
Traffic without conversion is noise. This section is where most sites quietly leak revenue.
- 29Every page has one primary CTA above the fold.Not three competing buttons. One clear next action.
- 30The headline answers "what is this?" in 3 seconds.Read your H1 cold. Could a stranger explain what you sell?
- 31Social proof appears in the first viewport on the homepage.Press logos, named testimonials, client logos, awards — not buried at the bottom.
- 32Forms are short. Each field is justified.Every extra field cuts conversion ~5%. Ask for what you genuinely need.
- 33Pricing is at least signalled, even if not exact."Starts at $X" beats opaque silence for B2B buyers researching options.
- 34You have a thank-you page after every conversion.Confirms the action, sets next-step expectations, primes retargeting pixel.
- 35Trust signals are visible at decision points.Money-back guarantee, security badges, named testimonials near every buying CTA.
- 36Page load doesn't reset scroll position on mobile.Mobile users who scroll, click back, and return lose their place. Fix it.
- 37404 page is helpful, not a dead end.Search bar, popular links, primary CTA. Don't waste the bounce.
- 38Tap targets are at least 44×44 pixels on mobile.Buttons too small to tap accurately = friction = lost conversion.
Analytics & Measurement
If you can't measure it, you can't grow it. This section is about whether your site is set up to tell you the truth.
- 39GA4 is installed and receiving data.Universal Analytics sunset in 2023. GA4 is the only Google analytics that matters.
- 40Key events are configured as conversions in GA4.Form submit, audit request, Calendly booking, purchase. Not just pageviews.
- 41Google Tag Manager is deployed properly.One container, organised, with naming conventions. Not a tag soup.
- 42UTM tagging is consistent across all paid campaigns.Source/medium/campaign naming follows a documented convention.
- 43Search Console alerts you to indexing or performance drops.Email alerts enabled. You hear about problems before customers do.
- 44You review your top organic queries at least monthly.Performance tab in GSC. What's ranking, what's dropping, what's emerging.
- 45You can attribute revenue to specific channels.End-to-end attribution from first touch to closed deal. If you can't — that's the system to build.
Keep Reading
After You Score
Below 30? Your Site Is Bleeding Leads.
That's not a judgment. Most sites I audit score in the 18–28 range. The gap between where you are and where you need to be is the engagement. If you want me to score your site personally and tell you exactly what to fix first — the audit is free.
Take It Further
Where to Go From Here.
If your score is mostly red, the Website Conversion Service is the engagement that fixes it. If you're looking at the SEO foundation items, the Full SEO Service builds it end-to-end. If you're a California service business, see the California page.