SEO Audit Checklist
The working checklist our SEO team uses to audit a site. Run through it yourself and you will know exactly what is holding your rankings back.
- Technical SEO checks: indexing, crawl errors, sitemaps, robots.txt and HTTPS
- Core Web Vitals and page speed checks that affect both rankings and conversions
- On-page checks for titles, meta descriptions, headings and internal linking
- A content audit section to spot thin, duplicate or outdated pages
Most SEO audits miss the same things
When rankings drop or never arrive, it is almost always one of a handful of root causes. Generic audits skim the surface and leave the real issues buried.
You do not know what is wrong
You can see traffic is flat or falling, but you cannot tell whether it is technical, content or competition.
Every "audit tool" says something different
One says you have 400 errors, another says 12. Without a framework, the noise is useless.
You waste money on the wrong fix
Throwing budget at backlinks when the site is not indexed properly is the most expensive SEO mistake going.
No way to prioritise
Even when you spot issues, you have no clear order of operations, so nothing actually gets shipped.
What is inside the checklist
No theory, no filler. Every section earns its place.
Technical SEO checks
Indexing, crawl errors, sitemaps, robots.txt and HTTPS. The plumbing that has to be right before anything else matters.
Core Web Vitals and speed
The page-experience metrics Google actually uses to rank pages, and the ones that wreck your conversions.
On-page checks
Titles, meta descriptions, headings, internal links. The easy wins most sites are still leaving on the table.
Content audit prompts
Spot thin, duplicate or outdated pages that are dragging the rest of the site down.
Local SEO checks
Google Business Profile, NAP consistency, citations and reviews. What it takes to show in the local pack.
Prioritised action list
A simple framework to rank fixes by impact and effort, so you do the high-leverage work first.
Is this the right resource for you?
It is built for a specific job. If that is your job, it will save you days of work. If not, we will tell you straight.
Built for you if
- Your rankings or organic traffic have flatlined or dropped
- You are about to invest in SEO and want to know the starting point
- You want a second opinion on an agency's audit or proposal
- You manage marketing in-house and want a proper diagnostic tool
In short: Business owners and marketers who suspect their website is underperforming in Google and want a clear, honest picture of what needs fixing before spending money on SEO.
Probably not for you if
- Your site is brand new with no rankings to audit yet
- You only want quick rank-tracking, not a structural audit
- You expect a button that "fixes SEO". This is a diagnostic, not a fix
- You are looking purely for paid ads or social media advice
Honest answer: if any of these match, this resource will not be the best use of your time.
A real document, not a 1-page PDF
A practical, tickable PDF organised by audit phase. Each check explains what to look for, why it matters, and what a healthy result looks like.
- The nine that matter most, in ten minutes
- Can Google find you at all?
- Does the site actually work?
- Is the page worth ranking?
- Can the AI engines read and quote you?
- Does your local market see you?
- Can you prove any of it works?
- What not to spend money on
Want it without filling in your details twice?
Scroll back up, drop your email in the form, and the PDF opens straight away.
Get the checklistWhat clients say about working with us
The resources are pulled straight from how we work with clients. Here is what those clients say about that work.
“Our CPA dropped by 66% and lead quality increased 200-300%. Not only almost immediately, but consistent for the last few months.”
We’ve been working with Jason from Lucid Media and couldn’t recommend him more. He’s been a fast communicator, proactive, and always willing to help. Jason goes above and beyond with providing recommendations and support.
The websites he’s built and implemented for us have been excellent. He has captured our business perfectly and ensured that it is user friendly on both desktop/mobile. Fantastic service!
Jason and his team have been fantastic to work with from the initial website design and with the ongoing maintenance. They built us a really professional and well-designed site that represents our business well and it has been great having their continued support.
It is nice to know someone reliable can manage our website and make sure it stays ranking on Google. They are always responsive when we need updates or changes made, and their technical expertise gives us peace of mind.
“Absolutely great in delivering our e-commerce website. A great experience from start to finish, and even beyond.”
I have been working with Jason for a year now and he is absolutely brilliant, honest and reliable. His client first approach has meant his work is always on time and to a high standard.
Most of all he actually gets the results he says he will.
Communication with him is always smooth and effortless. The website he created for me exceeded my expectations in every way. I’m genuinely impressed with both the design and the overall structure.
I’m looking forward to seeing what else the website can bring to me. If you’re thinking about building a website, Jason is definitely the person to go to.
Working with Jason @ Lucid Media on our website was a great experience from start to finish. Jason brought our vision to life with creativity and professionalism; he understood what we were after, and this could be seen in the result.
The design is clean and modern, and the functionality is exactly what we needed. Communication was smooth throughout the entire process, and deadlines were always met. Highly recommend to anyone looking for top-tier web design and development.
“Jason is exceptional, excellent communications, a highly motivated individual. Such rare traits - very happy with his development work for us!”
I had Lucid Media do some SEO work for us and I'm super impressed with the results. Jason also took the time to educate me deeply on the topic so I didn't feel like everything was smoke and mirrors like I have had with previous agencies.
Working with Lucid Media was an excellent experience from start to finish. They took the time to thoroughly analyse our previous website, understand our product, and align with our company goals before creating a new, professional layout and copy.
They truly went above and beyond, exceeding expectations at every step. I genuinely enjoyed the collaboration and look forward to working with them again in the future.
I had a call with Jason and was so impressed by how in-depth it was. He really listened, understood where I’m at, and gave me a clear action plan that I can actually use.
It was practical, straightforward, and made me feel confident moving forward with my ads. I couldn’t recommend working with him enough.
“He was really acting in our best interests and went beyond what we were expecting him to achieve.”
Lucid Media provides great service, quickly establishing and refining our website. They are always available to us when we need changes made.
Expert in SEO which is critical, our company now ranks at the top of Google searches, alongside our international suppliers but ahead of other agents around the world. We totally recommend Lucid as a highly competent and committed website developer and manager.
We had previously used another digital company for our website and digital marketing… things went downhill quickly, and our business suffered badly.
Within 30 minutes, we were on a Teams meeting discussing the problems we were facing. By 2am, Jason had sent us a detailed report… By 4pm, our Google Ads were back up and running.
Everything was turned around in less than 24 hours… seeing results that quickly was honestly incredible.
Jason and the team at Lucid Media have helped get our business back on solid ground… Young, full of energy, passionate, and genuinely driven to help businesses succeed.
Jason created our JunkBoss company website from start to finish. He always responded immediately, shared great ideas, and the final site looks spectacular!!
Highly recommend to anyone looking to get their website done.
Communication was insanely good, the work Jason provided me with was on a new level and blew me away. If you’re looking for someone who will go above and beyond for you then he is your man.
From the start, Jason has taken the time to understand my business properly rather than just pushing a generic marketing setup. We’ve built out a new website, landing pages, CRM integration, Google Ads and Meta campaigns, and the attention to detail across everything has been excellent.
What stands out most is his responsiveness and willingness to adapt quickly. Any time we’ve needed changes or seen something in the data, he’s on it straight away and is always looking for ways to improve performance rather than just letting campaigns run.
The key difference is that he genuinely feels invested in the success of the business, not just running ads in the background.
“I’ve had around 10 websites developed over the years, and Jason is by far the best web developer I’ve ever worked with.”
When the finance company I manage, Fee Funders, changed ownership, Lucid Media took over all aspects of our IT and technology, and the impact has been outstanding. Jason quickly learned our legacy systems, implemented critical changes during the transition, and then led the development of our new software platform and reporting systems.
Jason is exceptional across all areas of technology, both front-end and back-end. He’s practical, solutions-focused, and genuinely understands business needs as well as the technical side.
“They took the time to understand our vision and business needs, translating them into a stunning, user-friendly website.”
Jason has been awesome to work with over the last few months. Whenever we've had any sort of issue with our website, he is extremely prompt in resolving it. Very professional and helpful, I highly recommend.
“We wanted to bring our idea for an app to life. He turned our ideas into reality.”
Jason has been awesome in the work he has done for us. He is fast, very responsive and professional. Would highly recommend.
The team at Lucid Media have provided excellent service while recently coming in to help position J-Tip It to where they need to be!
We are absolutely blown away with their quick responses, smooth customer service and their initiative to stay 10-steps ahead at all times. Results are immediate and the cost is undeniably justified.
If you want to be in safe hands, choose Lucid!
“The site looks clean, professional, and easy to use. He made the whole process super simple and stress-free.”
How to use it
A simple three-step approach. Download, work through it, act on what you find.
Download the checklist
Pop your email in and the checklist opens straight away, ready to read or download.
Work through the audit
Tick each check off in order. The free tools you need (Search Console, PageSpeed Insights) are linked.
Prioritise the fixes
Use the impact-vs-effort framework at the back to decide what gets done first, and what you hand to a developer.
Explore more from Lucid Media
Other free resources you might find useful, plus the service that goes with this one.
Website Project Brief Template
A fill-in template that turns a vague website idea into a clear brief your designer can quote and build from.
Google Ads Launch Checklist
A pre-launch checklist that catches the costly mistakes before you switch a Google Ads campaign on.
Website Launch Checklist
A go-live checklist that catches the broken links, missing tracking and SEO gaps before your new site is public.
SEO
If the audit turns up more than you want to tackle alone, our SEO service fixes the issues and builds rankings that hold.
Questions about this resource
Quick answers before you download. Got something else? Get in touch and we will help.
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