# A 30-minute technical SEO audit: a checklist for your site

> A checklist to audit your site's technical SEO in 30 minutes: crawling, indexing, speed, mobile, structure, structured data and common errors.

URL: https://codegea.com/en/30-minute-technical-seo-audit-checklist
SEO · 2026-10-02 · Derian Pinto

Technical SEO is the base everything else rests on: if Google cannot crawl, understand or load your site well, even the best content does not perform. The good news is that you can run a first review in half an hour, with free tools and without being a programmer. This checklist is ordered by impact: start at the top.

> A quick audit does not fix everything, but it finds the problems that cost the most. What matters is leaving with a prioritized list, not a hundred alerts.

## Before you start (5 minutes)

You need access to:

- **Google Search Console** for your site (free, and the most valuable thing there is for this).
- **A crawling tool** (there are free options for small sites).
- **PageSpeed Insights** to measure speed.
- **Your browser,** with developer tools if you feel like it.

## 1. Indexing: does Google see your pages? (5 minutes)

In Search Console, open the **Pages** (indexing) report:

- How many pages are indexed and how many are not?
- Do **"Excluded by noindex tag"** or **"Blocked by robots.txt"** appear on pages you do want to rank?
- Are there many **"Crawled, currently not indexed"** pages? It usually points to thin or duplicate content.
- Are there server errors (5xx) or 404s on important pages?

Also try searching Google for `site:yourdomain.com` to see how many pages it returns and with which titles.

## 2. Crawling: robots.txt and sitemap (3 minutes)

- Open `yourdomain.com/robots.txt`: does it block anything it should not? A forgotten `Disallow: /` after a migration is a classic mistake.
- Open your **sitemap** (`/sitemap.xml`): does it exist, is it up to date and does it include only URLs you want indexed (no redirects or 404s)?
- Check that the sitemap is **submitted in Search Console.**

## 3. URL structure and redirects (4 minutes)

- URLs are **readable and stable** (no unnecessary parameters).
- There is only **one version** of your site: with or without `www`, and on HTTPS, with a 301 redirect from the others.
- There are no **redirect chains** or loops.
- Internal links point to final URLs, not to redirects.

If you are coming from a migration, review [how to migrate without losing Google rankings](/en/how-to-migrate-your-website-without-losing-google-rankings).

## 4. Titles, descriptions and headings (4 minutes)

With your crawling tool, look for:

- **Missing, duplicate or overly long titles.**
- **Missing or repeated meta descriptions.**
- **Pages without an H1** or with several H1s for no reason.
- Broken heading hierarchy (jumps from H2 to H4).

There are guides to fix it: [titles and meta descriptions that raise your CTR](/en/titles-and-meta-descriptions-that-raise-your-ctr) and [heading structure](/en/heading-structure-h1-h6-for-seo-and-readability).

## 5. Speed and Core Web Vitals (4 minutes)

In PageSpeed Insights, check your homepage and an inner page **on mobile**:

- **LCP** (main content load), **INP** (response to interaction) and **CLS** (visual stability).
- The most important recommendations: heavy images, unnecessary JavaScript, blocking fonts.

In Search Console, the **Experience** or **Core Web Vitals** report shows real data from your visitors. To understand each metric, read [Core Web Vitals in 2026](/en/core-web-vitals-in-2026-what-they-are-and-how-to-improve-them) and [how to fix a site that is slow to respond to clicks](/en/inp-how-to-fix-a-website-that-is-slow-to-respond-to-clicks).

## 6. Mobile and usability (2 minutes)

- Open your site on your phone: does it read without zooming? Can buttons be tapped without missing?
- Is the content **the same** as on desktop? Google mainly uses the mobile version for indexing.

## 7. Duplicate content and canonicals (2 minutes)

- Every page should have a **canonical tag** pointing to itself or to the preferred version.
- Check that there are no nearly identical pages competing (for example, city pages with the same text).

## 8. Structured data (2 minutes)

- Validate your pages with Google's **rich results** tool.
- Useful types: organization, local business, article, product, FAQ (as applicable).
- Fix errors and warnings on whatever affects your key pages.

## 9. Multilingual sites (if applicable, 2 minutes)

- Each language must have its own URL, with correct and reciprocal **hreflang** tags.
- Make sure a page is not announced in a language if no translation exists.

## 10. Basic security (1 minute)

- The whole site loads over **HTTPS**, with no mixed content.
- The certificate is valid.
- No security warnings or "not secure" notices in the browser.

## How to prioritize what you found

| Priority | Type of problem | Examples |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Critical | Prevents Google from seeing your site | noindex by mistake, robots.txt blocking, 5xx errors |
| High | You lose rankings or traffic | 404s on pages with links, redirect chains, wrong canonicals |
| Medium | Affects performance or clicks | Mobile speed, duplicate titles, missing H1 |
| Low | Improvements | Extra structured data, polished descriptions |

Start with the critical and work downward. If what you are after is the content and structure of each page, see our guide to [on-page SEO](/en/on-page-seo-the-complete-guide-you-can-actually-apply-today).

## What a 30-minute audit does not cover

It is a first filter. It does not replace a deep review of content, external links, competition or keyword analysis. But it tells you whether your technical base is healthy.

## How we do it at Codegea

We run complete technical audits, with a prioritized list and the fixes handled by our team when you need it. Learn about our [on-page SEO](/en/services/on-page-seo) service or request a review from [contact](/en/contact).