Technical SEO Checklist: 9 Step Audit for Marketing Teams

If you lead a marketing team, chances are you’ve had this moment: campaigns look strong, creative is on point, but organic traffic just… plateaus. Someone says, “We probably need a technical SEO audit,” and suddenly half the room goes quiet because it sounds like a developer only problem.

This technical SEO checklist is built so marketing leaders can see exactly what needs to happen from the first crawl to the final executive report, without getting buried in acronyms. It’s organized as a 9 step Technical SEO Audit Framework for Marketing Teams, so you can follow the same path every time: audit, fix the biggest risks, then report back in language your CFO and CMO care about.

TL;DR

Run this checklist in nine steps: prep your data, check crawlability and indexation, fix speed and Core Web Vitals, tighten mobile UX, clean up architecture and internal links, handle duplication and canonicals, confirm HTTPS and security, then report back to leadership with a simple scorecard and roadmap.

How marketing teams should think about technical SEO

A lot of “technical SEO” content is written for engineers. Marketing teams, though, care about something simpler: is the site making it easy for search engines and humans to do their jobs? If bots cannot crawl, render, or index pages properly, performance media, content, and campaigns all hit a ceiling.

At Setsail, we treat any technical SEO audit checklist as a revenue protection project. The goal is not to tick every possible box on the internet. The goal is to fix the handful of issues that block impressions, clicks, and conversions for your most valuable pages. Technical SEO isn’t a dev only job, it protects your marketing budget by making sure campaigns aren’t held back by avoidable site issues.

That’s why this guide focuses on the parts of technical SEO marketing teams can own: setting the right audit scope, translating crawl data into clear priorities, and coordinating fixes across content, dev, and analytics.

Step 1: Set up your technical SEO audit foundation

Before you touch code, line up the data and access this is where many audits stall.

What you need in place

• Access to Google Search Console and analytics (GA4 or similar).
• A crawling tool (e.g., Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Deepcrawl).
• Admin access to your CMS and hosting or IT ticketing system.
• A simple tracking sheet: list of priority URLs, owners, and KPIs. This can live in the same hub as your SEO strategy work.

Decide on scope: whole site or just core templates like homepage, key service pages, and top content. For many mid-sized organizations, focusing on the 100 to 300 URLs that actually drive leads is faster and more impactful.

Clarify goals before you crawl

• List 3 to 5 business outcomes you want from this audit (for example, more organic demos, lower CPA on key campaigns, or stronger lead quality).
• Tag each technical issue with at least one of those outcomes so prioritization stays tied to results.

Step 2: Crawlability & indexation (SEO technical audit checklist)

This is the heart of any technical SEO audit checklist. You’re answering two questions: “Can search engines crawl our pages?” and “Are they allowed to index the ones we care about?”

Checklist: crawling & indexation

• Robots.txt: Confirm it exists, returns a 200 status, and does not block key sections such as /services/, /blog/, or /product/ URLs.
• XML sitemaps: Ensure sitemaps are clean, up to date, and referenced in Search Console. They should include only canonical, indexable URLs.
• Index coverage: In Search Console, review “Pages” reports for patterns (soft 404s, redirects, “Alternate page with proper canonical”).
• Noindex / canonical tags: On priority pages, confirm you are not unintentionally using noindex and that canonical tags point to the correct URL.
• Server responses: Fix 5xx errors and chains of redirects that waste crawl budget.

As you work through these, it helps to compare what you’re seeing with Google’s own guidance on crawling and indexing, especially around sitemaps, robots.txt, and canonicalization. See Google Search Central documentation on crawling and indexing for details.

Structured data & rich results

Once core crawling and indexing are stable, add structured data so your most important templates can qualify for rich results (like FAQ accordions or product snippets). Start with the pages that already drive impressions and conversions.

• Identify key page types: Blog articles, product or service pages, location pages, and support content.
• Choose schema types: Common choices include Article, Product, LocalBusiness, FAQPage, and HowTo. Use Google’s structured data gallery to confirm which types are supported.
• Implement JSON‑LD: Add schema for each template, either via your CMS, a tag manager, or directly in the code.
• Test for rich results: Run samples through Google’s Rich Results Test and fix any errors or warnings before rollout. Refer to Google’s advanced structured data guidelines as you scale implementation.
• Match on page content: Make sure every structured data field (like headline, price, or rating) matches what users actually see on the page to avoid eligibility issues.

For most marketing teams, the win is not adding every possible schema type it’s making sure the few that matter most are complete, accurate, and maintained as pages change.

This is often where marketing leaders get big early wins: freeing up indexation for long blocked content or product categories.

Fixing crawl and indexation issues on your highest value pages is often the fastest way to unlock new organic growth.

Step 3: Site speed & Core Web Vitals

Speed is no longer a “nice to have.” Core Web Vitals Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) show how fast and stable your pages feel to real users.

Checklist: performance & Core Web Vitals

• Run PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console for key templates.
• Flag pages with poor or “needs improvement” scores, especially on mobile.
• Work with devs to compress images, use modern formats, and reduce unused JavaScript and CSS.
• Check for layout jumps caused by late loading ads, pop ups, or fonts that hurt CLS.

Google’s research into Core Web Vitals shows that when sites meet the recommended thresholds, users are about 24% less likely to abandon page loads mid way evidence that performance work directly protects revenue.

Other studies have found that more than half of mobile visitors (around 53%) abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load, so shaving even a second off key templates can make a meaningful difference in conversion rates. See this Core Web Vitals and user experience overview for more context.

For stakeholders, translate this into impact: faster landing pages typically bring higher conversion rates and better Quality Scores across your media.

Step 4: Mobile first UX & accessibility

Google now uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. If mobile users struggle, your whole marketing funnel feels that pain.

Checklist: mobile & usability

• Use the Mobile Usability and Page Experience reports in Search Console for common issues.
• Check that mobile pages show the same core content and internal links as desktop.
• Confirm tap targets (buttons, menus) are easy to use with one hand.
• Spot check forms and key flows on popular devices; this pairs nicely with a CRO review like the ones in our performance marketing case studies.

A quick hallway test have non SEOs on your team complete a task on mobile often surfaces more practical issues than any tool.

Step 5: Site architecture & internal links

Think of internal links as your site’s way of telling Google which pages matter most. A messy structure confuses both users and crawlers.

Checklist: architecture & internal linking

• Map your main content hubs: services, solutions, resources, industries. Key pages should be reachable within three clicks from the homepage.
• Check for orphan pages (no internal links pointing to them) in your crawler reports.
• Audit navigation menus and footers so they highlight revenue driving sections.
• Add contextual internal links from high traffic blogs to bottom funnel pages (e.g., from guides to PPC & performance marketing services or contact forms).

A thoughtful internal linking strategy is one of the simplest ways to lift rankings for priority keywords without creating new content.

Step 6: Content duplication, canonicals & hreflang

Most teams don’t set out to create duplicate content. It usually appears through filters, campaign tracking parameters, or CMS quirks.

Checklist: duplication & language versions

• Use your crawler to spot pages with identical or near-identical titles and content.
• Confirm a single “primary” URL exists for each key topic, and that canonicals consistently point there.
• For multi-language or multi-region sites, ensure hreflang tags reference correct language and country codes.
• Consolidate weak duplicates into stronger, evergreen pages instead of spinning up more versions.

This is where a clear SEO technical checklist keeps teams from unintentionally competing against their own pages.

Step 7: Security, HTTPS & technical hygiene

Search engines and users both expect secure browsing. Security issues also erode trust before prospects even read your copy.

Checklist: security & stability

• Confirm all pages redirect to HTTPS and that there is no mixed content warning in browsers.
• Standardize on a single domain format (for example, force https://www.).
• Set up sensible 301 redirects for legacy URLs, retired campaigns, and site migrations. Document these in the same place as your web design & development roadmap.
• Review 404 pages: are they branded, helpful, and linking back into key sections?

These checks also reduce friction for paid traffic, email campaigns, and social visitors, not just organic.

Step 8: Reporting technical SEO to leadership

An audit only matters if leadership understands what to do next. Your job is to translate this technical SEO checklist into a simple, revenue focused story.

Checklist: turning issues into a narrative

• Create a one page summary: top 5 issues, impact on traffic or leads, and recommended fixes with level of effort.
• Group actions into sprints (for example, “Crawl & index clean up,” “Speed & UX,” “Architecture & internal links”).
• Attach simple KPIs: impressions, clicks, organic conversions for the affected URL groups.
• Set timelines with your dev and content teams, then reflect progress in your regular ROI reporting dashboards.

Skip crawl file detail; show how fixes unblock traffic, leads, and pipeline.

Step 9: When to bring in a technical SEO partner

Some issues are quick wins; others JavaScript heavy frameworks, complex faceted navigation, international rollouts can stall teams for months without specialist help.

Case snapshot: For financial services client SentimenTrader, we paired a conversion focused site rebuild with performance and tracking fixes. After launch, subscription sign-ups and trial to paid conversions increased while support tickets dropped because the new UX and explainer videos handled more onboarding. See the full SentimenTrader case study.

Across research led campaigns, similar technical and UX improvements have contributed to more than $25 million in measured sales and typical 6–12x return on ad spend in the first 90 days. See our Marketing Research Library for examples.

Good moments to call in help

• You’re planning a redesign or migration and want technical SEO built into the plan.
• Organic traffic has dropped and internal teams can’t see why.
• You need a neutral partner to diagnose technical debt and prioritize fixes with paid media.
• You want one team handling strategy, content, web, and analytics instead of multiple vendors.

If that sounds familiar, our team at Setsail can help you turn this checklist into a clear roadmap. Talk to us about a technical SEO audit that connects directly to your revenue targets.

Monitoring & recurring audits

A technical SEO checklist isn’t a one and done project. Once the biggest issues are fixed, you’ll get the best results if you treat monitoring as part of your ongoing marketing operations.

What to review on a schedule

• Core Web Vitals: Track field data for your key templates and watch for regressions after new releases or campaign launches.
• Index coverage: Review the Page indexing report in Google Search Console to catch unexpected spikes in “Not indexed” or soft 404s at least once a month.
• Crawl stats & logs: Sample server logs or crawl stats to spot large clusters of 404s, 5xx errors, or infinite URL patterns that waste crawl budget.
• Security & HTTPS: Confirm certificates, redirects, and mixed content issues stay clean, especially after platform or DNS changes.
• Analytics & tags: Confirm key funnel events still fire correctly after site or tag changes.

As a rule of thumb, run a lightweight check monthly, a fuller technical SEO audit twice a year, and always before major changes like migrations or redesigns. Tie these reviews into your wider performance marketing reporting so technical fixes stay aligned with revenue goals.

Summary:

A SEO technical checklist only works if it fits how your team operates. Start with the steps above, prioritize high-impact fixes for your most valuable pages, and roll technical tasks into the same sprint planning you use for campaigns.

Run this process at least twice a year or before any major site change and you’ll move from “we think technical SEO is handled” to “we know our site can support the growth targets we’ve set.”

Technical SEO checklist FAQ

What is a technical SEO checklist?

A technical SEO checklist is a structured set of checks that helps you confirm search engines can crawl, render, index, and understand your site correctly. In this guide, the 9 step framework walks you from data prep and crawling through speed, UX, architecture, duplication, security, and finally reporting back to stakeholders.

How often should you run a technical SEO audit checklist?

For most mid sized organizations, a full technical SEO audit twice a year is enough if nothing major is changing. You’ll also want to run an audit before and after large projects like site migrations, redesigns, URL restructures, or analytics overhauls, and to schedule lighter monthly checks using Search Console and your crawl tool so issues don’t pile up between audits.

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