Step-by-step pre-launch SEO audit checklist: technical setup, content optimization, speed, and mobile readiness. Ensure your site is search-engine friendly!
Launching a website without an SEO audit is like crossing the road blindfolded. Even the most beautiful and functional site can lose 90% of traffic due to technical errors. This checklist will help you conduct a comprehensive audit before launch.
1. Technical Audit
- Search Engine Accessibility
- Check robots.txt for blocked important pages
- Ensure no
noindexmeta tags - Verify sitemap.xml existence and relevance
- Site Structure
- Human-readable URLs
- No duplicate pages
- Proper 301 redirects from old version (if redesigned)
- Security & Protocols
- Working HTTPS
- Valid SSL certificate
- No mixed content (HTTP resources on HTTPS pages)
2. Content & Metadata
- Meta Tags
- Unique Titles (50-60 chars)
- Descriptive Descriptions (120-160 chars)
- Filled image alt attributes
- Semantic Markup
- Proper heading hierarchy (H1-H6)
- Schema.org markup
- Open Graph tags for social media
3. Performance
- Loading Speed
- Optimized images (WebP/AVIF)
- Enabled caching
- Minified CSS/JS
- Mobile Adaptation
- Proper display on all devices
- No horizontal scroll
- Optimal font sizes
4. Additional Checks
- Broken link test
- Favicon check
- Competitor analysis
- Google Search Console setup
Conclusion
Spend 2-3 hours on pre-launch audit — it will save months of promotion. Use tools: Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, PageSpeed Insights.