Audits fail in two directions: too shallow to find anything, or too deep to finish. This 60-point framework is the complete-but-finishable version we run for clients — six layers, ordered by revenue impact, with the cadence each layer deserves. Run it annually in full; run layers 1-2 quarterly.

Layer 1: Indexation & crawl (quarterly)

  1. Robots.txt: no accidental blocks; staging excluded; sitemap referenced.
  2. XML sitemap: canonical URLs only, under 50k URLs, lastmod honest, submitted in Search Console.
  3. Index coverage: GSC "Page indexing" report reviewed; exclusions explained, not ignored.
  4. Crawl budget: parameter URLs, faceted navigation, and infinite spaces (calendars, filters) controlled.
  5. Canonicals: one per page; no chains; cross-domain canonicals intentional.
  6. Status codes: 404s mapped or redirected; soft 404s eliminated; 301 chains under two hops.
  7. Pagination: rel/canonical handling correct for article and product series.
  1. Click depth: every money page within three clicks of home.
  2. Orphan detection: crawl vs sitemap diff — pages with zero internal links fixed or pruned.
  3. Anchor text: descriptive and varied; no "click here" patterns on money terms.
  4. Breadcrumbs: visible + BreadcrumbList schema on all templates.
  5. HTML sitemap for very large sites.
  6. Redirect map currency: old campaign URLs redirected, not 404ing.

Layer 3: Performance & rendering (quarterly)

  1. CrUX field data: CWV pass rates at p75 on mobile — not just lab scores.
  2. LCP element optimization: image preload, hero discipline, no slider LCPs.
  3. CLS: media dimensions, font loading, injected banners.
  4. INP: script audit; third-party tag inventory and deferral.
  5. Rendered-HTML check: critical content present in what Googlebot renders.
  6. Image weight: below-the-fold lazy loading; next-gen formats; responsive srcset.

Layer 4: On-page templates (semi-annual)

  1. Title patterns: unique, within limits, no templated duplication.
  2. Meta descriptions: unique or deliberately omitted; no mass duplication.
  3. Heading discipline: one H1; logical H2/H3 hierarchy; no heading-styled paragraphs.
  4. Image SEO: alt text meaningful; filenames descriptive.
  5. Schema inventory: Organization, WebSite, Breadcrumb, Article/Service where relevant — validated, matching visible content.
  6. Open Graph completeness per template.

Layer 5: Content quality (semi-annual)

  1. Content decay: pages losing traffic quarter-over-quarter identified — refresh, consolidate, or redirect.
  2. Cannibalization: keyword-overlapping pages consolidated or differentiated (see our cluster model).
  3. E-E-A-T: author identity, editorial review, citation quality on money pages.
  4. Thin content: pages under genuine value thresholds merged or enriched.
  5. SERP-feature opportunities: FAQ schema where real FAQs exist; table snippets targeted.

Layer 6: Authority & off-site (annual)

  1. Link profile health: toxic patterns disavowed where warranted; anchor distribution sane.
  2. Digital PR: original data assets and resources earning citations.
  3. Brand SERP: knowledge panel presence; review profiles claimed and consistent.
  4. Competitor share-of-voice on money terms, trended.

Running the audit without drowning

['Tool stack: Screaming Frog (or Sitebulb) + Search Console + PageSpeed Insights + a log-file sample for large sites.', 'Output: findings ranked by revenue impact × effort, each with an owner — not a 90-page PDF that becomes shelfware.', 'Cadence: layers 1-2 quarterly, 3-4 semi-annual, 5-6 annual, full pass yearly.', 'Fix verification: every fix re-crawled and confirmed before the audit is called done.']

An audit that ends in a document is a cost; one that ends in a fix queue is an asset. Our SEO service runs exactly this framework, fix queue included. Related: the technical layer in detail.

How long does a full 60-point audit take?

For a 300-page site: one focused week with the right tooling. Larger sites scale by sampling and log-file prioritization — the framework compresses, the discipline doesn't.

What's the single most commonly missed check?

Index coverage review. GSC quietly reports exclusions most sites never open — and some of those exclusions are money pages.

Run the audit or have it run for you — but run it. Start with ours.