How to Conduct a Comprehensive OnPage SEO Audit

1. Core Technical On-Page Foundations Audit

Before dissecting content or keywords, a comprehensive on-page SEO audit must begin with the non-negotiable technical foundations of the page itself. These elements determine if search engine crawlers can find, access, understand, and index your page efficiently. A failure at this stage renders all other optimizations moot. This audit phase is about ensuring the page has a clean bill of health from a purely technical standpoint, creating a stable platform upon which to build your content and linking strategy.

1.1. Indexability Status Check

The single most critical question is: can Google and other search engines index this page? A non-indexable page is invisible in organic search results.

• Robots Meta Tag Analysis: Inspect the page’s HTML source code (right-click, “View Page Source” or use browser developer tools) and search for .
  • index vs. noindex: The directive must be index or absent altogether (as index is the default). If you find content="noindex", this is a direct instruction to search engines not to include the page in their index. This is the most common and severe cause of a page not ranking. You must identify why this tag is present—it could be a leftover from a staging environment, a misconfigured SEO plugin (like Yoast or Rank Math in WordPress), or an intentional but incorrect decision. The resolution is to remove the noindex directive.
  • follow vs. nofollow: This directive tells search engines whether to crawl the links on the page. For most key pages, you want this to be follow (which is also the default). A nofollow directive can prevent the flow of PageRank and discovery of other important pages on your site.
• X-Robots-Tag HTTP Header: This is a less common but equally powerful method for controlling indexing. It’s not in the HTML but in the server’s HTTP response header. Use a tool like Google’s Rich Results Test, Ahrefs’ Site Audit, or a browser extension like “Redirect Path” to inspect the HTTP headers for the page’s URL. Look for an X-Robots-Tag line. If it contains noindex, it has the same effect as the meta tag and must be corrected at the server configuration level (e.g., in the .htaccess file or server settings).
• Google Search Console (GSC) Inspection: The most definitive way to check Google’s view of your page.
  • Use the URL Inspection Tool in GSC. Paste the full URL of the page you are auditing.
  • GSC will report directly on the “URL is on Google” or “URL is not on Google” status.
  • If it’s not on Google, the tool will provide a reason. It might say “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag,” “Blocked by robots.txt,” “Not found (404),” or “Crawled – currently not indexed.” The last one is nuanced and can indicate a quality issue, but the others are direct technical blocks that need immediate fixing.
  • You can request indexing directly from this tool once you’ve fixed the underlying issue.

1.2. Crawlability and Robots.txt Review

While indexability is about permission to be in the index, crawlability is about the ability of search engine bots to access the page in the first place.

• Robots.txt File Check: Locate your robots.txt file by navigating to yourdomain.com/robots.txt. This file gives instructions to web crawlers.
  • Look for Disallow: directives. Check if the URL of the page you are auditing (or a parent directory containing it) is listed after a Disallow: line for the relevant user-agent (e.g., User-agent: Googlebot). For instance, Disallow: /blog/ would block crawlers from the entire blog section.
  • A common mistake is an overly broad disallow rule like Disallow: /, which blocks the entire site. Ensure that the page in question is not inadvertently blocked.
  • Also, ensure that critical resources like CSS and JavaScript files are not disallowed. Blocking these prevents Google from rendering the page correctly, which severely impacts their understanding and evaluation of your page. The URL Inspection tool in GSC will report on “Page fetch” issues if it cannot retrieve these resources.

1.3. Canonical Tag Verification

Canonical tags (rel="canonical") are essential for managing duplicate content and consolidating ranking signals to a single, preferred URL. Misconfiguration can cause the wrong page to rank or dilute your SEO equity.

• Identify the Canonical URL: View the page’s source code and look for .
• Self-Referencing Canonical: For the primary version of a page, the canonical URL should point to itself. For example, on the page https://example.com/on-page-seo, the canonical tag should be . This is a best practice that confirms to search engines that this page is the master version.
• Cross-Domain Canonicals: If the content is legitimately syndicated or duplicated on another domain, the canonical should point to the original source.
• Parameter Handling: For URLs with parameters (e.g., from tracking or filtering), the canonical tag should typically point to the clean, parameter-free version of the URL to prevent duplicate content issues. For example, https://example.com/shoes?color=blue should have a canonical tag pointing to https://example.com/shoes.
• Audit for Errors:
  • Missing Canonical: A page without a canonical tag is vulnerable to duplicate content issues from URL parameters or other variations.
  • Incorrect Canonical: A page canonicalizing to an irrelevant page, a 404 page, or the homepage by mistake is a serious issue. This tells search engines to credit a different page for this content, effectively making the current page disappear from search in favor of the canonical target. Use a crawler like Screaming Frog to audit canonicals across the site to find these errors at scale.

1.4. HTTP Status Code Check

The page must return the correct HTTP status code to browsers and crawlers.

• Check for 200 OK: A healthy, live page should return a 200 OK status code. You can check this using browser developer tools (under the “Network” tab) or online header checker tools.
• Identify Redirects (3xx): If the URL you are auditing returns a 301 (Permanent) or 302 (Temporary) redirect, you are not auditing the final destination page. You need to follow the redirect chain to its end and audit that final URL. Long redirect chains should be eliminated. A 301 is preferred for permanent moves as it passes the most link equity.
• Client Errors (4xx): If the page returns a 404 Not Found or 410 Gone, it means the page doesn’t exist. It cannot be indexed or ranked. The audit should then focus on why it’s a 404—was the page moved or deleted? If so, a 301 redirect should be implemented to a relevant new page to preserve user experience and link equity.
• Server Errors (5xx): A 500 or 503 error indicates a problem with the server. These are critical issues that make the page completely inaccessible and must be addressed by a developer immediately.

2. Keyword Research and Mapping Audit

Once the technical foundation is secure, the next step is to audit the page’s strategic alignment with user search behavior. This involves a deep dive into keyword targeting, ensuring the page is optimized for the most valuable and relevant terms that match user intent.

2.1. Identify Current Keyword Rankings

Before you can optimize, you need a baseline. What is the page currently ranking for?

• Tools for Analysis:
  • Google Search Console (GSC): This is the most accurate source of data. Go to the “Performance” report, click “+ New,” and select “Page.” Enter the URL you’re auditing. GSC will show you all the queries (keywords) for which this page has received impressions and clicks over the selected time frame. Pay attention to queries with high impressions but low click-through rates (CTR), as this often indicates a mismatch in title/meta description or content that doesn’t fully satisfy the user’s intent. Also, look for keywords ranking on page 2 or 3 (positions 11-30), as these are often prime candidates for optimization.
  • Ahrefs/SEMrush: Enter the exact URL into their site explorer tools. They will provide a list of “Organic Keywords” the page is ranking for, along with their position, search volume, and estimated traffic. This data is often more extensive than GSC’s but is based on their own databases, not Google’s direct data.
• Analysis:
  • Is the page ranking for its intended primary keyword?
  • Are there unexpected but relevant keywords the page is ranking for? These can present new optimization opportunities.
  • Are the rankings clustered around a single topic, or are they scattered and unfocused? A lack of focus suggests the content may be too broad or poorly optimized.

2.2. Define or Re-evaluate the Primary and Secondary Keywords

Every page should have one primary keyword and a set of closely related secondary keywords.

• Primary Keyword Selection: This is the single most important term the page should rank for. It should have a healthy search volume, be highly relevant to the page’s content, and match the search intent you want to capture.
  • Relevance: Does the keyword perfectly describe the core topic of the page?
  • Search Volume: Is there sufficient demand for this term? Use tools like Ahrefs Keyword Explorer or Google Keyword Planner.
  • Competition (Keyword Difficulty): How hard will it be to rank for this term? Assess the authority of the sites currently ranking on page one. A new site should not target a highly competitive keyword initially.
  • Intent: Does the search intent behind the keyword (informational, commercial, navigational, transactional) align with what your page offers? Analyze the SERP for the keyword. Are the top results blog posts, product pages, or category pages? Your page format must match this expectation.
• Secondary Keyword Identification: These are not just synonyms but subtopics, long-tail variations, and related questions that add depth and context to the page.
  • Tools for Discovery:
    • Google SERP: Look at the “People Also Ask” (PAA) boxes and “Related searches” at the bottom of the search results for your primary keyword. These are direct insights into what users are also looking for.
    • Keyword Research Tools: Ahrefs’ “Related terms” and “Questions” reports are invaluable.
    • AnswerThePublic: A great tool for visualizing questions and prepositions related to your topic.
  • Purpose: Secondary keywords help you capture a wider range of long-tail traffic, demonstrate topical authority to Google, and structure your content logically using H2s and H3s that answer these related queries.

2.3. Keyword Mapping and Cannibalization Check

Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on your own website compete for the same primary keyword, confusing search engines and diluting your authority.

• Audit for Cannibalization:
  • Do a site:yourdomain.com "primary keyword" search on Google. This will show you all the pages on your site that Google considers relevant for that keyword.
  • If the page you are auditing is not the top result from your own site, or if several pages are appearing with similar title tags, you likely have a cannibalization issue.
  • Use Ahrefs or SEMrush to check if different URLs from your site are ranking for the same target keyword, sometimes even swapping positions in the SERPs.
• Resolution Strategies:
  • Consolidate: If two pages are very similar, merge the best elements of both into one “super” page. Then, 301 redirect the weaker page to the new, consolidated one. This is often the best solution.
  • Re-optimize: If the pages serve slightly different intents, you can de-optimize the “wrong” page for the keyword. Remove the term from its title tag, headers, and prominent body content, and re-focus it on a different, more specific keyword.
  • Canonicalize: If you must keep both pages, use a canonical tag from the less important page to the one you want to rank.

3. Title Tag and Meta Description Analysis

The title tag and meta description are your page’s advertisement in the search results. They are critical for attracting clicks and providing search engines with a primary signal about the page’s content.

3.1. Title Tag () Optimization Audit

The title tag is a heavily weighted on-page ranking factor and has a massive impact on click-through rate (CTR).

• Presence and Uniqueness:
  • Ensure the page has one, and only one, title tag.
  • It must be unique across your entire website. Duplicate title tags are a major red flag for duplicate content. Use a crawler like Screaming Frog to identify all duplicate titles on your site.
• Length:
  • Google displays approximately 55-65 characters or around 600 pixels on desktop. Titles longer than this will be truncated, often ending with “…”.
  • Use a SERP snippet preview tool to check how your title will appear. While a longer title might provide more context for crawlers, the user-facing portion should be compelling and complete.
• Keyword Placement:
  • The primary keyword should be placed as close to the beginning of the title tag as possible. This gives it more weight and makes it more prominent to users scanning the results.
• Content and Format:
  • Accuracy: The title must accurately reflect the content of the page. A misleading title leads to a high bounce rate (or pogo-sticking), which is a negative signal.
  • Compelling Language: Use power words (e.g., “Comprehensive,” “Ultimate,” “Step-by-Step”), numbers (e.g., “10 Proven Ways”), or ask a question to entice clicks.
  • Branding: It’s a common practice to include your brand name at the end of the title, separated by a pipe (|) or a hyphen (-). For example: Primary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand Name.

3.2. Meta Description () Optimization Audit

While not a direct ranking factor, the meta description heavily influences CTR. It’s your sales pitch to the user in the SERPs.

• Presence and Uniqueness:
  • Just like the title tag, every important page should have a unique meta description. Missing descriptions let Google generate its own snippet, which is often a poorly formatted and uncompelling chunk of text from the page.
• Length:
  • Google typically displays up to 155-160 characters. Anything longer will be truncated. Write a concise and compelling summary within this limit.
• Content and Quality:
  • Include the Primary Keyword: While not for ranking, Google often bolds the user’s search query in the meta description if it’s present, which draws the eye and confirms relevance.
  • Describe the Value: Don’t just summarize the page; sell it. What problem does it solve? What will the user learn? Use active voice and include a call-to-action (e.g., “Learn more,” “Discover how,” “Shop now”).
  • Accurately Reflect the Page: It must align with the page’s content to meet user expectations.
• Important Note: Google reserves the right to rewrite your meta description and often does, especially for long-tail queries where a different snippet from your page might be a better match. However, providing a well-crafted one increases the chance it will be used for your primary target query.

4. Header Tag (H1-H6) Hierarchy and Optimization

Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) create structure and hierarchy for both users and search engines. They break up the text, making it scannable, and they signal the relative importance of different sections of your content.

4.1. H1 Tag Audit

The H1 tag is the main heading of the page and should be treated like a second title.

• Single H1 Rule: There should be one, and only one, H1 tag per page. While modern HTML5 allows for multiple H1s in different sectioning elements, the long-standing SEO best practice is to stick to one to avoid any potential confusion for search crawlers. Use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl the site and filter for pages with zero or multiple H1s.
• Content and Keyword Inclusion:
  • The H1 should be very similar to, but not necessarily identical to, the page’s title tag. This reinforces the page’s topic.
  • It must include the page’s primary keyword.
  • It should clearly and concisely describe the page’s content.

4.2. H2-H6 Subheading Hierarchy Audit

Subheadings create the logical outline of your content.

• Logical Structure: The headers must follow a logical, sequential order. You should not skip levels. An H2 should be followed by another H2 or an H3, but never jump from an H2 directly to an H4. This proper hierarchy helps search engines understand the structure of your document.
• Keyword Optimization:
  • Use your secondary keywords and related long-tail queries naturally within your H2 and H3 tags. This is a prime location to signal the breadth of your topic. For example, if your H1 is “How to Conduct an On-Page SEO Audit,” your H2s could be “Keyword Research Audit,” “Title Tag Analysis,” “Content Quality Check,” etc.
• Readability: Subheadings are crucial for user experience. They break up intimidating walls of text and allow users to scan the page to find the specific information they need. Ensure they are descriptive and helpful.

5. Content Body and Quality Audit

The actual content on the page is the heart of on-page SEO. High-quality, relevant, and well-optimized content is what satisfies user intent and earns rankings. This part of the audit is the most detailed.

5.1. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) Evaluation

E-E-A-T is a framework from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines used to assess content quality. It’s especially crucial for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics but is a good practice for all content.

• Experience: Does the content demonstrate first-hand, real-world experience with the topic?
  • Audit Check: Look for evidence of personal use, case studies, original photos or videos, and specific, non-generic advice. The content should “show” rather than just “tell.”
• Expertise: Is the content created by a subject matter expert?
  • Audit Check: Look for a clear author bio with credentials, links to their social profiles or other publications, and content that is factually accurate and comprehensive. For YMYL topics, the author’s formal expertise is critical.
• Authoritativeness: Is the site or author a known authority on the topic?
  • Audit Check: This is partly off-page (backlinks, brand mentions) but can be supported on-page. Citing reputable sources, having a well-maintained blog with a clear topical focus, and showcasing awards or media mentions all build authority.
• Trustworthiness: Can users trust the website and the information presented?
  • Audit Check: This includes having a secure HTTPS connection, clear contact information, an “About Us” page, a privacy policy, and easy-to-find terms of service. The content should be free of factual errors and have clear sourcing for claims.

5.2. Search Intent Alignment

Your content must match the user’s reason for searching (the “why” behind the query).

• Identify the Dominant Intent: Search for your primary keyword in an incognito window. Analyze the top-ranking results.
  • Informational: Are the results blog posts, guides, and “how-to” articles? Users want to learn something.
  • Commercial Investigation: Are they review pages, comparison articles, or “best of” lists? Users are researching before a potential purchase.
  • Transactional: Are they product pages or service pages where you can buy something directly? Users are ready to convert.
  • Navigational: Is the top result a specific brand’s homepage? The user is trying to get to a specific site.
• Audit Your Page: Does your page format and content style match the dominant intent in the SERPs? If the SERP is full of informational blog posts and you have a product page, you are unlikely to rank. You must align your content format with user expectations.

5.3. Content Uniqueness, Depth, and Value

Your content needs to be better or different than what is already ranking.

• Plagiarism Check: Use a tool like Copyscape to ensure the content is 100% original. Duplicate content, even internally, can be a major issue.
• Content Depth: Is the content comprehensive? Does it cover the topic in sufficient detail, answering all the likely follow-up questions a user might have? Compare your content’s word count and subtopic coverage to the top-ranking pages. Your page should aim to be a more complete resource.
• Unique Value Proposition: What makes your content stand out? It could be:
  • Original research or data.
  • A unique perspective or expert opinion.
  • A more detailed step-by-step process.
  • Better design, visuals, or interactive elements.
  • Practical case studies or examples.
    An audit should identify if the content is just a rehash of other articles or if it offers true, unique value.

5.4. Keyword Usage and Semantic SEO

Modern SEO is not about stuffing keywords. It’s about using them naturally and covering a topic semantically.

• Primary Keyword Prominence: Your primary keyword should appear naturally in key places: the title tag, H1, the first 100 words of the body content, and a few times throughout the text where it makes sense.
• Semantic SEO (LSI Keywords & TF-IDF):
  • LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords: These are conceptually related terms and phrases that Google expects to see in content about a certain topic. For an article about “coffee,” this would include terms like “beans,” “roast,” “espresso,” “caffeine,” and “grinder.”
  • TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency): This is a more advanced analysis that compares the frequency of words on your page to their frequency across a corpus of top-ranking documents for a given keyword. Tools like Surfer SEO or Clearscope can perform this analysis.
  • Audit Check: Does your content include these related subtopics and entities? A lack of semantic richness can make the content seem thin to search engines. Review your content and look for opportunities to naturally incorporate these related concepts to demonstrate your topical authority.

5.5. Readability and Formatting

A wall of text will send users running. Good formatting improves user experience and engagement signals.

• Short Paragraphs: Keep paragraphs to 2-4 sentences max.
• Simple Language: Write for a broad audience. Use tools like the Hemingway App to check for complex sentences and passive voice. Aim for an 8th or 9th-grade reading level unless your audience is highly academic.
• Formatting Elements:
  • Bold and Italics: Use them strategically to emphasize key points and make the text more scannable.
  • Bulleted and Numbered Lists: Break up long explanations and make information easy to digest.
  • Blockquotes: Use them to highlight quotes or important takeaways.
• White Space: Ensure there is ample white space around text and elements to reduce cognitive load and improve focus.

6. Image and Multimedia Optimization

Images, videos, and other multimedia can significantly enhance user engagement, but they must be optimized to avoid hurting page performance and to provide SEO value.

6.1. Image File Name and Alt Text

• Descriptive File Names: Image file names should be descriptive and use keywords. Instead of IMG_8432.jpg, use on-page-seo-audit-checklist.jpg. This provides context to search engines.
• Alt Text (Alternative Text): This is the most important image SEO element.
  • Purpose: Alt text describes the image for visually impaired users using screen readers and for search engines who cannot “see” the image. It also displays if the image fails to load.
  • Audit Check: Every meaningful image on the page must have descriptive alt text. It should accurately describe what’s in the image and, if possible and natural, include a relevant keyword. It should not be a list of stuffed keywords. Decorative images can have an empty alt attribute (alt="").

6.2. Image Size and File Type

Large, unoptimized images are the number one cause of slow page load times.

• Image Compression: Use tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, or plugins like WP Smush to compress images without significant quality loss. This can drastically reduce file size.
• Proper Dimensions: Resize images to the maximum dimensions they will be displayed at on the page. Don’t upload a 4000px wide image and then scale it down to 600px with HTML or CSS. This forces the user to download the massive file unnecessarily.
• Next-Gen Formats: Use modern image formats like WebP, which offer superior compression and quality compared to JPEGs and PNGs.

6.3. Video Optimization

• Hosting: Host videos on a platform like YouTube or Vimeo and embed them on your page. This prevents the large video files from slowing down your server.
• Video Schema: Use VideoObject schema markup to provide search engines with details about your video, like the thumbnail, duration, and description. This can help your video appear in video-rich snippets in search results.

7. Internal and External Linking Strategy Audit

Links provide context and pass authority. A well-structured linking strategy is crucial for both user navigation and SEO.

7.1. Internal Linking Audit

Internal links connect pages on your own website.

• Contextual Links: The best internal links are placed within the body content and use descriptive anchor text. For example, linking the phrase “learn more about technical SEO” to your technical SEO guide is much better than using generic anchor text like “click here.”
• Relevance: Links should point to other relevant, helpful pages on your site. This helps users discover more of your content and helps search engines understand the relationship between your pages.
• Orphaned Pages: An orphaned page is one with no internal links pointing to it. Search engines will have a hard time finding it, and it will have no authority passed to it from other pages on your site. Use a site crawler to identify and fix orphaned pages by linking to them from relevant, high-authority pages.
• Link Depth: Important pages should not be buried deep within your site architecture. They should be accessible within 2-3 clicks from the homepage.

7.2. External Linking (Outbound Links) Audit

Linking out to other high-quality, relevant websites can enhance your content’s trustworthiness and provide value to your users.

• Authority and Relevance: Link to authoritative, reputable sources to back up your claims. This shows Google you are part of the broader web community and can add credibility to your content.
• Anchor Text: The anchor text for external links should be natural and describe the resource you’re linking to.
• nofollow vs. follow:
  • Use rel="nofollow" (or rel="sponsored" for paid links, rel="ugc" for user-generated content) for any links you don’t want to pass PageRank to, such as affiliate links or links in comments.
  • For editorial links to sources you trust, a standard follow link is perfectly fine and can be a positive signal.

7.3. Broken Link Check

• Broken Internal and External Links: Links pointing to pages that return a 404 error create a poor user experience and waste link equity. Use a tool like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs’ Site Audit to find all broken links on the page and either update the URL to the correct one or remove the link.

8. URL Structure and Slug Optimization

The URL itself is a small but meaningful on-page SEO factor that impacts both users and crawlers.

• Readability and Simplicity: The URL should be simple, easy to read, and logically structured.
  • Good: https://example.com/seo/on-page-audit
  • Bad: https://example.com/index.php?cat=12&p=5678
• Length: Keep URLs as short and concise as possible while still being descriptive.
• Keyword Inclusion: The URL slug (the part after the final /) should ideally contain your primary keyword.
• Formatting:
  • Use hyphens (-) to separate words. Do not use underscores (_) or spaces.
  • Use lowercase letters.
• Remove Stop Words: It’s a common practice to remove stop words (like “a,” “an,” “the,” “in”) from the URL slug to make it shorter, e.g., /how-to-do-seo/ becomes /how-to-seo/.

9. Schema Markup and Structured Data Implementation

Schema markup is a vocabulary of code that you can add to your page’s HTML to help search engines understand your content more deeply. This can lead to the awarding of “rich snippets” in the SERPs, which can dramatically increase CTR.

• Identify Opportunities: Determine what kind of schema is relevant to your page’s content. Common types include:
  • Article or BlogPosting: For blog posts.
  • FAQPage: For pages with a question-and-answer format. This can result in an interactive FAQ dropdown directly in the SERPs.
  • HowTo: For step-by-step guides. This can generate a rich snippet with numbered steps.
  • Product: For product pages, including price, availability, and review ratings.
  • Review: For review content, enabling star ratings in the SERPs.
  • LocalBusiness: For pages about a physical business, including address, phone number, and hours.
• Audit for Implementation and Errors:
  • Use Google’s Rich Results Test to check if the page currently has structured data.
  • The tool will show you what schema types it has found and will validate whether the code is correct. It will flag any errors or warnings that need to be fixed. Common errors include missing required fields or using incorrect formatting.

10. Page Speed and Core Web Vitals Analysis

Page speed is a confirmed ranking factor and is critical for user experience. Slow pages lead to high bounce rates. Google’s Core Web Vitals (CWV) are the specific metrics used to measure this user experience.

• Tools for Testing:
  • Google PageSpeed Insights: This is the primary tool. It provides both lab data (a snapshot in time) and field data (real-world user data from the Chrome User Experience Report, if available). It scores the page for mobile and desktop and provides a CWV assessment.
  • Google Search Console Core Web Vitals Report: This report shows you how all the pages on your site are performing based on field data, grouping them into “Good,” “Needs Improvement,” and “Poor.”
  • GTmetrix: A popular third-party tool that provides detailed performance reports and waterfalls.
• Core Web Vitals Audit:
  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance. It marks the point when the page’s main content has likely loaded. An LCP below 2.5 seconds is “Good.”
    • Common Causes of Poor LCP: Slow server response times, render-blocking JavaScript and CSS, large image or video files.
    • Fixes: Upgrade hosting, use a CDN, minify CSS/JS, defer non-critical JS, and optimize images.
  • Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Measures interactivity. It assesses a page’s overall responsiveness to user interactions. An INP below 200 milliseconds is “Good.” (Note: INP replaced First Input Delay (FID) as a Core Web Vital in March 2024).
    • Common Causes of Poor INP: Heavy JavaScript execution, complex CSS selectors, large DOM size.
    • Fixes: Break up long JavaScript tasks, optimize code, minimize main-thread work, and reduce the complexity of the page’s DOM.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability. It quantifies how much the page content unexpectedly shifts around during loading. A CLS score below 0.1 is “Good.”
    • Common Causes of Poor CLS: Images without dimensions, ads or embeds that resize themselves, and content being dynamically injected above existing content.
    • Fixes: Always specify width and height attributes for images and video elements, reserve space for ads, and avoid inserting content above the fold after the page starts loading.

11. Mobile-Friendliness and Responsiveness Audit

With Google’s mobile-first indexing, the mobile version of your page is what Google primarily uses for ranking and indexing. It must be flawless.

• Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test: The simplest way to check. Enter your URL, and Google will give you a pass/fail score and report any specific issues.
• Manual Check: View the page on your own smartphone and tablet.
  • Does the content resize to fit the screen without horizontal scrolling?
  • Is the text large enough to read without zooming?
  • Are links and buttons spaced far enough apart to be easily tapped (tap targets)?
  • Are there any intrusive pop-ups or interstitials that cover the main content on mobile? Google penalizes these.
• Viewport Meta Tag: Ensure the page’s HTML section contains the viewport meta tag: . This tells browsers how to control the page’s dimensions and scaling.

12. Assembling the Audit: Tools and Workflow

A comprehensive on-page SEO audit combines data from multiple tools and a systematic, repeatable workflow.

12.1. Essential Tool Stack

• Site Crawler: Screaming Frog SEO Spider (desktop) or Ahrefs/SEMrush Site Audit (cloud-based). Essential for bulk analysis of titles, metas, headers, status codes, canonicals, etc.
• Google Search Console: The source of truth for indexability, current keyword performance, Core Web Vitals, and mobile usability issues.
• All-in-One SEO Suites: Ahrefs or SEMrush for keyword research, competitive analysis, rank tracking, and backlink data.
• Page Speed Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.
• Structured Data Tools: Google’s Rich Results Test and Schema.org.
• Content Tools: Copyscape for plagiarism, Hemingway App for readability, and tools like Surfer SEO or Clearscope for semantic analysis.

12.2. Creating an Actionable Audit Report

The final output of your audit should not just be a list of problems but a prioritized action plan.

• Structure the Report: Organize your findings by the categories outlined in this guide (Technical, Keywords, Content, etc.).
• Prioritize Issues: Classify each finding by severity (e.g., Critical, High, Medium, Low).
  • Critical: Indexing issues (noindex tag, robots.txt block), 5xx server errors. These make the page invisible or inaccessible.
  • High: Major content issues (mismatched intent), poor Core Web Vitals, incorrect H1 or title tag.
  • Medium: Sub-optimal keyword usage, poor formatting, missing image alt text.
  • Low: Minor tweaks like URL slug optimization or adding more external links.
• Provide Clear Recommendations: For each issue, clearly state:
  1. The Problem: What is wrong? (e.g., “The page has a ‘noindex’ meta tag.”)
  2. The Location: Where can it be found? (e.g., “In the section of the HTML.”)
  3. The Solution: What specific action needs to be taken? (e.g., “Remove the tag.”)
  4. The “Why”: Why is this important? (e.g., “This tag is preventing Google from indexing the page, making it impossible to rank in search results.”)
• Assign Ownership: If working in a team, assign each action item to the relevant person (e.g., Developer, Content Writer, SEO Specialist). This transforms the audit from a static document into a dynamic project plan, ensuring that the identified issues are systematically addressed to improve the page’s organic search performance.