A website SEO audit is the diagnostic that tells you exactly which fixes will move your rankings, and which are wasted effort. This is the template I use with my real estate agent clients — 47 checks across 8 categories, in priority order. Run it on your own website over a Saturday and you’ll have a 90-day work plan when you’re done.

Before You Start

You’ll need free access to these tools (free tiers work):

Open a spreadsheet for the audit. Three columns: Check, Pass/Fail, Priority. Walk through each item, mark pass or fail, then prioritize by impact.

Category 1: Foundations (10 checks)

These are the technical basics. Failures here block everything else.

  1. Site is HTTPS, not HTTP. Check the URL bar — green padlock visible? If not, install an SSL certificate (most hosts offer free Let’s Encrypt). HTTP sites lose rankings and trust.

  2. WWW vs. non-WWW resolved. Either https://yoursite.com or https://www.yoursite.com redirects to the other. Both versions resolving to live content creates duplicate content issues.

  3. XML sitemap exists at /sitemap.xml. Submitted to Google Search Console. Visit https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml — should show structured XML, not a 404.

  4. Robots.txt exists at /robots.txt. Doesn’t accidentally block important content. Visit it and look for Disallow: / (blocks everything) or other restrictive rules on important paths.

  5. Site is in Google Search Console and verified. If not, claim and verify today.

  6. Site is in Google Analytics 4. If you’re still on Universal Analytics, migrate — UA stopped processing data in July 2023.

  7. Custom favicon installed. Small but signals care.

  8. 404 page is helpful, not generic. Custom 404 with site search, top content, or contact form.

  9. No “Coming Soon” or maintenance pages visible to search engines. Common on partially launched sites.

  10. WordPress core, themes, and plugins are current. Outdated software is a security risk and often a speed problem.

Category 2: On-Page SEO (12 checks)

These move rankings the most directly.

  1. Every page has a unique title tag. Format: Primary Keyword | Hyperlocal Modifier | Brand. No duplicates across pages.

  2. Title tags are 50–60 characters. Longer gets truncated in search results.

  3. Every page has a unique meta description. 145–155 characters, compelling, includes the primary keyword.

  4. Every page has exactly one H1. Multiple H1s confuse Google.

  5. H1 matches the page’s search intent. Not “Welcome” — “Stapleton Denver Real Estate Agent.”

  6. H2/H3 structure is logical and hierarchical. Scan with browser dev tools or use a Chrome extension like “HeadingsMap.”

  7. URLs are clean: lowercase, hyphenated, no stopwords, ≤ 60 chars. No /page-id=842 URLs.

  8. No dates in evergreen URLs. /blog/2024/buying-tips/ ages your content badly.

  9. Primary keyword appears in title, H1, first 100 words, URL, and at least one H2.

  10. No keyword stuffing. Read each page aloud — if it sounds like a robot wrote it for an algorithm, fix it.

  11. Internal linking is present and varied. Every page has 2–5 contextual links to other relevant pages, with varied anchor text.

  12. External links open in new tabs and use rel=”noopener”. Optional but good UX.

Category 3: Content Quality (6 checks)

Content quality is the largest single category of fixes, but the work is bigger per check.

  1. Every priority neighborhood has a dedicated page. 2,500+ words. Original content. Not template-spun across neighborhoods.

  2. Service pages (Buying, Selling, Relocating) are 1,500+ words each. Not stub pages.

  3. About page has visible EEAT signals. Headshot, credentials, license number, years of experience, designations, contact info.

  4. Blog has been updated within the last 90 days. Stale blogs hurt rankings.

  5. No thin pages (under 300 words) indexed. If they exist, either expand them or add noindex.

  6. Author bylines visible on blog posts. Real estate is YMYL — anonymous content underperforms.

Category 4: Mobile (5 checks)

Google indexes the mobile version as primary since 2024.

  1. Site passes Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test on every important page. Run it on your home, about, and top neighborhood pages.

  2. Tap targets sized 44×44 pixels minimum. Buttons big enough for thumbs.

  3. Content parity between mobile and desktop. All desktop content also visible on mobile. No hidden accordions removing important info.

  4. Mobile navigation works. Hamburger menu opens, links are tappable, search is accessible.

  5. No horizontal scrolling on mobile. Common on poorly-designed listing pages.

Category 5: Core Web Vitals & Speed (5 checks)

Run PageSpeed Insights on home, about, and a representative neighborhood page. Check mobile scores.

  1. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) under 2.5 seconds. Most agent sites fail here due to large hero images.

  2. INP (Interaction to Next Paint) under 200ms. IDX widgets are the common culprit on real estate sites.

  3. CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) under 0.1. Images without dimensions, late-loading ads, and shifting widgets cause CLS issues.

  4. Total page weight under 2MB. Larger pages mean slower loads on 4G.

  5. Images are compressed and in modern format (WebP). Use Squoosh or a WordPress plugin like ShortPixel to batch-compress.

Category 6: Schema Markup (5 checks)

Schema is the structured data that feeds Google and AI search engines.

  1. Organization or LocalBusiness schema on every page. Validates with Rich Results Test.

  2. RealEstateAgent schema on home and about pages. Includes NAP, service areas, license info.

  3. Article + Author schema on every blog post.

  4. FAQPage schema on any page with a FAQ section. Should match visible content exactly.

  5. BreadcrumbList schema on non-home pages. Helps Google understand navigation hierarchy.

Run each page through the Rich Results Test to validate.

Category 7: Local SEO Specifics (5 checks)

  1. NAP (name, address, phone) consistent across site, GBP, and citations. Same exact format, down to punctuation.

  2. Hyperlocal content on home page. Specific neighborhoods named, not just “Denver.”

  3. Embedded Google Map on contact page.

  4. Embedded recent Google Reviews on home or testimonials page. With Review/AggregateRating schema (only if you display them; don’t fake the markup).

  5. Service areas in GBP match service areas mentioned on website. Consistency reinforces entity signal.

Category 8: Lead Capture (4 checks)

Audit conversion mechanics, not just SEO.

  1. Home valuation tool visible above the fold on home page.

  2. Multiple lead magnets across the site. Not just one generic “Contact me.”

  3. Forms work. Submit a test form yourself. Many agent forms haven’t worked in months.

  4. Auto-response confirmation sent within 60 seconds. Test it.

Prioritizing Your Fixes

You’ll likely fail 15–30 checks. Don’t try to fix everything in week one. Prioritize:

Priority 1 — Same Week (impact: highest, effort: low):
– HTTPS, sitemap, Search Console, mobile-friendly failures
– Title tags + meta descriptions on top 10 pages
– Broken forms
– Missing schema markup on home and about

Priority 2 — Within 30 Days (impact: high, effort: medium):
– Core Web Vitals fixes (image compression, IDX widget audit)
– Internal linking pass on top 20 pages
– NAP consistency audit and fixes
– About page EEAT upgrade

Priority 3 — Within 90 Days (impact: high, effort: high):
– Neighborhood page rewrites/expansions
– Service page content expansion
– Schema markup site-wide
– Blog content cadence reestablishment

Priority 4 — Ongoing (impact: compounding):
– Weekly content publishing
– Monthly NAP and schema audits
– Quarterly Core Web Vitals checks

What to Do With Your Results

Once your audit is complete:

  1. Create a 90-day work plan with the Priority 1 + 2 fixes.
  2. Block recurring time on your calendar — 2 hours per week for SEO maintenance, 4 hours per week for content production.
  3. Set up a quarterly audit cadence — every 90 days, walk through this template again.
  4. Track movement — note your starting positions for top 30 keywords. Re-check in 60 and 90 days.

For most agents, executing the Priority 1 + 2 fixes produces visible ranking movement within 90 days. The neighborhood content layer (Priority 3) is the compounding investment that pays off in months 6–18.

For the broader website SEO strategy, see the Real Estate Agent Website SEO pillar. For the Core Web Vitals deep dive, see the Site Speed for Real Estate Websites spoke (coming soon).

If you’d like me to personally walk through this audit with you on your site, reach out for a free 30-minute review.

Jon Smith is a 20+ year SEO veteran specializing in real estate agent website audits. He has audited hundreds of agent sites across North America.

Sources: