You don't need expensive software to find out what's holding your website back in Google. With free tools and about an hour, you can spot most of the problems we'd find in a professional audit. Grab a cup of chai and a notepad.

1. Is Google indexing your site? (10 minutes)

Search Google for site:yourdomain.com. Roughly how many pages appear? Are your important pages there? Are there pages that shouldn't be, like test pages or duplicates?

Then open Google Search Console's Pages report. Look for important pages marked as not indexed and any errors. If you don't have Search Console yet, start with our Search Console guide.

2. Titles and descriptions (10 minutes)

Look at how your key pages appear in Google. Are titles clear and specific, or generic like "Home"? Is your brand name repeated twice? Are descriptions present and persuasive? Note pages that need better ones. Our meta title and description guide explains how to fix them.

3. Headings (5 minutes)

Open your homepage and two key pages. Does each have one clear main heading (H1) that says what the page is about? A free browser extension that shows headings makes this quick.

4. Speed (10 minutes)

Run your homepage and a key inner page through PageSpeed Insights on mobile. Note your Core Web Vitals and the top suggestions. Are huge images or too many scripts mentioned? See Core Web Vitals explained.

5. Mobile experience (5 minutes)

Use your site on your phone, on mobile data. Is text readable? Are buttons easy to tap? Does anything cover the screen or break?

6. Content (10 minutes)

For each main product category or service, ask: do we have a dedicated page for it? Does it have enough helpful content, or just a line or two? Are there common customer questions we don't answer anywhere?

7. Links (5 minutes)

Click through your menu, footer and a few pages. Any broken links? Are important pages linked from the homepage? Are blog posts linking to products or services? See our internal linking guide.

8. Local and trust basics (5 minutes)

Is your address, phone and business name consistent between your website and Google Business Profile? Do you have reviews? Are your policy pages linked in the footer?

Turn it into an action list

Sort what you found into three groups: quick fixes (titles, headings, broken links), medium jobs (content, images, speed) and bigger projects (restructuring, redesigns). Do the quick fixes this week.

For Shopify stores, our Shopify SEO checklist goes deeper. Want a professional audit instead? It's the first step in our Monthly SEO package. Get in touch.