Technical SEO Audit Checklist for SaaS Teams
Technical SEO issues compound silently. By the time you notice traffic declining, you're already months behind. This checklist helps SaaS teams prevent technical debt from sabotaging organic growth.
Why SaaS Sites Face Unique Technical Challenges
Unlike content sites, SaaS platforms have:
- Complex JavaScript-heavy interfaces
- Dynamically generated pages
- Authentication walls
- API-dependent content
- Frequent product updates that break indexing
The Monthly Technical SEO Audit
1. Crawlability & Indexability (30 minutes)
Tools: Screaming Frog, Google Search Console
Check:
- All important pages return 200 status codes
- No critical pages in robots.txt disallow
- XML sitemap includes all indexable pages (under 50K URLs)
- No orphan pages (accessible via internal links)
- Canonical tags point to correct versions
- Hreflang tags implemented correctly (if multi-language)
GSC: Coverage report → Fix "Excluded" and "Error" pages
Red flag: More than 10% of your important pages showing "Discovered - currently not indexed"
2. Core Web Vitals (20 minutes)
Tools: PageSpeed Insights, Chrome DevTools, Web Vitals Chrome Extension
Target scores:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): <2.5 seconds
- FID (First Input Delay): <100ms
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): <0.1
Quick wins:
- Enable browser caching (1 year for static assets)
- Implement lazy loading for images below the fold
- Minify CSS/JavaScript
- Use a CDN for static assets
- Compress images (WebP format)
- Remove render-blocking resources
For SaaS: Test both marketing pages AND logged-in app pages. Google may crawl some app pages.
3. Mobile Responsiveness (15 minutes)
Tools: Mobile-Friendly Test, Chrome DevTools Device Mode
Verify:
- No horizontal scrolling
- Tap targets are 48x48px minimum
- Text readable without zooming (16px minimum)
- Forms usable on mobile
- CTAs easily clickable
SaaS-specific: Test signup flow on mobile. Friction = lost conversions.
4. JavaScript Rendering (30 minutes)
Tools: Mobile-Friendly Test (rendered HTML), View Source
Compare:
- Raw HTML (view-source:)
- Rendered HTML (Inspect Element)
Critical content must be in raw HTML:
- Page titles
- Meta descriptions
- Structured data
- Primary headings
- Key body content
If Google can't see it in raw HTML, it may not index it.
5. Structured Data (15 minutes)
Tools: Schema Markup Validator, Rich Results Test
Implement:
- Organization schema (homepage)
- Article schema (blog posts)
- FAQ schema (support/FAQ pages)
- Product schema (if applicable)
- Breadcrumb schema (navigation)
Validation: Zero errors, warnings acceptable if minor.
6. Internal Linking (20 minutes)
Tools: Screaming Frog, Ahrefs Site Audit
Check:
- Important pages have 3+ internal links
- Orphan pages identified and fixed
- Broken internal links (<1% acceptable)
- Excessive links on single pages (<100 links)
- Logical link structure (important pages linked from homepage/navigation)
For SaaS: Link from high-authority pages (homepage, pricing) to key landing pages (use cases, features).
7. Duplicate Content (15 minutes)
Tools: Siteliner, Copyscape, GSC Coverage Report
Identify:
- Duplicate title tags
- Duplicate meta descriptions
- Parameter-based duplication (?utm, ?ref, etc.)
- HTTP vs HTTPS duplicates
- WWW vs non-WWW duplicates
- Printer-friendly versions
Fix with:
- Canonical tags
- Parameter handling in GSC
- 301 redirects for permanent duplicates
- Robots noindex for temporary duplicates
Priority Matrix: What to Fix First
Critical (Fix this week):
- Pages returning 4xx/5xx errors
- Core business pages not indexed
- Security warnings
- Core Web Vitals failures on key pages
High (Fix this month):
- Broken internal links
- Duplicate content issues
- Missing structured data
- Mobile usability problems
Medium (Fix this quarter):
- Orphan pages
- Excessive redirects
- Image optimization
- Minor CWV improvements
Automation & Monitoring
Don't audit manually every month. Set up:
- Google Search Console alerts for coverage errors
- Ahrefs/Semrush site audit (weekly automated scans)
- PageSpeed Insights API for CWV monitoring
- Uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot, Pingdom)
- Broken link checker (weekly cron job)
The Technical SEO Maintenance Routine
- Daily: Monitor GSC for new errors
- Weekly: Review automated audit reports
- Monthly: Full manual audit using this checklist
- Quarterly: Deep dive into site speed optimization
SaaS-Specific Considerations
Pre-Launch Checklist:
- Staging sites properly blocked from indexing
- Canonical tags in place before launch
- Redirects from old pages mapped
- Sitemap submitted to GSC
Post-Update Checklist:
- Verify no pages broke after deploy
- Check for new JavaScript rendering issues
- Confirm tracking codes still work
- Test any URL structure changes
Measuring Impact
Track these metrics post-fixes:
- Indexable pages (GSC Coverage Report)
- Organic sessions to product pages
- Average position for target keywords
- Core Web Vitals passing rate
- Crawl efficiency (pages crawled per day)
Technical SEO might not be glamorous, but it's the foundation. Fix it once, maintain it regularly, and watch your organic traffic compound.