Free · No credit card · 60 checks · 6 categories
The SEO content audit your dashboard isn't telling you to run.
Browse the framework below for free. The download adds what makes it usable: every check ranked by priority, a time estimate, the exact how-to (the GSC query, the formula, where to click), and a Google Sheets tracker that scores your progress as you go.
The page is the menu. The download is the kitchen.
The checklist below tells you what to check. The free download tells you how, in what order, and tracks whether you actually did it.
The exact how-to
All 60 checks come with the specific action — the Search Console query, the formula, the menu path. No vague "make sure your SEO is good."
Priority ranking
Every check is tagged P1/P2/P3 by impact-to-effort. Start with the 15 P1 checks (~3.1 hrs) for most of the upside.
Time estimates
Minutes per check so you can budget the work. The full pass is ~12 hours; you do it in chunks, not one sitting.
Google Sheets tracker
A working spreadsheet: status dropdowns, conditional formatting, a dashboard that scores % complete and surfaces your next 5 actions. CSV included.
The 60 checks, by category
A preview of each category below. The full list — with the how-to for every check and the tracker — is in the free download.
1. Indexing & crawl health
Articles that never indexed cannot rank. This is the first thing to fix because every other optimisation depends on it.
- Every published article URL is submitted to Google Search Console.P1
- No article published over 14 days ago shows "Not indexed" in GSC.P1
- robots.txt allows crawling of /blog/ (or your content path).P1
- No accidental noindex meta tags on published articles.P1
- XML sitemap includes all published articles and is submitted to GSC.P2
+ 3 more checks in this category — each with a priority, a time estimate, and the exact how-to in the download.
2. On-page fundamentals
The structural basics that determine whether Google can parse and rank your article. Most "AI content does not rank" complaints trace back to one of these.
- Title tag is under 60 characters and contains the primary keyword.P1
- Meta description is 150-160 characters and contains the primary keyword.P2
- Exactly one H1 per article, containing the primary keyword.P1
- H2 sections each answer a sub-question someone would search.P2
- No skipped heading levels (no H2 directly to H4).P3
+ 7 more checks in this category — each with a priority, a time estimate, and the exact how-to in the download.
3. Search intent alignment
An article that targets the wrong intent will never rank, no matter how good the writing. The SERP rewards format match, not keyword density.
- Checked the dominant SERP format for the target keyword.P1
- Article format matches the dominant SERP format.P1
- Heading structure matches the average of top-ranking pages.P2
- Article addresses the "People also ask" questions for the keyword.P2
- Word count is within ~25% of the top 3 ranking pages.P3
+ 3 more checks in this category — each with a priority, a time estimate, and the exact how-to in the download.
4. Per-article performance
Aggregate traffic numbers hide what matters. The decisions that grow organic traffic happen at the per-URL level.
- Every published article is tracked individually in GSC.P1
- Position, clicks, impressions, CTR logged at 30/60/90 days per article.P2
- You know your top 10 articles by clicks without opening GSC.P2
- You know which articles brought zero clicks in the last 30 days.P2
- Estimated ad value (clicks x CPC) calculated for top articles.P3
+ 7 more checks in this category — each with a priority, a time estimate, and the exact how-to in the download.
5. Decay detection
You lose 20-40% of organic traffic per year to articles that quietly stop ranking. The cure is catching it within weeks, not quarters.
- You get alerted when any article drops 5+ positions month-over-month.P1
- You get alerted when any article loses 30%+ of clicks month-over-month.P1
- You watch for impressions steady while clicks fall.P2
- You watch for impressions falling while position holds.P3
- Decay signals are monitored per URL, not just in aggregate.P2
+ 5 more checks in this category — each with a priority, a time estimate, and the exact how-to in the download.
6. Refresh & maintenance
Refreshing a decaying article restores 60-90% of its original traffic. New articles have to earn traffic from scratch. The math favours maintenance.
- Decay-alerted articles are refreshed within 30 days of the alert.P1
- Refresh preserves the URL, slug, and metadata. No redirects.P1
- Refresh preserves all inbound internal links.P2
- Refresh re-analyses the current SERP, not just edits old text.P2
- Refreshed articles get their published date updated.P2
+ 5 more checks in this category — each with a priority, a time estimate, and the exact how-to in the download.
Get the full tracker
One email sends you the Google Sheets tracker (and CSV) with all 60 checks, priorities, time estimates, and how-to steps — plus a few short follow-ups on the categories most teams skip: decay detection, per-article performance, and refresh cadence.
Want this audit to run itself?
Categories 1-3 (indexing, on-page, intent) are mostly one-time fixes. Categories 4-6 — per-article tracking, decay detection, refresh on alert — are continuous work, every month, forever. That is the half nobody has time to run by hand.
Every article you publish through OutscoreAgent gets per-URL Google Search Console tracking, automatic decay alerts at -5 positions or -30% clicks, and one-click refresh that preserves the URL and metadata. Free tier covers 2 articles a month, no credit card.
Start a free trial →