Use This 47-Point Checklist to Turn SEO Findings Into Verified Repairs

This checklist is for therapists, group-practice owners, administrators, and marketing partners who need to audit a therapy website in a way that produces evidence and accountable repairs rather than a list of opinions.

Before starting, create a worksheet with columns for evidence, pass or fail, severity, owner, corrective action, and validation. Evidence should identify the affected page, profile, setting, screenshot, or report. A pass means the stated condition is currently true. A fail means you can reproduce a material problem. Severity should reflect user impact, factual accuracy, privacy or professional risk, and dependency on later work.

Some checks are simple to verify, while others require a developer, clinician, practice administrator, privacy reviewer, or legal reviewer. A page that takes more than 3 seconds in one laboratory test is not automatically a failure; confirm whether the condition is reproducible and materially affects the user path before escalating it.

Use the same evidence standard when you schedule larger projects later: assign a single owner, state exactly what must change, and define the test that will close the item.

Boundary: The checklist also flags HIPAA and APA Ethics Code considerations, but it cannot guarantee compliance, and responsible legal, medical, or regulatory reviewers remain required for privacy, advertising, testimonial, clinical-claim, licensing, and data-handling decisions.

Use these 15 checks as the first review batch. The source previously grouped this work into 2-4 weeks, but treat that as an internal planning range rather than a guaranteed timeline. Close each item only after its validation step succeeds.

1. Check representative page speed. Evidence: PageSpeed Insights results plus a real-phone test for the homepage and a key service page. Pass: important content and controls remain usable without a reproducible delay that materially disrupts the path; a result slower than 3 seconds is evidence to investigate, not an automatic failure. Severity: high if the delay breaks or materially obstructs inquiry behavior. Owner: developer. Action: address the confirmed bottleneck. Validation: rerun the same tests. Treat this as priority #1 only when the evidence shows it is the highest-severity blocker.
2. Verify mobile usability. Evidence: screenshots and a completed mobile navigation and form test. Pass: text, menus, buttons, and forms work on a real phone without overlap or inaccessible controls. Severity: high for broken contact or scheduling paths. Owner: developer or designer. Action: correct the affected template or component. Validation: repeat the same task on the live site.
3. Verify secure delivery. Evidence: the live site and browser security state. Pass: intended pages load through https://, not http://. Requests to the insecure version should resolve appropriately to the secure version. Severity: high for insecure pages or broken redirects. Owner: hosting or developer. Action: correct certificate, protocol, or redirect configuration. Validation: test key URLs and confirm the secure destination.
4. Verify Google Business Profile ownership and eligibility. Evidence: account ownership, current profile state, and the real-world practice information. Pass: the eligible practice or practitioner profile is controlled by the correct organization and reflects a genuine business entity. Severity: high if ownership is lost or the profile misrepresents the practice. Owner: practice administrator. Action: claim or correct the profile through google.com/business as appropriate. Validation: confirm ownership and the public listing; do not assume postcard verification is the only current method.
5. Audit profile completeness for accuracy, not a score. Evidence: every visible Google Business Profile field. Pass: applicable hours, phone, address or service model, website, categories, services, and images are current and truthful. A 100% completion label should not be treated as a ranking guarantee. Severity: high for wrong contact or location data, moderate for useful missing fields. Owner: local-profile owner. Action: correct or complete applicable fields. Validation: inspect the live profile after changes publish.
6. Audit the homepage title. Evidence: rendered title and page purpose. Pass: the title uniquely identifies the practice or service and location context where useful, remains readable, and does not misstate credentials or availability. Use 60 characters as a review prompt rather than a hard ranking rule. Severity: moderate for duplication or misleading wording. Owner: content editor. Action: rewrite accurately. Validation: confirm the live title and crawl output.
7. Audit the homepage meta description. Evidence: the current description and page content. Pass: it accurately summarizes the page without guarantees, unsupported outcomes, or stale availability. Treat 155 chars as a practical review reference rather than an eligibility threshold. Severity: moderate when the snippet text is misleading. Owner: content editor with practice review. Action: rewrite for accuracy and clarity. Validation: inspect the source and recognize that Google may generate a different snippet.
8. Inspect existing structured data. Evidence: source markup and a structured-data testing tool. Pass: any LocalBusiness or other structured data accurately matches visible practice facts and does not contain fabricated ratings, locations, services, or credentials. Severity: high for false data, moderate for invalid markup. Owner: developer. Action: correct or remove inaccurate markup. Validation: retest and compare the data with the live page; structured data does not guarantee rankings or rich results.
9. Verify Search Console access and scope. Evidence: property ownership and indexing reports. Pass: the practice controls the correct site property and can inspect important URLs. Severity: moderate if access is missing because diagnosis is impaired. Owner: practice administrator or SEO owner. Action: establish appropriate access. Validation: inspect a representative live URL and confirm reporting is available.
10. Audit analytics configuration. Evidence: tag inventory, event definitions, and data-flow documentation. Pass: Google Analytics 4 or any alternative analytics system collects only approved data and distinguishes informational visits from inquiry events without exposing sensitive information. Severity: high for inappropriate data collection, moderate for broken measurement. Owner: analytics owner with privacy review. Action: remove unnecessary collection or repair approved events. Validation: perform controlled tests without real sensitive health information.
11. Verify location-page eligibility. Evidence: list of genuine offices and current pages. Pass: a dedicated location page exists only where a real location has useful location-specific information such as clinicians, services, hours, access details, and contact options. Severity: significant for fake or duplicate market pages. Owner: content and local-profile owners. Action: create, consolidate, or retire pages based on real locations. Validation: compare every location page with operational records.
12. Audit service-page coverage. Evidence: service inventory mapped to live URLs. Pass: important services actually offered by the practice have clear, accurate pages or sections, and pages do not claim services unavailable from the represented clinicians or locations. Severity: high for false service claims, moderate for missing decision-useful information. Owner: content editor with clinician review. Action: correct, consolidate, or expand. Validation: compare the published page with approved service information.
13. Audit internal links to important pages. Evidence: crawl report and manual page review. Pass: users and crawlers can reach core service, clinician, and genuine location pages through descriptive links. Use 2-3 links as a review reference only where they are contextually useful, not as a quota. Severity: moderate for orphaned important pages. Owner: content or SEO owner. Action: add or revise meaningful links. Validation: recrawl and manually follow the path.
14. Audit the review-request process. Evidence: recipient rules, request copy, platform destination, and automation settings. Pass: if responsible reviewers permit requests, eligible clients are asked consistently for honest feedback without incentives, review gating, discouraging negative comments, or selecting only satisfied clients. Severity: high for manipulative or privacy-risky workflows. Owner: practice administrator with responsible professional review. Action: stop or revise the process. Validation: inspect the live automation and recent request samples.
15. Audit review-response privacy. Evidence: recent public responses and staff templates. Pass: responses do not confirm a treatment relationship, disclose clinical or appointment facts, or argue from private records. Severity: high when private information is exposed. Owner: reputation owner with escalation path. Action: stop unsafe templates and route sensitive cases for review. Validation: sample recent responses and confirm the approved workflow is being followed.

Use this group to verify whether each important page has a distinct purpose, accurate language, and enough context for a prospective client to understand fit. Do not turn keyword counts or character ranges into pass conditions by themselves.

1. Map search language to real services. Evidence: Search Console queries, internal service inventory, and approved terminology. Pass: target topics describe services the practice actually offers and do not imply unsupported outcomes or credentials. A working set of 5-8 primary research terms can help organize review, but it is not a ranking formula. Severity: high for misleading targeting. Owner: SEO and clinician reviewer. Action: remove or remap mismatched terms. Validation: compare the final page brief with practice facts.
2. Verify the page H1. Evidence: rendered heading and page purpose. Pass: the primary heading clearly identifies the page topic without stuffing locations, conditions, or credentials. Severity: moderate for duplicate or misleading headings. Owner: content editor. Action: rewrite the H1. Validation: inspect the live page and crawl output.
3. Verify heading hierarchy. Evidence: rendered structure and source markup. Pass: H2/H3 headings organize meaningful sections for readers and do not exist only to repeat keywords. Severity: low unless poor structure makes the page difficult to use. Owner: content editor. Action: reorganize sections. Validation: review the page outline and screen-reader heading order where available.
4. Check early-page clarity. Evidence: the first 100 words and the page's approved purpose. Pass: a reader can quickly understand the service, clinician or location context, and next step without exaggerated claims. Severity: moderate for ambiguous or misleading introductions. Owner: content editor with clinician review. Action: rewrite the opening. Validation: compare the live text with the approved service description.
5. Verify contextual internal links. Evidence: manual review and crawl data. Pass: the page links to related services, clinician profiles, or genuine locations when those links help the reader continue. Treat 2-3 internal links as a practical inspection range, not a quota. Severity: moderate for orphaned or confusing paths. Owner: content editor. Action: add, remove, or rename links. Validation: follow each link and confirm destination relevance.
6. Audit image alt text. Evidence: image purpose and alt attributes. Pass: informative images have concise descriptions that reflect their function, while decorative images are handled appropriately. Severity: significant when accessibility is impaired. Owner: content or accessibility owner. Action: correct alt text without keyword stuffing. Validation: inspect the markup and test representative pages with accessibility tooling.
7. Audit any FAQ structured data already present. Evidence: visible questions and the corresponding markup. Pass: structured data, if used, matches visible content exactly and contains no fabricated claims. Severity: moderate for mismatches. Owner: developer and content editor. Action: correct or remove inaccurate markup. Validation: retest the page. Do not add FAQPage markup merely to pursue a Google FAQ rich result.
8. Verify clinician and About-page facts. Evidence: licensing records, approved biography, education and affiliation records, and the live page. Pass: credentials, professional titles, specializations, affiliations, and current practice role are accurate and clearly attributable. Severity: high for false credentials. Owner: practice owner or clinician reviewer. Action: correct unsupported or stale statements. Validation: compare the live page with source records.
9. Verify the Services Overview page. Evidence: current service inventory and navigation. Pass: the overview helps users reach accurate service details without duplicating or contradicting the dedicated pages. Severity: moderate for missing or misleading service paths. Owner: content editor. Action: revise summaries and links. Validation: follow each route and confirm consistency.
10. Audit page titles sitewide. Evidence: crawl export. Pass: important titles are unique, accurate, and readable. Use 50-60 characters as a review range, not as a hard search requirement. Severity: moderate for duplicates or misleading titles. Owner: SEO or content editor. Action: rewrite affected titles. Validation: recrawl after publication.
11. Audit meta descriptions sitewide. Evidence: crawl export and live copy. Pass: descriptions accurately summarize their pages and do not promise outcomes or use stale offers. Use 120-155 characters as an editorial range rather than a ranking threshold. Severity: moderate when descriptions are materially misleading. Owner: content editor. Action: rewrite affected descriptions. Validation: inspect the source and accept that search engines may generate alternate snippets.
12. Verify breadcrumb navigation where it helps users. Evidence: site hierarchy and representative templates. Pass: breadcrumbs reflect the actual information architecture, link to valid parent pages, and do not invent categories or locations. Severity: low to moderate for broken hierarchy. Owner: developer and content owner. Action: correct labels and destinations. Validation: follow the breadcrumb path and retest any structured data attached to it.

The source grouped items 28-35 as immediate work and 36-47 within 4-6 weeks. Use those ranges only as planning context; severity and dependency should determine order. The list begins at the original sequence below.

1. Verify the XML sitemap. Evidence: yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml or the site's actual sitemap location plus Search Console discovery. Pass: the sitemap is accessible, contains canonical indexable URLs the practice wants discovered, and omits obvious error or redirect destinations. Severity: moderate for missing or polluted sitemaps. Owner: developer. Action: correct generation rules. Validation: fetch the sitemap and compare a sample with the live site.
2. Verify sitemap submission. Evidence: Search Console sitemap status. Pass: the current sitemap is submitted or otherwise discoverable and returns without processing errors. Severity: moderate. Owner: SEO or developer. Action: submit the correct sitemap and remove obsolete entries where appropriate. Validation: confirm successful processing and inspect representative URLs.
3. Audit duplicate and competing pages. Evidence: crawl data plus manual comparison. Pass: important pages have distinct purposes, titles, canonicals, and content, and near-duplicates are intentional. Severity: significant when duplicates confuse location or service intent. Owner: SEO and content editor. Action: consolidate, redirect, canonicalize, or differentiate based on user need. Validation: recrawl and inspect search indexing.
4. Test every primary contact path. Evidence: controlled form submissions and delivery logs. Pass: the form reaches the intended team, uses approved fields, and does not expose data in URLs, analytics, or unintended inboxes. Severity: high for failed delivery or sensitive-data leakage. Owner: developer with privacy reviewer. Action: repair the workflow and minimize data collection. Validation: run another controlled test without real patient information.
5. Audit form fields and data handling. Evidence: every field, integration, destination, retention rule, and vendor involved. Pass: the form collects only information the practice has approved as necessary for that stage and follows the practice's privacy and security requirements. Severity: high for unnecessary sensitive collection or unapproved disclosure. Owner: privacy reviewer and developer. Action: remove or redesign risky fields and flows. Validation: inspect both the front end and downstream records.
6. Verify the privacy notice against actual practice operations. Evidence: current policy, data flows, vendors, and responsible review. Pass: the notice accurately describes applicable practices and does not make blanket statements that the organization cannot substantiate. Severity: high for materially false privacy representations. Owner: responsible legal or privacy reviewer. Action: update language through approved review. Validation: compare the published notice with current operations.
7. Review terms and emergency messaging. Evidence: terms, contact pages, scheduling pages, and relevant clinical or legal policies. Pass: public language does not imply that website content replaces individualized care and does not provide unsupported emergency or clinical instructions. Severity: high when wording could mislead a vulnerable reader. Owner: clinical and legal reviewers. Action: correct through approved language. Validation: review every location where the message appears.
8. Audit testimonials and review excerpts. Evidence: source, consent or authorization where applicable, display context, and professional rules. Pass: the practice has a documented basis for use and the presentation is not misleading. Severity: high for unsupported, identifying, or prohibited testimonial use. Owner: responsible professional and legal reviewer. Action: remove, revise, or document the content. Validation: inspect the live page and approval record.
9. Audit the practice FAQ content. Evidence: current intake policies, fees, insurance information, telehealth availability, cancellation rules, and responsible owner. Pass: answers are current and do not substitute for individualized clinical advice. Severity: moderate for stale operational information, high for misleading clinical claims. Owner: practice administrator with clinician review when needed. Action: update or remove inaccurate answers. Validation: compare the live FAQ with current policy.
10. Audit the editorial calendar. Evidence: existing articles, search demand, and clinical review capacity. Pass: planned content answers real prospective-client questions and can be reviewed accurately; publishing one article per month is an operating choice, not a documented ranking requirement. Severity: low unless content contains harmful or false claims. Owner: content lead. Action: prioritize useful, reviewable topics. Validation: confirm each published piece has an owner and update path.
11. Audit blog-page structure without arbitrary thresholds. Evidence: representative articles and user tasks. Pass: headings such as H2 are used when they clarify structure, internal links are relevant, and depth is determined by the question rather than a formula. Treat 2-3 links or 1,000+ words as historical editorial conventions, not pass conditions. Severity: moderate for misleading or unusable content. Owner: content editor. Action: revise for accuracy and utility. Validation: review the live article against its intended question.
12. Audit the review-response workflow. Evidence: response templates, recent replies, escalation rules, and staff permissions. Pass: a 48 hours operating target, if used, is treated as internal service management rather than a ranking factor, and responses avoid confirming a treatment relationship or disclosing private details. Severity: high for privacy-risky responses. Owner: reputation owner. Action: revise templates and escalation. Validation: sample recent replies.
13. Audit Google Business Profile privacy and accuracy. Evidence: posts, Q&A, reviews, business details, photos, and manager access. Pass: the profile represents the real practice and contains no practice-authored disclosure of private client information. Severity: high for false or sensitive content. Owner: local-profile owner. Action: correct the profile and escalate sensitive incidents. Validation: inspect the public profile after edits.
14. Audit secondary directory records. Evidence: Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Psychology Today, TherapyDen, and other directories actually relevant to the practice. Pass: names, credentials, genuine locations, phone numbers, website destinations, and service descriptions are materially accurate. Severity: significant for wrong identity or location data. Owner: directory owner. Action: correct stale records. Validation: revisit the public listing after changes process.
15. Audit the Psychology Today profile. Evidence: current clinician profile and internal source records. Pass: credentials, specialties, payment information, availability, and contact details are current. Severity: high for false credentials or stale availability that misleads searchers. Owner: clinician or practice administrator. Action: correct the profile. Validation: compare the live listing with current practice data; do not assume a fixed hierarchy between directory discovery and Google.
16. Audit location-page necessity. Evidence: genuine office list and location-specific operational details. Pass: each dedicated city or neighborhood page corresponds to a real location and contains useful information specific to that office. Severity: significant for doorway-style or fabricated market pages. Owner: content and local-profile owners. Action: create, consolidate, or retire pages. Validation: compare every page with actual operations.
17. Audit local structured data. Evidence: location-page markup and visible business information. Pass: any LocalBusiness markup reflects the real entity, address, phone, hours, and other supported fields. Severity: high for fabricated or conflicting data. Owner: developer. Action: correct or remove inaccurate markup. Validation: retest and compare with the visible page; markup itself does not guarantee local rankings.
18. Audit professional advertising claims. Evidence: website, profiles, email, and other public marketing. Pass: credentials and services are truthful, outcome language is appropriately limited, and uncertain claims have responsible review. Severity: high for false credentials or unsupported therapeutic claims. Owner: practice and responsible professional reviewer. Action: remove or revise claims. Validation: conduct a second review of the final public wording.
19. Audit paid and social advertising copy. Evidence: active and scheduled campaigns, testimonial use, landing pages, and approval records. Pass: public claims are supportable and any testimonial or endorsement use has been reviewed for the applicable rules. Severity: high for misleading outcome or privacy claims. Owner: advertising owner with responsible reviewer. Action: pause and correct risky copy. Validation: inspect the live ad and landing page after changes.
20. Maintain an internal linking map. Evidence: crawl graph and content inventory. Pass: important service, clinician, and genuine location pages have logical incoming links and no planned link exists solely to manipulate keywords. Severity: moderate for orphaned decision pages. Owner: SEO or content lead. Action: update the linking map as pages change. Validation: recrawl and manually follow representative routes.

The original planning matrix grouped the checks into phases. Keep the same ranges below as workload context, but do not interpret any timeframe or impact statement as a performance guarantee.

Planning reality: Completing all 47 items is less important than closing the highest-severity verified defects correctly. The original pacing target placed items 1-15 by week 4, items 16-27 by week 8, and items 28-47 by month 3. Use those milestones only if they fit staffing, technical dependencies, and responsible review capacity.

Keep the checklist in a spreadsheet or issue tracker so every item has an evidence link, pass or fail state, severity, owner, corrective action, completion date, and validation result. That makes later audits comparable and prevents the same defect from being rediscovered without context.

• Assign one accountable owner for each open item
• Attach the screenshot, crawl record, profile view, or policy source that proves the finding
• Record the corrective action before implementation so scope remains clear
• Close the item only after the stated validation test passes

Review frequency should follow site change and risk. A redesign, migration, office move, clinician change, tracking change, or new review workflow can justify a targeted re-check sooner than a fixed calendar cadence. Do not present monthly or quarterly auditing as a ranking factor.

Implementation note: A previously published internal estimate suggested some developer batches could take 2-4 hours. That range has no supporting source URL in this record and should be reconciled against the actual stack, access, and defect scope before it is used for planning.

For any item involving privacy, testimonials, advertising claims, sensitive data, licensure, or clinical wording, keep the marketing owner separate from the responsible reviewer and document the approval that applies to the final published version.