The Complete Website Health Checklist for 2026

Running a website in 2026 means juggling more requirements than ever. Search engines are smarter, users are less patient, and security threats are more sophisticated. But website health doesn't have to be overwhelming — you just need a systematic approach.

This checklist covers everything you need to audit. Work through it section by section, fix what's broken, and your site will be in better shape than 90% of the web.

SEO Fundamentals

• [ ] Every page has a unique title tag under 60 characters
• [ ] Every page has a meta description between 150–160 characters
• [ ] Only one H1 tag per page, followed by a logical heading hierarchy (H2 → H3 → H4)
• [ ] Open Graph tags are set for title, description, image, and URL
• [ ] Twitter Card tags are configured for proper social sharing previews
• [ ] Canonical URLs are set on all pages to prevent duplicate content issues
• [ ] XML sitemap exists and is submitted to Google Search Console
• [ ] robots.txt is properly configured — not accidentally blocking important pages
• [ ] Structured data (Schema.org) is implemented for your content type (Article, Product, Organization, etc.)
• [ ] Internal linking connects related content — no orphan pages

Link Health

• [ ] Zero broken internal links — every link on your site leads to a live page
• [ ] Zero broken external links — or at minimum, reviewed and accepted
• [ ] No redirect chains — no link should go through more than one redirect
• [ ] 301 redirects are in place for all deleted or moved pages
• [ ] No links to HTTP pages from HTTPS pages (mixed content in links)
• [ ] Anchor text is descriptive — not "click here" or "read more"

A quick scan with Leo Scanner will flag every broken link on your site with its exact location and status code, making this section easy to knock out.

Performance

• [ ] Page load time under 3 seconds on a standard connection
• [ ] Images are compressed and served in modern formats (WebP or AVIF)
• [ ] Images have explicit width and height attributes to prevent layout shift
• [ ] CSS and JavaScript are minified and bundled
• [ ] Non-critical JavaScript is deferred or loaded asynchronously
• [ ] Browser caching headers are set with appropriate max-age values
• [ ] Gzip or Brotli compression is enabled on the server
• [ ] No render-blocking resources in the critical path
• [ ] Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5 seconds
• [ ] Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) under 0.1
• [ ] Interaction to Next Paint (INP) under 200 milliseconds

Security

• [ ] HTTPS is enforced — all HTTP requests redirect to HTTPS
• [ ] SSL certificate is valid and not expiring within 30 days
• [ ] No mixed content — all resources (images, scripts, stylesheets) load over HTTPS
• [ ] Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS) header is set with a long max-age
• [ ] Content-Security-Policy header restricts resource origins
• [ ] X-Content-Type-Options is set to "nosniff"
• [ ] X-Frame-Options is set to prevent clickjacking
• [ ] Referrer-Policy is configured appropriately
• [ ] Permissions-Policy limits access to sensitive browser features
• [ ] Dependencies are up to date — no known vulnerabilities in libraries or plugins

Accessibility

• [ ] All images have alt text (decorative images use empty alt="")
• [ ] Color contrast ratios meet WCAG AA — 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text
• [ ] All form inputs have associated labels — not just placeholder text
• [ ] The site is fully navigable by keyboard — tab order is logical, focus is visible
• [ ] Skip navigation link is present for screen reader users
• [ ] ARIA landmarks are used appropriately (main, nav, banner, contentinfo)
• [ ] Video content has captions or transcripts
• [ ] No content depends solely on color to convey information
• [ ] Touch targets are at least 48×48 pixels on mobile
• [ ] The viewport meta tag doesn't disable user scaling

Content Quality

• [ ] No thin pages — every indexed page provides substantial value
• [ ] No duplicate content across pages
• [ ] Content is current — dates, statistics, and references are up to date
• [ ] Contact information is easily findable
• [ ] Privacy policy and terms are present and linked from the footer
• [ ] 404 page is custom and helps users find what they were looking for
• [ ] No spelling or grammar errors on key pages

Mobile Experience

• [ ] Site is fully responsive across phone, tablet, and desktop
• [ ] Text is readable without zooming on mobile devices
• [ ] No horizontal scrolling on any page
• [ ] Navigation is usable on mobile — hamburger menu or similar pattern
• [ ] Forms are easy to fill out on touchscreen devices
• [ ] Pop-ups don't block content on mobile (Google penalizes intrusive interstitials)

Technical Infrastructure

• [ ] DNS resolves quickly — under 100ms
• [ ] Server response time (TTFB) is under 200ms
• [ ] CDN is configured for static assets
• [ ] Error monitoring is in place — you know when something breaks
• [ ] Backups are automated and tested
• [ ] Analytics are installed and tracking correctly

How to Use This Checklist

Don't try to fix everything at once. Start with a full scan to see where you stand — Leo Scanner checks most of these items automatically and gives you a prioritized report. Focus on the critical issues first (broken links, security problems, missing titles) and work your way down to the nice-to-haves.

Set a recurring monthly reminder to re-audit. Websites are living things — new content, plugin updates, and external changes constantly introduce new issues. The sites that rank well aren't the ones that were perfect on launch day. They're the ones that stay maintained.

Bookmark this checklist, run your scan, and start checking things off. A healthy website isn't a destination — it's a habit.