Self-audit checklist
Website Cleanup Audit Checklist
A practical scoring checklist for WordPress cleanup, trust pages, indexing basics, AdSense readiness, service clarity, and inquiry-path checks.
Use this as a self-audit: score each area 0, 1, or 2. Use 0 when the item is missing or broken, 1 when it exists but is unclear, and 2 when it is clear, useful, and easy to verify.
Quick scoring guide
| Total score | What it means | Recommended next step |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | The site is likely not ready for promotion or review. | Fix public trust, navigation, contact, and cleanup blockers first. |
| 11 to 20 | The site has a foundation but still has visible cleanup gaps. | Prioritize the issues that affect trust and reviewer clarity. |
| 21 to 30 | The site is directionally ready, but verification still matters. | Check Search Console, form tracking, sitemap, and content quality before bigger campaigns. |
Homepage clarity
- The homepage says what the site does within the first screen.
- The main audience is clear: business owner, publisher, buyer, reader, or local customer.
- One primary next step is obvious without forcing the visitor to compare too many buttons.
- The page does not promise rankings, approvals, traffic, revenue, leads, or instant results.
Navigation and internal links
- Important pages are reachable from the header, homepage, Library, Start Here, Services, or footer.
- Guide pages point to related guides or proof resources where useful.
- Service CTAs are restrained and context-specific.
- No admin, draft, private, staging, or preview URLs are exposed publicly.
Trust pages
Contact path
Confirm that a visitor can find a contact page, inquiry form, or clear support path without searching.
Privacy and terms
Policy pages should be readable, styled consistently, and free of template leftovers.
Publisher identity
The site should explain who it helps, what it covers, and how advice is reviewed or maintained.
WordPress cleanup leftovers
- No sample page, demo product, theme preview, old launch copy, or unused block is publicly visible.
- No PHP warning, plugin warning, shortcode error, or broken image is visible to logged-out visitors.
- Footer, header, and mobile menu do not show default theme wording.
- Tag, author, search, and archive pages are not creating thin indexable clutter.
Publisher value and AdSense readiness
- Each important guide answers a specific reader problem with concrete steps.
- The page includes examples, checklists, mistakes, verification steps, or decision criteria.
- Content is useful before the reader buys a service.
- Service pages do not dominate the site at the expense of standalone guidance.
- Any AdSense discussion avoids promising approval, revenue, traffic, or rankings.
Sitemap, indexing, and Search Console basics
| Check | What to look for | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Sitemap | Important public URLs are included, clean, and canonical. | Submitting demo, duplicate, search, or low-value archive URLs. |
| Noindex | Utility pages are intentionally handled; important guides are indexable. | Accidentally noindexing the pages that should bring readers in. |
| Canonical | Each important page points to the preferred public URL. | Conflicting dated, parameter, or duplicate URLs competing with the clean page. |
| Search Console | Use impressions, clicks, CTR, and indexing status to guide cleanup. | Changing pages repeatedly without a measurement window. |
Service-page and inquiry path clarity
- The offer says who it is for, what is included, what is excluded, and how long it takes.
- The request form does not ask for passwords, recovery codes, payment details, or sensitive private data.
- The form path, confirmation message, and inbox delivery are tested safely.
- Paid-audit language includes price, scope, exclusions, and no-guarantee boundaries.
Final readiness pass
- Open the site in a private browser on desktop and mobile.
- Click the homepage, Library, Services, sample report, checklist, contact, and request-audit paths.
- Look for visible errors, text overlap, broken links, hidden navigation, or template leftovers.
- Confirm the site teaches something useful before asking for a purchase.
- Wait for a clean measurement window before judging conversion.