Recommendation On-Page and Technical SEO Checklist: What to Check on a Website Before Buying or Selling It

[Luis Colmenarez]

Are you planning to buy or sell a website? Before you close the deal, check this out.

A website's SEO directly affects its value. This list is useful whether you're buying (to avoid surprises) or selling (to justify your price).

1. Technical SEO (the foundation)

• Indexing: Search on site:tudominio.com Google. If very few or no pages come up, there's a problem.
• Search Console: Request access to the property. Review the report on indexed pages, errors, and manual actions.
• robots.txt and sitemap.xml: Check that they exist and that they do not block important content.
• HTTPS: Valid certificate and redirection from HTTP to HTTPS.
• Speed: Test it with PageSpeed Insights. Pay special attention to the mobile version.
• Mobile version: The website should look and function well on a phone.
• 404 errors and redirects: A large number of 404 errors or chains of redirects are a bad sign.

2. On-Page SEO (Content)

• Titles and descriptions: unique for each page and containing the main keyword.
• Only one H1 per page and a logical structure of H2 and H3 headings.
• Clean URLs: short, readable, and free of unnecessary parameters.
• Original content: Paste a paragraph into Google within quotation marks to see if it's copied.
• Images: with alternative text (alt) and compressed.
• Internal links: Important pages should be linked to from other pages.

3. Red Flags for Buyers

• A sudden, unexplained drop in traffic.
• Mass-generated, unreviewed content.
• Inbound links of questionable quality.
• The seller does not provide access to Search Console or Analytics.

4. Advice for the Seller
Prepare screenshots from Search Console and Analytics covering the last 6 to 12 months. A website with verifiable data sells faster and at a better price.

What else would you add? Leave a comment, and let's build on this together.