Google Lighthouse Report: Complete Checklist

What is Google Lighthouse?

Lighthouse is an open-source tool from Google that audits web pages for:

●      Performance

●      Accessibility

●      Best Practices

●      SEO

●      Progressive Web App (PWA)

You can run Lighthouse from:

●      Chrome DevTools

●      PageSpeed Insights

●      Command line (Node.js)

●      Web.dev

SEO Audit Checklist from Lighthouse

Here is a deep-level checklist to improve your SEO score with specific tactics tied to each Lighthouse audit point:

1. Page Title

●      Issue: Missing or duplicate <title> tag

●      Fix:

○      Add a unique, keyword-rich title tag per page.

○      Keep it under 60 characters for pixel length.

○      Use primary keyword + value proposition:

CRM Software for Small Businesses | Try Free for 14 Days

2. Meta Description

●      Issue: Missing or too long

●      Fix:

○      Add a compelling <meta name="description"> tag.

○      Stay within 160 characters.

○      Include CTA and keyword:

 Boost your email open rates with our easy-to-use CRM. Start your free trial today.

3. Descriptive Text for Links

●      Issue: Links like “click here” or “learn more”

●      Fix:

○      Use contextual anchor text with target keywords:

 ❌ Click here
 ✅ Learn more about our CRM automation features

4. <hreflang> for Multilingual Pages

●      Issue: Missing language or region tags

●      Fix:

Use correct hreflang structure for targeting:

 html

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/us/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr-fr" href="https://example.com/fr/" />

5. Valid Robots.txt

●      Issue: Missing or blocking key resources

●      Fix:

○      Add robots.txt to your root domain

○      Ensure important folders like /images/, /js/, /css/ are not blocked

Example:

makefile

User-agent: *

Disallow: /admin/

Allow: /

6. Crawlable <a href=""> Links

●      Issue: JavaScript links or missing hrefs

●      Fix:

Always use proper anchor tags with direct hrefs (avoid JS-based navigation for key content)

html

<a href="/pricing">See Pricing</a>

7. Page is Indexable

●      Issue: noindex tag present or canonical issues

●      Fix:

○      Remove noindex unless it’s intentional (for staging or thin content)

○      Avoid incorrect canonical tags pointing to irrelevant pages

8. Structured Data (Schema Markup)

●      Issue: Missing or invalid schema

●      Fix:

○      Add schema based on page type:

■      Blog: Article, FAQPage

■      Product: Product, Review

■      Homepage: Organization

○      Use tools: https://validator.schema.org

9. Mobile Friendly Viewport

●      Issue: Page not responsive or lacks a viewport tag

●      Fix:

Add the viewport tag:

html

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

○      Test on multiple screen sizes (use Chrome DevTools)

10. Font Sizes and Tap Targets

●      Issue: Small text or hard-to-click links

●      Fix:

○      Minimum font size: 16px

○      Ensure buttons/links have 48x48px clickable area

○      Keep spacing consistent on mobile

Advanced Implementation Tips

Improve Core Web Vitals (Direct Lighthouse Impact)

Metric	Threshold	How to Fix
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)	< 2.5s	Compress images, lazy-load, use CDN
FID (First Input Delay)	< 100ms	Reduce JS execution time
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)	< 0.1	Set size for images/fonts in CSS

Use Lighthouse Programmatically (Pro Dev Setup)

Install Node.js and Lighthouse:

bash

npm install -g lighthouse

Run audit from CLI:

bash

lighthouse https://example.com --view

Use this for automating weekly performance audits in your CI/CD workflow.

Final Lighthouse SEO Audit Execution Checklist

Audit Item	Status
Title tag is unique and optimized
Meta description is present and clear
Links use descriptive anchor text
Robots.txt is valid and unblocking assets
hreflang is implemented (if multilingual)
Canonical tags are accurate
Structured data markup is valid
Page is mobile-friendly
Fonts are readable + buttons are tappable
Lighthouse SEO score = 100%

In Details

1. How to Use Google Lighthouse for SEO (Step-by-Step)

What is it?

Google Lighthouse is a browser-based auditing tool that tests a webpage for:

●      SEO

●      Performance

●      Accessibility

●      Best practices

Lighthouse runs in Chrome DevTools and gives you real-time feedback.

How to Use It:

1. Open Chrome
   
   
2. Go to your website
   
   
3. Right-click → Inspect
   
   
4. Click the “Lighthouse” tab
   
   
5. Choose “SEO” (or all categories for a full audit)
   
   
6. Choose Desktop or Mobile
   
   
7. Click “Generate Report”

You’ll get a detailed audit with scores out of 100.

Tip:

Use it for:

●      Homepages

●      Blog posts

●      Product pages

●      Mobile/desktop separately

2. How to Fix Title and Meta Description Issues

Problem:

Lighthouse will flag missing or duplicate:

●      <title> tags

●      <meta name="description">

These elements are essential for click-through rates and SEO relevance.

Fix Title:

Make sure each page has a unique, keyword-optimized title under 60 characters.

Example:

html

<title>Affordable Luggage Sets for Travel | Buymode</title>

Fix Meta Description:

Make it compelling, descriptive, and under 160 characters.

Example:

html

<meta name="description" content="Shop durable and stylish luggage sets for every trip. Free delivery in UAE. Order now from Buymode.">

Avoid:

●      Generic titles like "Home"

●      Repeating the same title/meta across multiple pages

3. Optimize for Mobile-Friendliness in Lighthouse

Lighthouse checks if your page is mobile-optimized.

Issues it might flag:

●      Text too small to read

●      Tap targets too close

●      Content wider than screen

●      Non-responsive layout

Fixes:

●      Use responsive design with CSS media queries

●      Use flexbox or grid layouts

●      Avoid using fixed-width containers

●      Ensure font size is at least 16px

●      Add viewport tag:

html

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">

Test With:

●      Chrome DevTools > “Toggle device toolbar” (mobile view)

●      Lighthouse mobile audit

4. Structured Data (Schema) for SEO

What It Is:

Structured data helps search engines understand the type of content on your page.

Lighthouse checks whether you're using schema markup.

Common Types:

●      Article

●      Product

●      FAQ

●      Review

●      Event

How to Add:

Use JSON-LD format in your HTML <head> or <body>.

Example for an article:

html

<script type="application/ld+json">

{

  "@context": "https://schema.org",

  "@type": "Article",

  "headline": "How to Choose the Right Luggage",

  "author": {

    "@type": "Person",

    "name": "Hasibul Ahsan"

  },

  "publisher": {

    "@type": "Organization",

    "name": "Buymode",

    "logo": {

      "@type": "ImageObject",

      "url": "https://example.com/logo.png"

    }

  }

}

</script>

Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test or Schema Validator.

5. Using robots.txt and Meta Robots Tags Correctly

robots.txt — Controls which parts of your site are crawlable.

Place it at: https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt

Example:

txt

User-agent: *

Disallow: /cart/

Disallow: /checkout/

Allow: /

Don’t block important pages like:

●      /products/

●      /blog/

Meta Robots Tag

Use this in the <head> of each page.

Default:

html

<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">

To prevent indexing:

html

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">

Don't accidentally add noindex to live content pages — it will remove them from search!

Summary SEO Checklist from Lighthouse (Fully Explained)

Audit Item	What to Fix	How to Fix
Title	Missing or generic	Add keyword-rich, unique <title> tag
Meta description	Missing or duplicate	Write compelling, unique descriptions
Mobile-Friendly	Design not responsive	Use responsive layouts, set viewport
HTTPS	Not secure	Use SSL site-wide
Structured Data	Not implemented	Add JSON-LD schema for content type
Descriptive Anchor Text	Vague link text like “click here”	Use meaningful text like “View luggage sets”
Robots.txt	Missing or incorrect	Add file and configure properly
Meta Robots	Incorrect use	Use index, follow on important pages