In a crowded care-home market, your website needs to work harder than ever.
When families search for ‘care home near me’, you must appear and impress.
Below is a comprehensive 25-point website SEO audit checklist tailored to the care home sector, enabling you to identify gaps (and opportunities) quickly, whether you manage a single home or a network of sites.
Think you need a little more help with your care home’s SEO? Book a call with the Care Connect Marketing team today and let us do a complete audit of your website with recommendations on how to improve it.
Keyword Research and Intent
- Have you identified the main service keywords families search for (‘nursing care home’, ‘dementia care home’, or ‘respite care’)?
- Have you included location-based keywords (‘care home in [town]’ or ‘[county] dementia care home’)?
- Have you considered the audience intent (such as the family member searching, mobile user, or urgent placement scenario)?
On-Page Content and Structure
- Does your homepage and each service page include a page title, meta description, and H1/H2 headings with keywords?
- Are all your pages clearly answering questions that families ask (such as ‘what to look for in a care home’ and ‘how to choose dementia care’)?
- Are service pages distinct (not generic) to each offering (such as dementia, nursing, or respite)?
- For multi-site networks, is each care home location page created with unique content, local context, and keywords?
- Are images optimised (captions are used and alt-text includes relevant keywords) and unique to your home?
- Is internal linking logical (from service pages to sub-pages, and blog to service pages), and is the navigation simple?
- Is key trust content present on every page, including testimonials, staff profiles, and care home credentials (like CQC ratings)?
Local SEO Fundamentals
- Do you have a claimed and fully optimised listing on Google Business for each home site?
- Is your name, address, and phone number consistent across your website, directory listings, Google Business Profile, and social channels?
- Are local keywords included (such as ‘near me’, ‘in [town]’, and ‘within [region]’) in content and metadata?
- Have you got reviews on your Google Business Profile and other platforms? Are you responding to them (both good and bad)?
- Is your care home listed in local directories and care-specific platforms (such as carehome.co.uk) with correct information?
Technical SEO and Performance
- Is your website mobile-friendly and responsive (as many family decision-makers search on mobile devices)?
- Is loading speed optimised (including fast page loads, optimised images, and caching)?
- Is your website secure (HTTPS)?
- Do you have an XML sitemap and are you using Search Console and/or Google Analytics to monitor?
- Do you use schema markup appropriate to a care home (such LocalBusiness schema or aggregateRating) to help search engines?
Content Freshness and Authority
- Are you publishing regular blog posts or resources targeted at families (such as ‘how to choose a care home or ‘dementia care tips’)?
- Are you building backlinks or local partnerships to improve your website’s authority?
- Is your content accessible and inclusive (via alt-text, readable fonts, and accessible navigation), especially given your older demographic or families with disabilities?
- Are you regularly auditing and removing broken links, outdated content, or content that is irrelevant to your services and location?
- Do you have clear measurements and reviews in place (tracking organic traffic, keywords, conversions, or enquiries per location), and are you adjusting accordingly?
How to Use This Basic SEO Checklist
- Print or export this list and run a site audit against your current care home website (or each home if you run a multi-site network).
- For each point, mark down whether it’s ‘okay’, ‘needs improvement’, or ‘missing’.
- Prioritise fixes. Things like a missing Google Business Profile or inconsistent details should be top priority, while content updates and backlink building are medium-term projects.
- Set a quarterly review date. SEO isn’t a set-and-forget exercise; rankings, competition, and search behaviour evolve.
- Use your results to build a roadmap (such as fix technical speed issues in Q1, roll out localised pages in Q2, and launch backlinks and a content calendar in Q3).
Why a Website SEO Audit Report and Checklist Matter
Families searching online expect to find trustworthy, local, and easily accessible information. If your website and listings aren’t optimised, you’ll lose enquiries, even if your facilities and care quality are excellent.
For home care operators, the difference between appearing on page 1 of Google and page 2 can mean dozens of missed opportunities.
At Care Connect Marketing, we specialise in helping care home providers implement these SEO fundamentals and drive enquiries.
If your audit shows multiple items that are missing or are in need of improvement, let’s talk about designing and executing a tailored SEO roadmap.