SEO Audit for a 1C-Bitrix Website
Bitrix provides built-in SEO tools — meta tag templates, the seo module, robots.txt settings, and sitemap generation. But these tools are easy to misconfigure: generating duplicate meta tags for pagination pages, adding service URLs to the index (/bitrix/components/..., login pages), missing canonical links on filter pages. An SEO audit on Bitrix targets technical settings specifically, not just content.
Technical Issues Specific to Bitrix
Duplicates from the smart filter. The catalog.section.list component with the smart filter (catalog.section.filter) generates URLs like /catalog/section/?PROPERTY_123=456. Without canonical link configuration, every filter combination gets indexed as a separate page — potentially hundreds of thousands of duplicates.
Solution: in the filter component settings, enable SEF_MODE = Y and set CANONICAL_URL to the source section URL without parameters.
Pagination without rel=canonical or rel=next/prev. Pages like /catalog/?PAGEN_1=2 create duplicate content. In the Bitrix template, add:
$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('canonical', $arResult['SECTION']['SECTION_PAGE_URL']);
Duplicate title and description. If meta tags are not configured in the seo module, they are taken from the information block's NAME field or left empty. When configuring meta tag templates in Settings → Search Optimization, the variable syntax is frequently incorrect: {=this.Name} instead of {=this.ELEMENT.NAME}.
Sitemap. The seo module generates sitemap.xml. Common issues: service information block sections are included, pages without content are not excluded, lastmod is stale.
What Is Checked During the Audit
| Area | What we check |
|---|---|
| Meta tags | Uniqueness of title/description across all page types |
| Canonical links | Presence of rel=canonical on filter and pagination pages |
| robots.txt | Blocking of Bitrix service paths |
| Sitemap | URL correctness, exclusion of 404 and service pages |
| Speed | Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, FID) via Lighthouse |
| URL structure | Pretty URLs (SEF) enabled, no GET parameters in indexed URLs |
| Structured data | Schema.org for products (Product, Offer, BreadcrumbList) |
| Internal linking | Breadcrumbs, related product links |
Checking robots.txt for Bitrix
A minimal correct robots.txt for Bitrix:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /bitrix/
Disallow: /local/
Disallow: /upload/
Disallow: /auth/
Disallow: /personal/
Disallow: /search/
Allow: /bitrix/js/
Allow: /bitrix/css/
Without blocking /bitrix/, search crawlers may attempt to crawl admin-side scripts.
Pretty URL Configuration and Redirects
We verify that the SEF (pretty URL) module is enabled for all required entities. A common issue: SEF is enabled for an information block but the rewrite rule in .htaccess is not configured, causing the canonical URL to return a 404.
Redirect audit: a full list of all 301/302 redirects (via Screaming Frog or curl), identification of redirect chains (3+ hops) and loops.
What Is Included in the SEO Audit
- Site crawl with a dedicated tool (Screaming Frog, Netpeak Spider) — meta tag analysis, headings, server responses
-
seomodule settings review: meta tag templates, sitemap, robots.txt - Canonical link audit on smart filter and pagination pages
- SEF URL and redirect chain verification
- Core Web Vitals analysis and technical performance factors
- Final report with prioritized recommendations