The technical SEO checklist every growing business needs

Content and links get most of the attention in SEO, but none of it matters if search engines can’t properly crawl, render and understand your website. This checklist covers the technical foundations worth reviewing at least once a quarter.

Crawling and indexing

• Check that robots.txt isn’t accidentally blocking important pages.
• Submit an up-to-date XML sitemap in Google Search Console.
• Make sure every important page returns a 200 status and isn’t marked noindex.
• Use canonical tags to point duplicate or near-duplicate pages to the preferred version.

Site structure

• Keep important pages within a few clicks of the homepage.
• Use descriptive, readable URLs.
• Link related pages to each other with clear anchor text.
• Fix broken internal links and redirect chains.

Performance and Core Web Vitals

• Optimize images: modern formats, correct dimensions and lazy loading below the fold.
• Minimize render-blocking scripts and unused JavaScript.
• Reserve space for images and embeds to avoid layout shift.

On-page essentials

• Give every page a unique, descriptive title and meta description.
• Use one clear h1 per page and a logical heading structure.
• Write meaningful alt text for informative images.

Structured data

Add schema markup for your organization, services, articles and FAQs where relevant. It helps search engines understand your content and can make your listings more prominent.

Mobile and accessibility

Search engines index the mobile version of your site first. Make sure it’s fast, readable and fully functional on small screens. Good accessibility, such as semantic HTML, sufficient contrast and keyboard navigation, also tends to support good SEO.

Keep it up

Technical SEO isn’t a one-off task. Sites change, plugins update and new pages get added. Schedule regular audits so small issues don’t quietly grow into big ones. Need a hand? See how our search engine optimization service works, or talk to our SEO team.