Technical SEO Checklist: 25 Must-Do Optimizations

What Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO ensures search engines can crawl, index, and render your website effectively. Great content means nothing if Google can't find it.

Site Crawlability

Robots.txt

Located at yoursite.com/robots.txt. Controls what search engines can crawl.

Check:

• File exists
• Not blocking important pages
• Sitemap URL included

XML Sitemap

Located at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml. Lists all important pages.

Check:

• Sitemap exists
• All important pages included
• No broken URLs
• Submitted to Google Search Console

Site Structure

Check:

• Logical hierarchy
• Important pages within 3 clicks of homepage
• Clear internal linking
• No orphan pages (pages with no internal links)

Indexability

Check Index Status

Use Google Search Console to see which pages are indexed.

Common Indexing Issues

• Noindex tags: Pages accidentally blocked
• Canonical issues: Wrong page being indexed
• Thin content: Pages with little value
• Duplicate content: Multiple pages with same content

Fix Indexing Problems

• Remove noindex from important pages
• Set correct canonical tags
• Consolidate thin content
• Use 301 redirects for duplicates

Site Speed

Why Speed Matters

Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. Users abandon slow sites.

Speed Metrics (Core Web Vitals)

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Main content loads under 2.5s
• FID (First Input Delay): Responds to input under 100ms
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Visual stability under 0.1

Common Speed Issues

• Unoptimized images
• Too many HTTP requests
• No caching
• Render-blocking resources
• Slow hosting

Speed Optimization

• Compress images (WebP format)
• Enable browser caching
• Minify CSS/JavaScript
• Use a CDN
• Upgrade hosting if needed

Mobile-Friendliness

Mobile-First Indexing

Google primarily uses your mobile site for indexing and ranking.

Mobile Checklist

• Responsive design
• Text readable without zooming
• Tap targets adequately sized
• No horizontal scrolling
• Same content as desktop

Testing

Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

HTTPS Security

Why HTTPS Matters

Google ranks secure sites higher. Users trust HTTPS.

HTTPS Checklist

• SSL certificate installed
• All pages redirect to HTTPS
• No mixed content (HTTP resources on HTTPS pages)
• Certificate is valid and not expiring

URL Structure

Best Practices

• Use hyphens, not underscores
• Keep URLs short and descriptive
• Include keywords when relevant
• Lowercase only
• Avoid parameters when possible

Example

Bad: yoursite.com/page?id=123&ref=456

Good: yoursite.com/keyword-rich-page-title

Structured Data

What Is Structured Data?

Code that helps search engines understand your content. Enables rich snippets in search results.

Common Schema Types

• Organization
• LocalBusiness
• Product
• Article
• FAQ
• HowTo
• Review

Implementation

Use JSON-LD format. Test with Google's Rich Results Test.

International SEO (If Applicable)

Hreflang Tags

Tell Google which language/region each page targets.

Checklist

• Correct hreflang tags on all pages
• Bidirectional references
• X-default for fallback

Technical SEO Audit Checklist

Crawling

• [ ] Robots.txt accessible and correct
• [ ] XML sitemap exists and is submitted
• [ ] No important pages blocked
• [ ] Site structure is logical

Indexing

• [ ] Important pages are indexed
• [ ] No unwanted noindex tags
• [ ] Canonical tags are correct
• [ ] No duplicate content issues

Speed

• [ ] LCP under 2.5 seconds
• [ ] FID under 100ms
• [ ] CLS under 0.1
• [ ] Images optimized

Mobile

• [ ] Site is mobile-responsive
• [ ] Mobile-friendly test passes
• [ ] Same content on mobile and desktop

Security

• [ ] HTTPS enabled
• [ ] No mixed content
• [ ] SSL certificate valid

URLs

• [ ] Clean URL structure
• [ ] No broken links (404s)
• [ ] Proper redirects in place

Structured Data

• [ ] Schema markup implemented
• [ ] Rich results test passes

Tools for Technical SEO

Free:

• Google Search Console
• Google PageSpeed Insights
• Mobile-Friendly Test
• Rich Results Test

Paid:

• Screaming Frog
• Ahrefs Site Audit
• SEMrush Site Audit

Run technical audits quarterly to catch issues before they hurt rankings.