Technical SEO Checklist

Key technical aspects for website optimization, site speed, crawlability, indexation, and search engine friendliness.

Crawlability & Indexation

[ ]XML Sitemap Submitted: An up-to-date XML sitemap is submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
[ ]robots.txt File: The robots.txt file is correctly configured, not blocking essential pages, and allowing search engine bots to access necessary content.
[ ]Index Coverage Report (GSC): Regularly check Google Search Console's Index Coverage report for errors (e.g., "Excluded by 'noindex' tag", "Soft 404s", "Blocked by robots.txt").
[ ]noindex Tag Audit: Ensure noindex tags are only used on pages you intentionally want to exclude from search results (e.g., thank you pages, internal search results).
[ ]Crawl Budget Optimization: For large sites, ensure efficient crawl budget usage by prioritizing important pages and de-prioritizing irrelevant ones.
[ ]Faceting & Pagination: If applicable, handle faceted navigation and pagination correctly to avoid duplicate content and crawl issues (e.g., using canonical tags, rel="next/prev", or noindex,follow).

[ ]Core Web Vitals Optimized: Ensure good scores for Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
[ ]Image Optimization: Images are compressed, properly sized, and use modern formats (WebP) for faster loading.
[ ]Browser Caching: Leverage browser caching to store static resources.
[ ]Minify CSS & JavaScript: Reduce file sizes by minifying CSS and JavaScript files.
[ ]Server Response Time: Ensure your server responds quickly. Consider a fast hosting provider.
[ ]Enable Compression: Use GZIP or Brotli compression.
[ ]Reduce Redirects: Minimize the number of redirects as they add latency.
[ ]Content Delivery Network (CDN): Consider using a CDN for global content delivery, especially for sites with international audiences.

[ ]Responsive Design: The website uses a responsive design that adapts seamlessly to all device sizes.
[ ]Google Mobile-Friendly Test: Pass Google's Mobile-Friendly Test for key pages.
[ ]Usability on Mobile: Ensure clickable elements are adequately spaced, text is readable without zooming, and navigation is intuitive on mobile.
[ ]Viewport Meta Tag: The <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> tag is correctly implemented.

[ ]Logical Site Structure: A clear, hierarchical site structure (siloing content) helps search engines understand topics and users find information.
[ ]Breadcrumbs: Implement breadcrumbs for improved user navigation and to signal site hierarchy to search engines.
[ ]User-Friendly URLs: URLs are short, descriptive, and use keywords (as mentioned in On-Page SEO).
[ ]Flat Site Architecture (Minimize Clicks): Important pages are accessible within a few clicks from the homepage.

[ ]HTTPS Implemented: All pages are served over HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate.
[ ]No Mixed Content Warnings: Ensure all resources (images, scripts) are loaded over HTTPS to avoid mixed content issues.

[ ]Relevant Schema Implemented: Use schema markup for appropriate content types (e.g., Article, Product, LocalBusiness, FAQ, Recipe, Review, Event).
[ ]Schema Markup Validated: Test structured data using Google's Rich Results Test tool to ensure it's correctly implemented and eligible for rich results.

[ ]Google Search Console (GSC) Setup: Website verified and actively monitored.
[ ]Google Analytics (GA4) Setup: Analytics tracking code correctly installed and collecting data.
[ ]Bing Webmaster Tools Setup: Website verified and monitored.

[ ]301 Redirects for Moved Pages: Implement 301 redirects for any pages that have moved or been deleted permanently.
[ ]Identify & Fix Broken Links: Regularly audit for 404 (broken) internal and external links and fix them.
[ ]Remove Redirect Chains: Avoid multiple redirects (A > B > C) by pointing directly to the final destination (A > C).

[ ]hreflang Tags: Correctly implement hreflang tags for multilingual or multi-regional websites.
[ ]Country Targeting (GSC): Set country targeting in Google Search Console if necessary.