technical SEO checklist
The Technical SEO Checklist: 20 Checks That Matter
Technical SEO problems silently cap rankings. This checklist covers the twenty checks that matter most, in the order we run them on client sites.
Crawling and indexation
Verify robots.txt is not blocking important pages, the XML sitemap is clean and submitted, noindex tags are intentional, canonicals point correctly, and redirect chains are flattened. These five issues cause the majority of 'why isn't my page ranking' mysteries.
Performance and experience
Check Core Web Vitals (LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1), mobile usability, HTTPS everywhere, and no intrusive interstitials. Compress images and defer non-critical JavaScript first — they are usually the biggest wins.
Structure and markup
Confirm one H1 per page, logical heading hierarchy, valid structured data, breadcrumb markup, proper pagination handling, and descriptive alt text. Then check hreflang if you target multiple languages or regions.
Related pages
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