In short
Technical SEO makes sure search engines and AI systems can find, crawl, render and understand your website. The highest-impact checks are indexing status, crawl errors, site speed and Core Web Vitals, mobile usability, clean site structure, structured data and making sure important crawlers are not blocked.
Great content cannot rank if search engines cannot reach it, render it or understand it. Technical SEO is the foundation everything else rests on, and because AI search tools rely on similar crawling and indexing, it now affects your visibility in AI answers too.
This checklist is ordered by impact, so you can work from the top down.
1. Indexing: are your pages actually in the index?
Open Google Search Console and review the page indexing report. Look for important pages marked as excluded, and check the reasons: blocked by robots.txt, marked noindex, duplicate without a canonical, or crawled but not indexed.
- Every page you want to rank should be indexable
- Thin, duplicate or utility pages can be excluded deliberately
- Submit an XML sitemap containing only canonical, indexable URLs
Repeat the check in Bing Webmaster Tools.
2. Crawlability: can bots move through your site?
- Check robots.txt is not blocking important sections or resources such as CSS and JavaScript
- Confirm you are not unintentionally blocking AI crawlers you want to allow
- Fix broken internal links and long redirect chains
- Make sure important pages are reachable within a few clicks of the homepage
3. Rendering: is your content visible without scripts?
If your main content is loaded by JavaScript, some crawlers may struggle to see it. Use the URL inspection tool to view the rendered page. Where possible, serve key content in the initial HTML.
4. Speed and Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals measure loading performance, interactivity and visual stability. Check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console and test key templates with PageSpeed Insights.
| Common issue | Typical fix |
|---|---|
| Large images | Compress, resize and serve modern formats |
| Render-blocking scripts | Defer or remove non-essential scripts |
| Layout shifts | Set dimensions for images, embeds and ads |
| Slow server response | Better hosting, caching or a CDN |
| Too many third-party tags | Audit and remove unused tracking scripts |
5. Mobile usability
Search engines primarily evaluate the mobile version of your site. Check that text is readable without zooming, buttons are easy to tap and content does not overflow the screen.
6. Site structure and internal linking
A logical structure helps search engines understand which pages matter most.
- Group related content into clear sections
- Link from high-authority pages to your most important commercial pages
- Use descriptive anchor text rather than "click here"
- Link supporting articles to the main page on each topic
7. Duplicate content and canonicals
Duplicate or near-duplicate pages split ranking signals. Common causes include URL parameters, HTTP and HTTPS versions, trailing slashes and printer-friendly pages. Use canonical tags and redirects so each piece of content has one definitive URL.
8. Structured data
Add schema markup to help machines understand your content. Most businesses benefit from Organization, BreadcrumbList, Article and FAQPage schema. Validate it with the Rich Results Test.
9. Security and basics
- Serve the whole site over HTTPS
- Redirect HTTP and non-preferred hostnames to one version
- Return proper 404 status codes for missing pages
- Write a unique title tag and meta description for every important page
10. Monitor continuously
Technical issues reappear after updates, new plugins and content changes. Review Search Console monthly and set alerts for spikes in errors.
Where to start
If you only have time for three things, check indexing, fix crawl errors on important pages and improve the speed of your main templates. These deliver the largest gains for most sites.
Our SEO and AI Search Visibility service starts with a full technical audit and fixes the issues in priority order.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I run a technical SEO audit?
A full audit once or twice a year is sensible for most sites, with monthly checks of Search Console for new errors. Run an audit after any site migration, redesign or platform change.
Do I need technical SEO if my site is on a website builder?
Yes, although builders handle some basics. You still need to check indexing, page speed, duplicate content, structured data and internal linking.
What tools do I need for technical SEO?
Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools are free and essential. A crawler such as Screaming Frog or a platform such as Semrush or Ahrefs helps identify issues across a whole site.