Technical SEO is the part of search optimization that makes sure search engines can find, understand and trust your pages. It will not make a weak page rank, but problems here can stop a great page from ranking at all. Work through this list in order. The top sections matter most.
1. Crawling and indexing
- Verify your site in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Check the Page indexing report for pages that should be indexed but are not.
- Make sure robots.txt does not block pages, CSS or JavaScript that Google needs to render your site.
- Search your templates for stray noindex tags, a common leftover from staging sites.
- Use the URL Inspection tool on your most important pages to confirm Google can render them.
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /account
Disallow: /api/
Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml2. XML sitemap
- Generate a sitemap automatically so new pages are included without manual work.
- Include only canonical, indexable pages that return a 200 status.
- Use accurate last modified dates. Google ignores them if they are always today.
- Submit it in Search Console and reference it in robots.txt.
3. Canonical URLs and duplicates
The same page is often reachable at several addresses: with and without www, with tracking parameters, or with a trailing slash. Pick one version, redirect the others to it, and add a canonical tag so search engines consolidate signals onto a single URL.
<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/services/web-design">4. HTTPS and redirects
- Serve every page over HTTPS and permanently redirect HTTP to HTTPS.
- Replace redirect chains with a single hop to the final URL.
- Use 301 redirects when you move or rename pages, and update internal links to the new address.
- Return a real 404 status for missing pages instead of redirecting everything to the home page.
5. Titles, descriptions and headings
- Give every page a unique title that leads with what the page is about, followed by your brand.
- Write a unique meta description that would make someone want to click. Google may rewrite it, but a good one is often kept.
- Use one h1 per page and a logical h2 and h3 structure underneath it.
- Write descriptive alt text for meaningful images.
6. Site structure and internal links
- Make sure every important page is reachable within a few clicks of the home page.
- Link between related pages using descriptive anchor text rather than click here.
- Use real anchor links with href attributes. Links that only work through JavaScript click handlers may not be followed.
- Find and fix orphan pages that no other page links to.
7. Structured data
Add Organization and WebSite markup to your home page so Google understands your brand. Add the types that match your content, such as Product, LocalBusiness, Article or BreadcrumbList, and validate them with the Rich Results Test.
8. Social sharing tags
Open Graph and Twitter Card tags control how your pages look when shared in social apps, messaging and Slack. Set a title, description and a 1200 by 630 pixel image for every important page.
<meta property="og:title" content="Web Design for Local Businesses | Example Co">
<meta property="og:description" content="Fast, accessible websites that bring in customers.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.example.com/og/web-design.png">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">9. Core Web Vitals and mobile
- Pass LCP, INP and CLS in the Search Console Core Web Vitals report.
- Make sure the mobile version contains the same content as desktop, since Google indexes mobile first.
- Use a viewport meta tag and text that is readable without zooming.
10. Local and international extras
- Local businesses: claim and complete your Google Business Profile, and keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere.
- Multi-language sites: use hreflang tags so each language version is shown to the right audience.
Make it a habit
LightLoader takes care of the Core Web Vitals section. The rest of the list is mostly one-time setup that keeps paying off for as long as your site is live.