Technical SEO checklist

Level 0: pages that cannot appear at all

These break everything else. Check them first, in a private window and in Search Console.

Level 1: signals that confuse Google

• One version of the site. Our note: http, https, www and non-www should all redirect with a single hop to one address.
• Redirects are one hop. Our note: chains after a redesign waste crawl time and dilute links; collapse them to the final destination.
• Canonical tags point to the right URL. Our note: check the canonical against the page's own address for each template; pointing every page at the home page is a frequent mistake.
• No parameter explosions. Our note: sort, filter and tracking parameters should resolve to a canonical, or be kept out of crawling.
• Correct use of 301 and 302. Our note: use 301 for permanent moves; leave 302 for short tests.
• 404 for pages that are gone, 410 where you want it cleared faster. Our note: do not redirect everything to the home page.
• Pagination and faceted pages follow a plan. Our note: decide which combinations deserve a page and say so in the canonical rules.

Level 2: rendering, speed and structure

• Important content and links exist in the rendered HTML. Our note: use the live test in URL inspection and compare to the source; script-built navigation can hide links.
• Mobile pages carry the same content as desktop. Our note: Google indexes the mobile version first, so anything hidden only there is lost.
• Core Web Vitals pass in field data. Our note: see our Core Web Vitals checklist for causes and fixes.
• Internal links use plain anchor links with descriptive text. Our note: buttons that work only through scripts are not links to a crawler.
• Important pages sit within about three clicks of the home page. Our note: the exact number matters less than whether they are linked from relevant pages.
• HTTPS everywhere with no mixed content. Our note: one insecure image can trigger browser warnings.
• Images are sized and compressed with width and height set. Our note: it helps speed and prevents layout shift.
• Hreflang is correct for multi-language sites. Our note: each version must point at the others and itself.

A catalog such as the one on the Asian Packaging website, with 67 products across styles, plies and flutes, shows why template-level checks beat page-level ones. Fix the product template once and every product page gets the benefit.

Level 3: polish

• Structured data valid and matched to the page. Our note: see the schema markup checklist.
• Unique titles and descriptions on every indexable page.
• Open Graph tags for sharing.
• A custom 404 page that links to the main sections.
• Log file review for large sites. Our note: only worth it above tens of thousands of pages.

What we leave alone

Knowing what not to fix saves weeks. These are real but often not worth the effort.

• Exact crawl depth targets on small sites.
• Trailing slash style, once it is consistent and canonical.
• Every warning in a tool report. Our note: tools flag issues that never affect search, such as a missing meta keyword.
• Perfect lab scores when field data already passes.
• Blocking AI crawlers by default. Our note: decide this on purpose, with the business goal in mind, then test the rule.

Technical SEO supports content; it does not replace it. A clean site with weak pages still has nothing to rank.

Verify, then record

1. Re-crawl after each batchRun the same crawl you used for the baseline and compare counts of errors, redirects and duplicates.
2. Request re-indexing for key pagesUse URL inspection on the five most important pages. Do not request for hundreds of pages.
3. Watch the Pages reportWithin two to four weeks the number of indexed pages and the reasons for exclusion should shift.
4. Log the change with a dateA dated log is what lets you explain a later movement in clicks.

A downloadable copy of this checklist is meant to be offered on this page. If a full review is what you need, see our technical SEO service.