Technical SEO is the work that makes sure search engines can crawl, understand and index your website, and that it loads fast for real users. Great content cannot rank if search engines cannot reach it, and a slow or broken site loses rankings and customers alike.
Use this 30-point checklist to audit your own site. It is the same framework our technical SEO team uses, grouped from the most fundamental checks to the most advanced.
Crawlability: can search engines reach your pages?
- robots.txt allows important pages and blocks only what should stay private, such as admin, cart and internal search results.
- An XML sitemap lists every indexable page, uses final URLs only, and is submitted in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- No crawl errors – server errors and broken internal links are fixed.
- No orphan pages – every important page is linked from at least one other page.
- Shallow click depth – key pages are reachable within about three clicks of the homepage.
Indexing: are the right pages in Google?
- Self-referencing canonical tags on every indexable page, pointing at the exact URL you want indexed.
- noindex used deliberately on thin or utility pages such as search results, thank-you pages and filters.
- No duplicate pages competing for the same query; merge them or redirect one to the other.
- URL parameters controlled so filters and tracking parameters do not create thousands of duplicate URLs.
- Search Console page indexing report reviewed, with every excluded important page explained.
Site structure, URLs and redirects
- One version of the site – HTTPS only, and either www or non-www, with every other version redirecting to it.
- Clean, descriptive URLs in lowercase with hyphens and no unnecessary parameters.
- Permanent 301 redirects for every moved or removed page, pointing at the most relevant live page.
- No redirect chains or loops – each old URL reaches its final page in one hop.
- Helpful 404 page that returns a real 404 status and links visitors back into the site.
Page speed and Core Web Vitals
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5 seconds.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP) under 200 milliseconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) under 0.1.
- Images correctly sized, served in modern formats such as WebP or AVIF, and lazy-loaded below the fold.
- Lean JavaScript and CSS – unused scripts removed and non-critical code deferred.
Our performance and speed audits focus on exactly these five checks.
Mobile and on-page technical elements
- Mobile-first ready – the mobile version contains the same content and links as desktop.
- Unique title tags of around 60 characters or less on every page.
- Unique meta descriptions of roughly 150–160 characters that encourage the click.
- One clear H1 per page, with a logical H2 and H3 structure.
- Descriptive alt text on meaningful images.
Structured data and AI search readiness
- Organization and WebSite schema sitewide, with your logo and social profiles.
- Page-level schema such as BreadcrumbList, Article, Product or Service, matching visible content.
- Structured data validated with Google's Rich Results Test and free of errors in Search Console.
- Important content rendered on the server, so crawlers that do not run JavaScript, including many AI crawlers, can read it.
- AI search crawlers allowed in robots.txt if you want to appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity and other AI answers.
How often should you run a technical SEO audit?
Run a full audit at least twice a year, and always before and after a redesign, replatforming or large content change. Monitor Search Console weekly for new indexing errors, and check Core Web Vitals monthly. Going international? Add hreflang checks for every language and region version, as covered in our internationalisation service.
Technical SEO tools worth using
- Google Search Console – indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data and search performance.
- Bing Webmaster Tools – indexing for Bing, which also feeds several AI search tools.
- A site crawler such as Screaming Frog or Sitebulb – broken links, redirects, titles and canonicals.
- PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse – lab and field performance data.
- Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator – structured data checks.
Planning a migration? Read about our SEO migration service. Want to be cited in AI answers too? See our AI search visibility service, or ask us for a technical SEO audit.
Related reading:
- How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost in 2026? A Complete Pricing Guide
- AI Agents for Business: How to Automate Operations in 2026 (With Real Use Cases)
- Headless Commerce vs Traditional Ecommerce: Which Architecture Is Right for Your Brand?
Frequently asked questions
What is technical SEO?
Technical SEO is the practice of making a website easy for search engines to crawl, understand and index, and fast and stable for users. It covers robots.txt, sitemaps, canonical tags, redirects, site speed, mobile usability and structured data.
What is the difference between technical SEO and on-page SEO?
Technical SEO focuses on the infrastructure that lets search engines access and index a site, such as crawling, speed and redirects. On-page SEO focuses on the content of individual pages, such as keywords, headings, copy and internal links. Both are needed to rank well.
How long does technical SEO take to show results?
Critical fixes such as unblocking pages or fixing broken redirects can show results within days to weeks of search engines recrawling the site. Broader improvements such as site speed and structure usually show their full effect over several months.
Do Core Web Vitals affect rankings?
Yes. Core Web Vitals are part of Google’s page experience signals. They are rarely decisive on their own, but when content is comparable, a faster and more stable page can have an edge, and speed also improves conversion.
Can I do a technical SEO audit myself?
Yes. With Google Search Console, a site crawler and PageSpeed Insights you can work through this checklist yourself. Complex sites, migrations and JavaScript-heavy storefronts usually benefit from an expert audit.