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SEO

Technical SEO Checklist

A comprehensive 150+ point technical SEO checklist covering crawlability, indexability, site structure, performance, and mobile optimization.

• Nihal
Technical SEO Checklist

Technical SEO Checklist

This comprehensive checklist covers all critical technical SEO elements that impact search engine crawling, indexing, and ranking. Use this as a systematic guide to ensure your website meets technical SEO best practices.

1. Crawlability & Indexability

Robots.txt

  • Robots.txt file exists and is accessible at /robots.txt
  • Robots.txt syntax is correct (no syntax errors)
  • Important pages are not blocked by robots.txt
  • XML sitemap location is declared in robots.txt
  • User-agent directives are properly configured
  • Crawl-delay is set appropriately (if needed)
  • Robots.txt file size is under 500KB

XML Sitemaps

  • XML sitemap exists and is properly formatted
  • Sitemap is submitted to Google Search Console
  • Sitemap is submitted to Bing Webmaster Tools
  • Sitemap contains only canonical URLs
  • Sitemap URLs return 200 status codes
  • Sitemap is updated automatically when content changes
  • Multiple sitemaps are properly indexed (if applicable)
  • Image sitemap is created (if applicable)
  • Video sitemap is created (if applicable)
  • News sitemap is created (if applicable)

URL Structure

  • URLs are descriptive and human-readable
  • URLs use hyphens instead of underscores
  • URLs are not excessively long (under 100 characters)
  • URL parameters are minimized
  • URLs are consistently lowercase
  • Trailing slashes are handled consistently
  • URLs don’t contain dynamic parameters when possible

2. Site Architecture & Navigation

Internal Linking

  • All important pages are within 3 clicks from homepage
  • Internal links use descriptive anchor text
  • No orphaned pages exist
  • Link equity is distributed effectively
  • Navigation is consistent across all pages
  • Footer links are optimized and relevant
  • Related content is properly linked

Site Structure

  • Logical hierarchy exists (homepage → category → subcategory → page)
  • Breadcrumb navigation is implemented
  • Category pages are optimized
  • Pagination is properly implemented
  • Filter/faceted navigation doesn’t create duplicate content
  • Site search functionality works properly

3. HTTP Status Codes & Redirects

Status Codes

  • All important pages return 200 status codes
  • 404 errors are minimized and properly handled
  • Custom 404 page exists and is helpful
  • 5xx server errors are resolved
  • Soft 404 errors are identified and fixed

Redirects

  • Redirect chains are minimized (no more than 2 redirects)
  • 301 redirects are used for permanent moves
  • 302 redirects are used appropriately for temporary moves
  • Redirect loops are eliminated
  • Old URLs are properly redirected to new ones
  • HTTP to HTTPS redirects are implemented

4. HTTPS & Security

SSL/TLS Implementation

  • SSL certificate is valid and up-to-date
  • All pages load over HTTPS
  • Mixed content issues are resolved
  • HTTP traffic is redirected to HTTPS
  • SSL certificate covers all subdomains
  • HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) is enabled

Security Headers

  • Content-Security-Policy header is implemented
  • X-Frame-Options header is set
  • X-Content-Type-Options header is set
  • Referrer-Policy header is configured
  • Permissions-Policy header is implemented

5. Page Speed & Core Web Vitals

Loading Performance

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is under 2.5 seconds
  • First Contentful Paint (FCP) is under 1.8 seconds
  • Speed Index is under 3.4 seconds
  • Time to Interactive (TTI) is under 3.8 seconds
  • Total Blocking Time (TBT) is under 200ms

Interactivity

  • First Input Delay (FID) is under 100ms
  • Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is under 200ms
  • JavaScript execution is optimized
  • Event listeners are properly optimized

Visual Stability

  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is under 0.1
  • Images have proper dimensions specified
  • Fonts are loaded properly to prevent layout shifts
  • Ads don’t cause layout shifts

Optimization Techniques

  • Images are compressed and optimized
  • Images are served in next-gen formats (WebP, AVIF)
  • Lazy loading is implemented for images
  • CSS is minified and compressed
  • JavaScript is minified and compressed
  • Gzip/Brotli compression is enabled
  • Browser caching is properly configured
  • CDN is implemented (if applicable)

6. Mobile Optimization

Mobile-First Design

  • Website is responsive across all devices
  • Mobile version loads quickly
  • Touch targets are appropriately sized (minimum 44px)
  • Text is readable without zooming
  • Horizontal scrolling is avoided
  • Pop-ups don’t interfere with mobile experience

Mobile Technical Factors

  • Mobile-specific structured data is implemented
  • App deep linking is configured (if applicable)
  • Mobile sitemap is created (if applicable)
  • AMP implementation is correct (if applicable)
  • Progressive Web App features are implemented (if applicable)

7. Structured Data & Schema

Schema Implementation

  • Appropriate schema types are implemented
  • Schema markup is syntactically correct
  • Schema is tested using Google’s Rich Results Test
  • Organization schema is implemented
  • Website schema is implemented
  • Breadcrumb schema is implemented
  • Product schema is implemented (e-commerce)
  • Review schema is implemented (if applicable)
  • FAQ schema is implemented (if applicable)
  • How-to schema is implemented (if applicable)

Rich Snippets

  • Rich snippets are displaying in search results
  • Star ratings are showing (if applicable)
  • Price information is displaying (e-commerce)
  • Availability information is accurate (e-commerce)
  • Event information is structured properly (if applicable)

8. Indexing & Canonicalization

Canonical URLs

  • Canonical tags are implemented on all pages
  • Self-referencing canonical tags are used
  • Canonical URLs are absolute, not relative
  • Canonical tags point to the correct version
  • Cross-domain canonical tags are implemented correctly (if applicable)

Meta Robots Tags

  • Meta robots tags are implemented correctly
  • Noindex tags are used appropriately
  • Nofollow tags are used appropriately
  • Noarchive, nosnippet tags are used when necessary
  • Max-snippet, max-image-preview tags are optimized

Duplicate Content

  • Duplicate content issues are identified and resolved
  • Parameter handling is properly configured
  • Faceted navigation doesn’t create duplicate content
  • Printer-friendly versions are properly handled
  • Syndicated content is properly attributed

9. International SEO (if applicable)

Hreflang Implementation

  • Hreflang tags are implemented correctly
  • All language/region variations are included
  • Hreflang tags are bidirectional
  • Self-referencing hreflang tags are included
  • Language codes are correct (ISO 639-1)
  • Country codes are correct (ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2)

International Structure

  • URL structure supports international targeting
  • Content is properly localized, not just translated
  • Currency and date formats are localized
  • International schema markup is implemented

10. Image Optimization

Image Technical Factors

  • All images have descriptive alt text
  • Alt text is not keyword-stuffed
  • Images have proper file names
  • Images are properly sized for their containers
  • Images are compressed without quality loss
  • Images are served in appropriate formats
  • Image lazy loading is implemented
  • Images have proper copyright information

Image SEO

  • Image sitemap is created and submitted
  • Image schema markup is implemented
  • Images are optimized for Google Images
  • Image captions are descriptive and relevant

11. Log File Analysis

Server Log Analysis

  • Server log files are regularly analyzed
  • Crawl budget is optimized
  • Crawl errors are identified and fixed
  • Bot traffic is properly monitored
  • Crawl frequency is optimized

12. Monitoring & Maintenance

Regular Monitoring

  • Google Search Console is monitored weekly
  • Core Web Vitals are tracked monthly
  • Technical SEO audit is performed quarterly
  • Site performance is monitored continuously
  • Crawl errors are addressed immediately
  • Security issues are monitored and resolved

Maintenance Tasks

  • Broken links are regularly checked and fixed
  • Outdated content is updated or removed
  • New content follows technical SEO best practices
  • Technical SEO tools are kept up-to-date
  • Backup and disaster recovery plans are in place

Tools for Implementation

Free Tools

  • Google Search Console: Primary tool for monitoring search performance
  • Google Analytics 4: Track user behavior and conversions
  • PageSpeed Insights: Analyze page performance and Core Web Vitals
  • Mobile-Friendly Test: Check mobile usability
  • Rich Results Test: Validate structured data
  • Lighthouse: Comprehensive page quality audit
  • Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Comprehensive site crawling and analysis
  • Ahrefs Site Audit: Advanced technical SEO analysis
  • SEMrush Site Audit: Complete technical SEO health check
  • DeepCrawl: Enterprise-level technical SEO monitoring
  • Botify: Advanced crawl analysis and optimization

Priority Levels

Critical (Fix Immediately)

  • Security issues (SSL, malware)
  • Major crawlability problems
  • Severe Core Web Vitals issues
  • Important pages returning 404/5xx errors

High Priority (Fix Within 1-2 Weeks)

  • Core Web Vitals optimization
  • Mobile usability issues
  • Duplicate content problems
  • Important missing schema markup

Medium Priority (Fix Within 1 Month)

  • Minor page speed improvements
  • Internal linking optimization
  • Image optimization
  • Secondary schema implementations

Low Priority (Ongoing Optimization)

  • Advanced schema markup
  • Minor UX improvements
  • Additional performance optimizations
  • Competitive analysis implementations

This checklist should be used as a systematic guide to ensure comprehensive technical SEO coverage. Regular audits using this checklist will help maintain optimal search engine visibility and user experience.

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