Technical SEO is the backbone of your website’s visibility. Even the best content won’t rank if search engines can’t crawl, index, or understand your site. Follow this actionable checklist to fix common issues and lay a strong foundation for organic growth.
1. Audit Site Speed
Slow pages frustrate users and hurt rankings. Use Google PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse to identify bottlenecks. Optimize code, enable compression, and leverage browser caching. For image-heavy sites, tools like Photozilla, ShortPixel, or TinyPNG can compress and resize visuals without sacrificing quality.
2. Ensure Mobile-Friendliness
Over 60% of searches happen on mobile. Test responsiveness with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Use a flexible grid layout, optimize tap targets, and avoid intrusive pop-ups.
3. Fix Crawl Errors
Broken links waste crawl budget. Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to find 404 errors, redirect chains, or blocked pages. Update internal links and ensure your robots.txt file isn’t disallowing critical pages.
4. Optimize XML Sitemaps
Submit an XML sitemap via Google Search Console. Include only indexable pages (no 404s or duplicates) and update it after major content changes.
5. Implement Structured Data
Add Schema markup to clarify page context. Use JSON-LD for product pages, articles, or FAQs. Validate with Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.
6. Secure Your Site with HTTPS
HTTPS is a ranking factor. Migrate from HTTP using a valid SSL certificate. Fix mixed content warnings by updating insecure resources (images, scripts).
7. Canonicalize Duplicate Content
Avoid self-competition by setting canonical tags for similar pages (e.g., product variants or printer-friendly versions).
8. Optimize Images and Videos
Compress images to WebP or AVIF format. Use descriptive filenames (e.g., blue-winter-coat.jpg), alt text, and lazy loading. For advanced optimization, tools like Photozilla or ImageKit use AI to upscale visuals while reducing file size.
9. Improve Internal Linking
Guide users and search engines to key pages. Link related content naturally (e.g., “Learn more about keyword research”) and fix orphaned pages.
10. Monitor Core Web Vitals
Prioritize Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Use CrUX Dashboard to track real-user performance.
11. Check Index Coverage
Review Google Search Console’s Index Coverage report. Fix “Excluded” pages with noindex tags or accidental blocking.
12. Set Up Redirects Strategically
Use 301 redirects for moved or deleted pages. Avoid chaining redirects (e.g., Page A → Page B → Page C), which slow down load times.
Technical SEO isn’t a one-time task. Schedule quarterly audits to stay ahead of algorithm updates and user expectations. Pair these fixes with high-quality content, and you’ll build a site that’s both search-engine-friendly and user-centric.
Pro Tip: Tools like Photozilla, Screaming Frog, and Google Search Console simplify complex tasks – use them to save time and focus on strategic improvements.
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