Technical SEO ensures search engines can discover, crawl, render, and index your content effectively. Without a solid technical foundation, even the best content will struggle to rank. This checklist covers the 30 essential checks we perform during every technical SEO audit at Born Digital.
Crawlability and Indexation
- 1. Robots.txt: Verify it is not blocking important pages. Check for accidental disallow rules that prevent crawling of critical content sections.
- 2. XML sitemap: Ensure it exists, is submitted to Google Search Console, contains only indexable URLs, and is updated automatically when content changes.
- 3. Index coverage: Check Search Console for indexation errors. Look for pages with "Crawled - currently not indexed" or "Discovered - not currently indexed" status.
- 4. Canonical tags: Every page should have a self-referencing canonical tag. Check for conflicting canonical signals and ensure duplicate pages point to the correct canonical.
- 5. Crawl budget: For large sites (10,000+ pages), monitor crawl stats in Search Console. Ensure Google is prioritising your important pages over low-value URLs.
- 6. Noindex tags: Audit meta robots tags to ensure important pages are not accidentally noindexed. A common mistake during staging-to-production migrations.
Site Architecture and Internal Linking
- 7. URL structure: URLs should be descriptive, lowercase, use hyphens, and reflect site hierarchy. Avoid parameters, session IDs, and unnecessary depth.
- 8. Internal linking: Important pages should be reachable within 3 clicks from the homepage. Use descriptive anchor text and ensure orphaned pages are linked from relevant content.
- 9. Breadcrumbs: Implement breadcrumb navigation with BreadcrumbList schema markup. This helps both users and search engines understand your site hierarchy.
- 10. Broken links: Scan for 404 errors and fix or redirect them. Internal broken links waste crawl budget and create poor user experience.
- 11. Redirect chains: Ensure redirects point directly to the final destination. Chains of 3+ redirects slow down crawling and dilute link equity.
- 12. Pagination: Use proper rel="next" and rel="prev" or implement load-more patterns that are crawlable. Ensure all paginated content is accessible to search engines.
Performance and Core Web Vitals
- 13-15. LCP, INP, CLS: Check Core Web Vitals in Search Console. Aim for "Good" scores across all three metrics on both mobile and desktop.
- 16. TTFB: Time to First Byte should be under 800ms. If it is higher, investigate server configuration, caching, and hosting quality.
- 17. Mobile performance: Test on actual mobile devices. Mobile scores are typically 20-40 points lower than desktop due to device processing power constraints.
- 18. Resource hints: Use preconnect for critical third-party origins and preload for above-the-fold resources like hero images and primary fonts.
On-Page and Structured Data
- 19-22. Title tags, meta descriptions, H1 tags, heading hierarchy: Each page should have a unique, keyword-optimised title under 60 characters, a compelling meta description under 160 characters, exactly one H1 tag, and a logical heading hierarchy.
- 23. Image alt text: All meaningful images should have descriptive alt text. Decorative images should have empty alt attributes.
- 24. Schema markup: Implement relevant structured data — Organization, LocalBusiness, Product, FAQ, Article, BreadcrumbList. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test.
- 25. Open Graph tags: Ensure OG title, description, and image are set for proper social media sharing previews.
Security and International
- 26-27. HTTPS and mixed content: Ensure all pages load over HTTPS. Scan for mixed content warnings where HTTP resources are loaded on HTTPS pages.
- 28. Hreflang tags: For multi-language sites, verify hreflang annotations are correct and reciprocal between language versions.
- 29. Mobile usability: Check Search Console for mobile usability issues — text too small, clickable elements too close, content wider than screen.
- 30. Log file analysis: Review server logs to understand how Googlebot crawls your site. Identify pages being crawled excessively or important pages being ignored.
At Born Digital, we perform comprehensive technical SEO audits as part of every web development project. If your site is underperforming in search, a technical audit often reveals quick wins that can significantly improve your visibility. Contact us for a thorough analysis.