- Verify search and AI crawler access to every priority page.
- Target LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, and CLS under 0.1.
- Canonical errors can split authority and confuse retrieval systems.
- Critical content should exist in the initial HTML response.
- Structured data, mobile parity, HTTPS, clean status codes, and accurate sitemaps remain essential.
Technical SEO determines whether search engines and AI platforms can access, understand, index, trust, and cite your website. Strong content cannot overcome blocked crawlers, broken canonicals, slow rendering, invalid schema, or missing mobile content.
Crawlability and AI crawler access
Confirm important pages and assets are not accidentally blocked.
Check Googlebot, Bingbot, GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, and other relevant user agents.
Find broad rules that unintentionally block unlisted crawlers.
Use it as a supplemental guide, not a replacement for crawlable HTML or sitemaps.
Validate services, products, locations, pillar pages, and resources.
Submit clean sitemaps to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Add direct sitemap declarations.
Review response codes, host availability, crawl volume, and recurring errors.
Indexation and canonicalization
Verify only intentionally excluded pages carry noindex.
Primary indexable pages should generally point to themselves.
Check redirects, sitemaps, internal links, and hreflang for disagreement.
Point directly to the final preferred URL.
Repair broken internal links and redirect removed URLs when appropriate.
Investigate server failures, timeouts, and application errors.
Send old URLs directly to the final destination.
Ensure annotations are reciprocal, valid, and canonical.
Keep useful paginated pages crawlable and correctly canonicalized.
Use crawls and Search Console to find exclusions or index bloat.
Core Web Vitals and performance
Optimize hero media, server response, critical CSS, and font delivery.
Reduce long JavaScript tasks and expensive handlers.
Reserve space for media, embeds, banners, and dynamic content.
Improve hosting, caching, CDN delivery, database queries, and application overhead.
Inline critical CSS and defer nonessential assets.
Do not lazy-load the primary LCP image.
Serve correctly sized and compressed modern images.
Stop loading plugin assets where they are not needed.
Use Lighthouse, CrUX, PageSpeed Insights, and real-user monitoring.
Structured data implementation
Validate eligible pages after meaningful site changes.
Monitor invalid items, warnings, and declining valid counts.
Include official name, URL, logo, contact points, and sameAs profiles.
Include author, publisher, dates, image, headline, and canonical URL.
Keep address, phone, hours, service area, and category accurate.
Only mark up questions and answers shown to users.
Prevent themes and plugins from creating contradictory entities.
Use Schema.org validation in addition to Google testing.
Mobile optimization and security
Review headings, navigation, cards, forms, tables, and long URLs.
Review common 768px and 1024px viewports.
Keep important content, links, metadata, and schema available.
Make controls large enough and properly spaced.
Use a responsive viewport declaration.
Redirect HTTP URLs and maintain a valid certificate.
Update insecure scripts, styles, fonts, images, and embeds.
Evaluate HSTS, CSP, content-type protection, referrer policy, and frame rules.
JavaScript rendering and AI accessibility
Confirm main copy, links, metadata, and schema are present before client rendering.
Prioritize key services, products, locations, and informational pages.
Review what remains visible and navigable.
Do not require crawler-triggered interactions to reveal essential copy or links.
Which issues should you fix first?
| Priority | Examples | Impact | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Blocked pages, widespread noindex, 5xx errors, broken migrations | Prevents crawling, indexing, ranking, or citation | Immediately |
| High | Canonical conflicts, redirect chains, severe CWV failures, broken schema | Dilutes authority and degrades performance | Within 1–2 weeks |
| Medium | Unused assets, oversized images, warnings, weak internal discovery | Reduces efficiency and growth potential | Within 30 days |
| Ongoing | Crawl monitoring, sitemap hygiene, performance trends, schema checks | Prevents regressions | Monthly |