Technical SEO checklist for a business website
Check indexing, metadata, speed, mobile rendering, internal links and structured data in a sensible order.
Technical SEO makes useful content accessible, understandable and fast. Fix issues that can exclude entire pages from search before polishing individual titles or minor speed scores.
Signs that it is time to act
- Important pages are missing from Google
- Several URLs show the same content
- The mobile version is slow or unstable
- Removed pages leave dead links
A sensible way forward
Prioritise by impact: indexing and canonical URLs first, then internal structure, mobile experience and performance. Record changes so results can be measured and mistakes do not recur.
- 01
Check access
Review robots.txt, sitemap, noindex, status codes and canonical tags across key page types.
- 02
Review structure
Use descriptive URLs, distinct titles, headings and internal links to every important page.
- 03
Test the experience
Measure mobile rendering, images, scripts and layout shifts on representative pages.
Make sure this is covered
- Indexable core pages
- Sitemap and robots.txt
- Canonical tags and redirects
- Titles and descriptions
- Mobile speed
- 404s and internal links
- Structured data
Common pitfalls
- Optimising a score rather than the experience
- Blocking CSS or JavaScript
- Changing URLs without redirects
Questions and answers
Can an SEO tool find everything?
No. A crawler reveals many technical patterns, but prioritisation requires knowledge of goals, templates and real user journeys.
How often should technical SEO be checked?
After major changes and periodically thereafter. Ecommerce and frequently updated sites need checks more often than small stable sites.