This checklist covers the most important technical SEO areas, from crawlability and indexing to structured data, sitemaps, performance, and internal linking.

1. Make Sure the Website Uses HTTPS

Every important page should load securely over HTTPS.

Check that:

HTTP redirects to HTTPS

There are no mixed-content warnings

Internal links use the HTTPS version

The preferred URL is consistent

1. Check robots.txt

Review the website's robots.txt file and make sure important pages are not accidentally blocked.

A basic example:

User-agent: * Allow: /

Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml

Remember that robots.txt controls crawling instructions; it should not be treated as a security mechanism.

1. Check the XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap should contain the URLs you actually want search engines to discover and index.

Check for:

Broken URLs

Redirected URLs

Non-canonical URLs

Noindex pages

Duplicate URLs

Incorrect last-modified dates

1. Check Canonical URLs

Important pages should have an appropriate canonical URL.

Canonicalization is particularly important when a website can generate multiple URLs for similar or identical content.

1. Check Indexing

Look for pages that should be indexed but have accidentally been given:

Also check for indexing problems in Google Search Console.

1. Review Page Titles

Every important page should have a descriptive title that accurately represents its content.

Avoid creating hundreds of pages with almost identical titles.

1. Review Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions should explain what users can expect from the page.

They are not a direct ranking factor, but a useful description can help improve search-result clicks.

1. Check Heading Structure

Use headings to organize content logically.

A page should have a clear primary topic, followed by useful subsections.

Avoid adding headings simply to insert keywords.

1. Improve Internal Linking

Important pages should be reachable through relevant internal links.

Look for:

Orphan pages

Important pages with very few internal links

Generic anchor text

Excessive sitewide links

1. Optimize Images

Check:

Image dimensions

File size

Modern formats where appropriate

Descriptive alt text

Lazy loading where appropriate

Alt text should describe the image rather than being used as a place to stuff keywords.

1. Check Mobile Usability

The website should work properly on mobile devices.

Test:

Navigation

Buttons

Forms

Font sizes

Images

Horizontal scrolling

Page layout

1. Check Core Web Vitals

Review:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Performance problems can affect user experience even when the site's SEO fundamentals are otherwise strong.

1. Check Structured Data

Where appropriate, use structured data to help search engines understand the content of a page.

Depending on the website, this may include:

Organization

Product

Article

BreadcrumbList

LocalBusiness

FAQPage where appropriate

Structured data should accurately represent visible page content.

1. Check 404 Pages

Find broken internal links and make sure users receive a useful 404 page.

Don't redirect every missing URL to the homepage without a relevant reason.

1. Review Redirects

Check for:

Redirect chains

Redirect loops

Unnecessary redirects

Incorrect 301 redirects

1. Check JavaScript Rendering

If important content depends on JavaScript, make sure search engines can access and understand that content.

This is especially important for JavaScript-heavy applications.

1. Check URL Structure

Keep URLs understandable and consistent.

Avoid unnecessary parameters and extremely complicated URL structures where possible.

1. Check Duplicate Content

Look for pages that contain substantially similar content but exist at multiple URLs.

Use appropriate canonicalization, redirects, or content consolidation when necessary.

1. Check Pagination and Faceted Navigation

Large websites and ecommerce websites should carefully review pagination, filters, sorting URLs, and other URL-generating features.

These can create thousands of unnecessary crawlable URLs.

1. Check Internal Search Pages

Internal search results should generally not become an uncontrolled source of crawlable duplicate or low-value pages.

1. Check Open Graph Metadata

Add appropriate Open Graph information so pages display correctly when shared on social platforms.

1. Check Social Metadata

Review:

Open Graph title

Open Graph description

Open Graph image

Twitter/X card metadata where appropriate

1. Check International SEO

For multilingual or multi-regional websites, review hreflang implementation carefully.

Every language or regional version should reference the appropriate alternatives correctly.

1. Check Website Architecture

Important content should not be buried several clicks deep without a good reason.

Organize related pages into logical categories.

1. Find Orphan Pages

An orphan page has no meaningful internal links pointing to it.

These pages can be difficult for both users and search engines to discover.

1. Review Thin Content

Not every indexed URL needs to exist simply because it can be generated.

Remove, consolidate, improve, or appropriately manage pages that provide little value.

1. Check Search Console

Google Search Console should be used to monitor:

Indexing

Search performance

Sitemap status

Core Web Vitals

Manual actions

Security issues

1. Test Structured Data

Before deploying structured data, validate the implementation and make sure the markup accurately describes the page.

1. Crawl the Website

A technical SEO crawler can help identify:

Broken links

Missing titles

Duplicate titles

Missing descriptions

Redirects

Canonical problems

Orphan pages

Indexability issues

For smaller websites, browser-based SEO tools can also make individual checks faster.

For example, SearchLearningTools provides a collection of free SEO tools for checking and analyzing common website SEO elements:

https://searchlearningtools.com/free-seo-tools

1. Perform a Final SEO Audit

After fixing the issues above, crawl the website again.

The goal isn't to make every SEO tool report "100%."

The goal is to make sure search engines can:

Discover important pages

Crawl them efficiently

Understand their content

Identify the preferred URLs

Index valuable pages

Associate related content through internal links

Provide a good experience to users

Final Thoughts

Technical SEO is not a one-time task.

Websites change constantly. New pages are published, redirects are added, templates change, JavaScript is updated, and new technical problems can appear.

A periodic technical SEO audit helps identify these problems before they become larger issues.

For quick checks of common SEO elements, you can also use the free tools available at:

https://searchlearningtools.com/free-seo-tools