Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the process of optimising a website's infrastructure — crawlability, indexing, speed and schema — so search engines can access and rank its content effectively.
Technical SEO is the foundation everything else sits on. Without it, great content and strong backlinks underperform. This checklist covers the 27 technical SEO points our team audits on every new client engagement — from crawlability basics to advanced structured data implementation.
Crawlability and Indexing (Points 1–8)
Search engines need to find and understand your pages before they can rank them. These eight checks ensure your site is fully accessible.
- 1. XML Sitemap — submitted in Search Console, auto-updated, under 50K URLs per file.
- 2. Robots.txt — not blocking critical resources or pages.
- 3. Canonical tags — self-referencing canonicals on every indexable page.
- 4. Hreflang — correct implementation for multi-language or multi-region sites.
- 5. Internal linking — every indexable page reachable within 3 clicks from homepage.
- 6. Orphan pages — no pages without internal links pointing to them.
- 7. Redirect chains — no chains longer than 2 hops; resolve to final destination.
- 8. 404 errors — fix or redirect all pages returning 404 that have backlinks.
Core Web Vitals and Performance (Points 9–15)
Core Web Vitals are a confirmed ranking factor. These seven checks focus on page speed and user experience metrics.
- 9. LCP under 2.5s — optimise largest contentful paint through image compression and server response time.
- 10. FID under 100ms — minimise JavaScript execution blocking user interactions.
- 11. CLS under 0.1 — set explicit dimensions on images and embeds to prevent layout shift.
- 12. INP under 200ms — Interaction to Next Paint replaces FID as the responsiveness metric.
- 13. Server response time — TTFB under 800ms; consider CDN if serving multiple geographies.
- 14. Image optimisation — WebP/AVIF format, responsive sizes, lazy loading below fold.
- 15. JavaScript audit — remove unused JS, defer non-critical scripts, code-split large bundles.
Run our free SEO audit tool to check your Core Web Vitals instantly.
Structured Data and Schema (Points 16–22)
Schema markup helps search engines understand content context and enables rich results — including AI Overview citations.
- 16. Organization schema — on homepage with logo, social profiles, contact info.
- 17. Article schema — on all blog posts with author, date, and image.
- 18. FAQPage schema — on pages with FAQ sections for rich result eligibility.
- 19. BreadcrumbList — matching visible breadcrumb navigation.
- 20. Product/Service schema — on relevant service and product pages.
- 21. LocalBusiness schema — if serving specific geographic areas.
- 22. Validation — all schema passes Google's Rich Results Test with zero errors.
Not sure where your site stands technically? Find out in 60 seconds.
Run Free SEO AuditSecurity, Mobile, and Accessibility (Points 23–27)
These final five points cover the hygiene factors that are easy to overlook but can significantly impact rankings.
- 23. HTTPS everywhere — all pages served over HTTPS with valid SSL certificate.
- 24. Mobile-first ready — all content and functionality identical on mobile and desktop.
- 25. Viewport meta tag — correctly configured for responsive rendering.
- 26. Accessibility basics — alt text on images, proper heading hierarchy, keyboard navigation.
- 27. International targeting — correct hreflang, geo-targeting in Search Console if applicable.
Need help implementing these? Our technical SEO service covers every point on this checklist and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should you run a technical SEO audit?
We recommend a full technical audit quarterly, with automated monitoring for critical issues (broken pages, indexing errors, Core Web Vitals regressions) running continuously.
Which technical SEO issues have the biggest impact on rankings?
Crawlability issues (blocked pages, broken canonicals) and Core Web Vitals (especially LCP and INP) typically have the largest measurable impact on rankings and traffic.
Ready to Fix Your Technical SEO?
Digitly's technical SEO team audits and implements every point on this checklist. Let us handle the infrastructure so your content can perform.
Get a Free Marketing AuditSneha Gupta
Content & Growth Strategist, Digitly
Sneha drives content strategy and growth programmes at Digitly. 8+ years turning content into pipeline across B2B verticals.
