Technical SEO checklist
Technical SEO is the foundation. If search engines cannot crawl, render, and index your pages, no amount of content optimization matters. This checklist audits the infrastructure layer.
Critical
— 6 itemsCheck that robots.txt exists at /robots.txt, allows crawling of important paths, blocks private paths (/api/, /dashboard/), and references your sitemap.
Validate XML sitemap completeness
Ensure every canonical URL is in the sitemap. No noindex pages, no redirecting URLs, no 404s. Sitemaps should update automatically when content changes.
Check for crawl errors in Google Search Console
Review the Pages report in GSC. Fix server errors (5xx), soft 404s, and blocked resources. Prioritize errors on high-traffic pages.
Enforce HTTPS with proper redirects
All HTTP URLs must 301 redirect to HTTPS equivalents. Check for mixed content (HTTP resources loaded on HTTPS pages). Set HSTS headers for additional security.
Every page should have a self-referencing canonical tag. No canonical pointing to a different page unless intentional. No canonicals on 404 or redirect pages.
Ensure all pages return proper HTTP status codes
200 for live pages, 301 for permanent redirects, 404 for removed pages. Never return 200 for pages that should be 404 (soft 404s). Never 302 when you mean 301.
Important
— 6 itemsEliminate redirect chains and loops
Every redirect should resolve in a single hop. Chains (A -> B -> C) waste crawl budget. Loops (A -> B -> A) break crawling entirely. Audit with npx indxel crawl.
Google uses mobile-first indexing. Test every page template on mobile. Ensure viewport meta is set and content is not wider than the screen.
Run all JSON-LD through Google Rich Results Test. Fix warnings and errors. Invalid structured data is worse than none — it can trigger manual penalties.
Check page speed across all templates
Run Lighthouse on your homepage, a product/blog page, and a category page. Aim for LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, and INP < 200ms across all templates.
Verify hreflang for international sites
If you serve multiple languages or regions, validate hreflang tags are reciprocal (each page references all others), use correct language codes, and have an x-default.
Audit JavaScript rendering requirements
Check if critical content requires JavaScript to render. Use View Source (not Inspect) to see what Google sees. SSR or SSG is preferred for SEO-critical content.
Nice-to-have
— 1 itemMonitor Core Web Vitals in the field
Lab metrics are not enough. Check CrUX data in GSC or PageSpeed Insights. Field data reflects real user experience and is what Google uses for ranking.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I run a technical SEO audit?
Monthly at minimum. Ideally, integrate Indxel into your CI/CD pipeline so every deploy is automatically validated. Catch issues at build time, not weeks later.
What is the most impactful technical SEO fix?
Fixing crawlability issues. If Google cannot crawl your pages, nothing else matters. Check robots.txt, redirects, and server errors first. Then move to metadata and structured data.
Does Google render JavaScript for indexing?
Yes, but with a delay. Google renders JavaScript in a secondary crawl wave that can take days to weeks. Server-side rendering (SSR) or static generation (SSG) ensures content is immediately available to crawlers.
Automate this checklist
Stop checking manually. Indxel validates SEO rules on every build and blocks broken deploys.