What is Technical SEO?
Imagine your website as a shop. You may decorate it beautifully (content, design), but if the doors are stuck, the lights don’t work, or the address is wrong, no customer will come in. Technical SEO is fixing all those hidden issues, so Google and people can easily find, enter, and use your site.
It’s not only about writing blogs or getting backlinks. It’s also about speed, security, structure, and making the website easy for both humans and search engines. What is technical SEO checklist? Why is it important? Let’s unwrap.
10-Step Technical SEO Checklist
1. Make Sure Google Can Find Your Website (Crawlability & Indexing)
- Robots.txt: This is like a doorman. Sometimes people accidentally tell the doorman not to let Google in. Check that your robots.txt file doesn’t block important pages.
- XML Sitemap: Think of this as a map you give Google, showing all the important roads (pages). Submit it in Google Search Console.
- Crawl Errors: Use Search Console to see if Google is facing dead ends, broken roads (404 errors), or blocked areas.
- Canonical Tags: If two roads lead to the same shop (duplicate content), tell Google which one is the main road.
2. Make Your Website Fast (Site Speed & Core Web Vitals)
Nobody waits for a slow site. Google also doesn’t like it. They use three measures called Core Web Vitals:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): How fast your main content shows up. Target: under 2.5 seconds.
- FID (First Input Delay): How quickly your site reacts when someone clicks a button. Target: under 0.1 seconds.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Does the page jump around while loading? (Like a button shifting position just when you’re about to click.) Keep it steady.
How to Fix Speed:
- Compress and resize images (use WebP format).
- Remove unnecessary code.
- Use a CDN (like delivery boys closer to customers).
- Enable caching so returning visitors don’t reload everything.
3. Make It Work on Mobile (Mobile Friendliness)
An important part of the technical SEO checklist. Most users in India open websites on their phones. If your site looks broken on mobile, they’ll leave.
- Use a responsive design (the site should adjust to any screen).
- Avoid tiny fonts or buttons too close together.
- Don’t use popups that cover the whole screen.
- Test with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.
4. Keep It Safe with HTTPS (Security)
Websites that start with https:// are secure. Those with http:// are not.
- Add an SSL certificate (usually free with hosting).
- Redirect old pages (http) to new secure ones (https).
- Fix warnings like “this site is not secure.”
Why? Google gives secure websites a ranking boost, and users trust them more. Make sure you tick in front of this point in the technical SEO checklist.
5. Add Structured Data (Schema Markup)
Ever noticed when Google shows star ratings, FAQs, or recipe times directly in search results? That’s schema markup.
It’s like giving Google extra notes about your page:
- A recipe → cooking time, ingredients.
- A product → price, reviews.
- An event → date, location.
This makes your listing stand out and attracts more clicks. Ask your SEO expert to follow this point while ticking off the technical SEO checklist.
6. Organize Your Website (Site Architecture & Internal Links)
Think of your website like a library. If books are scattered, readers won’t find them.
- Keep structure simple: Homepage → Categories → Pages.
- Use breadcrumbs (little links at the top like Home > Blog > Article).
- Link to related pages so Google understands connections.
7. Use Clean URLs (Website Addresses)
This is another important point in the technical SEO checklist. Good URLs are short, clear, and use words instead of numbers. The ideal character count for URLs is 75. Other than hyphens, do not use any other special characters for better readability.
Example:
❌ www.gotoclan.com/blog?id=1234
✅ www.gotoclan.com/blog/technical-seo-checklist
Always use hyphens (-) between words, not underscores (_).
8. Avoid Duplicate Pages (Duplicate Content)
If the same content appears in two places, Google gets confused. It will be like competing with yourself. Make sure you tick this point from the technical SEO checklist to avoid delays in indexing.
- Use canonical tags to tell which page is the original.
- Delete or merge thin pages (pages with very little content).
- Use hreflang tags for sites in multiple languages.
9. Check Server Logs (Advanced but Helpful)
This is like CCTV footage of your website. It shows how Googlebot (Google’s crawler) is moving around your site.
- See which pages Google visits often.
- Check if it’s wasting time on useless pages.
- Make sure important pages are not being ignored.
For beginners, this can be skipped, but it’s powerful for big websites. Even if you are a beginner, you can tick this point from our technical SEO checklist.
10. Use the Right Tools (Your SEO Toolkit)
You don’t have to guess. Use free and paid tools:
- Google Search Console – Check indexing, errors, and keywords.
- Google PageSpeed Insights – Test speed and Core Web Vitals.
- Screaming Frog – Crawl your site like Googlebot.
- GTMetrix – Speed test with detailed suggestions.
- Ahrefs / SEMrush – Full SEO audits (paid).
Technical SEO vs Technical Marketing (Made Simple)
Technical SEO
Focuses on your website’s foundation. Like fixing roads, wiring, and plumbing, so the house is strong.
Technical Marketing
Focuses on the tech side of marketing campaigns, analytics, automation,and tracking. For example:
- Setting up Google Analytics to track visitors.
- Using HubSpot or Mailchimp for email automation.
- Running A/B tests to see which landing page works better.
Connection: Without technical SEO, technical marketing struggles. If your site is slow or broken, ads and campaigns won’t convert.
Common Mistakes Beginners Make
- Blocking Google accidentally with robots.txt.
- Forgetting to update the sitemap.
- Ignoring site speed because “it loads fine on my WiFi.”
- Having different versions: http/https, www/non-www, creating duplicates.
Final Words
Technical SEO isn’t rocket science; it’s like housekeeping for your website.
With this technical SEO checklist, even with basic knowledge, you can achieve a marketing-ready website. Once you make sure the doors are open (crawlability), lights are on (speed), rooms are neat (structure), and security is tight (HTTPS), Google will love your site and so will your visitors.
Start with the basics:
- Crawl & Index check
- Speed
- Mobile
- Security
Then move into advanced stuff like schema and log analysis.
Combine it with technical marketing, and your website becomes a conversion machine. Contact Go To Clan for Technical SEO services.