You can write great content and still go nowhere on Google if the basics underneath are broken. Technical SEO is about making sure Google can reach your pages, store them, and show them fast. This technical seo checklist walks through each layer in order, with a simple way to find each problem and fix it.

Start here: tools and order of work

You do not need paid software to begin. Set up these free tools first:

• Google Search Console: shows what Google crawled, what it indexed, and what it rejected.
• PageSpeed Insights: shows real user speed data and lab test results for any URL.
• A site crawler such as Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) or Sitebulb: finds broken links, redirects, and missing tags the way a bot would.

Work in this order, because each step depends on the one before it:

1. Crawling: can Google reach the page?
2. Indexing: does Google keep the page?
3. Speed and experience: is the page fast and stable?
4. Structure and markup: does Google understand the page?

Fixing speed on a page that is blocked from crawling is wasted effort.

1. Crawling: can Google reach your pages?

Crawling is Googlebot visiting your URLs. If it cannot get in, nothing else matters.

Check your robots.txt file. Open yourdomain.com/robots.txt. A single stray line such as Disallow: / blocks your whole site. This often happens when a staging site goes live with its old settings. Also make sure you are not blocking the CSS and JavaScript files Google needs to render your pages.

Remember what robots.txt does and does not do. It controls crawling, not indexing. A blocked URL can still appear in results if other sites link to it. To keep a page out of Google, use a noindex tag instead (see the next section).

Submit an XML sitemap. In Search Console, go to Indexing, then Sitemaps, and add your sitemap URL. List only pages you want indexed: live, canonical, and returning a 200 status. A sitemap file can hold up to 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed, so split large sites into several files.

Fix your internal links. Google finds most pages by following links. A page with no internal links pointing to it, often called an orphan page, is hard to discover. Make sure every important page is reachable within a few clicks from the homepage.

Clean up redirects. Use a 301 redirect for permanent moves. Avoid chains (A to B to C) and loops, because they waste crawl time and can stop Google before it reaches the final page. Point old links straight to the final URL.

Watch the Crawl Stats report. In Search Console, open Settings, then Crawl stats. It shows requests per day, average response time, and a breakdown by status code. A sudden drop in requests or a rise in server errors (5xx) means something on your server needs attention.

Mind your crawl budget if your site is large. Google decides how much of your site to crawl. For most small sites this is not a problem. On big sites, remove or block endless filter pages, fix broken links, and delete thin pages so Google spends its time on pages that matter.

2. Indexing: does Google keep your pages?

Crawled does not mean indexed. Google visits a page, then decides whether to store it and show it in results.

Start with the Page indexing report. In Search Console, go to Indexing, then Pages. It shows how many URLs are indexed and lists the reasons others are not. Group the reasons by page type or folder so you can spot patterns instead of chasing single URLs.

These are the statuses you will meet most often:

• Crawled, currently not indexed: Google saw the page but chose not to keep it. Common causes are thin or duplicate content, or weak internal links. Improve the content and link to the page from stronger pages.
• Discovered, currently not indexed: Google knows the URL but has not crawled it yet. Add internal links, include it in your sitemap, and check that your server is not slow.
• Excluded by noindex tag: The page tells Google to stay away. If that is a mistake, remove the tag from the HTML or the HTTP header.
• Duplicate without user-selected canonical: Google found copies of a page and picked its own favorite. Set a clear canonical tag.
• Soft 404: The page looks empty or says "not found" but returns a 200 status. Return a real 404 or 410 code, or add real content.

Use the URL Inspection tool for single pages. Paste a URL to see when Google last crawled it, which canonical Google chose, and whether anything blocks indexing. Run the live test after a fix, then click Request indexing. New pages can take a few days to a week to appear, and requesting indexing only speeds up the process.

Set canonical tags correctly. A canonical tag tells Google which version of similar pages is the main one. Each page should point to its own preferred URL, and the URLs in your sitemap should match.

Do not rely on robots.txt and noindex together. If robots.txt blocks a page, Google never sees the noindex tag on it. To remove a page from results, let Google crawl it and read the noindex.

Watch for mass "not indexed" patterns. Google has said that when it has serious doubts about the overall quality of a site, it may crawl and index less of it. If many good pages are not indexed, look at content quality across the site, not only at technical settings.

3. Speed: pass the Core Web Vitals

Google measures page experience with three Core Web Vitals. As of October 2026 the set has not changed since Interaction to Next Paint (INP) replaced First Input Delay on March 12, 2024, and the thresholds are the same too. Google judges each metric at the 75th percentile of real visits, so at least 75 percent of your visitors need a good experience.

A page needs a good score on all three to pass. One red metric fails the page.

Find the problem. Run your key pages through PageSpeed Insights and look at the real user data first, then the lab test. In Search Console, the Core Web Vitals report groups slow URLs so you can fix a whole template at once.

Fix slow LCP:

• Compress images and use modern formats such as WebP or AVIF.
• Never lazy load the main hero image above the fold.
• Use a CDN and good hosting to cut server response time.
• Remove render blocking scripts and unused CSS.

Fix poor INP:

• Break up long JavaScript tasks so the browser can respond between them.
• Remove or delay heavy third party scripts such as chat widgets and extra trackers.
• Keep the page's DOM size reasonable.

Fix high CLS:

• Set width and height on every image and video so space is reserved.
• Reserve room for ads, banners, and embeds.
• Load web fonts in a way that avoids sudden text jumps.

Speed is one of many signals, so do not expect a fast site alone to outrank a better answer. But a slow, jumpy page loses visitors before rankings even come into play.

4. Mobile, security, structured data, and structure

Mobile first. Google mainly uses the mobile version of your pages for indexing. Your mobile pages must contain the same main content, headings, links, and structured data as your desktop pages. Test with the URL Inspection tool and check that text is readable and buttons are easy to tap without zooming.

HTTPS everywhere. Serve every page over HTTPS and redirect all HTTP URLs to the secure version with a 301. Fix mixed content, where a secure page loads images or scripts over plain HTTP, and keep your SSL certificate from expiring.

Structured data, with realistic expectations. Structured data (schema markup in JSON-LD format) helps Google understand your page and can make it eligible for rich results. It does not push a page up the rankings by itself. Google recommends JSON-LD in most cases. Validate your markup, and only mark up content that is visible on the page.

Be aware that Google keeps retiring rich result types. HowTo ended in 2023, and FAQ rich results stopped appearing in Google Search on May 7, 2026. The FAQPage markup itself is not harmful, and Google says unused structured data does not cause problems, so you can leave it in place or remove it. Types still worth using where they fit include Article, Product, Organization, LocalBusiness, Breadcrumb, Event, and Video.

Clear site structure. Keep your important pages close to the homepage, use short and readable URLs, and add breadcrumb navigation. Give every page a unique title tag and meta description, and use one clear H1 per page. If you serve several languages or regions, add correct hreflang tags so Google shows the right version to the right user.

Common errors and how to fix them

Your monthly technical SEO routine

Technical SEO is not a one time job. Sites change, plugins update, and small mistakes creep in. Spend an hour on this list each month:

• Open the Page indexing report and check for new errors or a sudden drop in indexed pages.
• Review Crawl stats for spikes in server errors or drops in crawl requests.
• Check the Core Web Vitals report and test your top five pages in PageSpeed Insights.
• Run a site crawl and fix new broken links, redirect chains, and missing titles.
• Confirm robots.txt and your sitemap still look right.
• Use URL Inspection on every important new page and request indexing if needed.
• Check that your SSL certificate is valid and HTTP redirects to HTTPS.

Fix problems in the order of this article: crawling, then indexing, then speed, then markup. Pages that Google can reach, keep, and load quickly give your content a fair chance to rank.