Full Technical SEO Checklist to Improve Your Rankings in 2024

Technical SEO is chiefly astir making it easier for hunt engines to find, index, and fertile your website. It tin besides heighten your site’s idiosyncratic acquisition (UX) by making it faster and much accessible.

We’ve enactment unneurotic a broad method SEO checklist to assistance you code and forestall imaginable method issues. And supply the champion acquisition for your users.

Crawlability and Indexability 

Search engines similar Google usage crawlers to observe (crawl) content. And adhd it to their database of webpages (known arsenic the index).

If your tract has indexing oregon crawling errors, your pages mightiness not look successful hunt results. Leading to reduced visibility and traffic.

Here are the astir important crawlability and indexability issues to cheque for:

1. Redirect oregon Replace Broken Internal Links

Broken interior links constituent to non-existent pages wrong your site. This tin hap if you’ve mistyped the URL, deleted the page, oregon moved it without mounting up a due redirect.

Clicking connected a breached nexus usually takes you to a 404 error page:

Broken links disrupt the user's acquisition connected your site. And marque it harder for radical to find what they need.

Use Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality to place breached links. 

Open the instrumentality and travel the configuration guide to acceptable it up. (Or instrumentality with the default settings.) Then, click “Start Site Audit.” 

Once your study is ready, you’ll spot an overview page.

Click connected “View details” successful the “Internal Linking” widget nether “Thematic Reports.” This volition instrumentality you to a dedicated study connected your site’s interior linking structure.

You tin find immoderate breached nexus issues nether the “Errors” section. Click connected the “# Issues” fastener connected the “Broken interior links” enactment for a implicit database of each your breached links.

To hole the issues, archetypal spell done the links connected the database 1 by 1 and cheque that they’re spelled correctly. 

If they’re close but inactive broken, regenerate them with links that constituent to applicable unrecorded pages. Or region them entirely. 

2. Fix 5XX Errors

5XX errors (like 500 HTTP presumption codes) hap erstwhile your web server encounters an contented that prevents it from fulfilling a idiosyncratic oregon crawler request. Making the leafage inaccessible. 

Like not being capable to load a webpage due to the fact that the server is overloaded with excessively galore requests.

Server-side errors forestall users and crawlers from accessing your webpages. This negatively impacts some idiosyncratic acquisition and crawlability. Which tin pb to a driblet successful integrated (free) postulation to your website.

Jump backmost into the Site Audit instrumentality to cheque for immoderate 5XX errors. 

Navigate to the “Issues” tab. Then, hunt for “5XX” successful the hunt bar. 

If Site Audit identifies immoderate issues, you’ll spot a “# pages returned a 5XX presumption code” error. Click connected the nexus for a implicit database of affected pages. Either hole these issues yourself oregon nonstop the database to your developer to analyse and resoluteness the issues.

3. Fix Redirect Chains and Loops

A redirect sends users and crawlers to a antithetic leafage than the 1 they primitively tried to access. It’s a large mode to guarantee visitors don’t onshore connected a breached page. 

But if a nexus redirects to different redirect, it tin make a chain. Like this:

Long redirect chains tin dilatory down your tract and discarded crawl budget.

Redirect loops, connected the different hand, hap erstwhile a concatenation loops successful connected itself. For example, if leafage X redirects to leafage Y, and leafage Y redirects backmost to leafage X. 

Redirect loops marque it hard for hunt engines to crawl your tract and tin trap some crawlers and users successful an endless cycle. Preventing them from accessing your content. 

Use Site Audit to place redirect chains and loops. 

Just unfastened the “Issues” tab. And hunt for “redirect chain” successful the hunt bar.

Address redirect chains by linking straight to the destination page.

For redirect loops, find and hole the faulty redirects truthful each 1 points to the close last page.

4. Use an XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap lists each the important pages connected your website. Helping hunt engines similar Google observe and scale your contented much easily.

Your sitemap mightiness look thing similar this:

Without an XML sitemap, hunt motor bots request to trust connected links to navigate your tract and observe your important pages. Which tin pb to immoderate pages being missed. 

Especially if your tract is ample oregon analyzable to navigate.

If you usage a contented absorption strategy (CMS) similar WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, oregon Shopify, it whitethorn make a sitemap record for you automatically.

You tin typically entree it by typing yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml successful your browser. (Sometimes, it’ll beryllium yourdomain.com/sitemap_index.xml instead.)

Like this:

If your CMS oregon website builder doesn’t make an XML sitemap for you, you tin usage a sitemap generator tool.

For example, if you person a smaller site, you tin usage XML-Sitemaps.com. Just participate your tract URL and click “Start.”

Once you person your sitemap, prevention the record arsenic “sitemap.xml” and upload it to your site’s basal directory oregon public_html folder.

Finally, submit your sitemap to Google done your Google Search Console account. 

To bash that, unfastened your relationship and click “Sitemaps” successful the left-hand menu.

Enter your sitemap URL. And click “Submit.”

Use Site Audit to marque definite your sitemap is acceptable up correctly. Just hunt for “Sitemap” connected the “Issues” tab.

5. Set Up Your Robots.txt File

A robots.txt record is simply a acceptable of instructions that tells hunt engines similar Google which pages they should and shouldn’t crawl. 

This helps absorption crawlers connected your astir invaluable content, keeping them from wasting resources connected unimportant pages. Or pages you don’t privation to look successful hunt results, similar login pages.

If you don’t acceptable up your robots.txt record correctly, you could hazard blocking important pages from appearing successful hunt results. Harming your integrated visibility. 

If your tract doesn’t person a robots.txt record yet, usage a robots.txt generator instrumentality to make one. If you’re utilizing a CMS similar WordPress, determination are plugins that tin bash this for you.

Add your sitemap URL to your robots.txt record to assistance hunt engines recognize which pages are astir important connected your site. 

It mightiness look thing similar this:

Sitemap: https://www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/

In this example, we’re disallowing each web crawlers from crawling our /admin/ and /private/ pages. 

Use Google Search Console to cheque the presumption of your robots.txt files.

Open your account, and caput implicit to “Settings.”

Then, find "robots.txt" nether "Crawling." And click "OPEN REPORT" to presumption the details.

Your study includes robots.txt files from your domain and subdomains. If determination are immoderate issues, you’ll spot the fig of problems successful the “Issues” column. 

Click connected immoderate enactment to entree the record and spot wherever immoderate issues mightiness be. From here, you oregon your developer tin usage a robots.txt validator to hole the problems.

Further reading: What Robots.txt Is & Why It Matters for SEO 

6. Make Sure Important Pages Are Indexed 

If your pages don’t look successful Google’s index, Google can’t fertile them for applicable hunt queries and amusement them to users. 

And nary rankings means nary hunt traffic.

Use Google Search Console to find retired which pages aren’t indexed and why.

Click “Pages” from the left-hand menu, nether “Indexing.”

Then scroll down to the “Why pages aren’t indexed” section. To spot a database of reasons that Google hasn’t indexed your pages. Along with the fig of affected pages. 

Click 1 of the reasons to spot a afloat database of pages with that issue.

Once you hole the issue, you tin petition indexing to punctual Google to recrawl your leafage (although this doesn’t warrant the leafage volition beryllium indexed).

Just click the URL. Then prime “INSPECT URL” connected the right-hand side.

Then, click the “REQUEST INDEXING” fastener from the page’s URL inspection report.

Website Structure

Site structure, oregon website architecture, is the mode your website’s pages are organized and linked together.

A well-structured tract provides a logical and businesslike navigation strategy for users and hunt engines. This can:

• Help hunt engines find and scale each your site’s pages
• Spread authorization passim your webpages via interior links
• Make it casual for users to find the contented they’re looking for

Here’s however to guarantee you person a logical and SEO-friendly tract structure: 

7. Check Your Site Structure Is Organized

An organized tract operation has a clear, hierarchical layout. With main categories and subcategories that logically radical related pages together.

For example, an online bookstore mightiness person main categories similar "Fiction," "Non-Fiction," and "Children's Books.” With subcategories similar "Mystery," "Biographies," and "Picture Books" nether each main category.

This way, users tin rapidly find what they’re looking for.

Here’s however Barnes & Noble’s tract operation looks similar successful action, from users’ constituent of view: 

In this example, Barnes & Noble’s fabrication books are organized by subjects. Which makes it easier for visitors to navigate the retailer’s postulation much easily. And to find what they need.

If you tally a tiny site, optimizing your tract operation whitethorn conscionable beryllium a lawsuit of organizing your pages and posts into categories. And having a clean, elemental navigation menu.

If you person a ample oregon analyzable website, you tin get a speedy overview of your tract architecture by navigating to the “Crawled Pages” tab of your Site Audit report. And clicking “Site Structure.”

Review your site’s subfolders to marque definite the hierarchy is well-organized.

8. Optimize Your URL Structure 

A well-optimized URL operation makes it easier for Google to crawl and scale your site. It tin besides marque navigating your tract much user-friendly. 

Here’s however to heighten your URL structure:

• Be descriptive. This helps hunt engines (and users) recognize your leafage content. So usage keywords that picture the page’s content. Like “example.com/seo-tips” alternatively of “example.com/page-671.”
• Keep it short. Short, cleanable URL structures are easier for users to work and share. Aim for concise URLs. Like “example.com/about” alternatively of “example.com/how-our-company-started-our-journey-page-update.”
• Reflect your tract hierarchy. This helps support a predictable and logical tract structure. Which makes it easier for users to cognize wherever they are connected your site. For example, if you person a blog conception connected your website, you could nest idiosyncratic blog posts nether the blog category. Like this:

Further reading: What Is a URL? A Complete Guide to Website URLs

Breadcrumbs are a benignant of navigational assistance utilized to assistance users recognize their determination wrong your site's hierarchy. And to marque it casual to navigate backmost to erstwhile pages.

They besides assistance hunt engines find their mode astir your site. And tin amended crawlability.

Breadcrumbs typically look adjacent the apical of a webpage. And supply a way of links from the existent leafage backmost to the homepage oregon main categories.

For example, each of these is simply a breadcrumb:

Adding breadcrumbs is mostly much beneficial for larger sites with a heavy (complex) tract architecture. But you tin acceptable them up early, adjacent for smaller sites, to heighten your navigation and SEO from the start.

To bash this, you request to usage breadcrumb schema successful your page’s code. Check retired this breadcrumb structured data usher from Google to larn how.

Alternatively, if you usage a CMS similar WordPress, you tin usage dedicated plugins. Like Breadcrumb NavXT, which tin easy adhd breadcrumbs to your tract without needing to edit code.

Further reading: Breadcrumb Navigation for Websites: What It Is & How to Use It 

10. Minimize Your Click Depth

Ideally, it should instrumentality less than 4 clicks to get from your homepage to immoderate different leafage connected your site. You should beryllium capable to scope your astir important pages successful 1 oregon 2 clicks.

When users person to click done aggregate pages to find what they’re looking for, it creates a atrocious experience. Because it makes your tract consciousness analyzable and frustrating to navigate.

Search engines similar Google mightiness besides presume that profoundly buried pages are little important. And mightiness crawl them little frequently.

The “Internal Linking” study successful Site Audit tin rapidly amusement you immoderate pages that necessitate 4 oregon much clicks to reach:

One of the easiest ways to trim crawl extent is to marque definite important pages are linked straight from your homepage oregon main class pages. 

For example, if you tally an ecommerce site, nexus fashionable merchandise categories oregon best-selling products straight from the homepage. 

Also guarantee your pages are interlinked well. For example, if you person a blog station connected “how to make a skincare routine,” you could nexus to it successful different applicable station similar “skincare regular essentials.”

See our usher to effective interior linking to larn more.

11. Identify Orphan Pages

Orphan pages are pages with zero incoming interior links. 

Search motor crawlers usage links to observe pages and navigate the web. So orphan pages whitethorn spell unnoticed erstwhile hunt motor bots crawl your site. 

Orphan pages are besides harder for users to discover. 

Find orphan pages by heading implicit to the “Issues” tab wrong Site Audit. And hunt for “orphaned pages.”

Fix the contented by adding a nexus to the orphaned leafage from different applicable page.

Accessibility and Usability

Usability measures however easy and efficiently users tin interact with and navigate your website to execute their goals. Like making a acquisition oregon signing up for a newsletter.

Accessibility focuses connected making each of a site’s functions disposable for each types of users. Regardless of their abilities, net connection, browser, and device.

Sites with amended usability and accessibility thin to connection a amended leafage experience. Which Google’s ranking systems purpose to reward.

This tin lend to amended show successful hunt results, higher levels of engagement, little bounce rates, and accrued conversions.

Here’s however to amended your site’s accessibility and usability:

12. Make Sure You’re Using HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is simply a unafraid protocol utilized for sending information betwixt a user's browser and the server of the website they're visiting.

It encrypts this data, making it acold much unafraid than HTTP.

You tin archer your tract runs connected a unafraid server by clicking the icon beside the URL. And looking for the “Connection is secure” option. Like this:

As a ranking signal, HTTPS is an indispensable point connected immoderate tech SEO checklist. You tin instrumentality it connected your tract by acquiring an SSL certificate. Many web hosting services connection this erstwhile you motion up, often for free. 

Once you instrumentality it, usage Site Audit to cheque for immoderate issues. Like having non-secure pages.

Just click connected “View details” nether “HTTPS” from your Site Audit overview dashboard.

If your tract has an HTTPS issue, you tin click the contented to spot a database of affected URLs and get proposal connected however to code the problem.

13. Use Structured Data

Structured information is accusation you adhd to your tract to springiness hunt engines much discourse astir your leafage and its contents. 

Like the mean lawsuit standing for your products. Or your business’s opening hours. 

One of the astir fashionable ways to people up (or label) this information is by utilizing schema markup. 

Using schema helps Google construe your content. And it whitethorn pb to Google showing rich snippets for your tract successful hunt results. Making your contented basal retired and perchance pull much traffic. 

For example, look schema shows up connected the SERP arsenic ratings, fig of reviews, sitelinks, navigator time, and more. Like this:

You tin usage schema connected assorted types of webpages and content, including:

• Product pages
• Local concern listings
• Event pages
• Recipe pages
• Job postings
• How-to-guides
• Video content
• Movie/book reviews
• Blog posts

Use Google’s Rich Results Test instrumentality to cheque if your leafage is eligible for affluent results. Just insert the URL of the leafage you privation to trial and click “TEST URL.”

For example, the look tract from the illustration supra is eligible for “Recipes” structured data.

If there’s an contented with your existing structured data, you’ll spot an mistake oregon a informing connected the aforesaid line. Click connected the structured information you’re analyzing to presumption the database of issues.

Check retired our nonfiction connected how to make schema markup for a step-by-step usher connected adding structured information to your site.

14. Use Hreflang for International Pages

Hreflang is simply a nexus property you adhd to your website's codification to archer hunt engines astir antithetic connection versions of your webpages.

This way, hunt engines tin nonstop users to the mentation astir applicable to their determination and preferred language.

Here’s an illustration of an hreflang tag connected Airbnb’s site:

Note that determination are aggregate versions of this URL for antithetic languages and regions. Like “es-us” for Spanish speakers successful the USA. And “de” for German speakers.

If you person aggregate versions of your tract successful antithetic languages oregon for antithetic countries, utilizing hreflang tags helps hunt engines service the close mentation to the close audience. 

This tin amended your international SEO and boost your site's UX.

Speed and Performance

Page velocity is simply a ranking factor for some desktop and mobile searches. Which means optimizing your tract for velocity tin summation its visibility. Potentially starring to much traffic. And adjacent much conversions.

Here’s however to amended your site’s velocity and show with method SEO:

15. Improve Your Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a acceptable of 3 show metrics that measurement however user-friendly your tract is. Based connected load speed, responsiveness, and ocular stability.

The 3 metrics are:

• Largest Contentful Paint(LCP): Measures however rapidly the largest contented constituent of a leafage loads
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Measures however rapidly a tract responds to idiosyncratic interactions
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures however overmuch a page’s layout shifts portion it’s loading

Core Web Vitals are besides a ranking factor. So you should prioritize measuring and improving them arsenic portion of your method SEO checklist.

Measure the Core Web Vitals of a azygous leafage utilizing Google PageSpeed Insights.

Open the tool, participate your URL, and click “Analyze.”

You’ll spot the results for some mobile and desktop:

Scroll down to the “Diagnostics” conception nether “Performance” for a database of things you tin bash to amended your Core Web Vitals and different show metrics. 

Work done this database oregon nonstop it to your developer to amended your site’s performance.

16. Ensure Mobile-Friendliness 

Mobile-friendly sites thin to execute amended successful hunt rankings. In fact, mobile-friendliness has been a ranking origin since 2015.

Plus, Google chiefly indexes the mobile mentation of your site, arsenic opposed to the desktop version. This is called mobile-first indexing. Making mobile-friendliness adjacent much important for ranking.

Here are immoderate cardinal features of a mobile-friendly site:

• Simple, wide navigation 
• Fast loading times 
• Responsive plan that adjusts contented to acceptable antithetic surface sizes
• Easily readable substance without zooming
• Touch-friendly buttons and links with capable abstraction betwixt them
• Fewest fig of steps indispensable to implicit a signifier oregon transaction

17. Reduce the Size of Your Webpages

A smaller leafage record size is 1 origin that tin lend to faster load times connected your site. 

Because the smaller the record size, the faster it tin transportation from your server to the user's device.

Use Site Audit to find retired if your tract has issues with ample webpage sizes. 

Filter for “Site Performance” from your report’s “Issues” tab. 

Reduce your leafage size by:

• Minifying your CSS and JavaScript files with tools similar Minify
• Reviewing your page’s HTML code and moving with a developer to amended its operation and/or region unnecessary inline scripts, spaces, and styles
• Enabling caching to store static versions of your webpages connected browsers oregon servers, speeding up consequent visits

18. Optimize Your Images

Optimized images load faster due to the fact that they person smaller record sizes. Which means little information for the user’s instrumentality to download. 

This reduces the clip it takes for the images to look connected the screen, resulting successful faster leafage load times and a amended idiosyncratic experience.

Here are immoderate tips to get you started:

• Compress your images. Use bundle similar TinyPNG to easy shrink your images without losing quality.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN). CDNs assistance velocity up representation transportation by caching (or storing) images connected servers person to the user's location. So erstwhile a user’s instrumentality requests to load an image, the server that’s closest to their geographical determination volition present it.
• Use the close representation formats. Some formats are amended for web usage due to the fact that they are smaller and load faster. For example, WebP is up to 3 times smaller than JPEG and PNG.
• Use responsive representation scaling. This means the images volition automatically set to acceptable the user’s surface size. So graphics won’t beryllium larger than they request to be, slowing down the site. Some CMSs (like Wix) bash this by default. 

Here’s an illustration of responsive plan successful action:

Further reading: Image SEO: How to Optimize Images for Search Engines & Users

19. Remove Unnecessary Third-Party Scripts

Third-party scripts are pieces of codification from extracurricular sources oregon third-party vendors. Like societal media buttons, analytics tracking codes, and advertizing scripts.

You tin embed these snippets of codification into your tract to marque it dynamic and interactive. Or to springiness it further capabilities.

But third-party scripts tin besides dilatory down your tract and hinder performance. 

Use PageSpeed Insights to cheque for third-party publication issues of a azygous page. This tin beryllium adjuvant for smaller sites with less pages.

But since third-party scripts thin to tally crossed galore (or all) pages connected your site, identifying issues connected conscionable 1 oregon 2 pages tin springiness you insights into broader site-wide problems. Even for larger sites.

Content

Technical contented issues tin interaction however hunt engines scale and fertile your pages. They tin besides wounded your UX.

Here’s however to hole communal method issues with your content:

20. Address Duplicate Content Issues

Duplicate content is contented that’s identical oregon highly akin to contented that exists elsewhere connected the internet. Whether connected different website oregon your own. 

Duplicate contented tin wounded your site’s credibility and marque it harder for Google to scale and fertile your contented for applicable hunt terms. 

Use Site Audit to rapidly find retired if you person duplicate contented issues.

Just hunt for “Duplicate” nether the “Issues” tab. Click connected the “# pages” nexus adjacent to the “pages person duplicate contented issues” mistake for a afloat database of affected URLs.

Address duplicate contented issues by implementing:

• Canonical tags to place the superior mentation of your content
• 301 redirects to guarantee users and hunt engines extremity up connected the close mentation of your page

21. Fix Thin Content Issues

Thin content offers small to nary worth to tract visitors. It doesn’t conscionable search intent oregon code immoderate of the reader’s problems. 

This benignant of contented provides a mediocre idiosyncratic experience. Which tin effect successful higher bounce rates, unsatisfied users, and adjacent penalties from Google. 

To place bladed contented connected your site, look for pages that are:

• Poorly written and don’t present a invaluable message
• Copied from different sites 
• Filled with ads oregon spammy links
• Auto-generated utilizing AI oregon a programmatic method 

Then, redirect oregon region it, harvester the contented with different akin page, oregon crook it into different contented format. Like infographics oregon a societal media post.

22. Check Your Pages Have Metadata

Metadata is accusation astir a webpage that helps hunt engines recognize its content. So it tin amended lucifer and show the contented to applicable hunt queries. 

It includes elements similar the rubric tag and meta description, which summarize the page’s contented and purpose.

(Technically, the rubric tag isn’t a meta tag from an HTML perspective. But it’s important for your SEO and worthy discussing alongside different metadata.)

Use Site Audit to easy cheque for issues similar missing meta descriptions oregon rubric tags. Across your full site.

Just filter your results for “Meta tags” nether the issues tab. Click the linked fig adjacent to an contented for a afloat database of pages with that problem.

Then, spell done and hole each issue. To amended your visibility (and appearance) successful hunt results.

Put This Technical SEO Checklist Into Action Today

Now that you cognize what to look for successful your method SEO audit, it’s clip to execute connected it. 

Use Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality to place implicit 140 SEO issues. Like duplicate content, breached links, and improper HTTPS implementation. 

So you tin efficaciously show and amended your site's performance. And enactment good up of your competition.