Services Learn Industries Case Studies Get Started

Technical SEO is the foundation every other optimization effort rests on. Without a crawlable, indexable, fast, and secure website, even the best content strategy will underperform. Our technical SEO services at LocalCatalyst.ai are built around a systematic audit process that leaves nothing to chance. This checklist distills that process into a single, actionable reference you can follow from start to finish.

Whether you are conducting your first technical audit or refining an ongoing program, work through each section below in order. Every item links to a deeper concept so you can prioritize what matters most for your site.

1. Crawlability

Crawlability determines whether search engine bots can discover and traverse your pages. If Googlebot cannot reach a URL, that URL will never rank.

1.1 Robots.txt Configuration

  • Confirm your robots.txt file is accessible at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt.
  • Verify that critical pages and directories are not blocked by Disallow rules.
  • Reference your XML sitemap(s) with a Sitemap: directive at the bottom of the file.
  • Test your robots.txt in Google Search Console’s robots.txt Tester tool.
  • Check for accidental wildcard blocks that may prevent CSS or JavaScript files from being rendered.

1.2 XML Sitemap Health

  • Ensure an XML sitemap exists and is submitted in Google Search Console.
  • Confirm that every URL in the sitemap returns a 200 status code.
  • Remove URLs that are redirected, noindexed, or canonicalized elsewhere.
  • If your site has more than 50,000 URLs, use a sitemap index file to organize sub-sitemaps.
  • Validate dates are accurate and updated when content changes.

1.3 Internal Link Architecture

  • Confirm every important page is reachable within three clicks from the homepage.
  • Audit orphan pages — URLs with no internal links pointing to them.
  • Use descriptive, keyword-relevant anchor text in internal links.
  • Implement breadcrumb navigation and link it with BreadcrumbList structured data.
  • Avoid excessive use of JavaScript-rendered links that bots may not follow.

1.4 URL Structure

  • Use lowercase, hyphen-separated, human-readable URLs.
  • Eliminate dynamic parameters where possible; use path-based URLs instead.
  • Keep URLs concise. Remove unnecessary folder depth.
  • Ensure consistent trailing-slash usage (with or without, but not both).

2. Indexation

Once pages are crawlable, the next concern is whether Google chooses to index them.

2.1 Index Coverage

  • Review the Pages report (formerly Index Coverage) in Google Search Console.
  • Investigate pages listed under “Excluded” — understand why each is excluded.
  • Check for unintentional noindex meta tags or X-Robots-Tag HTTP headers.
  • Confirm that paginated series do not block deeper pages from the index.

2.2 Canonical Tags

  • Every indexable page should have a self-referencing canonical tag.
  • Cross-domain syndicated content should canonical back to the original source.
  • Canonical tags must use absolute URLs, not relative paths.
  • Avoid conflicting signals: a page should not be canonicalized to one URL while its sitemap references another.

2.3 Duplicate Content Management

  • Identify parameter-based duplicates (sorting, filtering, session IDs) and handle them with canonical tags or parameter handling in Search Console.
  • Consolidate thin or near-duplicate pages into stronger, comprehensive resources.
  • Use hreflang tags for multilingual or multi-regional content rather than allowing Google to treat translations as duplicates.

3. Site Speed and Core Web Vitals

Page speed is a direct ranking factor, and Core Web Vitals are the metrics Google uses to measure user experience.

3.1 Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

LCP measures how quickly the main content element loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds.

  • Optimize hero images with modern formats (WebP or AVIF) and responsive srcset attributes.
  • Preload the LCP resource using .
  • Eliminate render-blocking CSS and JavaScript above the fold.
  • Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to reduce server response times.

3.2 Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

INP replaced First Input Delay (FID) as the responsiveness metric. Target: under 200 milliseconds.

  • Break long JavaScript tasks into smaller chunks using requestIdleCallback or setTimeout.
  • Minimize main-thread work by deferring non-critical scripts.
  • Audit third-party scripts for excessive CPU usage.
  • Use web workers for heavy computations that do not require DOM access.

3.3 Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS measures visual stability. Target: under 0.1.

  • Set explicit width and height attributes on all images and video elements.
  • Reserve space for ad slots and dynamically loaded content.
  • Avoid injecting content above the fold after the initial render.
  • Use font-display: swap with a fallback font that closely matches your web font metrics.

3.4 Server and Hosting Performance

  • Target a Time to First Byte (TTFB) under 800 milliseconds.
  • Enable HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 on your server.
  • Implement server-side caching and edge caching where applicable.
  • Use Gzip or Brotli compression for text-based assets.

4. Mobile Optimization

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning the mobile version of your site is the primary version Google evaluates.

4.1 Responsive Design

  • Verify that your site uses responsive design rather than a separate mobile URL (m-dot).
  • Test every template type in Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
  • Ensure tap targets are at least 48×48 CSS pixels with adequate spacing.
  • Confirm font sizes are readable without zooming (minimum 16px base font).

4.2 Mobile-Specific Issues

  • Check for content hidden behind tabs or accordions — Google will index it, but ensure it renders for bots.
  • Avoid intrusive interstitials that cover the main content on mobile.
  • Test horizontal scroll issues across devices and orientations.
  • Verify that lazy-loaded images use Intersection Observer or native loading="lazy" rather than scroll-event listeners.

5. Structured Data

Structured data helps search engines understand your content and can unlock rich results such as review stars, FAQs, breadcrumbs, and product listings.

5.1 Implementation

  • Use JSON-LD format (Google’s preferred method) rather than Microdata or RDFa.
  • Implement Organization, LocalBusiness, or WebSite schema on the homepage.
  • Add BreadcrumbList schema to all pages with breadcrumb navigation.
  • Apply Article or BlogPosting schema to editorial content.
  • Use FAQPage schema on pages with qualifying FAQ sections.

5.2 Validation and Monitoring

  • Test every schema type with Google’s Rich Results Test.
  • Monitor the Enhancements reports in Search Console for errors and warnings.
  • Do not mark up content that is not visible on the page. Schema must reflect what users see.
  • Keep structured data aligned with content updates — outdated schema can cause rich result loss.

6. Security

6.1 HTTPS and SSL

  • Serve every page over HTTPS. Mixed content (HTTP resources on HTTPS pages) must be resolved.
  • Use a TLS 1.2 or 1.3 certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority.
  • Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) headers to prevent protocol downgrade attacks.
  • Redirect all HTTP URLs to their HTTPS equivalents with 301 redirects.

6.2 Security Headers

  • Set Content-Security-Policy headers to prevent XSS attacks.
  • Enable X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff.
  • Add X-Frame-Options: DENY or SAMEORIGIN to prevent clickjacking.
  • Consider Permissions-Policy to restrict browser features your site does not use.

7. Internationalization (for Multi-Language or Multi-Region Sites)

7.1 Hreflang Implementation

  • Add hreflang tags in the , HTTP headers, or XML sitemap for every language/region variant.
  • Include a self-referencing hreflang on each page.
  • Add an x-default hreflang for users who do not match any specified language or region.
  • Ensure hreflang is reciprocal — if page A references page B, page B must reference page A.

7.2 URL Structure for International Content

  • Choose a consistent strategy: subdirectories (/en/, /es/), subdomains (en.example.com), or ccTLDs (example.co.uk).
  • Do not use URL parameters for language switching (?lang=en).
  • Set geographic targeting in Search Console for country-specific subdirectories or subdomains.

8. Log File Analysis and Crawl Budget

For large sites (100,000+ URLs), crawl budget management becomes critical.

  • Analyze server log files to understand how Googlebot spends its crawl budget.
  • Identify pages with high crawl frequency but low value (faceted navigation, internal search results).
  • Block low-value crawl paths in robots.txt or use noindex to prevent indexation.
  • Monitor crawl stats in Google Search Console for sudden drops that may signal issues.

9. JavaScript SEO

If your site relies on client-side JavaScript to render content, additional checks are required.

10. Redirect Audit

Redirects that are misconfigured waste crawl budget and dilute link equity.

  • Identify and eliminate redirect chains (A redirects to B redirects to C).
  • Use 301 redirects for permanent URL changes and 302 redirects only for genuinely temporary moves.
  • After a site migration, monitor for 404 errors caused by missing redirects.
  • Review redirect rules periodically — legacy redirects to deleted pages should point to the most relevant current page.

How to Prioritize This Checklist

Not every item carries equal weight. We recommend this prioritization framework:

  1. Critical (fix immediately): Pages blocked from crawling or indexing unintentionally, HTTPS errors, server errors (5xx), broken redirects.
  2. High (fix this week): Core Web Vitals failures, missing canonical tags, duplicate content issues, mobile usability errors.
  3. Medium (fix this month): Structured data errors, orphan pages, suboptimal URL structures, missing hreflang tags.
  4. Low (ongoing maintenance): Log file analysis refinement, crawl budget optimization, security header hardening.

Our site speed optimization and local SEO audit services use this exact prioritization to deliver measurable improvements in the shortest possible timeframe.

FAQ

How often should I run a technical SEO audit?

Run a comprehensive audit quarterly. Between full audits, monitor Google Search Console weekly for new crawl errors, indexation issues, or Core Web Vitals regressions. Any major site change — a redesign, CMS migration, or URL restructure — should trigger an immediate audit.

Can I complete this checklist without developer resources?

Many items, such as submitting sitemaps, reviewing Search Console reports, and adding structured data via plugins, can be handled without a developer. However, server configuration, redirect management, and JavaScript rendering fixes typically require development support.

What tools do I need to complete a technical SEO audit?

At minimum: Google Search Console (free), a crawling tool such as Screaming Frog or Sitebulb, PageSpeed Insights for Core Web Vitals, and the Rich Results Test for structured data. For large-scale or ongoing audits, our CATALYST methodology integrates crawl data with geo-grid tracking to surface issues that standard tools miss.

How does technical SEO affect local search rankings?

Technical SEO issues affect local rankings just as much as organic rankings. A slow, non-mobile-friendly site with crawl errors will lose ground in the local pack and map results. Google’s local ranking algorithm considers prominence, which is partly determined by your site’s overall SEO health.

Ready to Audit Your Site?

A checklist is only as good as the team executing it.

Ready to find out what’s holding your rankings back? Order Your SEO Audit ($297)