Technical SEO is the foundation of search engine optimisation, ensuring a website is crawlable, indexable, secure, and fast. It directly affects how well your pages rank and how easily users and search engines can access your content.
This guide breaks down essential technical SEO checklist into clear, manageable steps for marketers to implement confidently.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Prioritising mobile users is essential, as most website traffic now comes from smartphones.
- Mobile-first design starts with designing for smaller screens, then scaling up for larger devices.
- Fast loading times, touch-friendly navigation, and simplified layouts are crucial for improving mobile experience.
- Responsive design and flexible content structures ensure your website looks and functions well on all screen sizes.
- Google favours mobile-optimised websites in its search rankings, directly impacting your SEO performance.
- Testing on real devices ensures usability and design consistency across different platforms.
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO refers to optimising a website’s infrastructure to help search engines crawl, index, and understand its content efficiently.
It includes elements like site speed, mobile responsiveness, URL structure, and security—all of which support visibility and performance in search results.
Importance of Technical SEO
These are the key reasons technical SEO is essential:
- Improves visibility: Ensures your pages are discoverable and indexed by search engines.
- Enhances user experience: A faster, mobile-friendly site keeps users engaged.
- Boosts SEO performance: Strengthens the impact of your content and link-building efforts.
- Prevents critical issues: Helps avoid problems like broken links, duplicate content, or blocked pages.
9 Technical SEO Checklist
This checklist highlights the key technical SEO elements every marketer should review for better SEO results:
1. Mobile Optimisation
Search engines prioritise mobile-friendly websites, as most users now browse on their smartphones. A responsive design ensures your site adapts to different screen sizes, maintains readability, and keeps navigation easy.
Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to detect and fix usability issues across devices.
Want to learn more about mobile-first optimisation? Check out this mobile-friendly web design guide to explore the best practices for creating a seamless experience.
2. Site Speed Optimisation
A fast-loading website improves user experience and helps reduce bounce rate, both of which influence search rankings.
Key strategies include compressing images, enabling browser caching, reducing unnecessary website features or scripts, and using a content delivery network (CDN). Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help you identify and resolve performance errors.
3. Website Security (HTTPS)
HTTPS protects data shared between your website and visitors, building trust and meeting Google’s security standards.
Securing your site with an SSL certificate also prevents browsers from labelling it as “Not Secure,” which can drive users away. Ensure all pages redirect to the HTTPS version to maintain consistency and SEO value.
Check out this SSL Certificate Malaysia guide to learn more about how HTTPS works and why it’s crucial for your website’s security and SEO.
4. Crawlability & Indexation
Crawlability determines if search engines can access your pages, while indexation ensures those pages appear in search results.
Submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console to guide search bots, and check your robots.txt file to avoid accidentally blocking important pages. Use the Index Coverage report in Search Console to spot and fix any indexing issues.
5. URL Structure & Navigation
Clear and consistent URLs help users and search engines understand your site’s content. Use short, descriptive URLs with relevant keywords and avoid complex strings of numbers or symbols.
A well-structured internal linking system also improves navigation, making it easier for search engines to crawl your site and for users to find related content.
6. Error & Redirect Management
Broken links and missing pages (404 errors) disrupt user experience and harm your SEO performance. Regularly scan your site for errors using tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs.
Set up proper redirects, especially 301 redirects for moved or deleted pages to preserve link equity and ensure visitors land on the right content.
7. Duplicate Content & Canonicals
Duplicate content can confuse search engines and dilute your rankings. Use canonical tags to signal the preferred version of a page when similar content exists across different URLs.
This consolidates SEO value and prevents the indexing of unwanted duplicates. Always ensure each page has a clear purpose and unique content.
8. Structured Data (Schema Markup)
Structured data adds context to your content by tagging specific elements like product details, reviews, or events. Search engines use this information to display rich results in search listings, such as star ratings or FAQs.
This can increase your visibility and encourage more clicks. Use Google’s Rich Results Test to verify your setup.
9. Orphan Pages & Internal Linking
Orphan pages are pages that aren’t linked from anywhere else on your site, making them hard for users and search engines to find.
Every page should be connected through internal links to improve crawlability and site structure. Linking related pages also keeps visitors engaged and encourages them to explore more content.
Conclusion
Technical SEO keeps your website functional, discoverable, and competitive in search results. It ensures your content, keywords, and links perform at their best by maintaining a fast, accessible, and well-structured site.
Ready to strengthen your SEO foundation? Partner with Newnormz digital marketing to optimise your website’s technical performance. We simplify complex SEO tasks so your brand stays visible, fast, and completely search-ready. Contact Newnormz today!
