You can write the best content on the internet and still rank nowhere if the technical foundation is broken. Before you publish, run through this checklist.
Crawl and index
- The page is not accidentally blocked by robots.txt.
- It is not set to noindex unless you mean it.
- It has a self-referencing canonical tag.
- It is reachable by internal links, not orphaned.
- It appears in your XML sitemap.
Speed and Core Web Vitals
- Images are compressed and correctly sized.
- Largest Contentful Paint is under 2.5 seconds.
- The layout does not shift as it loads.
- Interaction is responsive, no long input delay.
- Render-blocking scripts are minimised.
On-page basics
- One clear H1 that matches the intent.
- A descriptive, unique title tag and meta description.
- Headings in a logical order.
- Descriptive alt text on meaningful images.
- Clean, readable URL.
Structure and schema
- Relevant schema added, LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ or Article.
- Breadcrumb markup where it applies.
- Open Graph tags for clean social sharing.
- Structured data validates without errors.
- Internal links point to related pages.
Readability for AI crawlers
- Key facts are in text, not locked inside images.
- Content renders without requiring a click or scroll to load.
- An llms.txt summary points assistants to your important pages.
- Answers are self-contained so a passage makes sense on its own.
- The page loads the same for bots as it does for people.
Before you hit publish
- The page renders correctly on mobile.
- It has no broken links.
- It is genuinely useful and not thin.
- It answers the question it targets.
- You know how you will measure whether it worked.
How to run the check
Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and the Rich Results Test cover most of this for free. Run them before and after you publish, fix what they flag, and re-test. A five-minute pass here routinely saves months of wondering why a good page never ranked.
Structured data is the part most sites get wrong, so our step-by-step schema markup guide covers it in detail. To see whether AI assistants can actually use your pages once they are live, run an AI visibility audit. If you want a team to run the checklist for you, that is our technical SEO service, and our SEO content services keep new pages useful as well as crawlable.
Want to know where you stand? Every engagement starts with a free AI SEO audit, a written report in two business days with no sales call.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common technical SEO problem?
Indexation and speed. Pages that are accidentally blocked or set to noindex, and slow pages that fail Core Web Vitals, quietly cap everything else you invest in.
Do I need a developer for technical SEO?
Sometimes. Many fixes are configuration and content; deeper issues (Core Web Vitals, rendering, schema) may need a developer. We can hand your team a prioritised fix list or implement changes ourselves.
How often should I run a technical audit?
A full audit once or twice a year, plus a quick pre-publish check on important new pages and after any major site change or migration.
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