Great content will not perform if search engines struggle to crawl or understand your website. This checklist covers the technical foundations every business site should have.
Crawling and indexing
- An XML sitemap listing only canonical, indexable pages, submitted in Google Search Console.
- A robots.txt file that does not block important pages, CSS or JavaScript.
- No accidental
noindextags on important pages. - No broken internal links or redirect chains.
Page-level signals
- A unique, descriptive title and meta description on every page.
- One clear H1 and a logical heading structure.
- Canonical tags to consolidate duplicate URLs.
- Descriptive alt text on meaningful images.
Performance and experience
- Good Core Web Vitals on mobile.
- HTTPS everywhere, with HTTP redirecting to HTTPS.
- Responsive layouts and readable font sizes.
Structured data
Use Schema.org markup such as Organization, BreadcrumbList, FAQPage and Article where it reflects visible content.
Measure honestly
Track clicks, impressions and average position in Search Console. Be wary of anyone who guarantees rankings — search engines control results, and sustainable growth comes from consistent improvements.
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