Technical SEO Checklist: 20 Checks Every Website Should Pass

Use this checklist at launch and every quarter. Our free Website Audit checks many of these items automatically.

Crawling & indexing

1. robots.txt exists and doesn't block important content — build one with our Robots.txt Generator.
2. An XML sitemap lists your canonical, indexable URLs — see the Sitemap Generator.
3. The sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console.
4. Important pages return HTTP 200 and aren't noindex.
5. No large clusters of 404s or redirect chains.

Canonicals & duplicates

6. Every page has a self-referencing canonical (unless intentionally pointing elsewhere).
7. HTTP redirects to HTTPS, and one hostname (www or non-www) redirects to the other.
8. Parameter and filter URLs don't create endless duplicates.

On-page signals

9. Unique title and meta description per page.
10. One H1 and a logical heading hierarchy.
11. Images have meaningful alt text.
12. Internal links use descriptive anchors; no orphan pages.

Structured data

13. Organization and WebSite schema on the homepage.
14. Article, FAQ, Product or other schema only where it truthfully matches visible content.
15. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator.

Mobile, speed & security

16. Responsive layout with a viewport meta tag.
17. Core Web Vitals in the "good" range — see our speed guide.
18. HTTPS everywhere with a valid certificate.
19. Security headers set (HSTS, X-Content-Type-Options, frame protection).

Monitoring

20. Search Console and analytics installed; review coverage and performance monthly.