Technical SEO means making sure Google can reach your pages, understand them and add them to search results, and that visitors can open them quickly on a phone. Start with the page indexing report in Search Console, since it shows what Google actually sees. Google's free tools cover most of this list, with no paid subscription.
The list is ordered by impact: a page blocked from appearing is more serious than a long title. Work from the top down, and stop at the first point that fails until you fix it or hand it to whoever runs your site. You need no coding knowledge for the checks themselves, though fixes may need a developer.
Step one: connect your site to Search Console
Search Console is Google's free tool and the source of most of this audit. Add your site, verify ownership and wait for data to appear. Then use two reports: the page indexing report for the whole site, and the URL inspection tool for one page. The second tells you if crawling is allowed, if indexing is allowed, and which version of the page Google chose.
Level one: can Google reach your pages?
| # | Point | How to check | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Key pages are indexed | Inspect the home page and top three services | Read the exclusion reason in the report |
| 2 | No accidental noindex | "Indexing allowed" in the inspection tool | Remove the tag from pages you want to appear |
| 3 | robots file does not block what matters | Open yourdomain/robots.txt, and check "Crawl allowed" | Edit lines blocking needed pages or files |
| 4 | Sitemap submitted and valid | The Sitemaps section in Search Console | Submit a correct sitemap with important pages only |
| 5 | Deleted pages respond correctly | "Not found" and "Soft 404" in the report | An error page with the right code, or a redirect to the replacement |
The most painful mistake at this level is a noindex tag left over from a staging copy after launch. The second is using robots to hide a page from Google, since Google says plainly that it is not a mechanism for keeping a page out of its results, and that the alternatives are noindex or password protection.
Do not be alarmed by every row in the report of unindexed pages. Some exclusions are normal, such as URLs you redirect on purpose or duplicates where Google chose an alternative. The real problem is finding a service page or article you want customers to see on that list.
Level two: does each page have one clear URL?
| # | Point | How to check | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | The whole site is HTTPS | The HTTPS report in Search Console | Enable the certificate and redirect all HTTP URLs |
| 7 | One version of the domain | Try the address with and without www | Redirect all versions to one |
| 8 | No duplicate pages | The inspection tool names the version Google chose | A redirect or canonical tag, depending on the case |
| 9 | No long redirect chains | Open important old URLs and see where they end | Redirect straight to the final page |
When the same content sits on several URLs, Google groups them and picks one. Its documentation calls redirects and canonical tags strong signals, and sitemap inclusion a weak one. So do not rely on the sitemap alone to consolidate URLs.
Level three: does the page work well on a phone?
| # | Point | How to check | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Full mobile version | Compare content on phone and computer | Google relies on the mobile version, so add what is missing |
| 11 | Real speed | PageSpeed Insights for your top two pages | See the website speed numbers that matter |
| 12 | No sideways scrolling | Open long pages and tables on a phone | Make tables scroll within their own box |
Level four: does Google understand the page?
| # | Point | How to check | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | A distinct title per page | Review your results, and read Google's title guidance | Write a title describing the page without repetition |
| 14 | One clear main heading | Open the page and read its visible heading | Edit it to state the page's topic |
| 15 | Valid structured data | The Rich Results Test | Fix errors, and add only what matches visible content |
| 16 | Alt text on images | Open the page's key images | Describe the image without stuffing keywords |
Level five: special cases for sites in Egypt and Saudi Arabia
- Bilingual sites. Each language needs its own URL, with hreflang tags connecting them. Switching text with a button on one URL is not enough.
- Arabic URLs. If you use them, test sharing and opening them, since some tools show them long and encoded. Above all, do not change a URL after publishing.
- Local sites. Connect the site to your Business Profile, as in how to appear in local Google search.
- Redesigns. The most dangerous technical moment. Prepare a redirect plan from old URLs to new ones before launch, not after.
What does not deserve your time yet
Paid audit tools give you a score out of 100 and hundreds of warnings, and most have no effect on a twenty-page company site. Do not chase a tool's score before finishing levels one and two. However sound the site is technically, it will not appear for a keyword with no page that answers it well. The full plan combining the technical side with content is in an SEO plan for small companies.
Your next step
Open Search Console today, inspect the home page and your top three services, and write down the first point that fails. Send it with the page link to whoever runs your site, and recheck after the fix. Repeat every three months and after any redesign. If you want someone to carry out this list and track its effect, take a look at PlanKit's SEO service.