Technical SEO begins with reliable access. Confirm that important pages return the expected status, can be reached through site navigation and do not require interactions that prevent discovery. Check robots directives carefully: a crawl block and a noindex directive are different controls.

Review internal links, redirects and broken destinations. Prioritize pages that matter to users instead of assuming every URL should be indexed.

A sitemap can help communicate which canonical URLs you want systems to consider, but submitting one does not guarantee crawling or indexing. Use consistent canonical URLs and avoid pointing canonical annotations to unrelated destinations.

Check rendered pages for meaningful content, metadata and structured data. Markup should be accurate and eligible; it cannot force rich results or answer visibility.

Use field data when available to understand real user experience, and lab tests to diagnose potential issues. Check that images are sized appropriately, layout does not shift unexpectedly and essential interactions respond. Test representative templates on mobile.

Accessibility is part of a sound experience. Review semantic structure, labels, keyboard operation and contrast rather than treating a single automated audit as a complete assessment.

Fix issues according to user impact, scope and confidence in the diagnosis. Document the affected templates, evidence and the change made. Recheck the same pages after release and distinguish technical corrections from changes in search performance.

For a wider editorial review, see the on-page SEO checklist and the keyword research guide.