A technical SEO checklist for every new website

Great content can't rank if Google can't crawl it properly. Before any site we build goes live, we run through this checklist. Most of it takes minutes, and it saves months of lost traffic.

Crawling and indexing

• robots.txt is in place and does not block important pages.
• An XML sitemap exists and is submitted in Google Search Console.
• The live site is not set to noindex. Staging sites are, and they are password protected.
• Every page has one canonical URL, set with a canonical tag.
• Old URLs redirect to new ones with 301 redirects.

Titles, descriptions and headings

• Every page has a unique title, around 50 to 60 characters, with the main keyword near the start.
• Every page has a unique meta description that makes people want to click.
• Each page has one clear H1, with H2s for its sections.
• URLs are short, readable and use hyphens, like /services/web-development.

Security and setup

• The whole site runs on HTTPS.
• HTTP and www versions redirect to one main version.
• A helpful 404 page links people back to your key pages.

Speed and mobile

• Pages pass Core Web Vitals on mobile.
• The site works well from 360 pixels wide.
• Text is readable without zooming, and buttons are easy to tap.

Structured data and sharing

• Organization or LocalBusiness structured data, added as JSON-LD.
• Article structured data on blog posts.
• Open Graph title, description and image, so links look good when shared on WhatsApp, Facebook and LinkedIn.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Your Business",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "logo": "https://example.com/logo.png",
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "telephone": "+94-77-000-0000",
    "contactType": "customer service"
  }
}

Content and images

• Every image has descriptive alt text.
• Important pages link to each other with clear link text.
• There are no thin or duplicate pages.

Local SEO

• A complete Google Business Profile with the right category, hours, photos and phone number.
• The same business name, address and phone number on your site and your profile.

After launch

• Check Search Console every week for crawl errors and indexing issues.
• Track visits and conversions in Google Analytics 4.
• Publish helpful content regularly. A blog with real answers is one of the best long-term SEO tools.

Tip

SEO is not a one-time job. This checklist gives you a solid start. Rankings come from keeping the site fast, useful and up to date.

Need help with SEO for a new or existing site? Send us an inquiry and we'll start with a free review.