Crawlability and indexation
Search engines and AI crawlers can only use what they can reach. Make sure important pages are crawlable, return clean status codes, and are not accidentally blocked by robots.txt or noindex tags. Submit an accurate XML sitemap and keep it current.
Watch for crawl traps, infinite parameters, and orphan pages with no internal links. A page no crawler can find is invisible to both search and AI answers.
- Important pages are crawlable and return a 200 status
- robots.txt and noindex rules are intentional, not accidental
- The XML sitemap is accurate and submitted
- There are no orphan pages or crawl traps
Rendering and content access
If your content only appears after heavy JavaScript, some crawlers and AI systems may never see it. Prefer server-rendered or statically generated HTML for content that matters for discovery, and verify what crawlers actually receive.
Test key pages with rendering tools and the fetched-HTML view in search consoles to confirm your real content, not just an empty shell, is available.
Site speed and Core Web Vitals
Speed is both a ranking signal and a conversion factor. Optimize Core Web Vitals, which cover loading, interactivity, and visual stability, with right-sized images, efficient code, caching, and a sensible hosting setup.
Mobile performance matters most, since indexing is mobile-first and most traffic is mobile. A fast site helps every other investment work harder.
Structure, schema, and internal links
Give engines a clear map: descriptive titles and headings, clean URLs, logical internal links, and a sensible site hierarchy. Internal linking spreads authority and helps both crawlers and AI understand how topics relate.
Add structured data, including Organization, Service, FAQ, Article, Breadcrumb, and DefinedTerm schema, where it accurately reflects the page. Schema helps machines understand entities and is increasingly useful for AI discovery.
- Descriptive, unique titles and meta descriptions
- Clean, readable URL structure
- Logical internal linking and hierarchy
- Accurate structured data using schema.org
Audit and maintain
Technical SEO is not a one-time fix. Redesigns, migrations, and new templates reintroduce issues, so audit on a regular cadence and after any major change. Monitor crawl errors, index coverage, and Core Web Vitals over time.
A short recurring checklist catches regressions before they quietly erode visibility.