“Technical SEO” refers to the underlying technical aspects of a website that impact its ability to rank well in search engines. Things like website speed, mobile responsiveness, URL structure and so forth.
Getting these basics right is absolutely critical for any website hoping to perform well in search. Google and other engines use many “technical signals” to determine a site’s relevance, authority and trustworthiness – which then decide your rankings and visibility.
For beginners especially, these technical SEO fundamentals are often overlooked. But taking the time to review and improve the foundation of your site will yield massive gains for your search performance over the long run.
That’s why I’ve created this technical SEO checklist for new business websites. In this article, we’ll walk through 15 critical technical optimizations you can implement immediately – from speeding up page load times to generating high-quality links to optimizing images, meta descriptions and more.
Making even minor tweaks in each of these technical areas will positively impact your rankings. But compounding many small changes over weeks, months and years is the only path to ranking consistently for hyper-competitive search terms.
Think of this checklist as a roadmap for maximizing your technical SEO foundation from the get-go. Follow these recommendations step-by-step, then repeat the process annually to ensure your website keeps pace with Google’s constantly evolving algorithms.
By the end, you’ll have a much stronger technical framework supporting all your content and link-building efforts. Your website will load faster, index better and signal clearly to search engines that you’re a trustworthy, authoritative resource.
Let’s get started with the first – and arguably most important – optimization: speeding up your website to improve both the user experience and your search rankings. Slow sites simply don’t succeed, so we have to start there.
Technical SEO Basics
The technical foundation of your website impacts its ability to rank well in search engines more than almost any other factor. Google uses numerous “technical signals” from your site architecture to determine its relevance, authority and trustworthiness – which then drives rankings and visibility.
Understanding and optimizing key technical SEO elements should be a top priority for any business website. Here are some of the most important technical aspects to focus on:
Website Structure and Navigation
Make sure your website information is structured logically and intuitively for users. Use clean headings, lists and links to organize content and aid internal linking. Google rewards findable, accessible sites.
URL Structure and Optimization
Have short, descriptive and static URLs whenever possible. Include relevant keywords and avoid unnecessary uppercase letters, symbols and parameter codes. Use the same hierarchical URL structure for similar pages.
Site Speed and Performance
Nothing impacts conversions and search rankings more than page speed. Optimize images, compress code, enable caching and reduce third-party plugins to boost speed 3-5x and dramatically improve user experience.
Mobile Responsiveness and Mobile-Friendliness
Ensure your website and content display and function properly on mobile devices. Use responsive design principles, maximize viewport tags and test pages across multiple devices. Google favours mobile-optimized sites.
Website Security (HTTPS)
Implement HTTPS encryption on your entire website using an SSL certificate. this signals to Google that you care about users’ security and privacy, boosting your authority and trust signal.
XML Sitemap and robots.txt File
Generate an XML sitemap listing all your pages and submit it to Google Search Console. Also, include a robots.txt file to inform search engines which pages to index and how frequently to crawl them.
These technical elements form the foundation for any high-performing business website. By auditing and optimizing each component to adhere to Google’s guidelines, you build a strong technical framework capable of supporting numerous content and link-building efforts for maximum search rankings over time.
On-Page SEO Checklist
On-page SEO refers to the actually visible elements on your web pages that search engines use to understand and index your content. Getting these optimizations right is critical for higher search rankings.
Here are the key on-page factors to evaluate:
Page Titles
Include your target keywords at the beginning of page titles within the first 50-60 characters. Keep titles concise, relevant and unique for each page. Google uses titles heavily when showing snippets in search results.
Meta Descriptions
Write optimized meta descriptions containing your key keywords. Aim for around 150 characters and ensure the copy accurately represents the page content. Descriptions are often shown in search engine result snippets.
Heading Tags
Include your target keywords in appropriate heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc) on the page to match the text’s relative importance. Heading tags create an outline that search engines use to understand page structure and content.
Identify the most relevant, applicable keywords and phrases for each page based on your target audience and demand. Incorporate these as naturally as possible throughout the copy.
Write blog posts, articles and web pages around the searcher intent and information needs for your target keywords. Answer the questions people are asking in a useful, complete manner. Relevance and utility are keys to high rankings.
Internal Linking
Link to important internal pages from throughout your site using your target keywords as anchor text. This passes “vote” or link equity within your own website, signalling what pages Google should prioritize.
Image Optimization
Give images meaningful file names containing your keywords and include optimized alt text attributes describing each photo. Both help search engines “understand” what the images represent.
Schema Markup
Implement JSON-LD or microdata schema on pages to communicate structured data to Google like Products, Articles and FAQs. This can result in “Rich Snippets” – enhanced search listings that click-through rates.
By optimizing all of these on-page elements for your target keywords and phrases, you create pages that search engines can properly index to match relevant queries. Combined with proper technical optimization, on-page SEO forms the basis for achieving and maintaining high search rankings over time.
Off-Page SEO Checklist
Off-page SEO refers to the links, citations and signals that point to your website from other online sources. These external factors play a huge role in boosting your search rankings.
High-quality links and backlinks signal to Google that your website is an authority and important resource on your topic. The more links you have from relevant, trustworthy sites, the higher you’ll tend to rank. So link building should be a top priority for any SEO strategy.
Some effective link-building strategies include:
• Guest posting on industry websites and blogs
• Outreach to sites already linking to competitors
• Getting listed on online business directories
• Sharing valuable social media content that others want to link to
• Creating infographics, eBooks and other shareable assets
• Pitchening reporters and editors on your expertise
While pursuing links, focus on quality over quantity. Google evaluates the authority, relevance and trustworthiness of each referring page.
For risky or gray hat tactics like link wheels, avoid anything that manipulates search rankings unnaturally. Stick with strategies that create inherent value for your readers and industry.
Social media signals also factor into Google’s algorithm, though to a lesser degree. Maintaining an active:
• Twitter profile
• Facebook business page
• LinkedIn business page
Shows Google you have a sizable, engaged audience – a trust signal that can provide a small boost. Posting regularly with relevant, shareable content improves these signals.
In summary, invest in building an authoritative, trustworthy web of links and citations pointing back to your most important pages. Guest posts from industry leaders, quality backlinks gained organically, and positive social profiles – all signal Google that your site should rank for terms people associate with it.
Just be strategic, create inherent value with each outreach, and avoid gray hat tactics. Off-page optimization requires patience and discipline, but over time the right links will push your most important pages to the first page of Google – where most of your traffic and leads will come from.
Local SEO Checklist
For many small businesses, success depends on dominating local search results. Customers increasingly turn to search engines when looking for nearby companies, so local SEO is imperative.
Here are the key factors to focus on:
Google My Business Optimization
Claim and verify ownership of your business listing on Google Maps and Search. Then optimize the listing by:
• Adding 10+ high-resolution photos
• Writing a complete, accurate business description
• Including all business information (address, phone, website, hours, etc.)
• Responding to customer reviews and queries
• Publishing updates about new services, promotions, etc.
Prioritize your GMB listing. It’s often the most important ranking factor for local search results.
Local Citations and Directories
Build citation links from other directories containing your business information like Yellowpages, Yelp, Foursquare, Bing and Yahoo Local.
Keep details consistent across all your listings :
• Business name
• Address
• Phone number
• Business category
• Website URL
Inconsistent info signals that one listing may be incorrect, hurting trustworthiness.
Customer Ratings and Reviews
Ask satisfied customers to leave positive reviews – on Google, Facebook and other local directories.
Then promptly respond to every review, both good and bad. Showing you actively manage your online reputation builds trust.
Beyond SEO, solicit feedback to continuously improve your business and help with customer acquisition. Positive reviews convince potential customers you’re worth trying.
In summary, local SEO requires optimizing every online listing for your business to provide accurate, consistent information across the web. The more useful and trustworthy your listing appears, the higher it will tend to rank – placing you directly in front of customers searching for local services.
Carefully managing your GMB optimization, building citations and properly responding to reviews will raise your local SEO, visibility and ultimately new customer acquisitions. Make the checklist above part of your routine operations – because customers today start their journeys with you by searching online.
Website Migration Checklist
Migrating your website to a new host, CMS, or URL can be tricky – especially if you want to preserve your online visibility and SEO rankings. But taking the right steps makes a huge difference.
The two main types of website migrations are:
Platform migration – Moving your site from one CMS (WordPress, Drupal, etc.) or host (Bluehost, Wix, etc.) to another.
This requires importing & exporting content, themes, plugins and files – potentially impacting links, images and code. SEO needs close monitoring.
URL migration – Changing your website URL structure, domain name or both.
This affects all links pointing to your old pages, risky if not properly redirected. This involves mapping old and new URLs to preserve link juice and rankings.
For either type of migration, follow these steps to minimize disruptions:
Audit internal and external links – Make a list of all in-page and off-site links pointing to your site.
Update internal links during migration. Create external redirects for off-site links.
Backup everything – Content, files, code, themes, etc. Create staging sites to test migrated versions before going live.
Inform search engines – Submit a change of address forms to Google, Bing and Yahoo. Update XML sitemaps.
Install redirects – Use 301 permanent redirects mapping old URLs to corresponding new pages. This passes link equity.
Update internal URLs – Fix all pages, images, videos and assets referring to old URLs. Update XML sitemaps and Google Search Console.
Monitor analytics – Track traffic, rankings and bounce rates closely for 1-3 months post-launch. Be prepared to fix issues that arise.
Re-submit to directories – Update your listing URLs in local directories, citation links and business profiles.
Checking these boxes leads to a seamless migration with minimal SEO impact. Any 404 errors, redirect issues or broken links can cause a significant rankings drop – so thorough preparation, testing and monitoring post-launch is imperative.
In the end, website migrations offer an opportunity to relaunch your online presence on a stronger technical foundation. But execute the shift carefully to avoid what could be catastrophic losses to your search visibility and organic traffic.
With proper planning and attention to detail in handling redirects, updating links and informing search engines, you can navigate the transition smoothly and come out the other side with an improved website – and all the SEO authority you worked hard to build.
Conclusion
In this post, we’ve covered a comprehensive technical SEO checklist including on-page, off-page and local optimizations every business website should consider.
As we’ve discussed, the technical foundation of your site impacts its ability to rank more than almost any other factor. Getting these fundamentals right – from page speed to URL structure to image optimization – is absolutely critical for search success.
I hope this checklist provides a helpful roadmap for auditing and improving the underlying technical SEO of your website. Remember, making even minor changes in each of these technical areas will likely yield results – Google’s algorithms are designed to reward well-optimized sites.
But where you’ll really see an impact is by compounding many small wins consistently over time. Repeat this optimization process annually to ensure your technical framework keeps pace with Google’s evolving algorithms.
A strong technical foundation combined with proper on-page and off-page SEO will form the basis for achieving and maintaining top search rankings for your most important keywords and phrases. Ultimately more traffic, leads and sales will come from dominating the first page of Google – and that begins with a well-optimized website.
My request to you is simple: choose one recommendation from this checklist and commit to implementing it consistently for the next 30 days. As your website sees positive results from that first optimization, choose an even smaller next step to take.
It’s these minor adjustments compounded over weeks, months and years that will truly separate your online presence from larger competitors that grow complacent. Agility and a relentless focus on technical excellence become significant advantages for smaller businesses.
So take action starting today. Pick one place to tighten, enhance or simplify the technical foundation of your site. Then let me know how I can continue helping you optimize and improve your SEO strategy step-by-step. I’m here to support and guide you every step of the way.
I hope this post gave you a fresh perspective and some actionable next steps. Now get out there and start strengthening the technical SEO of your website – it’s the most impactful investment of time you can make right now.
