Technical SEO is the foundation. Even with perfect citations and reviews, a slow, broken website tanks your rankings. This checklist ensures your site meets Google's technical standards for local SEO.
Focus on these 5 critical areas for immediate ranking improvements.
1. Core Web Vitals (CWV)
Google penalizes slow sites. Your Core Web Vitals must be "Good":
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): <2.5 seconds
- First Input Delay (FID): <100 milliseconds
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): <0.1
How to check: PageSpeed Insights (insights.pagespeed.google.com)
How to improve:
- Compress images (use WebP format)
- Remove unused CSS/JavaScript
- Enable lazy loading for images
- Upgrade hosting if needed
2. Mobile-First Design
90% of local searches happen on mobile. Your site MUST work perfectly on phones:
- Responsive design (not separate mobile site)
- Readable without zooming
- Touch buttons are large (48px+)
- No horizontal scrolling
- Fast on 3G connections
Check: Mobile-Friendly Test (search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly)
3. On-Page Technical Elements
- Title tags: 50-60 characters, keyword at start
- Meta descriptions: 150-160 characters, compelling CTA
- H1 tag: One per page, matches page topic
- Header hierarchy: H1 → H2 → H3 (no skipping)
- Image alt text: Descriptive, keyword-relevant
- Internal linking: Relevant anchor text, logical structure
4. Site Structure & Architecture
- URL structure: /blog/topic-name (not /p=123)
- Breadcrumbs: Home > Blog > Article
- Sitemap: XML sitemap submitted to Google
- Robots.txt: Proper crawl directives
- Canonical tags: Prevent duplicate content
5. Schema Markup
Schema markup helps Google understand your content. Add:
- LocalBusiness schema: Name, address, phone, hours
- FAQPage schema: Your FAQ section
- Article schema: Blog posts (datePublished, author, etc.)
- AggregateRating schema: Your average review rating
Check: Google Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results)
6. HTTPS & Security
- SSL certificate installed (HTTPS, not HTTP)
- No mixed content warnings
- Security headers configured
7. Crawlability & Indexing
- No "noindex" tags on important pages
- Sitemap updated and submitted
- No 404 errors on important pages
- Redirect chains fixed (max 1 redirect)
Quick Wins This Week
- Run PageSpeed Insights, fix low-hanging fruit
- Add schema markup to homepage
- Optimize 3-5 key images
- Ensure mobile responsive design
- Create/update robots.txt and sitemap
Technical SEO + Complete Strategy
Technical SEO removes barriers to ranking. Combine with:
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