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Talk to me todayYou could publish the most useful page in your industry, but if Google can’t access, load or understand it properly, it may never appear in search results.
Regan Gudsell
Sep 4, 2026
Technical SEO is the process of improving how a website is built and configured so search engines can find, crawl, understand and index its pages properly. It can also help create a faster, more secure and mobile-friendly experience for visitors.
Technical SEO won’t guarantee higher rankings on its own, but it can remove problems that may be holding good content back. In this guide, we’ll show you what to check, which issues to prioritise and when you might need some extra help.
To understand technical SEO, it helps to know what happens between publishing a page and seeing it appear in Google.
The process broadly looks like this:
Google explains this process in more detail, but the main thing to understand is that technical SEO can affect every stage of the journey.
For example, imagine you have created a detailed service page targeting an important search. If that page has accidentally been given a noindex instruction, rewriting the copy won’t solve the immediate problem. Google first needs to be allowed to index the page.
Technical SEO helps identify and remove those barriers so your content has the opportunity to be found and considered for relevant searches.
Before Google can consider showing a page in its results, it needs to be able to find and process it.
Pages may be unintentionally blocked from crawling, excluded from indexing or left without any internal links pointing to them. Important content can also be hidden behind scripts or website features that Google is unable to process as intended.
These issues aren’t always obvious to the person using the website. A page may look perfectly normal when you visit it directly, while still being difficult for a search engine to discover or understand.
The same or very similar content can sometimes be available through several different URLs. This is particularly common on ecommerce websites, where filters, categories and tracking parameters can create additional versions of a page.
Canonical tags and other technical signals help Google understand which URL you would prefer it to treat as the main version. If those signals conflict or point to the wrong place, Google may index a different URL from the one you intended.
Technical SEO also overlaps with how people experience your website.
Slow pages, content that moves around while loading and layouts that are difficult to use on a phone can all make it harder for visitors to find what they need. Some may leave before they have even had a chance to read the content or complete an enquiry.
Improving page speed, mobile usability and website stability can therefore support both your search visibility and the wider performance of the website.
Technical SEO becomes especially important when making significant changes to a website, including:
If an existing page moves to a new URL without a suitable redirect, visitors following the old link may reach an error page. Google may also have to discover and assess the new URL separately, rather than being clearly told where the original page has moved.
Planning the technical SEO before a migration and checking it again after launch can prevent valuable pages from becoming lost, broken or unexpectedly removed from the index.
Technical SEO provides the foundations for your wider search strategy. You still need useful content and a reason for Google to choose your page, but those efforts can be undermined by an inaccessible or poorly configured website.
Some checks can be completed using free tools, while others may require access to your website’s CMS, code or server. Here are the main elements you need to understand.
Crawlability and indexability are closely connected, but they don’t mean quite the same thing:
Website owners can control some of this through a robots.txt file and noindex instructions. The difference is important: robots.txt controls crawling, while noindex controls indexing.
They aren’t interchangeable, and Google normally needs to crawl a page before it can see its noindex instruction.
Password-protected pages and content that isn’t available to the public may also be inaccessible to search engines. That’s fine for customer accounts or private resources, but not for an important service page you want people to find.
Google Search Console’s Page indexing report can show which pages Google has indexed and why others have been excluded. Its URL Inspection tool allows you to investigate a particular page.
You can also search site:yourdomain.co.uk for a quick look at some of the pages appearing in Google. However, site: results aren’t always exhaustive, so Search Console provides a more reliable view.
If an important page has been excluded accidentally, the fix may involve removing a noindex instruction, changing a crawling rule or making the page publicly accessible.
However, pages such as customer accounts, checkout screens and internal search results may have a valid reason to remain excluded.
An XML sitemap is a file containing a list of URLs that you want search engines to discover. Many websites create one automatically, often at an address such as yourdomain.co.uk/sitemap.xml.
Check that the sitemap loads, has been submitted through Google Search Console and contains the pages you want Google to find. Its URLs should work, be available for indexing and point directly to the preferred version of each page.
Broken, redirected or intentionally excluded pages should usually be removed from the sitemap. This may happen automatically once their settings have been corrected within your CMS.
A sitemap helps Google discover your pages, but it doesn’t guarantee they will be indexed. It also shouldn’t be used as a replacement for internal links.
Your site structure describes how its pages are organised and connected. A clear hierarchy helps visitors find their way around and shows search engines how different pages relate to one another.
Important pages should be reachable through links elsewhere on the website. A page with no internal links pointing to it is known as an orphan page. Google may still discover it through a sitemap or another website, but it’s much harder to find naturally.
Review whether your most important services, products and resources can be reached through your navigation or relevant content. A website crawler can also help identify orphaned or unnecessarily deep pages.
Problems can usually be improved through clearer categories, relevant internal links and breadcrumbs. Link wording should describe what the visitor will find rather than repeatedly forcing in an exact keyword.
Whenever a browser or search engine requests a URL, the website returns an HTTP status code explaining what has happened.
| Status code | What it means |
| 200 | The page has loaded successfully |
| 301 | The page has moved permanently |
| 302 | The move is temporary |
| 404 or 410 | The page no longer exists |
| 5xx | The server has encountered a problem |
Broken internal links send visitors and search engines to pages that no longer work. Redirect chains create unnecessarily long journeys through several URLs, while redirect loops prevent the destination from loading at all.
A crawler such as Screaming Frog can identify broken links, redirects and server errors across your website. Search Console may also report errors Google has encountered.
When a page moves permanently, a 301 redirect can send visitors and search engines to the new location. You should also update your internal links so they point directly to the new URL.
If a deleted page has no relevant replacement, allowing it to return a genuine 404 or 410 response may be more appropriate. Redirecting every missing page to your homepage can create a confusing experience and doesn’t provide a meaningful alternative.
The same or very similar content can sometimes be available through several URLs.
For example, an ecommerce website might create different versions of a category page when visitors apply filters or tracking parameters. These additional URLs could contain almost identical content.
A canonical tag tells Google which URL you would prefer it to treat as the main version. You can check these tags using a website crawler or compare your chosen URL with the canonical selected by Google through URL Inspection.
Canonicals are signals rather than absolute instructions. Internal links and XML sitemaps should therefore point to the same preferred URL.
If Google repeatedly chooses a different version, your canonical tags, internal links and sitemap may be sending conflicting signals.
Google primarily uses the mobile version of a website’s content for indexing and ranking. Your mobile website therefore needs to contain the important content and information you want Google to process.
Check that:
Test a selection of page types on a real phone rather than checking only the homepage. A service page may work perfectly while a product filter, booking form or checkout becomes difficult to use.
Small problems may be fixable through your CMS, but wider issues with the layout, navigation or responsive design will normally require a developer.
Website speed affects how quickly visitors can see and use your pages. Long waits, delayed responses and content that moves around while loading can make a website frustrating to use.
Google’s Core Web Vitals measure three parts of that experience:
| Metric | What it measures | A good result |
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | How quickly the main content appears | Within 2.5 seconds |
| Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | How quickly the page responds to an interaction | Below 200 milliseconds |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | How much the layout unexpectedly moves | Below 0.1 |
You can test individual pages using PageSpeed Insights and review wider performance through the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console. Google explains the metrics and current thresholds in its Core Web Vitals guidance.
Common causes of poor performance include oversized images, unnecessary scripts, slow hosting, unoptimised fonts, poor caching and heavy themes or page builders.
Images are often among the largest files on a page. Choosing a suitable format, resizing them for how they’re displayed and compressing them properly can reduce how much visitors need to download. Read more about how image formats affect SEO.
Some improvements, such as replacing an oversized image, may be manageable through your CMS. Changes involving code, scripts, hosting or caching are more likely to require a developer.
Don’t become too focused on achieving a perfect score of 100. Test your main page types and concentrate on changes that make the website noticeably faster and more stable for real visitors.
HTTPS creates an encrypted connection between your website and the person using it. A valid SSL certificate is required for pages to load securely.
Check that your pages use https:// and don’t produce browser security warnings. Any HTTP versions should redirect to their HTTPS equivalents, while internal links and website resources should use secure URLs.
Google Search Console can also alert you to HTTPS and security issues that may affect your website. If the site has been hacked, is regularly unavailable or displays security warnings, resolving that problem should take priority over less urgent SEO work.
Structured data is code that gives search engines explicit information about what a page contains. It can identify content such as a product, recipe, event, job listing or organisation.
Google may use this information to display eligible pages with additional search features, including prices, availability or event dates.
Any structured data you add should match the information visitors can see on the page. It should also use a type that Google currently supports.
You can check the implementation using Google’s Rich Results Test and monitor relevant reports in Search Console. Errors may need to be corrected within the page, website template or plugin generating the markup.
Valid structured data can make a page eligible for relevant search features, but it doesn’t guarantee a rich result or higher ranking. You can find the full requirements in Google’s structured-data guidelines.
Many websites use JavaScript to load interactive features and content such as navigation menus, product listings, reviews and booking tools.
Google can process JavaScript, but implementation problems may prevent it from seeing important content or following links. This means a page could look complete when you open it while Google receives something different.
Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool can show what Google was able to render. Check that the main content and links are present and that essential website resources haven’t been blocked.
JavaScript issues can be difficult to diagnose and often require changes to how the website has been developed. If important content is missing from Google’s rendered version, it is usually best to involve a developer.
A technical SEO audit is a structured review of how easily search engines can access, crawl, understand and index your website. It also looks for technical issues affecting its speed, mobile usability, security and overall performance.
An audit may uncover problems such as important pages being excluded from Google, broken internal links, incorrect canonical tags or slow-loading page templates.
However, finding a warning doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. A good audit should explain:
This is why an automated website crawl and a technical SEO audit aren’t quite the same thing. A crawling tool can collect the data, but somebody still needs to interpret it and decide which findings genuinely matter to the website.
Here’s how to perform an SEO audit focused on the technical health of your website.
Start by identifying the pages that are most important to your business. These might include:
You should also note any recent website changes, such as a redesign, migration or change to your URL structure. This gives you useful context when investigating unexpected errors or drops in visibility.
Google Search Console shows how Google is accessing and processing your website.
Check the following reports:
Don’t assume that every excluded page is an error. Redirected URLs, duplicate pages and content marked noindex may have been excluded intentionally. Focus on important pages that should appear in search results but don’t.
A website crawler follows your internal links in a similar way to a search engine and collects technical information about each URL.
Tools such as Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, Ahrefs and Semrush can help you find:
A crawl can produce a long list of warnings, particularly on a large website. Treat it as evidence to investigate rather than a list of tasks that must all be completed.
Next, compare the information from your website crawl with your XML sitemap and Google Search Console.
You’re looking for inconsistencies, such as:
These comparisons can reveal issues that wouldn’t be obvious when looking at each report separately.
Use Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to investigate your most important pages and examples of each main page type.
Check whether Google can access the page, whether indexing is allowed and which canonical URL it has selected. You can also view the rendered page to make sure the important content and links are visible.
Don’t inspect only the homepage. Test examples of your service, product, category, blog and location pages, as different website templates can experience different problems.
Use PageSpeed Insights to test your main page types and review the wider Core Web Vitals data available in Search Console.
Look for recurring problems rather than becoming distracted by every individual recommendation. If every product page loads slowly because they use the same oversized image or script, fixing the template could improve hundreds of pages at once.
You should also test the website on real mobile devices. Check that the navigation, buttons, forms, filters and checkout process work properly and that important content hasn’t been hidden from the mobile version.
Visit a selection of pages and confirm that they load securely over HTTPS without browser warnings. Check that internal links and website resources also use secure URLs.
If your website uses structured data, run the relevant pages through Google’s Rich Results Test. Make sure the markup is valid, matches the visible content and uses a type supported by Google.
Once you have collected the findings, decide what needs to be addressed first.
Start with problems that prevent visitors or search engines from accessing important pages, including:
You can then move on to wider performance, mobile, duplication and site-structure issues before considering optional enhancements.
Take the importance and number of affected pages into account. A problem affecting every service page should usually take priority over a minor warning on one old blog post.
A technical recommendation isn’t complete until the change has been made and checked.
Once an issue has been addressed, re-crawl the affected pages and test them using the same tool that identified the problem.
You may also need to inspect the live URL through Search Console or run it through PageSpeed Insights again.
Continue monitoring Search Console after significant changes. Some updates won’t appear immediately because Google needs time to revisit and process the affected pages.
Use this checklist to review the technical foundations of your website.
Google Search Console is set up and accessible
Important pages are available for indexing
robots.txt isn’t blocking important pages or resources
noindex instructions are being used intentionally
Password protection isn’t restricting public content
Important pages appear correctly when inspected through Search Console
The XML sitemap loads successfully
The sitemap has been submitted through Search Console
It contains working, indexable and canonical URLs
Broken, redirected and excluded pages have been removed
Important pages can be reached through internal links
There are no valuable orphan pages
The website follows a clear and logical hierarchy
Important internal links lead to working pages
Permanent URL changes use suitable 301 redirects
Redirect chains and loops have been removed
Deleted pages return an appropriate response
Canonical tags point to the preferred URLs
Internal links and sitemaps support the same canonical versions
Important pages work properly on mobile
The mobile version contains the main content
Navigation, buttons, forms and checkout processes are usable
Core Web Vitals have been reviewed
Main page types have been tested through PageSpeed Insights
Oversized images and unnecessary scripts have been identified
All pages and resources load securely over HTTPS
HTTP URLs redirect to their HTTPS equivalents
Search Console shows no unresolved security issues
Relevant structured data is valid and accurate
Important JavaScript-generated content appears in Google’s rendered version
Findings have been prioritised by their impact
Changes have been implemented by the appropriate person
Fixed pages have been re-crawled and re-tested
Search Console is being monitored for new issues
Technical SEO is only one part of a healthy website. Our complete website optimisation checklist also helps you review your on-page and off-page SEO, paid media readiness, conversion rate optimisation, user experience and security.
A good technical SEO agency should take time to understand your business, website platform and any recent changes before making recommendations.
It should be able to show you which pages are affected, explain the problems in plain English and prioritise them by their likely impact. You should also know who will implement the fixes and how the agency will check that they have worked.
Useful questions to ask include:
Be cautious of guaranteed rankings, promises of immediate results, unexplained “secret” techniques or reports containing hundreds of warnings with no priorities. A third-party health score can be useful, but improving the score shouldn’t be the sole aim of the work.
You may benefit from professional support if:
You may not need an agency to update one broken link or submit a sitemap. When an issue affects a large part of the website or requires several teams to resolve, specialist support can help diagnose the cause, prioritise the work and confirm that the fix has worked.
At Statuo, we can audit your website, explain what needs attention and help put the right fixes in place. Talk to us about technical SEO.
Yes. Many basic checks can be completed using Search Console and free testing tools. More complex issues involving code, templates, redirects or server settings may require a developer or SEO specialist.
Not to understand or monitor the basics. Coding knowledge is more likely to be needed when implementing technical fixes.
Check Search Console regularly and carry out an audit after major website changes. Periodic audits can also help identify problems before they begin affecting important pages.
No. Technical SEO can remove barriers and improve your website’s foundations, but the relevance, usefulness and authority of each page still matter.
Some changes can be recognised after Google recrawls the affected pages. Larger indexing problems, migrations and performance improvements may take longer, and not every fix will lead to an immediate ranking change.
