Did you know that over 90% of websites have technical SEO issues that hurt their rankings? 😲 If your website has slow page speeds, crawl errors, or indexing issues, Google might be ignoring your content—no matter how great it is!
That’s where a technical SEO audit comes in. It helps you identify and fix the hidden roadblocks preventing your site from ranking. This technical SEO audit guide covers everything from crawlability and indexing to page speed optimization, structured data, and mobile usability. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced SEO pro, you’ll find actionable steps to boost your site’s performance. Let’s dive in! 🚀
🔍 Website Crawlability & Indexing
When I first started auditing sites, I overlooked crawl errors for months. One of my sites wasn’t getting traffic, and I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out, half my pages were excluded from the index because of a misconfigured robots.txt file. Total facepalm.
Crawlability is foundational. If search engines can’t access your content, it doesn’t matter how good it is. You’ll want to pop into Google Search Console and head straight for the Index Coverage Report. Look for pages marked “Excluded” or “Error.” You’d be shocked how many good pages end up getting left out.
Also, don’t forget to test your robots.txt. Just because you can see a page doesn’t mean Google can. Use their tester tool—it’s quick and could save you hours of troubleshooting.
Now onto your XML sitemap. I’ve seen people include every single URL—even admin login pages (yikes). Keep it clean. Only include URLs you want ranked. And make sure it’s submitted to Google Search Console.
Other little things that make a big difference: canonical tags. I didn’t use them early on and ended up with multiple versions of the same content ranking poorly. Canonicals tell Google which version of a page is the real deal. Super important if you have similar or duplicate pages.
Here’s a quick checklist I use:
- Crawl your site with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb.
- Check Google Search Console’s coverage and sitemap reports.
- Validate your
robots.txtisn’t blocking important content. - Audit canonical tags and look for duplicate content.
- Submit a clean sitemap.
Fixing crawl and indexing issues was honestly the biggest breakthrough in my early SEO days. It felt like I unlocked a door I didn’t even know was locked. Start here before anything else.
⚡ Page Speed & Core Web Vitals
Let me be real with you—when I first heard about Core Web Vitals, I thought, “Great. Another algorithm update to stress over.” But turns out, this one was different. It wasn’t just some behind-the-scenes Google magic. This update hit where it hurt: performance, user experience, and ultimately… rankings.
Now, if you’re like me, you probably looked at those three letters—LCP, FID, and CLS—and instantly opened a new tab to Google them. Been there.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
Let’s start with the big guy: LCP. This measures how long it takes for the most important part of your page—usually a big image or a chunk of text—to fully load. I remember running one of my old sites through PageSpeed Insights and seeing LCP at 5.2 seconds. My heart sank. That’s basically an eternity on the internet.
Turns out, I had this giant banner image at the top of the page. It wasn’t even compressed. So I switched it to WebP, dropped it in a CDN, and delayed its loading with lazy load. Within minutes, LCP went down to 1.8 seconds. Felt like I’d just shaved years off my load time.
FID (First Input Delay)
Next up: FID. This one’s about how fast your site responds when someone tries to click, scroll, or tap. It’s like, “How fast can you shake someone’s hand when they walk through the door?”
A few years ago, I was using way too many tracking scripts. Facebook Pixel, heatmaps, live chat, you name it. My pages looked fine, but every button had a half-second delay. It was like trying to click underwater. I started deferring non-critical scripts and cut the clutter. That dropped my FID like a rock.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Finally, CLS. This is the one nobody thinks about until it punches you in the face. It tracks how much your layout jumps around while loading. Ever try to click a link and the button moves last second, and you accidentally hit an ad? Yeah. That’s CLS in action.
For me, the culprit was custom fonts and dynamic ads. I didn’t have height attributes on my images either, so the content would load in, then shift all over the place. I added proper image dimensions and reserved space for ads with CSS min-height. And just like that, CLS issues were gone.
Real-World Fixes That Worked for Me:
- Compress images and serve them as WebP
- Use
font-display: swapfor faster font rendering - Defer all JavaScript you don’t need right away
- Reserve space for ads, embeds, and media
- Lazy load stuff below the fold
- Use a performance plugin like WP Rocket if you’re on WordPress
- Test like crazy on mobile—desktop might be fine, but mobile is the battlefield
When I finally got my Core Web Vitals into the green, it wasn’t just about pleasing Google. Bounce rates dropped. My session duration jumped up. And you know what? Rankings improved across the board.
So yeah—Core Web Vitals aren’t optional anymore. They’re core for a reason. Get ‘em wrong, and you’ll feel it. Get ‘em right, and it’s like giving your site a nitro boost.
🛠 Fixing Duplicate Content & URL Issues
I’ll never forget the time I discovered my blog had three separate URLs showing the exact same content. One had a trailing slash, one didn’t, and one had a random tracking parameter. Guess which one was getting indexed? Yep—the ugliest one. That was the day I learned how messy URL structures and duplicate content can wreck your SEO.
Google wants clarity. If you’re giving it multiple versions of the same page, it gets confused and may rank the wrong one—or none at all. That’s why fixing duplicate content and URL issues is a big deal in a technical SEO audit.
First, let’s talk about canonical tags. These little snippets of HTML tell search engines which version of a page is the “official” one. If you run an ecommerce site, for example, product pages can show up under different URLs because of filters or categories. Canonical tags clean that mess up. I once added canonicals to over 200 product pages and saw a 20% bump in organic traffic within a few weeks.
Then there’s URL structure. I’ve seen it all: uppercase letters, weird symbols, and even emojis in URLs (please don’t). Stick with lowercase, hyphen-separated words. Keep it simple, clean, and readable. And whatever you do, avoid keyword stuffing your URLs—it looks spammy and won’t help your rankings.
Another one that gets folks: redirect chains. I ran a site audit and found pages redirecting 3 or 4 times before landing on the final URL. That slows things down and weakens your link equity. A clean 301 redirect from old to new is all you need. I used Screaming Frog to find and fix those chains and saw my average crawl time drop like crazy.
You also want to be mindful of duplicate meta titles and descriptions. I used to copy-paste templates and tweak just one word. Lazy move. Google can detect that stuff and may treat it as thin or duplicate content. Unique metadata isn’t just good SEO—it shows you care about your content.
Here’s a quick fix-it checklist:
- Use canonical tags for duplicate or similar pages
- Set preferred domain and use consistent URL formatting
- Avoid parameters and session IDs in URLs when possible
- Fix redirect chains and loops
- Create unique meta titles and descriptions for every page
Once I cleaned up my URL structures and canonical issues, not only did my rankings improve, but my site just felt better. Users stayed longer, bounced less, and trust seemed to go up. It’s one of those backend tasks that has front-end rewards.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned: don’t wait until Google slaps you with an indexing issue. Be proactive. Audit those URLs, set your canonicals, and give both users and bots a clean, clear path forward.
📶 Mobile Usability & Mobile-First Indexing
I’ll admit it—there was a time I didn’t even check how my site looked on mobile. I built everything on desktop, previewed it in a browser, and called it a day. Then I looked at my analytics and saw that 70% of my traffic was coming from phones. That was a wake-up call.
Mobile-first indexing means Google uses the mobile version of your site for crawling and ranking. So if your mobile experience is a mess, your rankings might be too. I learned this the hard way when my beautifully designed desktop site looked like a jumbled pile of spaghetti on a phone. Text too small, buttons overlapping, content off-screen—it was ugly.
First thing I did? I ran my site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. It flagged a bunch of issues I’d been blind to. Some were design-related, like font sizes and spacing. Others were technical, like missing viewport settings and uncompressed scripts loading on mobile.
Here’s a quick win that helped me: responsive design. Instead of building two versions of my site (which is a nightmare to maintain), I used a responsive theme and adjusted the breakpoints in my CSS. That made everything flex and shift perfectly across screen sizes.
Then I tackled tap targets. Have you ever tried clicking a tiny link with your thumb? It’s like playing Operation. Google recommends a minimum size of 48×48 pixels for tappable elements. I updated my buttons, links, and menus so they were easy to interact with—even for people with sausage fingers like me.
And let’s not forget page speed on mobile. Mobile networks aren’t always the fastest, so you’ve gotta squeeze every ounce of performance out of your site. I started using lazy loading, reduced third-party scripts, and deferred anything that wasn’t critical. That helped my mobile load time drop from 6.1 seconds to under 2.
Here’s your action plan:
- Test your site using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and Lighthouse tools
- Use a responsive design framework like Flexbox or Grid
- Optimize tap targets and spacing for fingers, not mouse clicks
- Add a meta viewport tag:
- Minimize large scripts and use mobile-optimized media
Improving mobile usability isn’t just about SEO. It’s about making sure your site is usable by actual human beings. Once I made my site easier to navigate on a phone, bounce rates went down and conversions actually went up.
If you haven’t optimized for mobile yet, now’s the time. Don’t let a clunky experience tank your traffic. Test everything, fix what’s broken, and give your mobile visitors the VIP treatment they deserve.
📊 Structured Data & Schema Markup
I used to think structured data was just for big e-commerce sites or recipe blogs. Not true. Once I added schema to a few of my posts, I started getting rich snippets—and that boosted my click-through rates like crazy.
Structured data helps search engines better understand your content. It’s like giving Google a cheat sheet. Want your blog post to show up with star ratings, product prices, or FAQs in the search results? That’s schema in action.
My first experience adding structured data was a mess. I tried to hardcode JSON-LD into the HTML. One typo and everything broke. Eventually, I switched to using a plugin (Yoast and Rank Math both have solid schema options if you’re on WordPress). Way easier.
The most useful types of schema I’ve added:
- Article: Tells Google it’s a blog post and gives it structured info like author, publish date, and more.
- FAQPage: Great for boosting real estate in the search results with collapsible FAQs.
- Product: If you’re doing affiliate marketing, this is gold. Show prices, ratings, and availability.
- BreadcrumbList: Helps Google understand your site structure, and users love it too.
After implementing FAQ schema on a handful of posts, I noticed something wild. I got into position #2—but my result looked so much more detailed than the #1 spot that I actually pulled more clicks. People love rich results because they give quick answers right in the SERP.
I use Google’s Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator to make sure everything’s working properly. If you mess it up, your schema won’t show up at all, and you’ll miss out on the benefits.
Tips to get it right:
- Use JSON-LD format—it’s the most recommended and easiest to debug
- Stick to officially supported types from Schema.org
- Test everything after adding markup
- Don’t spam—mark up only what’s relevant to your content
Honestly, adding structured data felt intimidating at first, but now it’s second nature. And once you start seeing your content pop with extra features in the SERPs, you’ll be hooked. It’s one of the easiest ways to stand out in crowded search results without writing a single extra word.
🔗 Fixing Broken Links and Redirect Issues
Broken links used to drive me absolutely nuts—especially when I’d click one on my own blog and land on a 404 page. It’s a terrible user experience and an even worse signal to search engines. I’ve learned that even just a few broken links can drag down a page’s authority.
I remember running my first full link audit with Screaming Frog. I was expecting a few issues—maybe a broken image or an outdated affiliate link. Instead, I found hundreds of broken internal and external links. Some were typos, some were deleted pages, and a few were old product pages that had been redirected or removed entirely. It was a mess.
First things first—run a crawler. I recommend Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Ahrefs’ Site Audit. Let it scan everything and flag 404s, 500s, and redirect chains. Then dig into each one. Fix broken internal links by updating or removing them. For external links, try to find a relevant replacement—or just remove it if it no longer adds value.
Next up: redirects. These can be tricky. A clean 301 from Page A to Page B is fine. But when Page A redirects to B, which redirects to C, which goes to D? That’s a chain—and it slows everything down. Googlebot doesn’t love crawling through a maze. Clean up any redirect chains by pointing old URLs directly to the final destination.
And for the love of all things SEO, stop using 302s if the redirect is meant to be permanent. Use a 301. I learned this when I thought temporary redirects were “safer.” Spoiler: they’re not. Google treats them differently and might not pass full link equity.
Here’s a handy fix-it list:
- Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to find broken and redirected links
- Replace or remove internal 404s
- Check affiliate links—they break often
- Fix redirect chains with direct 301s
- Avoid redirect loops (you’d be surprised how easy they are to create)
The result? My crawl errors disappeared, my bounce rate improved, and rankings on a few stale blog posts actually bounced back. Cleaning up your links isn’t just maintenance—it’s a visibility boost waiting to happen.
So yeah, broken links are more than just annoying. They chip away at trust, authority, and rankings. Patch them up, and your site will feel tighter, cleaner, and more polished—both for bots and real humans.
🧭 Optimizing URL Structure and Site Architecture
Let’s talk structure—because if your site is built like a labyrinth, even the best content won’t save you. I learned this the hard way when a client asked why none of their blog posts were ranking. Turned out their URLs were a mix of slashes, underscores, date-based folders, and even random strings of numbers. And the internal links? All over the place.
The way your site is structured tells both users and search engines how to navigate your content. Clean, consistent, and intuitive structure? That’s SEO gold.
Start with URL structure. Your URLs should be short, descriptive, and keyword-rich (without stuffing). I like using lowercase letters and hyphens instead of underscores. So instead of something like example.com/blog/2025-04-01/post-459, aim for example.com/blog/technical-seo-audit. It’s readable, scannable, and tells both people and bots what the page is about.
Now let’s talk site architecture. You want a shallow site structure. Ideally, every important page should be reachable within three clicks from the homepage. That helps with crawlability and distributes link equity more effectively. I once flattened a site’s category tree by two levels and saw a noticeable uptick in crawl rate and impressions within a month.
Use breadcrumb navigation too—it helps users understand where they are on your site, and it creates additional internal links. Plus, Google loves showing breadcrumbs in search results.
Oh, and let’s not forget orphan pages—pages that have no internal links pointing to them. I had a whole set of category landing pages that weren’t getting any love simply because nothing linked to them. Once I added links in my navigation and content, traffic started trickling in.
Quick tips to get your structure right:
- Keep URLs short, clean, and keyword-targeted
- Avoid special characters, parameters, or excessive folder nesting
- Use internal links logically to support related content
- Add breadcrumbs for hierarchy and easier navigation
- Fix orphan pages by linking to them from relevant places
A solid URL and site structure does more than boost SEO—it makes your content easier to find, digest, and trust. And that’s a win no matter which way you slice it.
📈 Monitoring SEO Performance and Continuous Optimization
SEO isn’t a one-and-done kind of deal—it’s more like tending a garden. You can plant the seeds (your content), but if you’re not watering it (monitoring and optimizing), it’s gonna wilt.
When I first started, I thought once a page ranked, I could forget about it. Nope. Rankings fluctuate, competitors step up, and Google changes the rules all the time. That’s why you need to track what’s happening and adapt accordingly.
I check Google Search Console at least once a week. It shows me impressions, clicks, and position data for each page. One time, I noticed a post that ranked #3 suddenly dropped to page two. After digging in, I saw a new competitor had published something fresher. I updated my article, added new insights, and it climbed right back up within a few weeks.
Then there’s Google Analytics. It helps me understand how people interact with the site—where they’re coming from, how long they’re staying, and where they bounce. I once realized that users were dropping off halfway through one of my most important blog posts. Turns out, I had buried the good stuff too far down. I moved key points to the top, added subheadings, and boom—engagement soared.
I also like using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest for keyword tracking and competitor research. These tools show me which keywords are rising or falling and help me spot gaps I can fill.
A few routines I stick to:
- Monthly performance reviews: Check GSC and Analytics, note drops or gains
- Quarterly content refreshes: Update stats, improve headlines, add new sections
- Annual technical audits: Run a full crawl, check speed, security, and structure
And here’s the real trick: don’t just monitor performance—act on what you find. If something’s climbing, link to it more. If it’s dropping, investigate and fix it. SEO rewards the curious and the proactive.
Your site doesn’t stay static, and neither should your strategy. By staying on top of performance and making regular tweaks, you’ll keep your SEO strong and your traffic steady. Think of it as ongoing care for your digital real estate.
🏁 Conclusion
Phew—if you made it this far, give yourself a high five. Technical SEO isn’t always glamorous, but it’s the backbone of a healthy, high-performing website.
From crawlability to Core Web Vitals, structured data to mobile-friendliness—every section we’ve covered is a piece of the puzzle that tells Google, “Hey, this site’s legit.”
My best advice? Don’t try to do it all in one day. Tackle your technical SEO checklist one section at a time. Monitor your progress, keep learning, and treat SEO like a living, breathing part of your site—not a one-time fix.
Need a starting point? Run a crawl. Fix a few broken links. Clean up your sitemap. Just get moving.
And if you’ve got any tips, war stories, or audit victories to share—drop them in the comments. Let’s help each other out.