Back to Meta Tags

Technical SEO Checklist

Essential technical optimizations for GEO success

Your Complete Technical Checklist

Technical SEO forms the foundation of GEO optimization. Without proper technical setup, even great content struggles to perform. This checklist covers everything you need for a technically sound website.

Use this as your go-to reference. Check items off as you complete them. Return to this list quarterly to ensure nothing has broken.

Crawling & Indexing

Allow AI bots in robots.txt

Ensure GPTBot, Claude-Web, and other AI crawlers can access your content

Submit XML sitemap

Create and submit sitemap to search engines

Check robots meta tags

Ensure pages have index,follow unless intentionally noindex

Fix crawl errors

Address 404s, 500s, and redirect chains

On-Page Technical Elements

One H1 per page

Each page should have exactly one H1 heading

Proper heading hierarchy

H1 → H2 → H3, don't skip levels

Unique title tags

Every page needs a unique, descriptive title (50-60 chars)

Unique meta descriptions

Write compelling, unique descriptions (150-160 chars)

Canonical tags

Add canonical URL to every page

Alt text on images

All images need descriptive, relevant alt text

Structured Data & Schema

Article schema

Add Article schema to blog posts and articles

Breadcrumb schema

Implement breadcrumb navigation with schema

Organization schema

Add Organization schema to your homepage

Content-specific schema

Product, Recipe, HowTo, FAQ schema where appropriate

Test schema validity

Use Google Rich Results Test to validate

Site Performance

Page load speed

Target under 3 seconds load time

Image optimization

Compress and optimize all images

Enable caching

Set up browser and server caching

Minify CSS/JS

Reduce file sizes by minifying code

Use CDN

Serve assets through a content delivery network

Mobile & Accessibility

Mobile-responsive design

Site works perfectly on all devices

Viewport meta tag

Include proper viewport settings

Readable font sizes

Minimum 16px font on mobile

Tap targets

Buttons and links large enough for mobile

ARIA labels

Accessibility labels for interactive elements

Security & Trust

HTTPS enabled

SSL certificate installed and working

No mixed content

All resources load via HTTPS

Valid SSL certificate

Certificate not expired or self-signed

Security headers

Add X-Frame-Options, CSP, etc.

URL Structure & Internal Linking

Clean, descriptive URLs

Use readable URLs, not ID numbers

Consistent URL structure

Choose lowercase, hyphens, logical hierarchy

Fix broken links

No 404 errors from internal links

Internal linking strategy

3-5 contextual internal links per page

Descriptive anchor text

Use meaningful text, not "click here"

Quick Technical Wins

  • •Fix your robots.txt first - allow AI bots immediately
  • •Add canonical tags to all pages today
  • •Implement basic schema markup (Article + Breadcrumb)
  • •Ensure HTTPS is working properly
  • •Optimize your slowest-loading pages first

Related Resources