Ultimate Technical SEO Checklist

Introduction

This technical SEO checklist ensures your website is a welcoming and accessible environment for search engine crawlers. By optimizing the technical aspects, you make it easier for Google to find, understand, and rank your content.

Looking ahead to 2026, optimizing for AI search agents has become an important factor to drive impressions and traffic.

Both traditional search and LLM or agentic queries rely on quality resources. If you optimize your blog or site for high quality and add short summaries on top, you’ll AI will be happy to include your site.

Key Steps for Technical SEO Optimization

• Site Speed and Performance: Ensure your website loads quickly. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your Core Web Vitals (Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint, and Cumulative Layout Shift) and make improvements.
• Mobile-Friendliness: Your site must be responsive and provide an excellent experience on all devices, as Google uses mobile-first indexing. Check your site with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
• HTTPS Security: Secure your website with an SSL certificate to ensure all traffic is encrypted. Google uses HTTPS as a ranking signal, and it builds user trust.
• Site Architecture and URL Structure: Create a logical, hierarchical site structure that’s easy for both users and crawlers to navigate. Use clean, readable URLs that include keywords where appropriate.
• Crawlability and Indexability: Use an XML sitemap to guide search engines to your important pages. Utilize a robots.txt file to control which pages crawlers should or shouldn’t access.
• Structured Data and Schema Markup: Implement schema markup to give search engines more context about your content. This can help you earn rich snippets in the search results.
• Fixing Technical Errors: Regularly audit your site for issues like broken links (404 errors), redirect chains, and crawl errors. Google Search Console is an invaluable tool for this.
• Duplicate Content: Identify and resolve duplicate content issues using canonical tags or 301 redirects to point search engines to the preferred version of a page.

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Content SEO Checklist

Content SEO is about creating valuable content that directly addresses user needs and demonstrates your expertise. Google’s ranking systems, such as the helpful content system, prioritize content written for people, not just for search engines.

• Keyword Research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify what your target audience is searching for. Focus on long-tail keywords (more specific phrases) for better targeting and higher conversion rates.
• Search Intent Alignment: Understand the reason behind a user’s search query (informational, transactional, navigational). Create content that directly matches that intent.
• High-Quality, Helpful Content: Produce original, in-depth content that provides real value. It should be well-written, easy to read, and free of grammatical errors.
• E-E-A-T: Demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in your content. This involves having knowledgeable authors, citing reliable sources, and building a trustworthy reputation.
• On-Page Optimization: Optimize key on-page elements for each piece of content. This includes:
  • Title tags: Write compelling, keyword-rich titles (under 60 characters).
  • Meta descriptions: Craft a concise, clickable summary of the page’s content (under 160 characters).
  • Heading tags (H1-H6): Use a logical hierarchy to structure your content and include keywords.
  • Image optimization: Use descriptive file names and include alt text for accessibility and to help search engines understand the image.
• Internal Linking: Build a strong internal linking structure by linking from high-authority pages to other relevant pages on your site. This helps distribute link equity and improves site navigation.

This video provides an SEO checklist for beginners, covering both on-page and technical optimization strategies.

Optimizing for Large Language Models

Optimizing for Large Language Models (LLMs) is a new and evolving field often referred to as “LLMO” or Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). It’s distinct from traditional SEO, though there is some overlap. While classic SEO focuses on ranking in a list of ten blue links, LLMO aims to get your brand, quotes, statistics, or content cited and mentioned within a conversational, AI-generated answer.

Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of how to optimize for LLMs, encompassing both content and technical strategies:

Content Optimization for LLMs

LLMs are trained on vast amounts of data, so the goal is to make your content as digestible, authoritative, and citable as possible.

• Prioritize Clarity and Simplicity:
  • Conversational Tone: Write in a natural, conversational style. LLMs are trained on human-to-human communication and respond well to content that feels like a conversation.
  • Concise Answers: Get straight to the point. LLMs are more likely to pull a clear, short answer from your content than a long, meandering paragraph. Use bullet points, numbered lists, and short sentences to make information easy to extract.
  • Use Question-Based Headings: Phrase your headings as questions your audience might ask (e.g., “What are the benefits of LLM optimization?”). This directly aligns your content with common user queries.

12 Website Conversion Optimization Fundamentals You Need To Know

• Structure for Extraction:
  • Clear Hierarchy: Use a logical heading structure (H1, H2, H3) to create a clear flow of information. This helps LLMs understand the relationships between different topics on a page.
  • Chunked Content: Break up long blocks of text into smaller, digestible chunks.
  • Summary Elements: Include “Key Takeaways,” executive summaries, or “TL;DR” sections at the beginning or end of your content. LLMs often pull from these sections for their summaries.
• Demonstrate Authority and Trust:
  • E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Just like with traditional SEO, this is critical.
  • Incorporate Statistics and Data: Back up your claims with specific, recent data and statistics. Content with original research and data is highly favored by LLMs.
  • Cite Reputable Sources: Link to authoritative sources, studies, and expert opinions. This signals credibility to the LLM.
  • Showcase Expertise: Include quotes from subject matter experts (SMEs), and make sure author bios clearly state their qualifications.
• Entity Optimization:
  • Focus on Entities, Not Just Keywords: An entity is a person, place, thing, or concept that an LLM can understand. Instead of just focusing on a single keyword, use related entities and concepts to build a rich semantic network around your topic.
  • Consistency is Key: Ensure your brand name, products, and key people are consistently referenced across your website and other online channels. This helps LLMs correctly associate your brand with relevant topics.
• Multi-Channel Strategy:
  • Leverage High-Authority Platforms: LLMs often use data from platforms like Wikipedia, Reddit, and news websites. Having a presence on these sites—through positive mentions, user-generated content, or a well-maintained Wikipedia page—can increase your brand’s visibility in LLM responses.

Technical Optimization for LLMs

While some older technical SEO tactics may not directly apply, others are more important than ever for LLMs that use real-time retrieval systems.

• Crawlability and Indexability: Ensure your content is easily accessible to LLM crawlers. Use a proper robots.txt file and an XML sitemap to guide them to your most important pages.
• Structured Data (Schema Markup): Although there is some debate on its direct impact on LLMs, implementing structured data can still help in some contexts. It provides search engines with additional context about your content, which can be a signal used by certain LLM-powered systems (like Google’s).
• Fast Loading Speeds: Optimize your site for performance. While not a direct LLM ranking factor, a fast, well-functioning site provides a better user experience and is more likely to be a high-quality source for an LLM to cite.
• HTML Structure: Use clean, semantic HTML. This makes it easier for LLMs to parse and understand your content’s structure. Avoid embedding critical information in images or videos without providing text alternatives (like descriptive alt text or transcripts).
• Content Freshness: Keep your content up-to-date. LLMs that use real-time data retrieval (like Google’s AI Overviews) favor fresh, relevant information. Use “Last Updated” timestamps and mention the current year to signal that your content is current.

The key takeaway is to shift your mindset from “optimizing for a ranking algorithm” to “optimizing for a conversational, knowledge-seeking entity.” By creating clear, authoritative, and easily parsable content, you increase the likelihood of your brand being the trusted source for an LLM’s answer.