1. Indexing
- Are your important pages indexed? Check the Pages report in Search Console.
- Are pages you don't want indexed, like thin tag pages, filters or staging, kept out?
- Does every important page have a self-referencing canonical tag?
2. Crawlability
- Does robots.txt allow Googlebot and Bingbot to reach everything important?
- Is your XML sitemap up to date, listing only indexable, canonical URLs, and submitted in Search Console?
- Can important pages be reached within three or four clicks from the homepage?
3. Speed and Core Web Vitals
- Check real-user data in Search Console and PageSpeed Insights, not just lab scores.
- Common culprits: oversized images, too many third-party scripts, heavy sliders and web fonts that block rendering.
- Test on a mid-range Android phone. That's what most Indian visitors use.
4. Mobile
- Everything readable and tappable without zooming
- No content hidden on mobile that's visible on desktop
- Pop-ups that don't cover the content on arrival
5. Duplicates and thin content
- www vs non-www and HTTP vs HTTPS all redirecting to one version
- URL parameters for sorting and filtering handled with canonicals or noindex
- No large sets of near-identical pages. We learned this one the hard way.
6. Redirects and errors
- No redirect chains (A to B to C) or loops
- Broken internal links fixed
- 404 pages that have backlinks redirected to relevant pages
7. Structured data
- Organisation or LocalBusiness schema matching your Google Business Profile
- Breadcrumbs, articles, products, FAQs and services where relevant
- Validated in Google's Rich Results Test, and matching what's visible on the page. No fake reviews in schema.
8. AI and other crawlers
- Decide which AI crawlers you allow, and set robots.txt accordingly
- Consider adding an llms.txt summary
- Make sure key content is in the HTML, not only loaded by JavaScript after the page renders
9. Security and basics
- HTTPS everywhere with a valid certificate
- Sensible security headers
- A custom 404 page that helps people find their way