{"id":55,"date":"2026-06-30T05:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T05:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/?p=55"},"modified":"2026-06-30T05:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T05:14:15","slug":"the-free-technical-seo-audit-checklist-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/the-free-technical-seo-audit-checklist-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Free Technical SEO Audit Checklist for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I used to think technical SEO was only for developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The phrase itself sounds intimidating. Technical. Audit. Checklist. It sounds like something that requires a computer science degree, an expensive agency, and a monthly budget most small website owners simply do not have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then I started running technical SEO audits on my own websites using free tools \u2014 and I discovered something that changed how I think about this entire topic. Technical SEO is not complicated. It is a checklist. A specific list of things to check, fix, and maintain. Once you know what is on the list and how to check each item, the whole process takes less than an hour and costs nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the exact checklist I follow every month on all my websites. It covers every major technical SEO factor that affects how Google finds, reads, and ranks your pages in 2026. Work through it from top to bottom and you will know exactly where your website stands \u2014 and exactly what needs fixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/the-free-technical-seo-audit-checklist-for-2026\/#Before_You_Start_%E2%80%94_Run_Your_Free_Audit\" >Before You Start \u2014 Run Your Free Audit<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/the-free-technical-seo-audit-checklist-for-2026\/#Check_more_article\" >Check more article:&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Before_You_Start_%E2%80%94_Run_Your_Free_Audit\"><\/span><strong>Before You Start \u2014 Run Your Free Audit<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before going through this checklist manually, save yourself time by running an automated audit first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Go to&nbsp;<strong>Rankests<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 enter your website address and run the free technical SEO audit. The tool checks your website against dozens of technical factors simultaneously and returns a clear report identifying every issue it finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use the Rankests report as your starting point. It will flag the most critical issues immediately so you know where to focus first. Then use this checklist to go deeper on each area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section One \u2014 Crawlability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crawlability is the foundation of all technical SEO. If Google cannot crawl your pages, nothing else on this checklist matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your robots.txt file.<\/strong>&nbsp;Open your robots.txt file by typing your domain followed by \/robots.txt in your browser. Make sure you have not accidentally added lines that block Google from crawling your important pages. A single misplaced line in this file can make your entire website invisible to Google. Confirm that only pages you genuinely do not want indexed \u2014 admin pages, duplicate content, login pages \u2014 are listed under Disallow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Read related article:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How to Write the Perfect Robots.txt File for Google Search Bots<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check for noindex tags on important pages.<\/strong>\u00a0A noindex tag tells <a href=\"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/google-search-console-errors-what-they-mean-and-how-to-fix-them\/\">Google <\/a>not to include a page in its search index. It is useful when used intentionally but disastrous when added by mistake. Go through your most important pages and confirm none of them have an accidental noindex tag. In WordPress, check your SEO plugin settings for each page and make sure the indexing option is set to index, not noindex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Submit your XML sitemap.<\/strong>&nbsp;Your XML sitemap is a file that lists every important page on your website and tells Google where to find them. Find your sitemap URL \u2014 usually at yourdomain.com\/sitemap.xml \u2014 and confirm it is submitted in Google Search Console under the Sitemaps section. If it is not submitted, do it now. This single step can significantly speed up how quickly Google discovers and indexes your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check for orphan pages.<\/strong>&nbsp;An orphan page is a page on your website that has no internal links pointing to it. Google discovers pages by following links. If a page has no links pointing to it, Google may never find it at all. Go through your website and make sure every important page has at least one internal link from another page pointing to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Two \u2014 Indexability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indexability is about whether Google can not only reach your pages but also include them properly in its search index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhDSOXzVsEj7L-m2B5BGKDpNDkxkxyZw7EBl1IVufkJlJ0KzB0sqZSApB5G9uJjxw-DY_pzOOugDCEwTps46tbYWZAA0kQ92tP029K5FqBumfx6idS02rU5KYNN6xMGQ-loxikIzhvmCEuVPP9EgcYGwdTnSF7qrmqkGr7wZ5zewet1igPz0_6CYOTiSIJt\/w640-h330\/p%20index.png\" alt=\"The Free Technical SEO Audit Checklist for 2026\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check Google Search Console for coverage errors.<\/strong>&nbsp;Log into&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Search Console&nbsp;<\/a>and go to the Coverage or Pages report. This shows you which of your pages are indexed, which are excluded, and why. Look specifically for pages marked as Crawled but not indexed or Discovered but not indexed \u2014 these are pages Google has found but decided not to include in search results. Understanding why helps you fix the underlying issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check for duplicate content.<\/strong>\u00a0Duplicate content happens when the same or very similar content appears on multiple URLs. This confuses Google about which version to index and rank. Common causes include www and non-www versions of your site both being accessible, HTTP and HTTPS versions both loading, and URL parameters creating multiple versions of the same page. Use canonical tags to tell Google which version of each page is the definitive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Check_more_article\"><\/span>Check more article:&nbsp;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why Your Website Needs an SSL Certificate (Moving from HTTP to HTTPS)<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your canonical tags.<\/strong>&nbsp;Every important page should have a canonical tag in its header pointing to its own URL. This prevents duplicate content issues and tells Google clearly which version of a page to rank. Most SEO plugins add canonical tags automatically \u2014 verify yours are set up correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Three \u2014 Site Speed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Page speed is both a direct ranking factor and a Core Web Vitals component. Slow pages rank lower and lose more visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your overall page load time.<\/strong>&nbsp;Use the&nbsp;<strong>Page Speed Checker on Rankests<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 to check your current load time. Aim for under three seconds. If you are over that, identify the specific causes from the report and fix them in order of impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjs7ombLquNqVtPEaprk7niYfDVtDZXIqZIAFHn1e-lz8I8pGn1ON7YQ4TMEIfjvUHINRHiKhiToVmDox8oIIaIQRbp8dpK7wChYBZOPVwtufiKkn1D0jjjPbGaVWPUmaVLNKdVYItyDdc_t47SfEoY7raWMZhMEkZ0_DtEah3XiW7RrAg_rsopSJfW150D\/w640-h494\/pspd1.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your Core Web Vitals scores.<\/strong>&nbsp;Core Web Vitals are Google&#8217;s specific speed and user experience measurements \u2014 Largest Content Paint, Interaction to Next Paint, and Cumulative Layout Shift. Check your scores in Google Search Console under the Core Web Vitals report. Fix any pages showing poor or needs improvement ratings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your image sizes.<\/strong>&nbsp;Large uncompressed images are the most common cause of slow page speeds. Every image on your website should be compressed before uploading. Use TinyPNG or Squoosh for compression. Use Web format where possible for smaller file sizes at the same visual quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check for render-blocking resources.<\/strong>&nbsp;Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS files delay your page from displaying content to visitors. Your Rankests audit report will flag these specifically. Defer or async load JavaScript files that are not needed for the initial page display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Four \u2014 Mobile Usability<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it evaluates the mobile version of your website for ranking purposes. Mobile usability is not optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your mobile usability report.<\/strong>&nbsp;Go to Google Search Console and open the Mobile Usability report. It shows every page on your website that has mobile usability problems and describes exactly what the problem is \u2014 text too small, clickable elements too close, content wider than screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your viewport meta tag.<\/strong>&nbsp;Every page on your website should have a viewport meta tag in the header that tells mobile browsers how to scale the page correctly. Without it, mobile browsers display your page as a shrunken desktop version. Most modern themes and templates include this automatically \u2014 confirm yours does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Test your pages on a real phone.<\/strong>&nbsp;Automated tools catch most mobile issues but not all of them. Open your most important pages on your own smartphone and navigate through them as a visitor would. Tap every button. Read every paragraph. Try the menu. Note anything that feels awkward or difficult and fix it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Five \u2014 HTTPS and Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Security signals affect both visitor trust and search rankings. Google gives a ranking advantage to secure websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Confirm your SSL certificate is active.<\/strong>&nbsp;Check that your website loads on HTTPS and shows a padlock icon in the browser address bar. Use the&nbsp;<strong>SSL Checker on Rankests<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 to confirm your certificate is valid and not close to expiry. SSL certificates typically expire every 12 months \u2014 check the expiry date and set a reminder to renew before it lapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fix any mixed content warnings.<\/strong>&nbsp;Mixed content happens when your website loads over HTTPS but some elements \u2014 images, scripts, stylesheets \u2014 still load over HTTP. This triggers security warnings in browsers. Find and update any remaining HTTP references in your content and theme files to HTTPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your blacklist status.<\/strong>&nbsp;A blacklisted website loses search visibility immediately. Run your domain through the&nbsp;<strong>Blacklist Lookup tool on Rankests<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 to confirm your website is not flagged on any security databases. Do this monthly as part of your routine audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Six \u2014 On-Page Technical Elements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are the technical elements on individual pages that affect how Google reads and ranks your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check every page has a unique title tag.<\/strong>&nbsp;Every page on your website should have its own unique title tag of 50 to 60 characters that includes the main keyword for that page. Duplicate title tags confuse Google about which page to rank for a given keyword. Use your Rankests audit to identify any missing or duplicate title tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check every page has a meta description.<\/strong>&nbsp;Every page should have a unique meta description of 150 to 160 characters. Missing meta descriptions mean Google writes one for you \u2014 usually poorly. Duplicate meta descriptions are a wasted opportunity to attract clicks from each page&#8217;s specific audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read more:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Step-by-Step Guide to Optimizing Your Meta Tags<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your heading structure.<\/strong>&nbsp;Every page should have one H1 heading \u2014 the main title \u2014 and use H2 and H3 subheadings to organize content below it. Multiple H1 tags on one page send conflicting signals to Google about what the page is primarily about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check all images have alt text.<\/strong>&nbsp;Every image on your website should have descriptive alt text. Alt text helps Google understand your images, improves accessibility for visitors using screen readers, and helps your images appear in Google Image Search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Seven \u2014 Internal Linking and Site Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A clean internal linking structure helps Google understand your website&#8217;s hierarchy and distributes authority efficiently across your pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check for broken internal links.<\/strong>&nbsp;Run the&nbsp;<strong>Broken Link Finder on Rankests<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 to identify every broken link on your website. Each broken link is a dead end for both visitors and Google&#8217;s crawlers. Fix them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your internal linking depth.<\/strong>&nbsp;Important pages should be reachable from your homepage within three clicks. Pages buried deeper than three clicks receive less crawl attention from Google and less authority from your homepage. Review your site structure and add internal links to surface important pages that are currently too deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your navigation menu.<\/strong>&nbsp;Your main navigation menu should link to your most important pages clearly and logically. A confusing or cluttered navigation hurts both user experience and crawlability. Keep it simple, clear, and focused on your most valuable pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Section Eight \u2014 Schema Markup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schema markup gives Google structured information about your website and content that can improve how your pages appear in search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your homepage schema.<\/strong>&nbsp;Your homepage should have Website and Organization schema markup that tells Google your site name, organization details, and logo. Most SEO plugins add this automatically \u2014 verify yours is in place and working correctly using Google&#8217;s Rich Results Test tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check your article schema.<\/strong>&nbsp;If your website has a blog, each article should have Article schema markup that identifies the title, author, publication date, and content type. This helps Google display your articles correctly in search results and can qualify them for rich result features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhtx5RFGgs0qXEvYX0VEcwsiby0GtOAkmWahamemWQbROb-meD84jUGDqInio6JpZEQw211y0a7hOR7EtvQDVI20GBhrp0r48fp17N5QyKhn7IsrJQNtqZmHiFQRZKtEVoo6c3B94oFXBjGPC94aJ8_mAhYlhHKqjkO2K76f6eJvVLta5DIPPilmEq9dKZ3\/w640-h364\/How%20I%20Improved%20My%20Website%20SEO%20Score%20From%2047%20to%2084%20in%203%20Weeks.jpg\" alt=\"The Free Technical SEO Audit Checklist for 2026\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><br>How Often Should You Run This Checklist?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I run through this full checklist once a month on all my websites. It takes less than an hour when you know what you are looking for and have the right tools available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most important tools \u2014 the Website Audit, Page Speed Checker, Broken Link Finder, SSL Checker, and Blacklist Lookup \u2014 are all available free at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>. Start with the automated audit to identify the biggest issues quickly, then use this checklist to go deeper on each area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Monthly audits catch problems early \u2014 before they grow into serious ranking or traffic issues. A website that is checked and maintained regularly performs consistently better than one that is only looked at when something goes wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technical SEO is not intimidating once you have a clear checklist to follow. It is a set of specific items to check, fix, and maintain \u2014 and most of the fixes are simpler than they sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Work through this checklist from top to bottom. Fix every issue you find. Run your free audit at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;to check your progress after each round of fixes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A technically healthy website gives Google everything it needs to crawl, index, and rank your content effectively. Everything else you do for your SEO \u2014 your content, your keywords, your backlinks \u2014 works better on a solid technical foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Start your free technical SEO audit right now at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/u\/2\/blog\/post\/edit\/4590839687734873472\/2717604042943436365#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rankests.com<\/a>&nbsp;and find out exactly where your website stands today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kester Terna is an SEO specialist and founder of Rankests, where he helps website owners identify technical SEO issues, improve search visibility, and grow organic traffic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I used to think technical SEO was only for developers. The phrase itself sounds intimidating. Technical. Audit. Checklist. It sounds like something that requires a computer science degree, an expensive agency, and a monthly budget most small website owners simply do not have. Then I started running technical SEO audits on my own websites using&hellip;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"right","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"[\"title\",\"meta\",\"content\",\"tags\",\"comments\"]","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technical-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions\/57"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rankests.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}