Crawlability and robots
Start with access. Open your robots file and make sure it does not block the pages you want indexed. Check that your sitemap lists only live, canonical URLs. Then look at the crawl report in search console for pages that were discovered but never fetched. A server error or a login wall will stop a crawler just as surely as a block.
Keep the structure shallow. Important pages should be two or three clicks from the home page. Use normal links, not JavaScript-only menus, for anything that matters. If a page is only reachable through a search box, it is effectively invisible.
Indexing and canonicals
Every page should have one canonical URL. Pick either the www or non-www version, and either HTTP or HTTPS, then redirect the others permanently. Duplicate pages, such as a product reachable by three filters, should point to one canonical version. Otherwise search engines split the signals between near-identical pages.
Use a noindex tag only for pages you truly do not want in search, such as internal search results or thank-you pages. A common mistake is noindexing a page and then wondering why it never ranks. Check the final rendered HTML, not just the source, because scripts can change the tag.
Site speed and Core Web Vitals
Speed work starts with images. Compress them, serve modern formats such as WebP and set width and height so the layout does not shift. Then remove scripts and fonts you do not need. A page that loads in two seconds on a phone will usually beat a heavier page with the same content.
Watch three metrics: largest contentful paint, interaction to next paint and cumulative layout shift. They measure loading, responsiveness and stability. The thresholds are published in the web.dev Core Web Vitals guide. Fix the worst metric first and re-test after each change. Do not chase a perfect score; chase a page that feels quick.
If a crawler cannot reach the page, no amount of good writing will save it.
Mobile and accessibility
Most of your visitors are on a phone. Test on a real device, not just a resized window. Tap targets should be large enough to hit. Text should be readable without zooming. The menu should open and close without trapping the user. Horizontal scrolling is a bug, not a design choice.
Accessibility overlaps with SEO more than people expect. Alt text, clear headings, labelled forms and readable contrast help everyone. They also help crawlers understand the page. Fixing an inaccessible button often fixes a crawl problem at the same time.
Structured data
Add schema markup for the things your pages actually are: an article, a product, a local business, a breadcrumb trail. Use JSON-LD and keep it accurate. Fake reviews or invented ratings are a quick way to lose trust and rich results. Validate every block before you ship it.
Start small. An article page needs headline, author, date and image. A store needs product, price and availability. A local business needs an address and opening hours. The markup should describe what a reader sees on the page, not what you wish were true.
Internal linking and redirects
Internal links spread authority and help readers move between related pages. Link from strong pages to new ones with descriptive text. Keep the number of links per page sensible. A footer with two hundred links adds little value and can dilute the important ones.
When you change a URL, add a 301 redirect from the old address. Keep a list of redirects and check them quarterly. A chain of three redirects is a slow redirect. Point old URLs straight at the final page. If you migrate a site, crawl the old version first so you know every URL you need to preserve.
Monitoring and the fix order
Run a crawl every month and compare it with the last one. Look for new 404s, pages that became noindex by accident, and titles that disappeared. Watch search console for coverage errors and manual actions. Set an alert for a sudden drop in clicks, so you hear about a problem before a customer does.
Fix in this order: access, indexing, speed, then content. An indexing fix on a good page pays more than a redesign. If you are choosing a platform, read our website builder comparison and pick one that handles the basics. Then use our beginner SEO guide to fill the pages with something worth finding.