LOCUSOLVE | Technical SEO Checklist,,,,,,,,,,
"The crawl, index, speed, security and structured data checks that keep a local business website healthy, with the tool to use for each.",,,,,,,,,,
"How to use: run through this checklist at launch, after any redesign or platform change, and every quarter. Record results and assign every failed item to an Owner.",,,,,,,,,,
"Version 1.0 | Checked against official sources on 9 November 2026 | Free from locusolve.com/free-resources/seo-templates/ | General guidance, not legal advice",,,,,,,,,,
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ID,Area,Check,Why it matters,How to check,Tool,Priority,Status,Owner,Notes,Reference
T01,Crawling,"robots.txt allows Googlebot to crawl important pages, CSS and JavaScript",Blocked resources stop pages being crawled or rendered properly,Open /robots.txt and test key URLs with URL Inspection,Google Search Console,High,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro
T02,Crawling,"An XML sitemap lists only live, indexable pages and is submitted",Helps search engines find your important pages,Open the sitemap and check the Sitemaps report,Google Search Console,High,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview
T03,Crawling,The site is also verified in Bing Webmaster Tools,Bing powers its own search results and other services,Verify the site and submit the sitemap,Bing Webmaster Tools,Medium,,,,https://www.bing.com/webmasters/about
T04,Indexing,Important pages are indexed and no important page has noindex,A page that is not indexed cannot appear in results,Review the Pages report and inspect key URLs,Google Search Console,High,,,,https://search.google.com/search-console/about
T05,Indexing,"Thank-you pages, test pages and staging copies are kept out of search",Thin or duplicate pages clutter results and analytics,Search site:yourdomain.ca and look for pages that should not appear,Google Search,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro
T06,Indexing,"Each page has one canonical version: https, one host, one trailing-slash style",Duplicates split signals and confuse reporting,Test address variations and check the canonical tag,Browser and URL Inspection,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls
T07,Rendering,Main content and links appear in the HTML Google renders,Content that does not render may not be understood,Use URL Inspection and view the rendered HTML,Google Search Console,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials
T08,Speed,Largest Contentful Paint is 2.5 seconds or less at the 75th percentile,Published threshold for a good loading experience,Check field data for your main pages,PageSpeed Insights,High,,,,https://web.dev/articles/vitals
T09,Speed,Interaction to Next Paint is 200 ms or less at the 75th percentile,Published threshold for good responsiveness,Check field data for your main pages,PageSpeed Insights,High,,,,https://web.dev/articles/vitals
T10,Speed,Cumulative Layout Shift is 0.1 or less at the 75th percentile,Published threshold for good visual stability,Check field data for your main pages,PageSpeed Insights,High,,,,https://web.dev/articles/vitals
T11,Speed,"Images are compressed, correctly sized and use modern formats where supported",Large images are a common cause of slow pages,Review image weights in PageSpeed Insights diagnostics,PageSpeed Insights,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/google-images
T12,Mobile,"Text is readable, buttons are easy to tap and nothing scrolls sideways on a phone",Most local searches happen on phones,Test on a real phone and in a mobile preview,A real phone,High,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials
T13,Security,HTTPS on every page with a valid certificate. http redirects to https,Protects visitors and their form submissions,Check the padlock and test the http address,Browser,High,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials
T14,Security,"CMS, theme and plugins are up to date, and unused plugins are removed",Outdated software is a common way in for attackers,Review the update screen and plugin list,Website admin,High,,,,
T15,Security,Backups run on a schedule and a restore has been tested,A backup nobody has restored is not a recovery plan,Ask your host or care provider for the last restore test date,Host or care provider,High,,,,
T16,Errors,No broken internal links or 404s on important paths,Broken paths lose enquiries,Crawl the site and review the Pages report,Crawler or Search Console,Medium,,,,https://search.google.com/search-console/about
T17,Errors,Old URLs redirect permanently (301) to their closest new page after any redesign,Keeps visitors and existing search value,Test a list of old URLs,Browser or crawler,High,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls
T18,Structured data,LocalBusiness markup uses the most specific subtype and matches visible details,Mismatched markup can be ignored and misleads,Run key pages through both validators,Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business
T19,Structured data,"Telephone in markup includes the country and area code, for example +1-403-555-0100 written as your real number",Google asks for the country and area code,Read the JSON-LD on the page,Schema Markup Validator,Low,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business
T20,Structured data,"No markup describes content the page does not show, and FAQ markup is not counted as a search feature",Structured data should match visible content. FAQ rich results ended on 7 May 2026,Compare markup with visible text,Browser,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/updates
T21,Languages,"If you publish English and French versions, each links to the other with hreflang (en-CA, fr-CA)",Helps Google show the right language version,Inspect the head of each language version,Browser,Medium if it applies,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions
T22,Accessibility,"The site can be used with a keyboard, images have alt text and colour contrast is sufficient",WCAG is the recognised standard. Ontario requires WCAG 2.0 AA for organizations with 50 or more employees,Keyboard test and an automated accessibility check,Browser,High,,,,https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/
T23,AI crawlers,Rules for AI crawlers in robots.txt are deliberate and Googlebot is never blocked by mistake,Google-Extended does not control inclusion in Google Search. Blocking Googlebot removes you from Search,Read robots.txt against Google's list of crawlers,Browser,Medium,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/overview-google-crawlers
T24,AI search,Important information is in crawlable page text. No paid llms.txt or special AI markup is relied on,Google says no special markup or machine-readable files are needed for its AI search features,Review key pages with images and scripts turned off,Browser,Low,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
T25,Measurement,"Analytics records calls, forms and bookings as key events, and excludes your own team where possible",Accurate data guides decisions,Check real-time reports while submitting a test form,Google Analytics,High,,,,https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9267568
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"Free template from LOCUSOLVE, Calgary. Want help putting it into practice? Book a free consultation at locusolve.com/book-consultation/ or call 403-383-4306.",,,,,,,,,,