A technical audit answers one question: can search engines find, read and understand your pages? Here is the order in which we usually check things, from the problems that block everything to the ones that polish the result.
1. Can the pages be indexed?
Start with robots.txt and the sitemap. Make sure important sections are not blocked, that the sitemap lists only pages you want in search, and that it is submitted in Search Console. Then compare the pages you expect to see with the pages the index report actually shows.
2. Status codes, redirects and duplicates
Every important page should answer with a 200 code. Long redirect chains, broken links and soft 404 pages waste crawling and confuse users. Check that each page has one clear address and a canonical link that points to it, and that variants such as with and without a trailing slash do not compete with each other.
3. Speed and Core Web Vitals
Google describes three metrics, measured for real visitors at the 75th percentile:
| Metric | What it shows | Good value |
|---|---|---|
| LCP | How fast the main content appears | up to 2.5 s |
| INP | How quickly the page reacts to input | up to 200 ms |
| CLS | How stable the layout is | up to 0.1 |
Look at the data for mobile first. The usual causes of slow pages are heavy images, too much JavaScript and third-party scripts.
4. Titles, headings and page structure
Each page needs a unique title and description, one clear main heading and a logical order of subheadings. Check that the text of a page matches the query it should answer.
5. Internal links
Important pages should be reachable in a few clicks through normal links with descriptive text. Pages that no other page links to are easy for search engines to miss.
6. Structured data
Mark up only what is visible on the page, for example the organisation, breadcrumbs or an article. Markup that describes things the visitor cannot see does not help and can cause problems.
7. Language versions
If the site exists in several languages, give each version its own address and let visitors switch language. Use hreflang so that every version lists itself and all its alternatives, and add x-default for the version shown to everyone else. Google advises against redirecting visitors automatically based on their assumed language, because search engines may then not find all versions.
What to do with the results
Sort the findings by effect and effort. Fix what blocks indexing first, then what slows the pages down, then what improves the snippets. After each change, measure again and write down the date.