Technical SEO Checklist: Optimize Your Website Like a Pro (2025 Edition)

Introduction

To optimize your website like a pro in 2025, your technical SEO checklist should include improving site speed, enabling mobile responsiveness, fixing crawl errors, implementing HTTPS, submitting XML sitemaps, using schema markup, and optimizing for Core Web Vitals. These behind-the-scenes elements are crucial for helping search engines index your site and ensuring users have a seamless experience.

Whether you’re running a local business in Toronto or a growing eCommerce brand in Austin, following a solid technical SEO checklist is the foundation for sustainable organic growth.

What Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO refers to the behind-the-scenes aspects of your website that make it easier for search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo to crawl, index, and rank your content. While on-page SEO focuses on your content and keywords, technical SEO ensures your website’s architecture, code, speed, and security are optimized.

Why It’s Crucial for SMBs 

Small businesses often operate in highly competitive local markets. With technical SEO, you’re giving your content the infrastructure it needs to:

• Get found faster

• Load quicker

• Perform better across devices

• Stay compliant with SEO best practices

A well-optimized technical foundation means more organic traffic, higher engagement, and ultimately, more leads or sales.

Eye-Opening Technical SEO Statistics 

• 53% of website traffic comes from organic search (BrightEdge, 2024)

• 40% of users abandon a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load (Google)

• 73% of small businesses in North America have broken links or crawl issues that hurt their rankings (SEMrush, 2024)

• Mobile-friendly websites have a 27% higher conversion rate for local searches

The Ultimate Technical SEO Checklist for 2025 

Below is a 17-step, in-depth checklist tailored for Canadian and U.S. SMBs. Follow this regularly—monthly or quarterly—for long-term SEO health.

Set Up Google Search Console & Bing Webmaster Tools

What to do:

• Verify your website using DNS, HTML file, or tag

• Submit XML sitemap

• Check Coverage & Mobile Usability reports weekly

Canada Insight: Bing usage is higher in provinces like Alberta and British Columbia, especially for B2B audiences—so don’t ignore Bing!

Tools: Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools

Submit an XML Sitemap

Why it matters: A sitemap acts as a roadmap for search engines to discover your key pages.

How to create: 

• Use SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math) or online generators

• Exclude noindex pages, tags, categories

• Keep it clean—no 404s or duplicate URLs

Update your sitemap every time you publish or delete major content.

Secure Your Site with HTTPS

Why? HTTPS is now a ranking factor and critical for trust.

• Install an SSL certificate (free via Let’s Encrypt)

• Redirect all HTTP URLs to HTTPS

• Update canonical URLs and internal links

Stat: 82% of Canadians abandon a site if they see a “Not Secure” warning (Statista, 2023)

Optimize robots.txt

This tiny file can make or break your SEO.

Allow: Pages and resources you want indexed
Block: Admin pages, search results, cart, filters

Sample:

plaintext

CopyEdit

User-agent: *

Disallow: /wp-admin/

Allow: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php

Sitemap: https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

Double-check with robots.txt tester.

Fix Crawl Errors & Broken Links

Broken internal links confuse users and waste Google’s crawl budget.

• Tools: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Screaming Frog, GSC
•  Set 301 redirects for dead pages
• Remove outdated internal links

Use Case: A real estate agency in Toronto removed 98 broken links and saw a 12% improvement in organic visibility in 6 weeks.

Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

Google now uses mobile-first indexing.

• Use responsive design
•  Compress images and remove intrusive pop-ups
• Test mobile UX with Google’s Mobile Test Tool

Stat: 63% of local searches in the U.S. originate from smartphones.

Improve Site Speed (Core Web Vitals)

• LCP (Load Speed): Under 2.5s

• FID (Interactivity): Under 100ms

• CLS (Layout Shift): Below 0.1

Tools: Google PageSpeed, GTmetrix (Canadian data centers), WebPageTest

Tips:

• Enable lazy loading

• Use fast hosting (SiteGround, Cloudways)

• Minify CSS, JS

• Use CDN (Cloudflare, Bunny)

Use a Logical URL Structure

•  Use hyphens (-) for readability
•  Keep URLs short, keyword-focused
• Avoid stop words (like “and”, “of”, “the”)

Example: /toronto-seo-services/
Avoid: /index.php?id=2341&cat=seo

Use Case: A dentist in Vancouver improved traffic by 19% just by rewriting service page URLs.

Implement Canonical Tags

Canonical tags avoid duplicate content issues, especially in:

• Product variations

• UTM-tagged URLs

• Blog categories

Use plugins to auto-canonize URLs in WordPress and Shopify.

Add Structured Data (Schema)

Schema helps search engines understand your business better.

 Implement: 

• LocalBusiness (address, hours, contact)

• FAQPage (great for long-form blogs)

• Product and Review schema for ecommerce

Use Google’s Rich Results Test to validate.

Use Case: A fitness studio in Ottawa added LocalBusiness schema and saw an increase in Map Pack visibility within 3 weeks.

Avoid Redirect Chains

• 301 > final destination (ONE step only)
•  301 > 301 > 301 = Slow UX + SEO penalty
• Check using Screaming Frog or Redirect Checker.

Design a Custom 404 Page

Why? To keep users on-site and improve navigation.

Best Practices: 

• Keep it branded

• Offer helpful links or a site search

• Add humor if it fits your brand

Plugins: SeedProd, Elementor, Shopify Custom 404

Leverage Local SEO Signals

Especially important for service-based SMBs in North America.

Checklist: 

• Claim & optimize your Google Business Profile

• Consistent NAP across all listings

• Add location pages for each city you serve

• Embed a Google Map

• Include province/state in metadata

 Directories: 

• U.S.: Yelp, BBB, Local.com

• Canada: YellowPages.ca, n49.com, CanadaOne.com

Monitor Indexation Status

Not all pages should be indexed.

•  Use noindex on thank-you pages, search pages, admin areas
• Inspect URLs in GSC regularly
•  Review sitemap vs. indexed pages

 Tip: A high number of Discovered – not indexed pages could signal duplicate content or slow loading times.

Enable Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumbs help users AND bots understand page hierarchy.

• Add breadcrumb trails to internal pages
• Use BreadcrumbList schema
• Display on both desktop and mobile

CMS tip: Most modern WordPress themes support breadcrumbs via Rank Math or Yoast SEO.

Enable Multilingual Support (Optional for Canada)

For Quebec, Ottawa, or bilingual audiences:

• Use hreflang tags

• Create separate URLs (e.g., /en/ and /fr/)

• Avoid auto-translators—use native-speaking translators

Bonus: Google rewards accurate, localized content across regions and languages.

Perform a Quarterly Technical Audit

Every quarter: 

• Re-check sitemap & robots.txt

• Audit Core Web Vitals

• Test on mobile

• Fix new 404s or redirect issues

• Ensure your plugins/themes are updated

Tools: Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, SEMrush, Google Lighthouse

Bonus Tip: Use AI for Technical SEO Insights 

AI tools like ChatGPT, Surfer SEO, and Jasper can help:

• Draft schema code

• Suggest page speed fixes

• Simulate crawl issues

Expert Insight 

“You don’t need a massive budget to win with SEO. You need the right technical foundation and a consistent review schedule. For local businesses, this can mean the difference between surviving and thriving online.” 
— Shawn Fisher, SEO Consultant, Toronto 

Recap: Why Technical SEO Should Be Your Top Priority 

Final Thoughts 

Technical SEO is not just for big brands or developers—it’s for any small business owner who wants to outperform competitors organically, build trust with users, and create a seamless digital experience.

• Start with this checklist.
• Revisit it quarterly.
• Watch your growth multiply.

FAQs