Crawlability first
Verify robots.txt does not accidentally block important paths. Keep a single XML sitemap referenced from robots.txt, regenerated on deploy.
Use server logs to confirm Googlebot actually fetches your priority pages and is not stuck on parameter URLs or infinite calendars.
Indexation control
Each page should have exactly one canonical URL. Use rel=canonical, consistent internal linking, and 301s for legacy URLs.
Apply noindex deliberately on thin or duplicate pages (filters, search results, staging). Never noindex by accident — it is the most common silent traffic killer.
Core Web Vitals
LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1. Measure with real user data (CrUX), not just Lighthouse.
The fastest wins: serve next-gen image formats, preload the hero image, defer non-critical JS, and use a CDN with HTTP/3.
Structured data
Add JSON-LD for Organization on the homepage, BreadcrumbList on every deep page, and the most specific type for content pages (Article, Product, FAQPage, LocalBusiness).
Validate with the Rich Results test. Rich snippets directly improve click-through-rate.
Internationalisation
Use hreflang on every translated page, with reciprocal links and an x-default fallback. Keep URL structure consistent (/en/, /tr/, /ar/) rather than relying on cookies.
Mistakes here cause Google to show the wrong language to users — a conversion killer.
Optimise for AI search engines
ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews increasingly drive discovery. Allow their crawlers in robots.txt, expose clean schema, and write self-contained paragraphs that answer questions directly.
Citations in AI answers are the new featured snippet.
Monitoring
Google Search Console for indexation and queries; a real-user monitoring tool for Core Web Vitals; Ahrefs or Semrush for backlinks. Review weekly, act monthly.
Conclusion
Technical SEO is plumbing — invisible when it works, catastrophic when it doesn't. Get the checklist above right and your content investment compounds.
