A technical SEO checklist covers the things that let search engines crawl, index and load your site: HTTPS, one preferred domain, a clean robots.txt, an XML sitemap, canonical tags, a real 404 page, fast loading, mobile layout and valid structured data. The checks are the same on every platform. What changes is where you fix them, and this guide shows the place for WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and Webflow.
- Technical SEO is the foundation; content cannot rank if Google cannot reach it.
- Hosted platforms (Shopify, Wix, Squarespace) handle many basics for you, but not all.
- WordPress gives the most control and the most ways to break things.
- Check HTTPS, robots.txt, sitemap, canonical and noindex after every redesign.
- The Free SEO Audit Tool detects your CMS and gives platform-specific fixes.
Why does the platform matter for technical SEO?
Think of two owners with the same problem: Google shows an old page that should be gone. One runs WordPress, the other Shopify. The fix is identical in principle, a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one, but one opens a plugin and the other opens Online Store, Navigation, URL redirects. Generic checklists stop at “add a redirect”. That is why owners get stuck.
What is on the technical SEO checklist?
| Check | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| HTTPS | Valid SSL certificate; http:// redirects to https:// in one step |
| Preferred domain | www and non-www: one redirects to the other |
| robots.txt | Does not block important pages; lists your sitemap |
| XML sitemap | Exists, valid, submitted to Google Search Console and Bing |
| Indexing | No noindex on pages that should rank |
| Canonical tags | Each page points to its own preferred URL |
| 404 handling | Missing pages return a real 404 status, not 200 |
| Redirects | No chains of two or more hops; no broken internal links |
| Speed | Good Core Web Vitals: LCP within 2.5 s, INP within 200 ms, CLS within 0.1 |
| Mobile | Viewport tag set; layout works on a phone |
| Structured data | Valid JSON-LD for your organisation, articles or products |
Where do you fix technical SEO on WordPress?
- Indexing: Settings, Reading: make sure “Discourage search engines” is unticked. Per page, use the Advanced tab of Yoast SEO or Rank Math.
- Sitemap and robots.txt: Yoast creates /sitemap_index.xml and has a file editor under Tools; Rank Math has Sitemap settings and a robots.txt editor.
- Redirects: the free Redirection plugin or Rank Math’s Redirections module.
- Speed: a cache plugin such as WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache, image compression with WebP, and fewer plugins. See our guide to speeding up WordPress.
- Schema: complete your SEO plugin’s setup wizard; read how to add schema to WordPress.
Where do you fix technical SEO on Shopify?
- Titles and descriptions: each product, collection and page has a “Search engine listing” section; the homepage uses Online Store, Preferences.
- Sitemap and HTTPS: automatic. Check Settings, Domains for SSL status.
- robots.txt: editable through a robots.txt.liquid template in the theme code.
- Redirects: Online Store, Navigation, URL redirects.
- Speed: remove apps you no longer use and check the theme code for leftovers; compress images before uploading.
Where do you fix technical SEO on Wix and Squarespace?
- Wix: page SEO basics for titles and indexing, the URL Redirect Manager, a robots.txt editor and structured data markup under Advanced SEO. HTTPS and the sitemap are automatic once your domain is connected.
- Squarespace: Page settings, SEO tab for titles and “Hide page from search results”; Settings, Developer Tools, URL Mappings for redirects; Code Injection (Business plan) for extra schema. robots.txt is managed by the platform.
Where do you fix technical SEO on Webflow and custom sites?
- Webflow: page settings hold SEO and Open Graph fields; Site settings, SEO controls the sitemap, robots.txt and global canonical; 301 redirects live in Site settings, Publishing.
- Custom code or frameworks: set titles, canonicals and robots meta in your templates, generate a sitemap at build time, and use server-side rendering for content-heavy pages so crawlers see text without running JavaScript.
How do you keep technical SEO healthy?
Most technical problems appear after changes: a new theme, a plugin update, a migration or a developer working on a staging copy. Make a habit of running the audit on your top pages after every change, and check Google Search Console’s Pages report monthly for new indexing errors.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Introduction to robots.txt
- web.dev: Core Web Vitals thresholds
- Google Search Central: Introduction to structured data
Frequently asked questions
What is technical SEO?
Technical SEO is everything that helps search engines crawl, index and load your site: HTTPS, robots.txt, sitemaps, canonical tags, redirects, speed, mobile layout and structured data.
Is Shopify or Wix bad for SEO?
No. Both handle HTTPS, sitemaps and canonical tags automatically. You still need good titles, content, fast images and correct redirects.
Do I need a plugin for SEO on WordPress?
WordPress works without one, but an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math makes titles, sitemaps, schema and indexing settings much easier to manage.
How do I check which CMS a website uses?
Run it through the free SEO audit tool. It detects more than 40 platforms, plus the WordPress theme, page builder, SEO plugin and CDN.
How often should I check technical SEO?
After every redesign, theme or plugin change and migration, and monthly in Google Search Console.
Free, no sign-up, works on any device.
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