(502) 438-8304

    Technical SEO field note

    Local SEO Technical Checklist

    Review crawlability, indexing, canonicals, mobile usability, performance, structured data, security, and monitoring.

    SEO10 min readUpdated August 10, 2026

    Technical SEO might seem complicated, but for local businesses, there's a clear checklist of items that make the biggest impact. Here's everything you need to check.

    Technical SEO Priorities

    Speed

    Keep pages responsive and efficient

    Mobile

    Design for every screen and input

    Structure

    Help search systems understand the page

    Security

    Protect visitors with HTTPS and sound defaults

    Schema & Structured Data

    Schema markup tells Google exactly what your business is and helps you get rich results in search.

    Required Schema for Local Businesses

    LocalBusiness

    Basic business info, hours, address

    Essential
    Organization

    Logo, social profiles, contact

    Essential
    Service

    Individual services with descriptions

    High
    AggregateRating

    Star ratings in search results

    High
    Review

    Individual review snippets

    Medium
    FAQPage

    FAQ results in search

    Medium

    LocalBusiness Schema Example

    {
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Your Business Name",
  "image": "https://yoursite.com/logo.png",
  "telephone": "(502) 438-8304",
  "email": "info@yourbusiness.com",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Main St",
    "addressLocality": "Louisville",
    "addressRegion": "KY",
    "postalCode": "40202"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": "38.2527",
    "longitude": "-85.7585"
  },
  "openingHours": "Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00",
  "priceRange": "$"
}

    Page Speed Optimization

    Core Web Vitals are now a ranking factor. Here's how to pass Google's tests:

    LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

    < 2.5 seconds

    Optimize hero images, use CDN, improve server response

    FID (First Input Delay)

    < 100 milliseconds

    Minimize JavaScript, defer non-critical scripts

    CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

    < 0.1

    Set image dimensions, avoid inserting content above existing

    Quick Speed Wins

    Compress all images (use WebP format)
    Enable browser caching
    Use a CDN (Cloudflare is free)
    Minify CSS/JavaScript
    Remove unused plugins/scripts
    Upgrade to faster hosting

    Mobile-First Checklist

    Google uses mobile-first indexing. Your mobile site IS your site in Google's eyes.

    Responsive design (not separate mobile site)
    Required
    Tap targets at least 48x48 pixels
    Required
    Font size minimum 16px
    Required
    No horizontal scrolling
    Required
    Click-to-call phone numbers
    High Priority
    Sticky header with phone/CTA
    High Priority
    Forms optimized for mobile
    High Priority
    Fast mobile load time (<3s)
    Required

    Crawlability & Indexing

    XML Sitemap

    Check: yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

    Submit sitemap.xml to Google Search Console. Include all important pages.

    Robots.txt

    Check: yoursite.com/robots.txt

    Ensure important pages are not blocked. Allow Googlebot access.

    Canonical Tags

    View page source, search for "canonical"

    Prevent duplicate content issues. Each page should have a self-referencing canonical.

    Index Coverage

    Search Console > Coverage

    Check Google Search Console for indexing errors and fix them.

    301 Redirects

    Screaming Frog crawl

    Redirect old URLs to new ones. No 404 errors for important pages.

    Security Essentials

    ✓ Must Have

    • HTTPS/SSL certificate (free with Let's Encrypt)
    • Force HTTPS redirect (no http:// version accessible)
    • Mixed content fixed (no http resources on https pages)
    • Updated CMS/plugins (security patches)

    ⚠️ Common Issues

    • Expired SSL certificate
    • Both http and https versions accessible
    • Images loading over http
    • Outdated WordPress plugins

    Free Testing Tools

    Google Search Console

    Indexing, search performance, errors

    search.google.com/search-console

    Google PageSpeed Insights

    Speed + Core Web Vitals

    pagespeed.web.dev

    Mobile-Friendly Test

    Mobile usability check

    search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

    Schema Markup Validator

    Test your structured data

    validator.schema.org

    GTmetrix

    Detailed speed analysis

    gtmetrix.com

    Screaming Frog (free up to 500 pages)

    Full site crawl

    screamingfrog.co.uk

    Want a Technical SEO Audit?

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