Technical SEO for WordPress: The Definitive 2025 Checklist

1. Crawlability & Indexability ★

• ✦★ Confirm robots.txt is correct — Google Search Console > Settings > robots.txt tester.
• ✦★ Check no pages are blocked by meta noindex that should be indexed.
• ✦★ Submit XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
• ✦★ Ensure your sitemap only includes canonical, indexable URLs.
• ✦Remove noindex from category and tag archive pages if they have unique, useful content.
• ✦Verify Googlebot can access your CSS and JavaScript (use URL Inspection in GSC).
• ✦Check for soft 404s — pages that return 200 status but show 'not found' content.

2. HTTPS & Security ★

• ✦★ Full HTTPS everywhere. Mixed content warnings = ranking penalty.
• ✦★ Redirect all HTTP URLs to HTTPS with 301 redirects.
• ✦★ Redirect www to non-www (or vice versa) — pick one and stick to it.
• ✦Install Really Simple SSL plugin to handle WordPress-specific mixed content issues.
• ✦Set HSTS header (Strict-Transport-Security) via .htaccess or Cloudflare.

3. URL Structure & Canonicals ★

• ✦★ Set permalink structure to /%postname%/ in Settings > Permalinks.
• ✦★ Every page must have a canonical tag pointing to itself (Yoast/RankMath does this automatically).
• ✦★ Fix pagination — use rel='prev'/'next' or canonicalise paginated pages to page 1 (test both).
• ✦URLs should be lowercase, hyphenated, and descriptive. No underscores, no uppercase.
• ✦Avoid parameter-heavy URLs for indexable content (?page=1, ?sort=price).
• ✦Check for duplicate content via https://sitename.com/ vs https://sitename.com/index.php.

4. Core Web Vitals ★

See our complete WordPress Speed Guide for full details. Key checkpoints:

• ✦★ LCP under 2.5s on mobile. Check in PageSpeed Insights for real-world data.
• ✦★ INP under 200ms. Common cause: heavy JavaScript execution from plugins.
• ✦★ CLS under 0.1. Most common cause: images without explicit width/height attributes.
• ✦★ TTFB under 600ms. If failing, the solution is better hosting or a CDN.

5. Schema Markup / Structured Data ★

Schema markup helps Google understand your content and enables rich results (star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, etc.) in SERPs. For a WordPress consultant site or local business:

• ✦★ LocalBusiness schema with NAP (Name, Address, Phone), opening hours, and service area.
• ✦★ Person schema linking to social profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter/X).
• ✦★ FAQPage schema on any page with FAQ sections — gets FAQ rich results.
• ✦★ Article/BlogPosting schema on every blog post with author, date, image.
• ✦Service schema for each service page with name, description, provider, areaServed.
• ✦BreadcrumbList schema for all inner pages.
• ✦Review/AggregateRating schema if you display customer reviews.
• ✦Validate all schema using Google's Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results).

6. Internal Linking ★

Internal links are one of the highest-value, most underutilised SEO tactics. They distribute PageRank, help Google discover pages, and improve user navigation.

• ✦★ Every important page should have at least 3 internal links pointing to it from other pages.
• ✦★ Use descriptive anchor text — not 'click here' or 'read more'.
• ✦Create topic clusters: a pillar page (e.g., 'WordPress Development Services') linking to supporting pages.
• ✦Add contextual links from blog posts to relevant service pages.
• ✦Check for orphan pages (pages with zero internal links) using Screaming Frog.
• ✦Fix broken internal links (404s) — these waste crawl budget.

7. Mobile Optimisation ★

• ✦★ Google uses mobile-first indexing — mobile experience = what Google ranks.
• ✦★ Meta viewport tag must be present: content='width=device-width, initial-scale=1'.
• ✦Font size minimum 16px for body text on mobile.
• ✦Tap targets minimum 44×44px for all interactive elements.
• ✦No horizontal scrolling on any viewport width.
• ✦Avoid interstitials/popups that cover content on mobile (ranking penalty).

8. Content & On-Page SEO

• ✦★ Every page has a unique, keyword-targeted title tag under 60 characters.
• ✦★ Every page has a unique meta description (150–160 chars) with a clear value proposition.
• ✦H1 tag: one per page, containing the primary keyword naturally.
• ✦Logical heading hierarchy: H1 > H2 > H3. Don't skip levels.
• ✦Target 1 primary keyword per page. Related/LSI keywords used naturally in body copy.
• ✦Image alt text: descriptive, includes keyword where natural. Not keyword-stuffed.
• ✦E-E-A-T signals: author bio, publication dates, citations, business address visible on page.

9. Page Speed Plugins & Tools

• ✦Yoast SEO or RankMath — meta tags, XML sitemap, schema (pick one).
• ✦WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache — caching and performance (see speed guide).
• ✦Imagify or ShortPixel — image compression and WebP conversion.
• ✦Redirection plugin — manage 301 redirects without server access.
• ✦Query Monitor — identify slow database queries and plugin conflicts.
• ✦Screaming Frog — crawl your whole site for technical issues (500 URLs free).
• ✦Google Search Console — official data on indexing, performance, and manual actions.

10. International & Local SEO

• ✦Use hreflang tags if targeting multiple countries/languages.
• ✦For UK local SEO: Google Business Profile optimised with matching NAP to website.
• ✦LocalBusiness schema with precise lat/long coordinates.
• ✦Location-specific landing pages for each city/area you serve.
• ✦Consistent NAP across all citations (Yell, FreeIndex, Bing Places, etc.).

Frequently Asked Questions