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Crawlability
What — The ability for search engine bots to discover and follow pages and links on your site.
Why it matters — If bots can’t reach pages, those pages won’t be found or ranked.
How to audit — Use Google Search Console (Coverage), crawl with Screaming Frog, check server logs for
bot activity and 404 spikes.
Fixes / best practices — Flatten deep link chains, make important pages reachable from the main nav or
hub pages, avoid excessive JS-only navigation, and consolidate duplicate URLs.
KPIs / tools — Indexed pages vs. submitted pages (GSC), crawl frequency from server logs, Screaming
Frog, Log file analyzer.
Indexability
What — Whether discovered pages are allowed and eligible to be stored in a search engine’s index.
Why it matters — Pages can be crawlable but intentionally or accidentally blocked from indexing (no
index, canonical pointing elsewhere), preventing them from appearing in search.
How to audit — URL Inspection (GSC), check meta robots tags, canonical tags, and header responses.
Fixes / best practices — Remove unintended no index, correct canonical tags, resolve redirect chains, and
ensure pages return 200 (or 301 for intended redirects).
KPIs / tools — GSC URL Inspection, index coverage reports, site: queries for spot checks.
Site speed & performance
What — How quickly pages load and become usable for visitors (server response, asset load, render
time).
Why it matters — Faster sites improve UX, reduce bounce, and are favored by search engines.
How to audit — Run PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and Real User Monitoring (RUM) to capture lab + field
data.
Fixes / best practices — Optimize images (responsive & lazy-load), enable caching, use a CDN, minimize
render-blocking scripts, compress assets, and optimize server TTFB.
KPIs / tools — LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), TTFB, Time to Interactive, RUM metrics, PageSpeed Insights,
Lighthouse.
Mobile-friendliness / mobile-first
What — Site layout, resources and functionality that work well on phones and tablets.
Why it matters — Google indexes and evaluates pages using mobile-first principles; poor mobile UX
harms visibility and conversions.
How to audit — Mobile Usability and Mobile-First reports in GSC, Lighthouse mobile audits, manual device
testing.
Fixes / best practices — Responsive design, readable font sizes, adequate tap targets, avoid interstitials
that block content, and reduce mobile payloads.
KPIs / tools — GSC Mobile Usability, Lighthouse mobile scores, session bounce and conversion rates on
mobile.
Secure browsing (HTTPS)
What — Site served over TLS (HTTPS) with a valid SSL certificate.
Why it matters — HTTPS protects user data, preserves referral data, builds user trust, and is a lightweight
ranking signal.
How to audit — Check for a valid certificate, mixed content warnings, and all HTTP URLs 301 → HTTPS.
Fixes / best practices — Install/renew certificates, fix mixed content, update canonical/sitemap/links to
HTTPS, monitor redirects.
KPIs / tools — Security warnings in browser, GSC coverage/security issues, SSL Labs tests.
URL structure & canonicalization
What — Clean, consistent URLs and correct canonical tags that tell search engines the preferred version
of each resource.
Why it matters — Messy URLs and duplicate content dilute ranking signals and confuse crawlers.
How to audit — Crawl site to find duplicate content/parameters, check canonical tags, monitor redirect
chains.
Fixes / best practices — Use short, descriptive paths; pick one canonical domain (www vs non-www);
implement 301 for moved pages; use rel=canonical only when necessary.
KPIs / tools — Screaming Frog, GSC Coverage, canonical inspection via URL Inspection.
Structured data (Schema markup)
What — JSON-LD/microdata that adds machine-readable context (product, article, recipe, event,
organization, etc.).
Why it matters — Helps search engines understand content and can enable rich results (rich snippets,
knowledge panels) which improve CTR.
How to audit — Use Google’s Rich Results Test and the Rich Results Status Report in Search Console after
deployment.
Fixes / best practices — Implement JSON-LD, validate markup, provide accurate fields (price, availability,
author, dates), avoid markup that misrepresents content.
KPIs / tools — Rich Results Status Report (GSC), Structured Data Testing Tools, CTR uplift from Search
Console impressions.
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