Great content cannot rank if search engines struggle to crawl, render or understand your site. Technical SEO makes sure the foundations are solid. Use this checklist for new launches and annual audits.
Crawling and indexation
- robots.txt allows important sections and points to your sitemap.
- XML sitemap lists all canonical pages in both languages and is submitted in Search Console.
- No important pages are blocked by noindex tags by mistake.
- Canonical tags point to the preferred version of each page.
- Redirect old URLs with 301 redirects; avoid redirect chains.
- Fix broken internal links and 404 errors.
Site structure
- Clear hierarchy: home, hub pages, detail pages.
- Descriptive, readable URLs.
- Breadcrumbs on deeper pages.
- Internal links between related services, locations and articles.
- No orphan pages without internal links.
Core Web Vitals and speed
Google's Core Web Vitals measure user experience:
| Metric | Measures | Good threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | Loading speed of main content | 2.5 seconds or less |
| Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | Responsiveness to input | 200 milliseconds or less |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | Visual stability | 0.1 or less |
Improve them by compressing images, using modern formats, lazy-loading below-the-fold media, minimising JavaScript, using a CDN and reserving space for images and embeds.
Mobile
- Responsive layout on all screen sizes.
- Tap targets large enough, text readable without zooming.
- No content hidden on mobile that exists on desktop.
Structured data
Add schema markup that matches visible content:
- Organization on the home page.
- Service on service pages.
- Article or BlogPosting on articles.
- FAQPage only where real FAQs appear.
- BreadcrumbList on deeper pages.
Validate with Google's Rich Results Test.
Bilingual sites and hreflang
- Separate URLs for Arabic and English.
- hreflang tags on each page pointing to all language versions, including itself.
langanddirattributes set correctly.- Both versions included in the sitemap.
Security and accessibility
- HTTPS everywhere with valid certificates.
- Accessible headings, alt text and contrast, which also help SEO.
Monitoring
Review Search Console weekly for indexing issues, Core Web Vitals and manual actions, and run a full crawl monthly.
Our technical SEO service handles audits and fixes. Pair this with our Arabic SEO guide.