Technical SEO checklist: what technical things must definitely be checked when starting a new site?

Canonical tag is very important. For example, the 'products' page might have versions like '/urunler', '/urunler/', '/urunler?sort=price'. They all link to you but Google doesn't know which one to rank. Define the canonical page, let them all point to it.

Structured data (schema.org) is telling Google 'this is an article' (Article) if you're writing, or 'this is a product' (Product) if you're selling. This way Google shows the correct rich snippet.

Easiest things to tell the developer: 'Check if robots.txt exists create sitemap XML, check HTTPS on all outbound links, use relative paths for internal links (don't hardcode the domain).' If you handle these during the setup phase, you won't struggle later.

Use the Google Structured Data Tester tool for structured data, open the page, check if the schema is valid. If you add Organization, BreadcrumbList, etc. on day one, Google understands the context, increasing the chance of showing rich snippets.

you forgot something search console and google analytics setup and like install these on day one otherwise there's no data until 30 days pass.

Checklist summary: https, sitemap.xml robots.txt mobile, heading, schema... Done. There are 500 other things online but these are enough. Spend the remaining time on Content and user experience. 20% of Technical SEO is technical, 80% is mindset — start, it's done.

I'm curious too.

The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later... The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

Quick summary for newcomers: The answer varies greatly by industry; there is no one-size-fits-all rule.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

My questions are cleared up, thanks.

Good call starting this thread. A competitor's ranking might come from years of accumulation, not just their content.

A page that answers one question works better than one touching on five topics. I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

The opposite happened to me, that's why I'm writing. Start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once.

Start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once. Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

There's a part I don't understand. Any comment made without a control group is just a guess.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later. Merge instead of deleting; deleted content doesn't come back.

A competitor's ranking might come from years of accumulation, not just their content. I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

It's rare to find an explanation this clear.

This thread is archived.

I'm a small business, let me explain from my side. Updating an existing page yields faster results than creating a new one.

Good luck with that.

Do you think this works at any scale? Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.

The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say. Hope this helps.

Thanks, that was the answer I was looking for.