Most technical SEO projects stall for the same reason: teams try to fix everything at once instead of sequencing dependencies. You can't deploy schema markup on pages that aren't indexed. You can't fix thin content scores if the crawl budget is wasted on duplicate URLs. Order matters more than checklist length.
We've run technical SEO implementations on hand-coded sites across Wakefield and West Yorkshire — from 5-page brochure sites to 50+ page service businesses. The phases below are the same every time. What changes is the depth at each stage.
Phase 1: Baseline and issue classification
Before changing anything, you need to know what's broken and how badly. This isn't a generic site audit — it's a prioritised issue list scored by commercial impact.
Run a full crawl (Screaming Frog or Sitebulb) and cross-reference with Google Search Console data. You're looking for:
- •Index coverage issues: pages excluded, crawled but not indexed, or stuck in "Discovered — currently not indexed" limbo
- •Duplicate content signals: canonical mismatches, parameter-based duplicates, www vs non-www inconsistencies
- •Core Web Vitals failures: which templates fail LCP, INP, or CLS — and whether the cause is server-side or client-side
- •Missing or broken structured data: schema errors, pages with no markup at all, rich result opportunities being missed
Classify every issue as P1 (blocking revenue or indexation), P2 (impacting rankings or UX), or P3 (best practice improvement). This classification drives every decision that follows.
Phase 2: Crawl and index control
Fix the plumbing before decorating. If Google can't crawl and index your pages correctly, nothing else matters.
- •XML sitemap: include only indexable, canonical URLs. Remove 404s, redirects, and noindexed pages. Submit to Search Console.
- •Robots.txt: ensure it's not accidentally blocking critical resources (CSS/JS files, images, or entire directories).
- •Canonical tags: every page should self-reference its own canonical URL. No cross-domain canonicals unless you genuinely mean them.
- •Redirect chains: flatten any chains longer than 2 hops. Each redirect loses a fraction of link equity and adds latency.
For hand-coded sites, this phase is typically fast because there's no plugin layer generating unwanted URLs or conflicting directives. On WordPress sites, this step alone can take weeks.
Phase 3: Metadata and schema deployment
With indexation clean, deploy structured data and optimise page-level metadata:
- •Title tags: primary keyword first, under 60 characters, unique per page. Don't stuff — one clear topic per title.
- •Meta descriptions: 120–160 characters, include the primary keyword naturally, end with a reason to click. These don't affect ranking directly but drive CTR.
- •Schema markup:
LocalBusiness,Service,FAQPage,Article, andBreadcrumbListas minimum for a service business. Validate with Google's Rich Results Test before deploying. - •Open Graph and Twitter Cards: set og:title, og:description, og:image for every shareable page. This affects how links appear on social media — not ranking, but click-through.
On hand-coded sites, schema sits in JSON-LD blocks in the <head> — clean, visible, and easy to maintain. No plugin generating it behind the scenes where you can't see what it's outputting.
Phase 4: Internal linking and entity alignment
Internal links aren't just navigation — they're how Google understands your site's topic hierarchy. Every internal link is a vote that says "this page is about this topic."
- •Anchor text: use descriptive, keyword-relevant anchors. "See our Wakefield portfolio" tells Google and users what they'll find. "Click here" tells them nothing.
- •Hub-spoke structure: pillar pages link down to supporting content; supporting content links back up. This creates topical clusters that reinforce authority.
- •Entity alignment: ensure your NAP (name, address, phone) is consistent, your
sameAsproperties link to verified profiles, and your content uses the same entity names Google associates with your Knowledge Panel.
For local businesses, this phase also includes GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) foundations: structured data that AI systems can cite, llms.txt for LLM crawlers, and FAQ content formatted for extraction.
Phase 5: CWV fixes and validation
Core Web Vitals sit here — not first — because many CWV issues are resolved by the earlier phases (removing redirect chains, cleaning up unused resources, fixing layout-shift-causing elements). What's left is usually:
- •LCP: image optimisation (WebP/AVIF, preloading hero images, explicit dimensions), font loading strategy, server response time
- •INP: reducing main-thread JavaScript, deferring non-critical scripts, minimising event handler complexity
- •CLS: reserving space for images and embeds, avoiding late-loading elements that push content down
Validate with PageSpeed Insights (lab data) and CrUX (field data from real users). Lab scores tell you what's possible; field data tells you what's actually happening. Both need to pass.
Who does what: the role split
Technical SEO fails when there's no clear ownership. Here's how we split it on our projects:
- •SEO strategist: owns the audit, prioritises issues by commercial impact, writes the implementation brief, sets KPIs. Decides what gets fixed and in what order.
- •Technical lead: implements changes to code, server config, schema, and build process. Owns deployment quality and staging validation.
- •Content editor: updates metadata, writes FAQ content, adjusts internal link anchors, ensures content matches keyword targets. Owns the words on the page.
Your first 30 days: a practical checklist
If you're starting from scratch, here's what to prioritise in the first month:
- Week 1: Run the baseline audit. Classify every issue as P1/P2/P3. Set up Search Console if it's not already connected.
- Week 2: Fix crawl/index issues — sitemap, robots.txt, canonical tags, redirect chains. Submit the cleaned sitemap.
- Week 3: Deploy schema markup and optimise metadata for your top 5 pages by traffic. Validate with Rich Results Test.
- Week 4: Audit internal links, fix anchor text, run CWV fixes on the homepage and top-traffic templates. Set up a reporting baseline.
That's not everything — but it's the 20% of work that produces 80% of the impact. The rest can be scheduled across months 2 and 3 without losing momentum.
Related service: Technical SEO for Hand-Coded Sites · See it in practice: Unity Tech