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SEO & AI Search
A Technical SEO Checklist for Small Business Websites
By eLeopards Team · 12 Sept 2026 · 6 min read
Great content cannot rank if search engines cannot crawl or understand your site. This checklist covers the technical basics every small business site should get right.
Crawling and indexing
- Your robots.txt does not block pages you want found.
- An XML sitemap lists your real pages and is submitted in Google Search Console.
- Every page has one canonical URL, written as a full absolute address.
- Old or deleted pages return a proper 404 or a 301 redirect, not a blank page.
On-page basics
- One clear H1 per page that matches what the page is about.
- A unique title (about 50 to 60 characters) and meta description (about 150 characters) on every page.
- Descriptive alt text on meaningful images.
- Internal links between related pages using descriptive link text.
Speed and mobile
- Pages pass Core Web Vitals on mobile.
- Images are compressed and sized correctly.
- The layout works on a small screen without sideways scrolling.
Structured data
Add schema.org markup for your Organization, and for pages like FAQs, services and articles. It helps search engines and AI assistants understand who you are and what each page covers.
Make it a habit
Check Google Search Console monthly for indexing errors and coverage drops. Most technical SEO problems are easy to fix when caught early.
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