Technical SEO During Website Design: 15 Foundations to Have Ready on Day One

Imagine you built a wonderful shop, but the door is locked, there’s no sign, and the aisles inside have no labels. Even with the best products, nobody gets in. That’s what happens to a beautiful website without technical SEO: Google can’t get in properly, or doesn’t understand what’s inside.

Technical SEO isn’t magic, it’s a clear list of foundations. It’s best built with the website, not patched after launch. This is the list we apply in every project, and you can ask any company you work with for it.

First: structure

1. A logical page structure

A clear hierarchy: home → services → a page for each service. Every important page can be reached within two or three clicks from the homepage. Most importantly: a separate page for every main service, because Google ranks pages, not websites.

2. Clean, understandable URLs

/ecommerce-website-design/ is far better than /?page_id=482. Short, descriptive URLs help Google and visitors alike. And decide from the start: Arabic or English URLs? Then stick with it, because changing URLs later needs redirects and puts rankings at risk.

3. Internal links

Pages link to each other logically: the article about cost links to the service page, and the service page links to related work. This helps Google understand how pages relate and how important they are, and keeps the reader on the site longer.

Second: each page on its own

4. A unique title for every page

The title shown in search results. It includes the main keyword, invites the click, and stays around 55 to 60 characters so it isn’t cut off. No two pages should share a title.

5. A persuasive meta description

Google doesn’t use it directly for ranking, but it affects click-through rate. A paragraph of roughly 140 to 160 characters summarizing the page and inviting the click.

6. A correct heading order

One H1 per page describing its topic, then H2 for sections and H3 for subsections. This isn’t just formatting; it’s a map of the content that Google and AI tools read.

7. Image alt text

A short description for every important image. It helps Google understand images, shows them in image search, and serves visually impaired visitors.

Third: indexing and crawling

8. An XML sitemap

A file listing all important pages, updated automatically and submitted to Google through Search Console.

9. A healthy robots.txt file

It tells search engines where they may crawl. One mistake in it can block the whole website. We make sure it allows important pages and assets, and doesn’t block crawlers you want to appear in, such as AI crawlers.

10. Canonical URLs

When the same content can be reached from more than one URL (such as links with tracking parameters), the canonical tag sets the main version so rankings aren’t split.

11. 404 pages and 301 redirects

A helpful error page that puts visitors back on track, and permanent redirects from any old URL to its new equivalent. This is critical when redesigning an existing website.

Fourth: performance and security

12. HTTPS and high speed

An SSL certificate for the whole website, and fast loading that meets Core Web Vitals. Details in the website speed guide.

13. Full mobile responsiveness

Google indexes websites by their mobile version first. If content or a link exists only on desktop, it’s as if it doesn’t exist.

Fifth: deeper understanding

14. Structured data (schema)

Code that describes content in a language Google understands precisely: business, service, article, FAQ, product, breadcrumb. It helps understanding, sometimes earns rich results, and supports visibility in AI answers. Read the AEO and GEO guide.

15. hreflang for multilingual websites

If your website is in Arabic and English, hreflang tags tell Google which version to show to which user. We explain them in the guide to bilingual websites.

And finally: measurement tools

• Google Search Console: to see indexing, errors and the keywords you appear for.
• Google Analytics 4: to see visitors, their behavior and conversions.
• Google Business Profile: for local visibility on the map.

Read how to measure your website’s success.

A short checklist to give your design company

All of these items are part of every website we deliver in our website design service, and we build on them later with an SEO plan for those who need one.