Search engine optimisation in 2025 has evolved, but one principle has not changed: if Google cannot crawl and index your website properly, you will struggle to rank no matter how good your content is.
For small businesses, this is critical. You could publish great content or run ads, but if technical issues block search engines or frustrate visitors, your effort is wasted. A technical SEO audit ensures your site is structurally sound, secure, and easy for both people and search engines to navigate. Think of it like fixing the roads that lead customers to your business. Without clear paths, no one arrives.
In this guide, we’ll break down the key steps of a technical SEO audit in 2025, share practical tools you can use, and explain why these fixes form the foundation for long-term rankings.
Why Technical SEO Matters in 2025
A healthy website is the base for online visibility. If Google cannot crawl or index your content, you will not appear in search results. Even worse, if users land on broken pages or a painfully slow site, they are likely to leave and call a competitor.
A proper technical SEO audit ensures your site is:
- Crawlable and indexable by search engines
- Fast and mobile-friendly, meeting Google’s Core Web Vitals
- Secure and trustworthy, with HTTPS
- Free from broken links and errors that waste crawl budget
When your site is technically sound, it amplifies the impact of everything else you do online. Marketing campaigns reach further, SEO drives more traffic, and branding builds stronger trust.
Step 1: Check Crawlability and Indexing
Google must be able to access and understand your pages.
- Robots.txt file – Visit yourwebsite.com/robots.txt and confirm important areas like /blog/ or /services/ are not blocked. Misconfigured rules can prevent Google from crawling valuable content.
- XML Sitemap – Generate and submit a sitemap in Google Search Console. After a few days, check the “Coverage” report to see how many pages are indexed.
- URL Inspection Tool – Enter a specific URL in GSC to see how Google views it. Look for errors like “Excluded by noindex” or “Submitted URL not found” and request indexing if needed.
👉 If critical pages are blocked or missing, fix them immediately.
Step 2: Find and Fix Broken Links
Dead links frustrate users and waste Google’s crawl budget. They can also signal poor site maintenance.
How to check:
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider – crawl up to 500 URLs for free to spot broken links, redirect chains, and server errors.
- Google Search Console – the Coverage report highlights 404 or 500 errors.
- Manual checks – on small sites, click through key pages to ensure links still work.
How to fix:
- Update outdated URLs
- Redirect old paths to relevant pages (use 301 redirects to preserve SEO value)
- Remove links if no replacement exists
Step 3: Test Mobile-Friendliness
Since 2020, Google has used mobile-first indexing, meaning the mobile version of your site is the one that counts.
Run your site through:
- Mobile-Friendly Test – check readability, tap targets, and layout.
- Mobile Usability Report in GSC – flag issues like “text too small” or “clickable elements too close together.”
Ensure your mobile and desktop versions are consistent, especially with structured data and core content.
Step 4: Improve Site Speed and Core Web Vitals
Site speed affects both rankings and conversions. Google’s Core Web Vitals focus on three key metrics.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): how quickly the main content loads
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): responsiveness (replaced First Input Delay in 2024)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): visual stability while loading
Tips to improve:
- Compress images and use modern formats like WebP
- Minify CSS and JavaScript, remove unused code
- Enable browser caching and use a CDN
- Monitor metrics with Google PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in GSC
💡 Even a one-second delay can reduce conversions by up to 20%.
Step 5: Secure Your Website with HTTPS
Security builds trust. Since 2014, Google has used HTTPS as a ranking signal. Chrome now marks non-secure sites as “Not Secure,” which can scare visitors away.
Steps:
- Install an SSL/TLS certificate (often free via Let’s Encrypt)
- Redirect HTTP to HTTPS with 301s
- Fix any “mixed content” issues where secure pages load insecure elements
Step 6: Audit Indexation Regularly
Technical SEO is not set-and-forget. After fixes are in place:
- Monitor the Coverage Report in GSC for crawl errors
- Use the URL Inspection Tool to request indexing for new or updated pages
- Check Core Web Vitals and Mobile Usability reports quarterly
- Schedule a technical audit every 3–6 months, especially if your site is growing or changing
Tools for a Small Business Technical Audit
These free or affordable tools provide enterprise-level insights without big budgets:
- Google Search Console – indexing, coverage, performance data
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider – broken links, redirects, missing tags (free up to 500 URLs)
- Semrush Site Audit – checks over 140 site health issues (free up to 100 URLs)
- Google PageSpeed Insights – Core Web Vitals and speed fixes
Further Reading
- Google Search Central SEO Starter Guide
- Semrush Technical SEO Guide
- Backlinko SEO Audit Guide
- NitroPack Core Web Vitals Breakdown
Also check out our SEO hub:
- Small Business SEO Checklist 2025
- Keyword Research for Small Businesses in 2025
- On-Page SEO in 2025
- Local SEO for Small Businesses
Wrapping Up: Your Next Steps
A technical SEO audit is not a one-time job. Regularly reviewing crawlability, fixing broken links, improving speed, ensuring mobile-friendliness, and maintaining HTTPS will keep your site competitive.
For small businesses in 2025, these technical foundations amplify everything else you invest in from SEO services to local SEO packages for small businesses, custom web design, branding solutions and email marketing strategies.
👉 Ready to see what a technical SEO audit could uncover for your business? Contact Xpert Start today for a free consultation and let us pave the way for better rankings and more customers.
