SEO Foundations

A developer-friendly hub for the SEO basics that actually matter: crawlability, indexing, metadata, canonicals, structured data, and performance.

Start the reading path Use the checklist
  • 🔎 Technical SEO essentials
  • 🧭 Titles, descriptions, canonicals
  • 🧾 robots.txt + sitemap.xml
  • ⚡ Core Web Vitals & images

Who this guide is for

SEO Foundations is for developers and builders who want a clean baseline before they scale content. If you’ve ever asked “why isn’t Google indexing my pages?” or “why do my titles look wrong in search?”, start here.

What you’ll be able to do after this

  • Ensure pages are crawlable and indexable
  • Set consistent titles/descriptions/OG previews
  • Control duplicate URLs with canonicals
  • Ship robots.txt and sitemap.xml without mistakes
  • Improve Core Web Vitals and image delivery

Recommended reading path

Read in this order for the fastest results.

1) Technical SEO Basics

The baseline: crawlability, indexability, status codes, internal links, and common blockers.

Start here • Foundation

Suggested projects

SEO Foundations checklist

A quick pass you can use before shipping or auditing a site.

Indexing basics

  • Important pages return 200 (not 3xx/4xx)
  • No accidental noindex
  • robots.txt not blocking key routes
  • Canonical points to the preferred URL

Metadata

  • Unique titles per page
  • Useful descriptions that match content
  • OG/Twitter previews look correct
  • Canonical format consistent (host/protocol/slash)

Sitemaps & structure

  • sitemap.xml includes only canonical URLs
  • Internal links connect important pages
  • Breadcrumbs for deeper content
  • No duplicate thin pages

Performance

  • Hero/LCP element optimized
  • CLS prevented (reserved space)
  • INP improved (reduce long tasks)
  • Images sized correctly + modern formats

FAQ

Common questions developers ask when starting SEO.

What is included in SEO Foundations?

Technical SEO, metadata/canonicals, indexing essentials, schema basics, and performance topics like Core Web Vitals and image optimization.

What should I do first if pages aren’t indexing?

Check noindex, canonicals, robots blocks, and status codes—then verify sitemap and internal linking.

Is this guide only for Next.js?

No. The ideas apply anywhere. Next.js is just a convenient example for many teams.

Will this guarantee better rankings?

No guarantees, but it removes technical blockers and improves crawlability, indexing, and UX—key foundations.

Want a ready-to-use starter pack?

If you want, use these project kits: SEO Starter for templates, and Performance Audit Kit for audits and tracking.

Open SEO Starter Open Performance Audit Kit