Learning outcomes
- Explain how to understand canonical URLs, indexing and sitemaps.
- Complete the guided practice safely.
- Check that you can avoid common discovery problems.
SEO and Performance
Technical SEO Basics
Learn to understand canonical URLs, indexing and sitemaps and avoid common discovery problems in this beginner-friendly website development lesson.
Before you begin
Work on a practice copy, keep filenames lowercase and hyphenated, and create a backup before changing a live website.
Step-by-step instructions
- Open the relevant project page, file or WordPress screen and confirm you are working on a safe practice copy.
- Review a fictional page for indexability.
- Inspect the result using browser tools or WordPress Preview; do not publish yet.
- Check keyboard use, mobile layout, content accuracy, links, images and privacy where applicable.
- Confirm that you can avoid common discovery problems, then save a clearly named version or backup.
Ian's practical tip: Preview first, test at desktop and mobile sizes, and keep a recoverable copy before publishing.
Practical activity
Review a fictional page for indexability. The expected result is to avoid common discovery problems.