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All lessons in Technical SEO Auditing Lesson 9.5 of 84

Module 1: Introduction to Technical SEO Auditing

  1. 1.1What Is a Technical SEO Audit?
  2. 1.2Technical SEO Audit vs. General SEO Audit
  3. 1.3When Should You Audit a Website?
  4. 1.4Types of Technical SEO Issues
  5. 1.5Defining Audit Scope and Objectives

Module 2: Website Crawling and URL Discovery

  1. 2.1How SEO Crawlers Discover URLs
  2. 2.2Configuring a Website Crawl
  3. 2.3Crawl Scope, Limits, and Exclusions
  4. 2.4Internal Links and Crawl Depth
  5. 2.5Orphan Pages and URL Discovery
  6. 2.6Crawl Data vs. Search Engine Data
  7. 2.7Identifying Crawl Coverage Gaps

Module 3: HTTP Status Codes and Redirect Auditing

  1. 3.1Understanding HTTP Status Codes
  2. 3.2Finding 4xx Errors and Broken Links
  3. 3.3Identifying 5xx Server Errors
  4. 3.4Redirect Chains and Redirect Loops
  5. 3.5Internal Links to Redirected URLs
  6. 3.6301 vs. 302 Redirects
  7. 3.7Auditing 404 Pages and Soft 404s

Module 4: Crawlability and Indexability Auditing

  1. 4.1Crawling vs. Indexing
  2. 4.2Robots.txt Audit
  3. 4.3Meta Robots and X-Robots-Tag
  4. 4.4Noindex and Canonical Conflicts
  5. 4.5XML Sitemap Validation
  6. 4.6Canonical URL Auditing
  7. 4.7Identifying Indexability Conflicts
  8. 4.8Comparing Crawl Data with Google Search Console

Module 5: URL Structure and Duplicate Content Issues

  1. 5.1URL Structure and Normalization
  2. 5.2Duplicate URLs and Duplicate Pages
  3. 5.3HTTP vs. HTTPS and Hostname Variations
  4. 5.4Trailing Slashes and URL Parameters
  5. 5.5Pagination and Faceted Navigation
  6. 5.6Canonicalization Strategies
  7. 5.7Internal Linking to Preferred URLs

Module 6: Technical On-Page Auditing

  1. 6.1Missing and Duplicate Title Tags
  2. 6.2Missing and Duplicate Meta Descriptions
  3. 6.3Missing, Duplicate, and Multiple H1 Headings
  4. 6.4Heading Hierarchy and HTML Structure
  5. 6.5Missing Image Alt Attributes
  6. 6.6Internal Link and Anchor Text Issues
  7. 6.7Empty, Thin, and Near-Duplicate Pages
  8. 6.8Auditing HTML Metadata at Scale

Module 7: Website Performance and Core Web Vitals

  1. 7.1Core Web Vitals: LCP, INP, and CLS
  2. 7.2Lab Data vs. Field Data
  3. 7.3Identifying Slow Pages
  4. 7.4Image and Resource Optimization Opportunities
  5. 7.5JavaScript and CSS Performance
  6. 7.6Mobile Usability and Responsive Rendering
  7. 7.7Prioritizing Performance Fixes

Module 8: JavaScript SEO and Rendering

  1. 8.1How Search Engines Process JavaScript
  2. 8.2HTML Source vs. Rendered HTML
  3. 8.3Client-Side vs. Server-Side Rendering
  4. 8.4JavaScript-Generated Content and Links
  5. 8.5Rendering Failures and Missing Content
  6. 8.6Lazy Loading and Crawl Accessibility
  7. 8.7Diagnosing JavaScript SEO Problems

Module 9: Structured Data and Schema Auditing

  1. 9.1Structured Data and Schema.org Basics
  2. 9.2JSON-LD and Structured Data Formats
  3. 9.3Finding Structured Data Across a Website
  4. 9.4Detecting Invalid or Incomplete Markup
  5. 9.5Schema Validation and Rich Result Eligibility
  6. 9.6Conflicting or Duplicate Structured Data
  7. 9.7Prioritizing Schema Fixes

Module 10: Analyzing Audit Data and Prioritizing Issues

  1. 10.1Reading Crawl Reports and Exports
  2. 10.2Grouping URLs by Issue Type
  3. 10.3Identifying Root Causes vs. Symptoms
  4. 10.4Evaluating Severity, Impact, and Effort
  5. 10.5Separating Sitewide and Isolated Issues
  6. 10.6Identifying False Positives
  7. 10.7Building an Actionable Issue Register

Module 11: Technical SEO Audit Reporting

  1. 11.1Structuring a Technical SEO Audit Report
  2. 11.2Documenting Evidence and Affected URLs
  3. 11.3Writing Developer-Ready Recommendations
  4. 11.4Mapping Issues to Business and Search Impact
  5. 11.5Creating a Prioritized Remediation Roadmap
  6. 11.6Presenting Findings to Stakeholders
  7. 11.7Tracking Fixes and Ownership

Module 12: Fix Verification and Technical QA

  1. 12.1Re-Crawling After Fixes
  2. 12.2Comparing Before-and-After Crawl Results
  3. 12.3Verifying Redirects, Canonicals, and Indexability
  4. 12.4Detecting Regressions and Newly Introduced Issues
  5. 12.5Testing Website Changes Before Deployment
  6. 12.6Confirming Fixes with Search Console and Other Evidence
  7. 12.7Closing Audit Findings and Recording Results

Schema Validation and Rich Result Eligibility

Inside this lesson

  • Which validation tool answers which question
  • What makes a page eligible for a rich result
  • Why eligible pages may still not show rich results
  • How to monitor eligibility in Search Console

Short answer

The Schema Markup Validator checks whether markup follows Schema.org, while Google's Rich Results Test checks whether it qualifies for a Google rich result. Eligibility needs a supported type, all required properties, policy compliance, and an indexable page. Even eligible pages are not guaranteed rich results, since Google decides based on quality and context.

A client asks, “The validator says our schema is perfect, so why no stars?” The answer is that two different tools answer two different questions, and even passing both does not force Google to show anything.

Two tools, two questions

ToolQuestion it answers
Schema Markup ValidatorIs this valid Schema.org?
Rich Results TestIs this eligible for a Google rich result, as Googlebot renders it?

The Rich Results Test can fetch a live URL with Googlebot Smartphone, so it also reveals rendering problems.

The four eligibility conditions

  1. Supported type: listed in Google’s Search Gallery.
  2. Required properties present and valid.
  3. Policy compliance: visible content, accurate data, no self-serving reviews.
  4. Indexable page: crawlable, not noindexed, not canonicalized away.

Eligible is not guaranteed

Google chooses whether to display rich results based on query, quality, and trust. Some types are now limited, such as FAQ results mostly for government and health sites. Others have been retired entirely. Set expectations with clients.

Monitoring

In Search Console’s enhancement reports, track valid, warning, and invalid counts per type. Performance, Search appearance filters show clicks from rich results like Product snippets and Review snippets.

Practice: which tool?

Sort each item into the right group.

  • Is a custom type like 'Course' syntax correct for Schema.org?

  • Will this product page show price rich results in Google?

  • Does Googlebot render my injected JSON-LD?

  • Is a rarely used Schema.org property spelled correctly?

Common mistakes

  • Promising rich results because markup is valid.
  • Using only the Schema validator for Google features.
  • Marking up noindexed pages and expecting results.
1. Which tool checks Google rich result eligibility?
2. Does eligibility guarantee a rich result?
3. A noindexed page has perfect Product markup. Will it get rich results?

Your action

Next, you will find conflicting and duplicate structured data.

Key terms

Schema Markup Validator
The validator at validator.schema.org that checks markup against the full Schema.org vocabulary.
Rich Results Test
Google's tool showing which rich result types a page or code snippet is eligible for.
Eligibility
Meeting Google's technical and policy requirements for a rich result.
Search Gallery
Google's documentation listing supported rich result types and their requirements.

Questions beginners ask

Valid in the Schema Markup Validator but not in the Rich Results Test. Why?

The type is valid Schema.org but not a Google rich result, or required Google properties are missing.

Why does my eligible page show no stars?

Google decides display based on quality, query, and site trust. Eligibility only makes it possible.

Do retired rich result types still need markup?

Google has retired several types over time. Markup for them does no harm but brings no Google feature. Check the Search Gallery for the current list.

How long until rich results appear after a fix?

After Google recrawls the pages, usually days to weeks. Use Validate Fix in enhancement reports.

Related lessons

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