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How to prioritise SEO fixes in the right order

Turn a long list of SEO to-dos into an ordered plan: find what blocks Google first, spot what depends on what, record a starting point, and write down why each item sits where it does.

By Dean Cruddace · 1 hour to do · Updated · Last reviewed

What prioritising SEO fixes means

Almost any check of a website turns up more jobs than one person or team can do at once. Prioritising means deciding the order: which job goes first, which waits, and why.

Google does not publish a scoring system for ordering SEO work, so this guide does not pretend there is one. It uses what Google's documentation does say about what stops pages being found, and about jobs that must happen in a set order, and turns that into a procedure you can follow. The final ordering is your own judgement, and the guide shows you how to record it.

Why the order of fixes matters

Google describes technical issues as errors that can prevent it from crawling, indexing or serving your pages. If a page cannot be served, improving it does nothing visible, so blockers belong at the top of any list. Google also says there is no guarantee that changes will have a noticeable effect in search, so a plan should explain its reasoning rather than promise results. See Google's guide to debugging traffic drops.

What you need to prioritise SEO fixes in the right order

  • Access to Google Search Console for the site
  • A list of the jobs you are considering, even a rough one
  • A spreadsheet or document to record your ordering and reasons
  • Someone who will actually do the work, to tell you what each job involves

Prioritise SEO fixes in the right order, step by step

  1. 1

    Write down every candidate job on one list

    List each job in a sentence, for example "category pages carry a noindex tag" or "some images have no alt text". Next to each, note how many pages it affects and which page types they are.

    You will know it worked when You have one list, one job per line, each with the pages it touches.

  2. 2

    Look for blockers first

    In Search Console, open Pages under Indexing to see the Page indexing report. For any important page you suspect, paste its address into the inspection bar at the top. Google notes that a page can be left out of the index for good reasons, such as a robots.txt rule, a noindex tag or being a duplicate, so read the stated reason before deciding it is a fault. See the Page indexing report help.

    You will know it worked when Each job that stops an important page being crawled or indexed is marked as a blocker on your list.

  3. 3

    Put blockers ahead of improvements to the same pages

    Following Google's definition of technical issues, anything that can stop a page being crawled, indexed or served should rank above work that merely makes a served page better. Improving content or links for a page Google cannot index shows nothing, so move that improvement below the blocker.

    You will know it worked when No improvement job sits above a blocker that affects the same pages.

  4. 4

    Find the jobs that depend on other jobs

    Ask of each job: can it be done, or shown to work, before something else is decided? Google gives two documented examples. For a site move with changing addresses, it says you should prepare a mapping of old addresses to new ones, and it suggests, for large sites, moving a small section first to test the effect on traffic and indexing. For duplicate pages, Google groups them and picks one canonical page, so deciding which address you want comes before merging or redirecting. See Google's site moves guide and its canonicalization guide.

    You will know it worked when Each dependent job on your list names the job or decision it waits for.

  5. 5

    Record a baseline before anything changes

    Open the Performance report in Search Console. Google's traffic-drop guide suggests setting the date filter to Last 16 months to see the pattern in context. Use the export button to save the chart and table. Note that Google says values shown as ~ or - in the report become zeros in the downloaded file, so keep a note of which figures were not available. See the Performance report help.

    You will know it worked when You have a saved, dated export and a note of any figures that were not available.

  6. 6

    Ask for effort from the people doing the work

    Google's documentation does not say how to estimate effort, so use your own team. For each job, ask the person who would do it how long it would take and what else it needs, such as design, approvals or a release slot. Also note anything that touches every page at once, because a mistake there reaches every page.

    You will know it worked when Every job has an effort note from the person who would do it, and wide-reaching changes are flagged.

  7. 7

    Order the list and write the reasons beside it

    Put blockers first, then respect the dependencies, then weigh the pages affected against the effort. Beside every job write one sentence of reasoning. This is your own judgement, not a Google rule, and writing it down lets anyone challenge the assumption instead of the whole order. Revisit the list if something changes, and note why.

    You will know it worked when Each job has a position and a stated reason, and anyone reading can see what would change the order.

Common mistakes when you prioritise SEO fixes in the right order

  • Treating every item as urgent. If nothing is ranked, the list is only a list.
  • Assuming every page marked Not indexed is a fault. Google says some are not indexed for good reasons.
  • Improving pages that cannot be indexed before fixing what blocks them.
  • Starting a migration without a mapping of old to new addresses.
  • Skipping the baseline, so later improvements cannot be shown.
  • Presenting your ordering as something Google prescribes. It is a judgement; say so.

Terms used when you prioritise SEO fixes in the right order

Blocker
A fault that can stop Google crawling, indexing or serving a page, so that other work on that page cannot show.
Dependency
A job that cannot be done, or cannot show results, until another job or decision comes first.
Baseline
A dated record of where your figures stood before you made changes.
Canonical URL
The address Google chooses as the main one for a group of duplicate or very similar pages.
URL mapping
A list pairing each old address with the new address it should lead to in a site move.

Go deeper

StrategyPrioritising SEO work: impact, effort and the dependencies people forgetEvery audit produces more work than any team can do. Choosing what comes first is the part clients pay for, and where weak engagements show.Read the in-depth article → PrioritiseHow to weigh impact against effort, decide what can wait, and write an SEO roadmap a team can actually execute.See the service guide → Next in the pathHow to judge whether an SEO strategy is workingReview SEO results fairly: record what you expected, look at the right Search Console views, rule out other causes of a change,…Open the guide →
A long list and no agreed order?

Share the list and what blocks you from starting. Prioritising is part of SEO strategy, and a focused audit is a common way to begin.

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