1. Objective
This SOP governs the technical health monitoring of a home inspector's website — the behind-the-scenes elements that affect how well Google can find, read, and index pages. Page speed, mobile optimization, HTTPS, sitemap submission, and Search Console monitoring are not glamorous tasks. But a website with excellent content and perfect title tags can still rank poorly if Google's crawler can't access it efficiently, or if a mobile visitor bounces in 4 seconds because the page is too slow to load. Technical SEO removes the invisible barriers to ranking.
Where this SOP starts: At the beginning of the website SEO phase — run the technical audit before building new pages.
Where this SOP ends: Never — technical health is monitored monthly as part of the maintenance cycle (SOP-HI-MKT-14).Success looks like: The inspector's website loads in under 3 seconds on mobile, all pages are indexed in Google Search Console, there are no coverage errors, the site runs on HTTPS, and Google Search Console shows a clean bill of health with no manual penalties or Core Web Vital failures.
2. Your Role & Boundaries
2a. What you handle independently
- Running the initial technical audit and documenting findings
- Submitting the sitemap to Google Search Console
- Verifying the website domain in Google Search Console
- Compressing images before upload
- Identifying technical issues and providing specific fixes to the client or web developer
- Monitoring Search Console monthly for new errors
2b. What requires client approval before acting
- Any change to the website's hosting configuration, caching settings, or server setup
- Installing plugins or making backend changes to a WordPress site (especially security or caching plugins)
- Migrating the site to a new hosting provider or platform
- Any change that requires access beyond normal CMS editing
2c. What you never do
- You never make changes to hosting settings, DNS, or server configuration without the client's explicit instruction
- You never delete or unpublish any existing page without confirming it has no organic traffic (check GSC first) and a redirect is in place
- You never submit pages for indexing that are noindexed intentionally (confirm with the inspector before requesting indexing on any page)
3. Initial Technical Audit (Run in Week 1–2)
Run this audit before building any new pages. Document findings in the SEO tracking spreadsheet.
3a. Page Speed — Google PageSpeed Insights
Go to pagespeed.web.dev and enter the homepage URL. Record:
- Mobile performance score (0–100)
- Desktop performance score (0–100)
- Specific recommendations listed under "Opportunities" and "Diagnostics"
Benchmarks:
- 70+ mobile: Acceptable
- 90+ mobile: Excellent
- Below 50 mobile: Problem — address before other SEO work
Most common speed issue on home inspector sites: Uncompressed, high-resolution photos from a camera (5–10MB each) that haven't been compressed before upload. Fix: compress all existing site images to under 150KB using Squoosh.app, then replace them on the site.
Other common issues:
- Missing browser caching (most website platforms handle this automatically)
- Excessive plugins on WordPress sites
- No CDN (Content Delivery Network) — Cloudflare offers a free tier that reduces load time for visitors far from the server
3b. Mobile Optimization Check
Open the inspector's website on a mobile device (or use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test at search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly). Manually navigate every page:
- Is text readable without zooming?
- Are buttons large enough to tap?
- Is the phone number a tappable click-to-call link?
- Does content reflow into a single column without horizontal scrolling?
Key Point: Google uses mobile-first indexing — it evaluates the mobile version of the website when determining rankings. A great desktop site with a poor mobile experience ranks based on the mobile experience.
3c. HTTPS Verification
Confirm the website URL begins with https:// (with the padlock icon in the browser bar). If the site shows http:// only, it is flagged as "not secure" by Google — both a minor ranking signal and a trust problem for visitors. Contact the hosting provider to enable SSL (most providers offer this for free).
3d. Google Search Console Setup
If not already set up, verify the website domain in Google Search Console:
- Go to search.google.com/search-console
- Click "Add property" → enter the domain
- Verify ownership using the domain registrar method (Google provides a walk-through specific to your registrar) or the HTML tag method
- After verification, go to Sitemaps → enter
sitemap.xml(or the full sitemap URL) → Submit
The sitemap file lists every page on the website and tells Google what to crawl. Most website platforms generate a sitemap automatically at yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml. Submitting it ensures Google finds all pages.
4. Monthly Search Console Monitoring
As part of the monthly maintenance cycle (SOP-HI-MKT-14), check Google Search Console for:
Coverage report (Indexing tab):
- Are all intended pages indexed?
- Any "Error" pages (pages Google found but can't access)?
- Any "Excluded" pages (pages intentionally or accidentally kept out of the index)?
Address any indexing errors before they persist through multiple monthly cycles.
Performance report (Search results):
- What queries (keywords) are driving impressions and clicks?
- Are target buying-intent keywords appearing in the query list?
- Are click-through rates reasonable for the positions shown? (Low CTR at a high position suggests the title tag or meta description needs improvement)
- Which pages drive the most traffic? Which pages get impressions but no clicks?
Core Web Vitals report:
Google's speed and experience metrics. Aim for all URLs to show "Good" status. "Poor" or "Needs Improvement" pages are candidates for speed and layout optimization.
5. Common Technical Fixes Reference
| Issue | Diagnosis | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Slow mobile load (score under 50) | Large uncompressed images | Compress all images using Squoosh.app; replace in CMS |
| Pages not indexed | Not in sitemap, or noindex tag present | Submit sitemap; check page settings for noindex directive |
| HTTP instead of HTTPS | SSL not enabled | Contact hosting provider to enable free SSL |
| Mobile text too small | CMS theme not responsive | Update to a responsive theme or contact web developer |
| Broken internal links | URL changed without redirect | Set up 301 redirects from old to new URL |
| Manual penalty in GSC | Policy violation or unnatural links | Follow GSC instructions exactly; do not proceed without client involvement |
6. Escalation Protocol
Escalate immediately when:
- Google Search Console shows a manual action (penalty) against the website
- A large portion of pages are suddenly showing as "not indexed" or "crawl error"
- The website goes offline or shows server errors (5xx status codes)
- A redirect is needed but requires server access beyond CMS editing
Technical SEO Issue — [Inspector Name]:
[What you're seeing in GSC or on the site]
[Specific URLs or pages affected, if applicable]
This is significant because: [reason — e.g., "20 previously indexed pages are now showing as errors, which may reduce organic visibility"]
What I need from you / your web developer: [specific action required]
I'm not making any changes until I hear from you.
7. Tools & Access
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) | Speed scoring and improvement recommendations |
| Google Mobile-Friendly Test (search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly) | Mobile rendering check |
| Google Search Console | Indexing, coverage, keyword performance, penalties |
| Squoosh.app / TinyPNG | Image compression before upload |
| Cloudflare (free tier) | CDN for site speed improvement — with client approval |
| Website CMS | Image replacement, page settings, sitemap access |
8. Changelog
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| April 2026 | Initial release |