Custom software sites often mix public marketing pages with authenticated application routes, generated records, filters, and API-driven screens. The technical SEO job is partly to make the public information clear and partly to keep private or low-value application states out of the index.
Inventory public route types
List marketing pages, services, articles, documentation, profiles, generated records, search results, filters, files, login pages, and administrative routes. Decide which deserve indexing and which should require authentication, return noindex, or remain undiscoverable.
Confirm status codes for missing, removed, redirected, and temporarily unavailable content. A styled error page that returns 200 can create confusing index behavior.
Check rendering and duplication
View the initial response, not only the finished browser screen. Main headings, descriptive text, links, and metadata should be available reliably. Infinite scroll needs crawlable page paths if older content matters.
Define canonical handling for parameters, alternate routes, trailing slashes, hostnames, and legacy URLs. Canonicals are hints; internal links and redirects should support the same choice.
Validate search-supporting output
Generate XML sitemaps from published canonical records and keep modification dates honest. Validate structured data against the visible page, keep robots rules from blocking required assets, and ensure Open Graph output does not leak private content.
Performance review should cover server response, database queries, caching, JavaScript, images, fonts, and layout stability on representative devices.
Include SEO in release verification
Crawl the changed routes, test redirect maps, inspect the most important URLs in Search Console, and monitor errors and indexing after launch. Preserve a baseline so traffic changes can be interpreted instead of guessed at.
Treat search behavior as part of routing and publishing
A custom application has no reason to inherit accidental SEO rules. Make indexability explicit in the content model and test it whenever routes, rendering, or publication behavior changes.
Faith Forge Labs can help with planning, implementation, repair, or a focused technical review. Tell us what you are working with, including what already exists and what needs to change.