Technical SEO Checklist for Next.js Sites
A practical technical SEO checklist for modern Next.js apps: metadata, rendering, sitemaps, Core Web Vitals, and internal linking.
Next.js gives you a head start on performance — but production SEO still needs deliberate architecture.
Metadata that scales
Use a shared metadata helper for titles, descriptions, canonicals, and Open Graph. Dynamic routes should generate unique metadata from content, not templates alone.
Rendering and indexation
- Prefer server components for indexable content
- Avoid client-only critical copy
- Keep sitemaps and robots accurate
- Validate canonicals on paginated and filtered URLs
Core Web Vitals
Optimize images with next/image, defer non-critical JS, and watch LCP candidates on key templates. A beautiful site that fails LCP still loses rankings.
Internal linking
Treat hub pages as systems. Every service and blog post should connect to related commercial pages with clear anchor text.
Ship the checklist. Then monitor Search Console weekly — technical SEO is a maintenance practice, not a one-time project.