Technical SEO helps search engines find and understand your pages. Content SEO gives them something worth showing. You usually need both, but not always at once, and the right order depends on what is stopping your site performing today.

Fix blockers first

If key pages are not indexed, are blocked from crawling or return errors, nothing else will matter until that is resolved. Use Google Search Console to check which pages are indexed and why others are excluded. Look for accidental "noindex" tags left over from a staging site, a robots.txt file that blocks important folders, broken redirects and missing pages. A submitted XML sitemap helps search engines find the pages you care about.

Check the experience, not only the code

Slow, unstable pages frustrate visitors and can hold back performance. Review loading speed, layout shifts and responsiveness using the Core Web Vitals reports, and read our plain-English guide to Core Web Vitals for business owners. Fix the problems on your highest-value pages first, rather than chasing a perfect score everywhere. If you are on Framer, our article on whether Framer is good for SEO covers the platform-specific checks.

Then improve the pages that matter

Once pages can be found and load well, focus on those with weak or unclear content that should be earning enquiries. Start with your core service pages, then supporting guides. Compare each page with what currently ranks and ask whether yours is clearer, more complete and more useful. Google's guidance on creating helpful content is a good test. Our on-page SEO checklist gives the specific elements to review.

When content comes first

Sometimes the site is technically sound but thin. If it is fast, indexable and well structured, yet service pages are short, generic or missing, then content is the constraint. In that case more technical polish will not move the needle, and your effort should go into writing, structure and proof.

Keep both under review

Technical problems often return after site changes, redesigns or plugin updates, and content goes out of date. Schedule a light technical check each month and a content review each quarter. A redesign is the riskiest moment, so build SEO checks into the launch plan.

How to prioritise

• Is the page indexed and reachable by search engines?

• Does it load quickly and work well on a phone?

• Does it match the search intent for its target term?

• Is the content better than what currently ranks?

• Does the page lead the visitor to a clear action?