Technical SEO for Sydney websites Google can't fully read
Good content can't rank if Google can't crawl it, render it or decide which version to index. Technical SEO fixes the structure underneath: indexing, canonicals, JavaScript, speed, structured data, sitemaps and the redirects that carry a site through a rebuild. Boltly finds the faults, writes a clear fix list and checks every change, on a plan with no lock-in.
Updated
What technical SEO means for a Sydney business
Technical SEO is everything that decides whether Google can find, read and trust your pages before anyone judges the words on them. It matters most for larger sites, sites rebuilt on a new platform, online stores and sites that rely on JavaScript.
In practice it means one indexable version of every page, a sitemap that lists only pages worth ranking, fast and stable page loads, content Google can render, structured data that matches what visitors see, and a Search Console report with no unexplained errors.
More big organisations, more big sites
At 30 June 2025 the City of Sydney council area had 306 businesses employing 200 or more people, more than any other council area in Australia. Brisbane, a far larger council by area, had 251 and the City of Melbourne 163. Another 3,557 City of Sydney businesses employed between 20 and 199.
Bigger organisations tend to run the sites where technical SEO gets hard: thousands of URLs across many templates, a staging copy that can leak into Google, JavaScript front ends, separate regional or country versions that need hreflang, and platform moves that put years of rankings at risk. The other 95% of City of Sydney businesses have fewer than 20 staff and usually simpler sites, and for them the same checks are shorter and cheaper.
Source: ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, businesses by LGA by employment size, June 2025 (data cube 8165DC10, released 16 December 2025), read 4 October 2026. Excludes businesses ABS lists with no usual address.
A robots.txt rule is a sign on the door, not a lock
Google's own documentation says robots.txt "is not a mechanism for keeping a web page out of Google". A blocked page can still be indexed if other pages link to it. To keep something out of the results, use noindex, or put it behind a password.
Robots.txt
Asks crawlers not to visit. The URL can still appear in results.
Noindex
Lets Google in, then tells it not to show the page. Don't also block it in robots.txt, or Google can't see the tag.
Password
Keeps staging sites and private pages away from crawlers and visitors alike.
Source: Google Search Central, introduction to robots.txt and blocking indexing with noindex. Checked 4 October 2026.
The new website went live and the enquiries stopped
Owners tell the same story on forums: a designer rebuilt the site, it looked better, and within weeks the phone went quiet. Nobody had mapped the old page addresses to the new ones, so years of rankings pointed at pages that no longer existed.
The usual causes are few and fixable. Old URLs left without 301 redirects. Pages that ranked rewritten from scratch or dropped because they looked dated. Titles and internal links lost in the new templates. A noindex tag or password carried over from the staging copy. And a platform switch, say to Shopify or a new WordPress theme, that changes every URL pattern at once.
/blocked-drains-sydney/Now /services/drains/301 to the new page/about-us/Now /about/301 to the new page/blog/price-guide/Dropped as "old"Keep it, or 301 to the closest pagenoindex on every pageLeft over from stagingRemove before launch, then checkIllustration only: example addresses, not a real site.
Google's guide to moving a site with URL changes is the checklist we work from: prepare a mapping from every old URL to its new one, redirect the old addresses on launch day, and keep those redirects for as long as possible, generally at least a year. It also warns that rankings will move while Google recrawls, and a medium-sized site can take a few weeks or more to settle. Before a rebuild we export the pages that bring in visits from Search Console so the designer knows which ones to keep. If the launch has already happened, we rebuild the old URL list from Search Console, old sitemaps and crawl records and add the missing redirects first.
Source: Google Search Central, "Site moves with URL changes" (updated 20 August 2026), read 5 October 2026.
Telling Google which version counts
Most sites serve the same content at more than one address: with and without www, with tracking parameters, or as near-copies of a location page. Google picks one version as canonical, using the signals you give it.
Source: Google Search Central, how to specify a canonical URL. Checked 4 October 2026.
Bars show Google's own wording, not a measured score.
Use redirects for pages that have moved and canonical tags for true duplicates, and keep the two consistent so they don't send mixed messages. A sitemap listing on its own is only a weak hint.
Google renders JavaScript, but it takes an extra step
Google says its search "runs JavaScript with an evergreen version of Chromium". Pages go through three phases, crawling, rendering and indexing, and the rendering step can wait in a queue. Google still calls server-side rendering or pre-rendering a great idea.
- Phase 1
Crawl
Googlebot fetches the HTML and finds links.
- Waiting
Render queue
Pages wait here, sometimes longer than you'd like.
- Phase 2
Render
Chromium runs the scripts and builds the page.
- Phase 3
Index
The rendered content is stored and can rank.
If your menu, prices or product details only appear after scripts run, test how Google sees the page before assuming it can read them.
Source: Google Search Central, understand the JavaScript SEO basics. Checked 4 October 2026.
Australian browsing, September 2026
Source: StatCounter Global Stats, desktop vs mobile vs tablet market share, Australia, monthly data read 4 October 2026.
Google reads the phone version, and phones have caught up
Google uses the mobile version of a site's content, crawled with its smartphone agent, for indexing and ranking. In Australia the two screens are now level: StatCounter recorded 48.56% of September 2026 browsing on desktop and 48.51% on phones, after desktop led by more than 11 points in August.
Source: Google Search Central, mobile-first indexing best practices. Checked 4 October 2026.
So both versions must be complete. If your mobile layout hides text, drops internal links or leaves out structured data, Google indexes the thinner page, while about half of your visitors still read the fuller desktop one.
Two indexing statuses that worry owners most
The two "currently not indexed" statuses below sound alike but mean different things, and resubmitting fixes neither. Owners search for both, and for why validation failed.
Google has visited the page but hasn't added it to the index. It may do so later.
We make the page clearly useful and distinct, merge thin near-duplicates and link to it from relevant pages.
Google knows the URL exists but hasn't crawled it yet.
We make sure the page is linked from other pages and listed in the sitemap, and check that the server responds quickly.
These reports sit alongside the rest of our technical SEO guide. If your site runs on WordPress, our WordPress SEO service in Sydney covers the platform-specific fixes.
Source: Google Search Console Help, page indexing report. Checked 4 October 2026.
Five inspection stages, signed off in order
Every technical engagement follows the same five stages. Large or recently migrated sites spend longer on the first two.
- Stage 1
Site survey
A full crawl, Search Console review and competitor comparison.
- Stage 2
Foundations
Indexing, canonicals, redirects, robots rules and sitemaps.
- Stage 3
Services
Speed, rendering, mobile parity and Core Web Vitals.
- Stage 4
Fit-out
Structured data, internal links and page templates.
- Stage 5
Sign-off
A monthly report on indexing, rankings and enquiries.
Plans sized like paper, from A4 to A1
Plans start at $500, $900 or $1,500 a month, month to month, and every plan starts with a full technical audit. For a realistic timeline, see our guide to how long SEO takes.
Small sites
from $500A single-location site with a few dozen pages.
per month · no lock-inGrowing sites
from $900More templates, more pages and more areas.
per month · no lock-inLarge sites
from $1,500Stores, migrations and JavaScript-heavy builds.
per month · no lock-inPrices as set out on our pricing page, 14 September 2026.
Indexing errors, robots.txt and failed Core Web Vitals
How much does a technical SEO audit cost in Sydney?
Every Boltly plan begins with a full technical audit, and plans start at $500 a month, with $900 and $1,500 options for larger sites, all month to month. That covers the Starter, Growth and Performance plans, none with a setup fee; which one suits depends on page count, template count and the platform underneath.
What does a technical SEO audit include?
A crawl of the whole site, a Search Console review, indexing and canonical checks, redirects and robots rules, sitemaps, page speed and Core Web Vitals, JavaScript rendering, mobile parity, structured data and internal linking, each with a prioritised fix.
How do I fix crawled, currently not indexed?
Treat it as a quality signal. Make each affected page clearly useful and different from others on your site, fold thin near-copies into stronger pages and link to the ones that matter. Google may index a page later on its own, so resubmitting alone won't change much.
What does discovered, currently not indexed mean?
Google has found the URL, usually through a link or your sitemap, but hasn't crawled it yet. Check that the page is linked from your important pages, listed in the sitemap and served quickly by your host.
Does robots.txt stop a page appearing in Google?
No. Google says robots.txt is not a way to keep a page out of its results, because a blocked URL can still be indexed from links. Use a noindex tag, and leave the page crawlable so Google can see it, or protect it with a password.
Why did my Core Web Vitals assessment fail?
At least one of the three measures, loading, responsiveness or visual stability, missed Google's good threshold for real visitors. Large hero images, heavy scripts and ads or embeds that push content around are the usual causes.
Is HTTPS still a ranking factor?
Yes, but a light one. Google announced HTTPS as a ranking signal in August 2014 and described it then as very lightweight. It matters more for trust: browsers flag insecure pages, and visitors notice.
Is JavaScript bad for SEO?
Not in itself. Google renders JavaScript, but rendering can be delayed, and content that needs scripts to appear is easier to miss. Server-side rendering or pre-rendering keeps important content visible in the first HTML Google receives.
How long should I keep 301 redirects after moving my site?
Google's site move guide says to keep them for as long as possible, generally at least a year, so it can pass signals to the new addresses. For visitors following old links, keeping them indefinitely is kinder.
Questions shaped by Google's search suggestions for technical SEO, rechecked 4 October 2026; the last one comes from owners' posts about rebuilds. More local help on our local SEO in Sydney page.
Get the plans checked before you build more
Technical audit first · No setup fee · Month to month