The Technical SEO Playbook
The plumbing your content is losing to.
§01 - What's inside this playbook
The best content in the world cannot rank on a broken foundation. Only about 33% of sites pass Core Web Vitals, and pages that fail see roughly 18% lower visibility. This 2026 Edition playbook is the technical SEO discipline Hotseat brings to client sites: how to prioritise between crawl, render, and speed; crawlability and indexation; site architecture and internal linking; Core Web Vitals with a focus on INP; JavaScript and rendering for both search and AI crawlers; structured data; and the measurement framework that retires the Lighthouse score.
After reading, you will be able to
- ✓Prioritise crawl, rendering or speed fixes for your site
- ✓Resolve crawlability and indexation issues and tidy your internal linking
- ✓Improve Core Web Vitals, JavaScript rendering and structured data
- ✓Measure technical SEO properly and follow a 90-day rollout plan
Look inside
§02 - Table of contents
- 01Pick Your Priorities: Crawl, Render, or Speed
- 02Crawlability and Indexation
- 03Site Architecture and Internal Linking
- 04Core Web Vitals and Speed
- 05JavaScript and Rendering
- 06Structured Data and Machine-Readable HTML
- 07Measuring Technical SEO: Beyond the Score
- 08The 90-Day Rollout Plan
- 09Common Mistakes & Quick Reference
§03 - Who this playbook is for
- ▲Startups chasing compounding organic and AI-answer visibility
- ▲Sole business owners doing SEO themselves
- ▲Marketers and content leads whose traffic is quietly shifting to AI
New to this? Start here
If you're just starting out and some of the terms are unfamiliar, begin with our free checklists. They explain each area step by step, so the playbook makes more sense when you read it.
§04 - Who wrote this guide
Hotseat is a strategy-led digital agency across Cape Town, London and Amsterdam. The team has run campaigns for Under Armour, ASICS, Knight Frank, Hey Dude and more - the guides package the systems they use every day.
§05 - Frequently asked questions
Who is The Technical SEO Playbook for?
Startups chasing compounding organic and AI-answer visibility. Sole business owners doing SEO themselves. Marketers and content leads whose traffic is quietly shifting to AI.
What does the technical SEO playbook cover?
24 pages across 9 chapters: Pick Your Priorities: Crawl, Render, or Speed; Crawlability and Indexation; Site Architecture and Internal Linking; Core Web Vitals and Speed; JavaScript and Rendering; Structured Data and Machine-Readable HTML; Measuring Technical SEO: Beyond the Score; The 90-Day Rollout Plan; Common Mistakes & Quick Reference.
How do I receive the guide?
It's a PDF. A download link is emailed to you within about a minute of payment.
Can my team use it?
Yes. Every purchase includes a team licence for up to 10 people, plus lifetime access to updates.
What currency and tax will I pay?
Paddle, our Merchant of Record, shows the price in your local currency where available. In the UK and EU the price shown already includes VAT. Elsewhere, any sales tax that applies is shown next to the price and added at checkout.
