Step 4 of 8

Triage: decide what's worth a ticket

Updated 4 min read

Short answer: don't ticket everything the audit finds. Ticket indexing blockers first, then problems that affect a whole template, then single pages. Mark the rest Not an issue so they stop coming back.

Fix in this order

  1. Indexing blockers. noindex where it shouldn't be, robots.txt blocking the page, canonicals pointing at the wrong or a broken page, server HTML that's missing the content. Nothing else matters until the page can be indexed. See noindex and canonical tags.
  2. Template-wide problems. A missing H1 on every product page is one fix with a big reach. These are usually the best value in the audit.
  3. Site-wide settings. HTTPS, security headers, robots.txt rules. One change, often at the server or CDN rather than in the site's code.
  4. Single pages. A long title on the about page. Batch these into one or two tickets per release, not one each.

One ticket per problem

A ticket should be one problem a developer can fix and close. "Product titles are too long (48 pages)" is a good ticket. "SEO fixes for the product page" isn't: it can't be closed until everything is done, and nobody knows what's left.

When the same check fails on pages of one type, make one template ticket rather than one per page. The scope says how far it reaches.

Drop what doesn't apply

Some flags are right by the rule and wrong for the site: a short contact page, a deliberately blocked search page. On a ticket, the ⋯ menu has Not an issue…, which stops the extension flagging that check:

  • on this page, in a folder (say /checkout/), or across the whole site
  • optionally only for the values the ticket flagged, so a newly blocked file still shows up
  • with a reason, so whoever audits next knows why

The ticket moves to Canceled (or is deleted, if you choose), and the extension lists matching issues under a collapsed "Not an issue" list with Undo. Settings has a Not an issue tab listing every one by site.

Avoid duplicates

When a check already has a ticket for the page, its card in the Issues tab shows a chip such as "Ticketed: ID-176 (Todo)", and the button becomes Ticket again, which asks before making a second one. Re-auditing a page you've already ticketed only shows you what's new.