Template fixes vs page fixes
A template fix is a single change to a shared layout, component or config that applies to every page built from it. A page fix changes one URL. Template fixes matter most because your site score is the median of your page scores, so one template change that clears a check on hundreds of pages moves more score per hour than editing pages one by one. Do template fixes first.
- →Template fixes change shared markup or config once and apply everywhere; page fixes change a single URL.
- →Because the site score is a median, template fixes move the number fastest, so the Action Plan ranks them first.
- →Schema in the shared head, robots.txt and the sitemap are template fixes. Answer-first openers and sourced stats are usually page fixes.
What counts as a template fix
A template fix is one edit that repeats across every page built from the same layout, component or configuration file. You change it in one place and the whole site inherits the change. On a modern site the shared <head>, the global header and footer, robots.txt and the sitemap are all template-level, so a check that fails because of something in one of those fails identically on every page and clears on every page from a single edit.
Template fixes are the highest-leverage work available, which is why the Action Plan surfaces them in Phase 01 Foundation. See working-the-action-plan for how the phased plan ranks them.
What counts as a page fix
A page fix is a change to one URL that does not carry over to any other. Rewriting the opening paragraph of a specific article, adding a sourced statistic to one guide, or fixing a broken outbound link on a single page are all page fixes. They are still important, because some of the strongest citability signals, an answer-first opener and sourced evidence among them, are specific to each page's content and cannot be templated.
The distinction is not about which pillar a check belongs to. It is about where the fix lives: in shared markup that many pages inherit, or in the body of one page.
Why template fixes move your score first
Your site score is the median of your page scores, not the average, so the number reflects your typical page. Lifting a median means lifting the middle of the pack. A page fix raises one page and barely nudges the median. A template fix raises the same check on every page at once, which is what actually shifts the middle.
The Action Plan reflects this by ranking fixes on estimated score movement per hour of work. A template fix that clears a failing check on 400 pages in one change ranks above a page edit that fixes a single URL, because it lifts more of your median for the same effort.
How to tell which is which
Use this as a quick sorting rule when you read the Action Plan.
| Signal | Template fix | Page fix |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | Shared layout, component, robots.txt, sitemap, config | The body or metadata of one URL |
| How many pages it clears | All pages built from that template | One page |
| Typical examples | Organization and Person schema in the head, crawler access, XML sitemap, canonical logic, global internal links, default meta pattern | Answer-first opener, question-shaped headings, sourced statistics, a specific broken link, one duplicated title |
| Effort to reach every page | One edit | One edit per page |
A useful test: if fixing the check on one page would require you to make the identical edit on every other page too, it is really a template fix in disguise. Move it into the shared layout and do it once.
Worked examples
Three of the most common Foundation fixes are all template-level, which is why they clear so much at once.
By contrast, writing a liftable 40 to 70 word opener has to be done per page, because each page answers a different question. Those page fixes still matter, but they belong after the template wins, once the median has already moved.