What is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is often one of the unsung heroes of SEO optimization.

Regardless of how nice your site looks on the surface, it may not matter if it isn’t technically sound. This subset of SEO is focused on improving a website’s technical aspects to improve its ranking in the search results. It may not be the first thing visitors to your site notice. But, they will be able to tell the difference between a technically sound site, as will Google! So, today we are going to be addressing what technical SEO is and how to improve it for your website.

Understanding Technical SEO

Technical SEO can be thought of as the processes one takes to ensure that a site has the technical needs to help improve organic rankings in search engines like Google. It differs from other types of SEO like on-page SEO due to the elements that are optimized to meet the needs of the search engine. While on-page SEO may highlight the importance of things like page format, content, and keywords, technical SEO is more concerned with things like page crawling, domains, loading speeds, and the behind-the-scenes architecture of a website.

This foundational aspect of SEO supports and enhances the effectiveness of on-page SEO and other optimization efforts by creating a more robust, accessible, and user-friendly website that is easy to navigate. Without it, it can be difficult to rank compared with more technically sound sites that keep up with the best practices that search engines love to see.

Key Components of Technical SEO

When it comes to the key components that make up technical SEO, there are a variety of parts to take into account. Here are some of the most important things to keep in mind:

Crawling and Indexing

Crawling and indexing are essential processes in SEO that Google uses to discover and catalog web pages. It involves search engine bots, known as spiders or crawlers, that periodically browse the internet to find new or updated pages. These bots follow links from one page to another, gathering data about each page’s content and structure.

Once a page is crawled, it is indexed, which means the information is stored in the search engine’s database and organized for easy retrieval. Indexing allows search engines to quickly provide relevant results when users perform a search query. Ensuring that a website is easily crawlable and indexable is crucial for it to appear in search engine results and reach its intended audience.

Without crawling, Google can’t recognize when changes occur on pages, which can make it hard to get credit for the changes made. But, tools like Google Search Console make it possible to manually request indexing, prompting Google to take another look at the changes made. You can learn more about Google Search Console by visiting some of our other blogs on the topic!

Website Architecture

Website architecture is vital for SEO because it directly impacts how search engines and users navigate and understand a site. Improving your website structure enhances user experience by providing a logical and intuitive navigation system, which also helps search engines crawl and index content more efficiently. XML sitemaps are crucial as they offer a roadmap of all the pages on a site, ensuring search engines can find and index them even if they are not easily accessible through normal browsing.

Internal linking structure is also essential, as it distributes link equity across the site, helping search engines understand the hierarchy and relationship between pages. Effective internal linking can improve the visibility of important pages and ensure that link value flows throughout the site. Overall, a well-planned website architecture supports better indexing, higher rankings, and an enhanced user experience.

URL Structure

Creating URLs (the unique address for a resource, like a webpage) for pages on your site is a process that has become more automatic over time. In many cases, the CMS you use (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.) will create a URL using the title of the page. Clear and descriptive URLs help users understand the content of a page before they click on it, enhancing the likelihood of engagement. Search engines also prefer concise and relevant URLs because they indicate the page’s topic and improve the indexing process.

URLs and Content

Including keywords in URLs can boost search rankings, making it easier for search engines to match pages with relevant queries. A well-organized URL hierarchy supports better navigation and internal linking, helping distribute link equity across the site. An optimized URL structure contributes to higher visibility, better user interaction, and better search engine performance. It is possible to change the URL from the default title. But, in most cases it won’t be in your best interest to do so. This is especially true if the title of the webpage has been optimized to include things like keywords or location indicators that can help contribute to on-page SEO.

Site Speed

Site speed is critical for SEO because fast-loading websites provide a better user experience, which keeps visitors engaged and reduces bounce rates. Search engines like Google prioritize fast sites in their rankings because they aim to offer the best possible experience to users. Slow websites can lead to higher abandonment rates from potential customers leaving before the page can finish loading. Improving site speed can also enhance mobile performance, which is only becoming more important as more users browse the web on their phones and other mobile devices like tablets.

Additionally, faster sites often lead to higher conversion rates since users are more likely to stay and complete desired actions. Overall, optimizing site speed is essential for both user satisfaction and search engine visibility. This can be improved by using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool can help you measure how fast your site loads and give support on how to improve site speed.

Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization is crucial for SEO because a significant portion of web traffic now comes from mobile devices like cell phones and tablets. A mobile-friendly design ensures that users have a smooth and enjoyable experience on smaller screens, which can reduce bounce rates and increase engagement. Implementing AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) can enhance this experience even more by enabling faster load times. Optimizing for mobile devices improves search rankings and helps reach a broader audience more effectively.

Security

Security is another key factor in SEO. HTTPS plays a significant role in safeguarding data and enhancing trust. Search engines like Google prioritize HTTPS websites because they provide a secure connection. This protects user information and boosts credibility. To implement HTTPS, you need to obtain an SSL certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority and install it on your server. This change not only secures data transmission but also signals to search engines and users that your site is trustworthy. In turn, this can improve organic search rankings and user confidence, leading to better overall site performance.

Helpful Technical SEO Practices

Structured Data and Schema Markup

Structured data, or schema markup, is a form of microdata added to a website’s code to help search engines better understand the content and context of the pages. By implementing schema markup, websites can enhance their visibility in search engine results with rich snippets, such as star ratings, event details, and product information, which can significantly improve click-through rates.

Canonical Tags

Canonical tags are HTML elements used to prevent duplicate content issues by specifying the “preferred” version of a webpage. This helps search engines understand which version of the page to index. This can help consolidate link equity and avoid the dilution of ranking signals across duplicate pages.

Robots.txt

Robots.txt files are used to manage and control how search engine bots crawl and index a site’s pages. They can improve crawl efficiency by blocking access to unnecessary or sensitive parts of the site. This ensures that important pages are prioritized.

International SEO

For global websites, international SEO is crucial, involving the use of hreflang tags to indicate language and regional targeting. This ensures that users are directed to the right version of a page based on their language and location. By doing so, this can improve user experience and search visibility in different markets.

Technical SEO Is Just as Important as On-Page SEO

Technical SEO forms the foundation that allows your content to be effectively discovered, crawled, and indexed by search engines. Without a solid technical framework, even the best-optimized content can struggle to rank and reach its audience. Balancing both technical and on-page SEO efforts is vital for a comprehensive SEO strategy.