Introduction

What is technical SEO? The global market for SEO, estimated at $82.3 billion in 2023, will reach $143.9 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.3% for those 7 years. (Research and markets)

Did you know technical SEO issues can prevent search engines from seeing your content ? If you’re serious about business growth, then this aspect is essential.

What Is Technical SEO and Why Does It Matter?

You are familiar with search engine optimization as a content writer or marketer. However, to grasp this term you have to delve into the details. There are so many aspects to it.

Technical SEO is more related to the backend of the website. You cannot deny the role of SEO, particularly technical search engine optimization in increasing site visibility.

Technical SEO optimizes website architecture for search engine discovery and cataloging.

Defining Technical SEO

A website is a meticulously organized library but for robots, not people. What is technical SEO? It is the architectural blueprint, so those robotic librarians (search engines) can navigate, catalog, and recommend your books (content) to the world.

Search engines don’t stumble over broken pathways or decipher cryptic messages. We’re talking about what happens at the back end of the website. Technical SEO tackles latency, eliminating delays.

Technical SEO optimizes website architecture for search engine discovery and cataloging.

What is the Importance of Technical SEO?

Even with brilliant actors (content) and a stellar marketing campaign (off-page SEO), a poorly constructed stage (technical SEO) will sabotage the entire performance. Technical SEO provides the necessary backstage infrastructure.

How to Learn Technical SEO from a Guy who Hates Technical Jargon, LinkedIn article

 AI content creation or human-written content, technical SEO acts as a force multiplier. On-page optimization (content quality, keyword usage) and off-page efforts (link building, social signals) are more beneficial when built upon a solid technical foundation.

A technically sound website allows search engines to fully appreciate and reward the value of your content and authority.

Always Check on Page Speed.

It’s a vital element of user satisfaction and a critical signal to search engines. A sluggish website sends a clear message: “We don’t value your time.” For users, this translates to a lot of frustration.

Search engines signal a subpar experience, resulting in lower rankings. Rapid loading creates an enjoyable browsing experience. Users are more likely to explore more pages.

Image Optimization: Large, unoptimized images can slow down loading times. Compressing and resizing images is mandatory.

Server Response Time: The speed at which your server responds to requests directly impacts loading speed.

Code Optimization: Cluttered or inefficient code can hinder performance. Minifying CSS and JavaScript files, and removing unnecessary code, can improve speed.

What Is Your Websites Roadmap Like?

An XML sitemap is a file, formatted in XML (Extensible Markup Language), that lists all the important URLs on your website. It’s not for human eyes; it’s a communication tool for search engine bots.

An XML map tells which pages exist. How often pages are updated and the relative importance of pages? That way search bots can prioritize your key content.

Submitting a Sitemap

You’re essentially handing Google a detailed map. Submitting your sitemap means search engines discover your content efficiently.

Generate the Sitemap: Many CMS platforms (like WordPress with plugins) offer built-in or plugin-based sitemap generation. Online sitemap generators are also available.

Verify and Validate: Sitemap formatting should be correct and must contain valid URLs. There are online XML validators to check for errors.

Submit to Google Search Console

Log in to your Google Search Console account.

Navigate to the “Sitemaps” section.

Enter the URL of your sitemap file (e.g., yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml).
Click “Submit.”

Guiding the Crawlers With robot.txt

It’s a simple text file located at the root of your website(e.g.,yourwebsite.com/robots.txt).

The purpose is to give instructions to search engine crawlers, telling them which pages or sections of your website they should or shouldn’t access. It uses “directives” to either allow or disallow access to specific URLs or directories.

You can use robots.txt to prevent crawlers from accessing certain areas, such as admin pages, duplicate content, or sensitive information. You can use robots.txt to point crawlers to the location of your XML sitemap.

Building Website Architecture

SL certificates encrypt the communication between a user’s browser and your website’s server, preventing hackers from personal information. Today, users are increasingly aware of online security.

A website with HTTPS displays a padlock icon in the browser’s address bar, signaling a secure connection. This visual cue builds trust and confidence, encouraging users to interact with your site.

The padlock icon and the “https://” prefix reassure users that their information is safe. This is especially important for e-commerce websites and any site that handles sensitive data.

Search engines, notably Google, prioritize websites with HTTPS.
They consider it a ranking signal, meaning that secure websites tend to rank higher in search results. Therefore, implementing HTTPS is a pivotal SEO strategy.

Earning Trust Through Website Security (HTTPS)

SL certificates encrypt the communication between a user’s browser and your website’s server, preventing hackers from personal information. Today, users are increasingly aware of online security.

A website with HTTPS displays a padlock icon in the browser’s address bar, signaling a secure connection. This visual cue builds trust and confidence, encouraging users to interact with your site.

The padlock icon and the “https://” prefix reassure users that their information is safe. This is especially important for e-commerce websites and any site that handles sensitive data.

Search engines, notably Google, prioritize websites with HTTPS.

They consider it a ranking signal, meaning that secure websites tend to rank higher in search results. Therefore, implementing HTTPS is a pivotal SEO strategy.

Mobile-Friendliness Reaches Everyone, Everywhere

Mobile optimization is a must-have. Mobile users expect a smooth, intuitive experience. They demand fast loading times, easy navigation, and content that adapts to their screen size. If a website fails to deliver, they’ll quickly move on.
Search engines, especially Google, prioritize mobile-friendly websites. Mobile-first indexing means Google primarily utilizes the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking. A non-mobile-friendly site will struggle to rank well.

A huge portion of internet traffic occurs on mobile devices. If your website is not optimized for mobile, you are effectively cutting off potential users.

Making SEO Accessible

Website accessibility refers to making a digital space where everyone can participate fully. It combines compliance, the latest marketing trends, and inclusivity to expand your reach.

This includes users with visual, auditory, cognitive, or motor impairments.

Building an accessible site shows respect and broadens your potential audience.

Accessibility best practices often align with SEO principles. Furthermore, search engines value sites that show a commitment to inclusivity.

What Are Some Accessibility Best Practices?

Is this guide to what is technical SEO finished? Well, not quite. Do not skip this part. It multiplies the overall cs experience and adds to the credibility of your website.

Alt Text for Images: Provide descriptive alternative text for all images.
This allows screen readers to convey the image’s content to visually impaired users and helps search engines comprehend the image’s relevance.

Captions and Transcripts for Videos: Include captions for videos to make them accessible to users with hearing impairments. Transcripts provide a text version of the video’s audio.

Keyboard Navigation: You should be able to check out the website with a keyboard. This is a must for users with motor impairments who may have difficulty using a mouse.

Clear and Consistent Structure: Use headings, lists, and other structural elements to create a clear and logical layout. This makes it easier to go through the content.

Sufficient Color Contrast: An adequate contrast between text and background colors makes the content readable for users with visual impairments.

Helping Search Engines Understand Your Content

Let’s say you’ve chosen a few AI automation tools for your setup. But, you don’t know what to do next, and that’s why these tips can prove to be useful in the long run.

How It Enhances Search Results

Schema markup is the key that assembles puzzle pieces into a clear, comprehensive picture for search engines.

Rich Snippets: Schema markup enables search engines to display rich snippets, which are enhanced search results that include additional information like star ratings, product prices, event dates, and recipe ingredients.
This makes your search results more visually appealing and informative, increasing click-through rates.

Knowledge Graph: Schema markup assists search engines in deciphering the relationships between entities, contributing to the development of knowledge graphs. This adds to website visibility.

Improved Understanding: Structured data allows search engines to recognize the meaning of your content. This can lead to more accurate and relevant search results.

Connecting the Dots With Internal Linking

Search engine crawlers follow links to discover and index new pages. Internal links help crawlers navigate your website without any issues.

Internal links distribute link equity (also known as “link juice”) throughout your website. Linking to important pages from other relevant pages helps boost their authority.

Internal links provide context to search engines.

Best Practices for Internal Linking

Going through a website shouldn’t be a treasure hunt for users or search engine crawlers. That’s where the art of internal linking comes into play.

Use Relevant Anchor Text: Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. Use descriptive and relevant anchor text. Avoid generic phrases like “click here.”

Link to Relevant Pages: Only link to pages that are relevant to the content of the current page. Avoid linking to unrelated or low-quality pages.

Logical Link Structure: Organize your internal links logically and hierarchically.

Avoid Over-Optimization: Don’t stuff your pages with excessive internal links.

Deep Linking: Don’t always just link to high-level category pages. link to deeper pages within the site to help spread link equity.

Broken links lead users to a “dead end.” A page that doesn’t exist results in a frustrating 404 error. Visitors can’t access the information they’re looking for and they just leave.

From an SEO perspective, broken links signal to search engines that your website might be neglected or poorly maintained. This can negatively impact your site’s crawlability and indexing.

Search engine crawlers follow links to discover new content. Too many broken links deem your site less valuable or even stop crawling it altogether.

Additionally, if you have backlinks pointing to now-broken pages, you’re losing valuable “link juice” which could be boosting your SEO.

Technical SEO Tools to Make Your Life Easier

Are you a beginner wondering “what is technical SEO?” A few key tools can make a world of difference.

Google Search Console: This free tool from Google is your direct line to how Google sees your website. It provides insights into crawl errors, indexing issues, sitemap status, and mobile usability. With a few clicks, you can get performance data like search queries and click-through rates.

For beginners, it’s invaluable for identifying and fixing critical technical errors.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider: This desktop crawler allows you to analyze your website’s structure, identify broken links, find duplicate content, analyze page titles and meta descriptions, and audit redirects.

It’s a powerful tool for beginners to understand their website’s technical health and pinpoint areas for improvement.

Lighthouse: Integrated into Chrome DevTools, Lighthouse audits the performance, accessibility, SEO, and progressive web app (PWA) quality of web pages.

It provides actionable recommendations for improving page speed, accessibility, and overall user experience.

Beginners can use it to identify and address common technical SEO issues.

Conclusion

Neil Patel

What is technical SEO? It is the behind-the-scenes magic for your website to be crawled, indexed, and understood by search engines. It’s a pathway for search bots and human visitors alike.

By prioritizing these technical elements, you’re optimizing for a superior user experience. This translates to increased visibility, higher rankings, and ultimately, a thriving online presence. Don’t let technical oversights hold you back. Invest in your website’s foundation.

FAQS

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