Search engine optimization has always been a rapidly evolving field, with strategies and trends constantly being updated to keep pace with changes in search engine algorithms and user behavior.
Nowadays, 68% of users start online experiences on search engines. This underscores the critical role search engines play in the user journey.
Furthermore, the vast majority of searchers never venture beyond the first page, with only 0.63% of Google users clicking on results beyond it. The importance of ranking on the first page of search results cannot be overstated, emphasizing the competitive nature of SEO.
The online world thrives on visibility, and the cornerstone of achieving this visibility in search engines lies within the realm of technical SEO. With the surge in demand for a reliable technical SEO service like the one we offer at Shortlist, understanding its core concepts has never been more crucial.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the significance of SEO remains consistent. In this guide, we will explain technical SEO, why it is important, as well as some of the best practices for technical SEO on your website.
What Is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO refers to the optimization of websites and servers to ensure they are accessible, crawlable, and indexable by search engines. This practice ensures that search engines can understand the structure of a site, efficiently crawl its pages, and rank it appropriately in search results. The main goal is to enhance organic rankings and improve visibility on search engines.
Regular technical SEO audits are essential for continuous website optimization, helping to identify and resolve potential issues, leading to improved search visibility and user experience.
Why Is Technical SEO so Important?
The simplest way to explain this is that technical SEO is the backbone of a website’s visibility on search engines. Without proper technical optimization, even the best content might struggle to rank or even get indexed by search engines.
As search engine algorithms become more sophisticated, they prioritize not just the content, but also the user experience, website performance, and the security of a website, all of which are influenced by technical SEO practices.
Google’s core processes (crawling, indexing, and ranking) are significantly enhanced by good technical SEO. It ensures that Google can efficiently crawl, render, and index content, setting a foundation for higher organic rankings.
Why Do You Need Technical SEO for Your Site?
Technical SEO strategies extend far beyond the basics, diving into intricate details to ensure that websites outshine their competitors in search engine results. It revolves around numerous strategies and practices that focus on optimizing both the site and server, ensuring efficient indexing and improved organic rankings.
Site structure and optimization
Effective technical SEO requires a robust site structure, mobile optimization, and optimal page speed. Google’s Mobile Usability report assesses mobile-friendliness.
Aspects such as JavaScript, XML sitemaps, URL structure, and structured data play crucial roles in a site’s technical optimization. Consistent URLs, proper categorization, and breadcrumb navigation further enrich user experience and provide context to search engines.
Implementing structured data, such as Schema markup, can enhance site presentation in search results and increase click-through rates.
Content indexing
Ensuring that your site’s content is easily indexed is paramount. Without technical optimization, a site may not even appear in search engine results, no matter how good its content is.
A technical SEO service ensures search engines can easily retrieve and list your site’s content. Control over crawling is possible using mechanisms like the robots.txt file and directives in platforms like Google Search Console. After crawling, pages are indexed and stored for retrieval during user searches.
Avoiding duplicate content
Furthermore, while original content is always preferred, solutions for handling duplicate content stemming from CMS or thin content issues are available. Technical SEO helps in avoiding such content issues by implementing canonical tags, which can otherwise impact the website’s search rankings adversely.
Page speed
The speed of a webpage has direct implications on its ranking. Aspects such as web page size, CDNs, caching, and lazy loading can drastically improve loading times. It’s also crucial to be wary of image-rich pages that can hinder loading speeds. Testing these elements ensures a seamless user experience. Tools such as PageSpeed Insights evaluate loading speed.
User experience
Technical SEO significantly impacts the user experience. A technically optimized site will load faster, be mobile-friendly, and provide a secure environment for users. All these factors influence a user’s decision to stay on or leave a site.
Ranking boost
Likewise, Google and other search engines prioritize sites that are secure (using HTTPS), fast-loading, and mobile-friendly. Technical SEO encompasses these aspects, ensuring that a website meets these criteria and therefore stands a better chance of ranking higher.
Multilingual websites
Hreflang attributes are crucial to inform search engines about content language and structure.
Foundation for other SEO practices
On-page and off-page SEO efforts will be in vain if the site isn’t technically sound. Technical search engine optimization lays the foundation for other SEO practices to thrive on.
While foundational SEO is essential, advanced technical SEO delves into the site’s technicalities impacting SEO, such as hosting, speed, meta tags, XML sitemaps, JavaScript, and even intricate facets like crawl budget and code efficiency.
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, technical SEO stands as a pillar, ensuring that alongside quality content and backlinks, a website has an optimal architecture for search engines. Not only does it lead to higher rankings, but it also amplifies user experience and overall search engine performance.
Characteristics of a Technically Optimized Site
A technically adept website offers swift loading times for its users and seamless crawling capabilities for search engine bots. Ensuring your site is technically set up properly aids search engines in comprehending the website’s content and intent.
This also mitigates issues such as duplicate content and prevents directing users and search engines to malfunctioning links. Let’s delve into some key attributes of a technically refined website.
Speed matters
Needless to say, speed is paramount in our digital age. Users lack the patience for slow-loading websites. As early as 2016, studies indicated that over half of mobile users would abandon a site if it took more than three seconds to load.
A recent 2022 study reiterated the importance of speed, indicating that eCommerce conversion rates decrease approximately 0.3% with every added second of loading time. Slow websites not only deter potential visitors but also rank lower on search engines. Google recognizes the importance of page experience, emphasizing it as a ranking factor.
Being Optimized for Search Engine Crawling
Search engines deploy bots to navigate and index your website. Effective internal link structuring ensures that these bots recognize pivotal content on your site.
However, guiding these bots goes beyond internal linking. It’s possible to restrict them from indexing certain content or areas of your site. Alternatively, you might allow bots to navigate a specific web page but prevent it from appearing in search results or following its links.
- The robots.txt file serves as a guide for search engine bots on your website. However, this tool must be used judiciously. Certain elements can inadvertently hinder bots from indexing essential website sections.
For instance, blocking CSS and JS files, which dictate the appearance and functionality of your site, can prevent search engines from comprehending the site’s operations. If you’re unfamiliar with the nuances of robots.txt, it’s best to entrust your website to a professional technical SEO service.
- Hidden in a webpage’s source code, specifically within the head section, is the robots meta tag – a tool invisible to visitors but pivotal for search engine bots. This tag provides directives to bots about the page’s content and their interaction with it.
Using the robots meta tag, you can allow bots to navigate a page but restrict its appearance in search results. Similarly, it’s possible to instruct bots to explore a page but refrain from following its embedded links. Tools like Yoast SEO simplify the process of setting a page to ‘noindex’ or ‘nofollow’.
Minimal Broken Links
While we’ve addressed the dangers of slow websites, an even bigger frustration for users is stumbling upon a page that’s non-existent. Links leading to missing web pages will present users with the dreaded 404 error. Such broken links can severely impact the user experience.
Additionally, search engines aren’t fond of encountering these error-filled pages. Given that they crawl every link they come across, even the concealed ones, they’re likely to discover more broken links than the average user does.
It’s a given that most websites will have some dead links because websites evolve continuously. One key preventive measure is to set up redirects whenever a page is deleted or relocated. The best practice is to redirect to a relevant replacement page.
Avoiding Duplicate Content Confusion
Duplicate content across various pages of your site, or even on different websites, can confuse search engines. If identical content exists across multiple pages, which page deserves the highest ranking? The consequence is often a lowered ranking for all pages with identical content.
For instance, due to technical nuances, multiple URLs might display the same content. While this distinction is inconsequential for users, it’s significant for search engines that identify duplicate content across distinct URLs.
Here, the canonical link element offers a technical remedy, allowing you to designate the original or preferred page for search engine ranking.
Prioritizing Security
At the heart of a technically refined website is security. Ensuring the safety and privacy of users has become a fundamental necessity in today’s digital landscape. There’s a myriad of measures to fortify the security of your site, with a pivotal step being the adoption of HTTPS.
HTTPS ensures that data exchanged between a browser and your site remains inaccessible to potential interceptors. This means, for example, that users’ login details remain confidential.
The backbone of HTTPS is the SSL certificate, which you’ll need to integrate into your website. Recognizing the imperative of online safety, Google has integrated HTTPS as a ranking factor, meaning secure sites are given a preferential ranking over their non-secure counterparts.
Checking the security status of your site is straightforward in most browsers. By glancing at the left side of your browser’s search bar, a lock icon will indicate a secure connection. If that’s not the case, some remedial action is required.
Nonessential but still valuable characteristics
While the features we mentioned above are must-haves, the following three are not necessary but definitely are characteristics of the most successful websites.
Embracing Structured Data
Structured data plays a pivotal role in helping search engines comprehend the intricacies of your website, content, or even business operations. Through structured data, you can inform search engines about the products you offer or the recipes featured on your site, and provide detailed insights about them.
There’s a standardized format (outlined on Schema.org) that you must adhere to when presenting this information, ensuring search engines can effortlessly locate and interpret it. It’s a tool that contextualizes your content within a broader framework.
Featuring an XML Sitemap
In essence, an XML sitemap is a comprehensive list of your website’s pages, acting as a guide for search engines navigating through your site. Its presence ensures that search engines identify all crucial content you’ve curated. This sitemap typically segments into categories such as posts, pages, tags, custom post types, and details like the number of images and when each page was last updated.
In an ideal scenario, websites might not require an XML sitemap. If every piece of content is interconnected with a flawless internal linking system, then search engine robots can navigate without it. But, given that not all websites maintain a perfect structure, integrating an XML sitemap is a recommended feature for all sites.
Hreflang
For websites catering to multiple countries, or regions sharing a common language, search engines benefit from guidance to ascertain the intended audience for each segment. This ensures users are presented with the site version most relevant to their geographical context.
Hreflang tags play this guiding role. They clarify the intended country and language for each webpage. They also address potential issues of duplicate content.
Best Practices for Technical SEO
This section lists proven technical SEO best practices. By following them, you can ensure efficient indexing and higher organic rankings for your website.
HTTPS
HTTPS ensures secure communication between a user’s browser and a website. SSL certificates facilitate this encryption, which not only assures the safety of the data but also positively impacts search ranking.
HTTPS and SSL are integral for establishing trust among users and for encrypting data transfers. The transition to HTTPS requires communicating with the hosting provider and careful migration to ensure no loss of SEO value.
- Purchase and install an SSL certificate from a trusted provider.
- Ensure all website URLs redirect from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Update internal links, sitemaps, and robots.txt to include HTTPS versions.
- Monitor for mixed content warnings where HTTPS pages might request HTTP resources.
Page Speed
Page speed is a determinant for both search rankings and user experience. Factors such as webpage size, 3rd party scripts, image compression, caching, and usage of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) influence a site’s loading time.
Utilizing tools like PageSpeed Insights can provide invaluable feedback for optimization. For ideal performance, consider reducing plugin numbers, upgrading servers, and refining scripts. A focus on page size, especially by optimizing images and employing techniques such as lazy loading and CSS minification, can lead to significant improvements.
- Optimize images to reduce file size without compromising quality.
- Minimize the use of third-party scripts and plugins.
- Implement browser caching.
- Leverage CDNs to distribute content more efficiently.
- Minimize and compress CSS, JavaScript, and other textual assets.
Mobile-Friendly Website
A mobile-friendly website is not only favorable for user experience but is also a ranking factor. Google’s Mobile Usability report can pinpoint areas needing improvement. It’s essential to avoid elements that obstruct mobile viewing, such as intrusive interstitials.
Given the importance of mobile-first indexing, it’s vital to ensure parity between mobile and desktop content.
- Adopt a responsive design to ensure your website adjusts to various screen sizes.
- Prioritize page speed optimization and ensure mobile pages load quickly.
- Enhance user experience by having readable layouts and avoiding intrusive pop-ups.
- Regularly test mobile performance using tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can dilute a website’s authority and confuse search engines. Solutions include using the “noindex” tag or canonical URLs to inform search engines which version to prioritize.
SEO tools like Raven Tools Site Auditor can detect duplicate content for rectification. When dealing with similar content on multiple web pages, canonical tags provide clarity on which version should be indexed.
- Monitor for identical content across diverse URLs.
- Use canonical tags to guide search engines on which version of content to prioritize.
- Implement 301 redirects for outdated URLs to their newer counterparts.
- Merge or noindex similar pages to prevent confusion.
- Utilize tools like Siteliner and Ahrefs’ Site Audit to detect duplicate content.
Broken Pages
Broken links and redirect chains can impede a site’s health, reducing its crawlability and user experience. Regularly auditing and rectifying these issues maintains a website’s integrity and optimizes its performance in search results. Tools like Semrush’s Site Audit can assist in detecting broken pages and suggest solutions to fix them.
- Conduct regular audits to identify broken links or pages.
- Implement 301 redirects for broken URLs to relevant pages.
- Remove or update links that point to non-existing resources.
- Ensure that your sitemaps are updated and free of broken URLs.
Internal Links
Internal linking positively affects page discoverability and can boost rankings. A coherent internal linking strategy, along with breadcrumbs navigation, facilitates better site structure and assists in SEO efforts.
They ensure that deep pages get indexed and support the user journey throughout a website. Breadcrumbs, which are internal links that help users navigate, reinforce site architecture, and are beneficial for SEO. Google’s display of breadcrumb-style URLs in search results emphasizes their value.
- Adopt a logical site structure to guide users and search engines.
- Use descriptive anchor texts that convey the content of the target page.
- Ensure deep pages are accessible through internal linking.
- Implement breadcrumb navigation for enhanced user experience.
Technical SEO Tools
Photo by Myriam Jessier on Unsplash
Technical SEO tools play a significant role in enhancing website performance, visibility, and optimization. They can diagnose issues, track site performance, and provide actionable insights, offering invaluable insights into technical SEO.
Let’s explore the capabilities of some of these renowned tools:
- Google Search Console: This free service from Google offers metrics and indexing monitoring, enabling website owners to understand how Google’s search bots view their site. It provides insights into which sites link to your website, the mobile usability of the site, and indexing issues, among other metrics.
- Ahrefs: Apart from boasting a vast link index, Ahrefs provides a comprehensive set of tools for SEOs, such as Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar. These tools aid in the improvement of site performance and user experience. Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar, for instance, offers useful metrics, and the Webmaster Tools help in site diagnostics.
- Moz: Moz Pro is geared towards enhancing a website’s visibility in search engines. Like Ahrefs, Moz offers a suite of tools and resources designed to address various aspects of SEO, from link building to site audits.
- Semrush: You can assess the health of your website, delve into its crawlability, address issues, and discover innovative ways to improve rankings using Semrush’s suite of technical SEO tools.
To maximize the benefits of these tools, it’s crucial for website owners and SEO professionals to:
- Stay updated with the frequent changes in search engine algorithms.
- Prioritize tasks to enhance both site performance and user experience.
- Regularly use these tools to diagnose issues, track site performance, and obtain actionable insights to continuously refine their SEO strategies.
Final Thoughts
Technical SEO forms the backbone of an optimized online presence. While content is king, a technical SEO service ensures that this content is discoverable and presented efficiently to search engines and users alike.
Grasping the intricacies of technical SEO might seem daunting, but with the right tools and a foundational understanding, it’s entirely achievable. As the digital landscape continually evolves, staying abreast of technical SEO best practices is imperative for online success.
If you’re overwhelmed with everything you have read in this comprehensive guide, feel free to reach out to our team. We will be happy to help with any questions you may have and give your website an impeccable technical SEO service foundation for its success in search engine rankings.
