Technical Optimization (Technical SEO)

Technical SEO is defined by configurations that can be implemented to the website and server (e.g. page elements, HTTP header responses, XML Sitemaps, redirects, meta data, etc.). Technical SEO work has either a direct or indirect impact on search engine crawling, indexing and ultimately ranking. As such, Technical SEO doesn’t include analytics, keyword research, backlink profile development or social media strategies.

Technical SEO is the process of optimizing a website’s backend structure, performance, and code to help search engines crawl, render, and index pages efficiently. It ensures a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience, primarily focusing on site speed, mobile-friendliness, and architecture, which are essential for higher search rankings.

Key Points Of Technical SEO

Here are some key components of technical SEO that are as follows:

1) Crawlability – In Technical SEO crawlability refers to how easily search engine bots (like Googlebot) can access, discover, and read the pages of a website. Search Engines can navigate through its links, find important pages, and understand the site structure without any kind of issues. If a website has good crawlability. If a website has poor crawlability this happens due to problems like broken links, incorrect robots.txt rules, No Index tags, duplicate URLs, or slow server responses.

There are some types of elements related to crawl ability in technical SEO:

->XML Sitemaps: XML sitemaps are files that provide a list of all the important pages of a website along with additional information such as the last modification date, page priority and update frequency which guide search engines on how to crawl the site. Submitting a sitemap to search engines helps them discover and crawl pages more efficiently.

->Website Structure: Website architecture plays a crucial role in crawlability, influencing how search engine crawlers navigate and understand the structure of a website. A well-organized and logical website architecture enhances crawlability, making it easier for search engines to index and rank pages.

2) Indexing – Once your website is crawlable, it needs to be indexed by search engines to appear in search results. Indexing refers to the process by which search engines store and organize your website’s content in their databases, making it accessible to users through search queries. Proper indexing is important for ensuring that your website shows up when users search for relevant keywords and phrases. If a page is not indexed, it will not show up in search results. Proper technical elements are crucial, such as XML sitemaps, correct use of robots.txt, and avoiding duplicate content—help search engines index pages correctly and efficiently.

Here are some elements that affect indexing include:

-> Robots.txt: Robot.txt is a simple text file used in technical SEO to guide search engine crawlers on how to access a website. It contains the list of allowed and disallowed sites and whenever a bot wants to access the website, it checks the robots.txt file and accesses only those sites that are allowed. It doesn’t show the disallowed sites in search results.

It helps to manage crawl budgets, prevents indexing of non-important or sensitive pages, and ensures that search engines focus on valuable content.

-> Canonicalization: In SEO Canonical Tag helps search engines to understand which one version of a webpage is the main or preferred version. When there are multiple Urls with similar or identical content. Canonicalization also helps to prevent duplicate content by telling Google which one Urls should be ranked on search engine results.

-> Mobile Friendly: In SEO Mobile Friendliness is important because according to Google algorithms, Google uses Mobile-First Indexing, which means it mainly checks the mobile version of a website for ranking. Nowadays, most users search on their mobile phone, so a poor mobile experience increases bounce rate. Having a mobile friendly website is not an option but it is a necessity. Search engines prioritize websites that provide a seamless user experience on mobile devices, ensuring that your content is easily accessible and readable on smartphones and tablets. Implementing responsive design or creating a dedicated mobile site can significantly improve your website’s mobile-friendliness.

3) Content Quality – In SEO high quality content answers the users questions clearly and completely. While technical SEO focuses on the technical aspects of your website, Content quality remains excellent. Search engines prioritize websites that offer high-quality, informative, and relevant content that satisfies users’ search intent and it is also essential for improving your website’s rankings and attracting organic traffic.

4) Page Speed – In technical SEO PageSpeed is a critical factor, PageSpeed in SEO refers to how fast a web page loads and becomes usable for users. It is an important Google ranking factor because faster websites provide a better user experience. A slow-loading website can lead to high bounce rates, reduced conversions, and lower rankings. Optimizing your website’s speed by minifying CSS and JavaScript files, enabling browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN) can significantly improve page load times and enhance user engagement.

5) Structured Data – In SEO Structured Data, also known as Schema Markup is a powerful tool for enhancing your website’s visibility and providing users with rich snippets in search results. Schema Markup is a standardized way of organizing and labeling website information so that search engines can better understand your content. You can also provide search engines with detailed information about your website’s content. 

It uses a specific format called Schema Markup (usually written in JSON-LD) to describe elements on a page, such as products, articles, reviews, events, FAQs, and more.

10) Broken Links – A broken link is a link on a website that no longer works or leads to a valid page. When a user clicks these links, they usually return an error like 404 (Page Not Found). Broken links can occur due to changes in URL, or removal of content, typographical errors, server issues, or other factors, disrupting the seamless navigation of users through a website.

Benefits of Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on improving a website’s performance so search engines can easily crawl and index. Here are some key benefits –

1. Improved Search Engine Visibility.

2. Higher Search Engine Rankings.

3. Enhanced User Experience.

4. Better Click-Through Rates (CTRs).

5. Faster Page Load Times.

6. Improved Conversion Rates.

7. Better Analytics Insights

8. Fixes Duplicate Content Issues

9. Better User Experience (UX)

10. Improved Core Web Vitals