Last Updated on August 6, 2024 by Admin
If we talk of SEO, content is the KING. Even the best content will not be valuable if the search engines cannot index it or comprehend what the page is about.
That’s where technical SEO plays a crucial role. Technical SEO is a subset of SEO that deals with the optimization of content on a website.
Technical SEO is a crucial part of a site’s rankings in search engines. It arranges your site so that it is easy for the search engine to crawl, understand, and index your content.
This blog will explain all the aspects of technical SEO. We will cover everything from its importance to basics to best practices. So, let’s start exploring the realm of technical SEO and clearing up the myths!
What Is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO can be defined as a process of adjusting website and server parameters to make the location more understandable to crawlers and website users. Implementing the technical SEO best practices can lead to a better ranking in the search engine because your business provides a great UX and valuable content.
Why Is Technical SEO Important?
Technical SEO is the backbone of the SEO game and determines the success of SEO efforts. If search engines cannot index certain pages of your site, they won’t be returned in the search results, regardless of how great the content is.
This leads to less traffic to your website and possibly less business for you as a company or individual. Also, it is proven that a website’s speed and mobile friendliness are indeed factors that define its ranking.
If your pages take a long time to load, users will get annoyed and exit from your site. Such user behaviors may indicate that your site does not generate a positive user experience, which could cause your site to be ranked poorly by search engines.
Basics of Technical SEO
Having defined technical SEO and its importance, it is now high time for a closer look at some of the components.
- JavaScript: JavaScript is very useful when designing a website because it allows the creation of dynamic and interactive websites. However, if used inappropriately, JavaScript can become a major disadvantage when it comes to your site’s crawlability. Make sure that your JavaScript is well-optimized and does not prevent search engines from crawling significant portions of the page.
- XML Sitemaps: An XML sitemap is similar to a road map where you list all the essential aspects of your site to enable the crawler to locate your content easily. It plays the role of a site map that directs search engines to all the important pages on your website.
- Site Architecture: Site organization is how your pages are set up and connected to the site you are maintaining. A good structure enables search engine spiders to navigate your pages and allows users to move around. Make sure that your site pages have a clear structure and are organized logically.
- URL Structure: A crisp and simple URL structure is an important factor for both users and search engines. URLs should not be very long and should contain keywords only, not additional characters such as ‘&’ or other special characters.
- Structured Data: Schema markup is structured data that helps search engines crawl and understand the site’s content. Adding structured data increases the number of rich snippets in the search results and CTR.
- Thin Content: Thin content means that the page does not contain any valuable content or very little of it. They can negatively impact your SEO rating. Make sure that all the pages of your site contain some informative and interesting material for your site’s guests.
- Duplicate Content: Duplicate content means having two or more URLs with similar or the same content. This can complicate things for the search engines and water down your rankings. Employ rel attributes to point to the primary version of a page.
- Hreflang: The hreflang attribute is used for the language and geographical properties of a particular webpage. Every site that has translated content should make sure that the user receives the correct language for their location.
- Canonical Tags: Canonical tags help prevent duplicate content by pointing to the desired version of the page. This helps inform search engines which page should be crawled and ranked in the search results.
- 404 Pages: A 404 error page is displayed to the user when the particular page he/she is searching for is not found. Optimize your 404 pages to point users in the right direction and reduce your bounce rates.
- 301 Redirects: A 301 redirect is permanent and shifts a page to a new URL. Users and search engines should be able to find the new one, so use 301 redirects to retain the link juice.
Technical SEO Best Practices
After reviewing the previous sections, we can discuss some best practices for enhancing your technical SEO.
#1. Use HTTPS
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) should no longer be an option but the rule. HTTPS protects user and website data from interception, which benefits website visitors’ trust and possibly search engines. Google has stated that HTTPS is a ranking signal, which makes it even more important for SEO.
For HTTPS, you require an SSL certificate, so its implementation requires one. Most hosting companies now include SSL certificates as part of their hosting plans, so they are relatively cheap and easy to get. After installing your SSL certificate, ensure that all internal links now use HTTPS and that you have proper redirects from http to https pages in place.
#2. Find & Fix Duplicate Content Issues
The use of duplicated content often poses a problem to search engines and then the ranking power of your site. It happens when the same or almost the same material is published on two or more pages on your site or across a number of sites. Search engines also need clarification as to which of the two versions to index and rank for your benefit or detriment.
To solve the problem of duplicate content, use canonical tags to define which similar pages are primary. Do not write the same content for two or more pages, and be careful with pagination and filters that generate copy URLs. Perform periodic checks on your site for copies of the content and ensure you either merge or diversify the pages. Also, use tips to optimize your content to rank on search engine and be useful for users rather than creating duplicate contents.
#3. Choose One Domain Version
Choose if you are to use the ‘www’ or non ‘www’ version of your domain, and do not switch between the two. This does not create duplicate content problems and focuses on the site’s link juice. Create 301 redirects from the non-desirable version to the desirable version, use the desirable version in all internal links, and indicate the preferred domain in GSC.
#4. Improve Your Page Speed
Another parameter of concern is page speed, both as a determinant of the end-user’s experience and as an SEO factor. To improve your site’s speed:
- Reduce image size and use the right formats for images
- Optimize the CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files
- Use browser caching
- Consider the use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
#5. Ensure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
As mobile traffic has become the most predominant in the web space, any site that is not optimized for mobile devices will not rank high. Google implements a mobile-first index, which means that it indexes the mobile version of your site. Check that the site’s design follows a responsive design, which is suitable for viewing on smartphones and tablets.
Some cross-checking concerns for mobile are checking how the text appears and is readable without zooming, checking button and link sizes for easy tapping, and not using software that is less likely to be found on mobile devices, such as Flash. It is recommended that you check your site on different mobile devices and in different browsers to guarantee the convenience of navigation.
#6. Use Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumbs are a navigational assist that informs the user (and search engines) where the current page is in the hierarchy of your site. That brings a number of advantages to the table for both the user and search engine optimization. They help users keep track of their location within your site and quickly get to the more general pages. To search engines, breadcrumbs are helpful in offering extra information about the architecture of the website as well as the hierarchy of the web pages.
Use breadcrumbs that are correct for your site organization and apply schema to them so that search engines can understand them. This can also lead to better search results listings and may increase your click-through rates from the search engine results pages.
#7. Use Pagination
Pagination is an important factor for sites with large amounts of content, such as e-commerce product pages or blog archives. To show the relationship between pages, use the rel=”next” and rel=”prev” attributes. In this case, provide a link for more information or “View All,” which may help users and search engines browse all information at once.
When applying the concept of an infinite scroll, one must be careful because it negatively affects SEO. If you are using an infinite scroll, make sure every piece of content is on a separate ‘page’ with its URL that can be crawled and indexed.
#8. Review Your Robots.txt File
The robots.txt file is used to inform the search engines which part of your website they should crawl and which part they should not. It’s a rather powerful tool, but it must be used judiciously. Do not exclude CSS or JavaScript files, as they complicate the process of rendering and crawling for the search engine. Robots.txt can be used to disallow robots to crawl your site areas that you do not wish to be crawled, e.g., the admin section or content generated by your CMS.
Check your robots.txt file frequently so you do not exclude relevant data. Use it as a supplement to your XML sitemap to tell search engines which pages are the most relevant.
#9. Implement Structured Data
Structured data assists search engines in better comprehending your content and can result in rich snippets when the content is displayed in the search results. The listed above can go a long way in increasing your click-through rates from the search results. Use schema. org markup for such content types as products, reviews, events, or recipes, if any are present.
Follow structured data guidelines and update them frequently and with the right information. Check the implementation of your structured data by using Google’s Rich Results Test to confirm that it is ready for rich snippets.
#10. Find & Fix Broken Pages
Dead links and 404 errors are bad for users and your crawl budget. Links should be checked for broken links on a regular basis using options like Google Search Console or other special services. If you do come across any broken links, modify them to the new link of the page or delete the link if the page no longer exists.
Design a user-friendly 404 page that will lead users back to some of the active pages within your website. In case pages have been moved to new locations permanently, utilize the 301 redirects to the new page. This retains link juice and benefits users as well as search engines to locate the required content easily.
#11. Optimize for the Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are actually a number of specific indicators that Google believes to be critical to an average user’s experience of a webpage. They include:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): The measures that load performance
- First Input Delay (FID): Not only does it measure interactivity,
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): It provides visual stability on a micro level.
Enhance these factors by reducing your site’s loading time, limiting the execution time of JavaScript, and avoiding any movement of the page items when the page is loading. You can use Google’s tools, such as PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console, to check these metrics.
#12. Use Hreflang for Content in Multiple Languages
When the site is in multiple languages or targeting multiple regions, the use of hreflang tags is very important. Ensure that every page that has been affected has hreflang tags on the implemented page and the canonical one. For languages, use the two-letter codes from ISO 639-1, and for countries, use the two-letter codes from ISO 3166-1 alpha 2. The hreflang tag should be self-referencing on each page.
Proper use of hreflang ensures that, depending on the user’s language and location, they see the content you want them to see, thus improving the user experience and your international SEO.
#13. Stay On Top of Technical SEO Issues
Technical SEO is not a one-off job; rather, it is a continual process. New problems can occur over time, and regular auditing allows a person to address such problems as soon as they appear. It also allows a person to stay updated on the different algorithms and rules put in place by search engines. It also helps a person monitor the technical health of a site and fix it as soon as possible if it’s not in good condition.
For a more detailed analysis, which may include a technical SEO audit, it is advisable to use efficient tools like Semrush or Ahrefs or to hire a professional SEO service. Be attentive to aspects such as crawl errors, indexation issues, site speed, mobile-friendliness, and security matters.
Conclusion
Technical SEO is a very important aspect that must be handled well if one wants to have and sustain a good ranking on the Search Engine Results Pages. As stated above, you should follow these basics and examples of the best practices to create a proper base to work on to improve your website’s SEO performance.
Here at AlgoSaga SEO Service, we pride ourselves on being a business that can assist business entities in understanding the world of SEO. Our team always does the research needed to know the current good technical SEO practices to help your website rank well.