If you’re focusing on boosting your website’s rankings but have only considered keywords and content (the basics of on-page SEO), you might be overlooking one crucial element: technical SEO.
This foundational part of search engine optimization ensures your site runs smoothly, loads quickly, and provides search engines with the data they need to rank your pages.
For beginners, technical SEO can feel overwhelming, but with this guide, we’ll break down the essentials into manageable steps. Plus, if it all sounds too technical, don’t worry—this is where professional help can make all the difference.
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO refers to optimizing your website’s infrastructure so search engines can crawl, index, and rank it effectively.
Unlike content-focused strategies, technical SEO is about the nuts and bolts of your site: its speed, structure, and overall performance.
Key Audits and Fixes for Better Rankings
1. Site Speed: Faster is Better
Did you know that slow-loading pages can cost you both visitors and rankings?
Google prioritizes fast websites because they provide a better user experience.
What to Check:
- Run your website through Google PageSpeed Insights.
- Check load times on both desktop and mobile devices.
How to Improve:
- Compress images using tools like TinyPNG.
- Enable browser caching.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute your website’s data faster globally.
Pro Tip: Most hosting providers offer upgrades that improve speed. Contact your hosting provider about this.
2. Mobile-Friendliness: Optimize for All Screens
With over half of global web traffic coming from mobile devices, ensuring your website is mobile-friendly is critical for success. Google now uses mobile-first indexing, which prioritizes the mobile version of your site when determining search rankings.
What to Check:
- Use tools like Google Lighthouse or third-party options such as BrowserStack to assess mobile usability.
- Check for issues like text readability, button size, and navigation on smaller screens.
How to Improve:
- Responsive Design: Ensure your site adjusts seamlessly to various screen sizes and orientations.
- Avoid Intrusive Pop-Ups: Minimize pop-ups that disrupt the mobile user experience.
- User-Friendly Navigation: Make buttons and links large enough to tap easily without accidental clicks.
By focusing on mobile usability, you’ll provide a better experience for users which will help improve your search rankings.
3. Indexing Issues: Make Sure Search Engines Can Find You
If search engines can’t access or “index” your pages, the pages won’t appear in search results.
Regularly check your site’s indexing status to make sure all important pages are being crawled.
What to Check:
- In Google Search Console, look under the “Indexing” section to spot issues.
- Check for broken links, orphaned pages (pages without internal links), and duplicate content.
How to Improve:
- Fix crawl errors such as 404 pages or server errors.
- Use a proper robots.txt file to guide search engine crawlers.
- Submit a sitemap in Google Search Console to ensure your pages are indexed.
4. Structured Data: Speak Search Engine Language
Structured data is a way to communicate directly with search engines by providing additional context about your content.
This helps search engines display rich results, like star ratings or event details, which can attract more clicks.
What to Check:
- Test your structured data with Google’s Rich Results Test.
- Use Schema.org guidelines to understand which markup applies to your content.
How to Improve:
- Add schema markup to highlight key details, such as business hours, product reviews, or upcoming events.
- If you’re using WordPress, plugins like Rank Math or Yoast SEO make adding structured data easier.
Common Free or Affordable Tools for Technical SEO
For beginners or businesses on a budget, here are some tools to get started:
- Google Search Console: Monitor your site’s indexing status and fix crawl issues.
- Screaming Frog (Free Version): Crawl up to 500 URLs to find errors like broken links or duplicate pages.
- GTmetrix: Analyze your site’s speed and get actionable recommendations.
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools: Free insights on backlinks and technical issues.
Why Technical SEO Matters
Think of technical SEO as the foundation of your website. Without it, even the most compelling content can fail to rank.
These audits and fixes may seem simple, but they require consistency and technical know-how to implement effectively.
If this feels like too much to handle on your own, hiring an expert can save you time and ensure everything is set up correctly.
Whether it’s optimizing site speed, fixing indexing issues, or adding structured data, investing in professional support can yield long-term results.
Read Next: The Role of User Experience (UX) in SEO