Technical SEO refers to the optimization of a website's technical aspects to improve its search engine visibility and enhance crawling, indexing, and ranking by search engines. The main work of a technical SEO involves tweaking elements that are not content-related but influence a site's performance in search results. Some of the common tasks that are included in technical SEO works are:
- Submitting a sitemap to Google
- Doing overall technical SEO audit to create an SEO-friendly website structure
- Improve website loading speed
- Create a mobile-friendly website
- Finding and fixing issues related to duplicate content
Why is Technical SEO Important?
Technical SEO is as important as on-page and off-page SEO strategies. It lays the foundation for a website's discovery success in the search engine.
If your website isn't accessible by search engines, it won't appear in search results. This can lead to a loss of traffic and decreased revenue for your business. Aside from this, improper technical SEO can also cause issues such as slow site, non-friendly mobile site version, and many other underlying issues. It can create frustration for users, which prompts them to leave your site faster. This can be a signal of a poor user experience and will eventually impact your running.
The initial step in optimizing your website’s URL for technical SEO involves ensuring effective crawling by a search engine. Proper technical SEO can help search engines effectively crawl and understand your site's content. This will lead to better rankings, due to improved user experience.
What Are the Best Practices for Technical SEO?
1. Evaluate Robots.txt File
The robots.txt file is a text file on a website that instructs search engine crawlers which pages or sections of the site should or shouldn’t be crawled or indexed. It helps manage how search engines interact with your site, controlling access to certain parts to avoid indexing irrelevant or sensitive content. For example, you can access the Cardinal Digital site’s robots.txt through https://www.cardinaldigital.com/robots.txt.
With proper implementation of this, you can ensure crawl efficiency and increase site visibility. To evaluate the Robots.txt file, you should utilize Google’s robots.txt testing tool and regularly do site updates to reflect any site changes.
2. Creating Sitemaps
XML sitemaps are files that list all the URLs of a website, helping search engines understand the site's structure and find content that might be otherwise hard to discover. They can improve the indexing process and ensure that all pages intended for search engine discovery are included. For reference to how sitemaps files look, you can access Cardinal Digital’s sitemaps at https://www.cardinaldigital.com/sitemap.xml.
To conclude, XML sitemaps can help search engines understand the site structure, thus ensuring better crawling. If you want to create your own sitemaps, the first thing you should do is submit the sitemaps to Google.
3. Prioritize SSL Certificates
HTTPS and SSL certificates can help to ensure secure and trusted browsing experiences for users. SSL helps certificates encrypt data transmitted between a user's browser and the web server, ensuring secure and encrypted connections. On the other hand, HTTPS more known as the secure version of HTTP, not only helps to secure data but also improves trust and SEO rankings.
4. URL Structure
A clear and descriptive URL structure makes it easier for both users and search engines to understand the content of a page. To optimize URL structure, you should use descriptive and readable URLs and use target keywords where relevant. Organizing them hierarchically can positively impact your SEO strategy.
5. Utilize Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) can help to improve your technical SEO strategy as it can help to provide insights into how Google sees your site, highlighting indexing issues, keyword performance, and other vital information. It helps monitor website performance in Google's search results and offers tools for optimization.
Utilizing GSC can be done by verifying and regularly monitoring site performance, and reviewing the site search analytics to get insight. Below is how GSC looks when you want to review a site's performance.
6. Improve Page Speed
Page speed significantly impacts user experience and SEO. Faster-loading pages tend to rank higher in search results. Techniques like optimizing images, enabling browser caching, and minimizing code can help enhance page loading times - and improve users' experience as a result.
7. Create a Mobile Friendly Site
Mobile optimization impacts SEO rankings, as search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites in their results. This happens because today, many people prefer to utilize a mobile phone to search for things online. Thus why a mobile-friendly site is important to enhance customers' experience.
When creating a mobile version of your site, be sure to communicate openly with your website developer about your needs, preferences, and worries. Do keep in mind that it is best to use a responsive design that can ensure easy navigation and readability when viewed on the phone.
8. Implement Structured Data
Structured data markup helps search engines understand the content on a webpage, enabling them to display rich snippets in search results. Rich snippets can include additional information like reviews, ratings, and event details, enhancing visibility and click-through rates.
9. Find & Fix Duplicate Content
Duplicate content across a website can confuse search engines, and potentially harm SEO rankings. Thus, it is a must for you to create proper strategies to help identify and resolve duplicate content inside your site. To do this, you should do a regular audit to resolve any duplicate content issues. This can help improve site credibility and search engine visibility.
10. Find & Fix Error Pages
Error pages like the 404 "Page Not Found" message can negatively impact user experience and SEO if not handled correctly. Properly managing error pages by redirecting or providing helpful guidance can retain visitors and improve user experience.
Final Thoughts
Mastering technical SEO practices is fundamental to achieving higher search engine rankings and ensuring a seamless user experience. If you want to achieve SEO success in 2024, you can get a comprehensive technical audit for your website at an affordable rate with Cardinal Digital. Our audit will help you uncover all issues on your site, and provide you with detailed explanations and key recommendations on how to fix them. Elevate your business strategy, and reach out to our team today!
Supercharge your digital presence with our premier SEO services in Singapore. At Cardinal Digital, we specialize in optimizing websites for top rankings and heightened visibility. Our seasoned team tailors strategies to make your brand shine, delivering success for startups and established businesses alike. Transform your website into a digital powerhouse by partnering with us. Contact us today for a consultation and take control of your online success.
