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Technical SEO refers to the practice of optimizing a website’s backend and infrastructure to improve its visibility and accessibility for search engines. This includes things like website structure, mobile optimization, page speed, URLs, and more. It is a very significant aspect of search engine optimisation due to the fact that it helps to ensure that search engines can easily crawl, index, and understand a website’s content, making it more likely to appear in search results. It has great impacts on search engine ranking.
The importance of technical SEO in search engine rankings cannot be overstated. Search engines like Google use complex algorithms to determine the relevance and authority of a website, and technical SEO plays a crucial role in this process. A website with poor technical SEO will likely struggle to rank well in search results, even if its content is high-quality. On the other hand, a website with strong technical SEO will have a better chance of ranking well, even if its content is not as strong.
Think about it like building a house, you can have the most beautiful interior decor and furniture, but if the foundation is weak, the house will still collapse. Similarly, even if the content on the website is great but the website’s structure and infrastructure are not optimized for search engines, the website will struggle to rank well in search results, especially in cases where the site is blocked by a robot.txt file. Technical SEO lays the foundation for a website’s search engine visibility, making it an essential part of any SEO strategy.
Factors that Impact Technical SEO
Website structure and architecture
This is one of the most important factors that impact technical SEO. Search engines use web crawlers to explore and index the content on a website, and a well-structured and organized website makes it easier for these crawlers to navigate. A website with poor structure, on the other hand, can make it difficult for search engines to understand the content and can lead to poor search engine rankings. Best practices for website structure and architecture include using a clear and logical hierarchy, using descriptive and accurate URLs, and using internal linking to help search engines understand the relationships between different pages on the website.
Mobile optimization is another key factor that impacts technical SEO.
More than 51% of website visitors use mobile devices according to a recent article by Statistica. With more and more people using mobile devices to access the internet, it is essential for websites to be optimized for these devices. This includes things like using responsive design, which ensures that a website looks and functions correctly on different screen sizes, and implementing mobile-friendly features like larger text and buttons. Not optimizing a website for mobile devices can lead to poor search engine rankings, as well as a poor user experience.
Page speed and load time
Page speed and load time are also important factors that impact technical SEO. Search engines have stated that page speed is a ranking factor, and a slow-loading website can lead to poor search engine rankings. Additionally, a slow-loading website can also lead to a poor user experience, which can ultimately hurt the website’s search engine rankings. Best practices for improving page speed and load time include optimizing images, minimizing code, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
URLs and redirects
Search engines use URLs to understand the content of a website and to determine the relationships between different pages. Using descriptive and accurate URLs can help search engines understand the content on a website while using redirects can help to ensure that search engines are directed to the correct page.
Schema markup and structured data
Schema markup is a type of code that is added to a website to help search engines understand the content on the website. This can include things like the type of content, the author of the content, and the date the content was published. Using schema markup and structured data can help to improve search engine rankings by making it easier for search engines to understand the content on a website.
Sitemaps and robots.txt
Sitemaps and robots.txt are also important factors that impact technical SEO. Sitemaps are files that contain a list of all the pages on a website and can help search engines to find and understand the content on a website. Robots.txt is a file that tells search engines which pages on a website should be indexed and which should not. Using sitemaps and robots.txt can help to improve search engine rankings by ensuring that search engines are able to find and understand the content on a website.
How to Optimise The Technical SEO of a Website
Conduct an Audit of the Website
There are several ways to handle the technical SEO optimisation of a website. The first step in optimizing a website’s technical aspects is by conducting an audit of the website. Technical SEO involves analyzing the website’s backend and infrastructure to identify any technical SEO issues that may be impacting its search engine rankings. The approach can include identifying things like poor website structure, slow page speed, broken links, and more. Once these issues have been identified, website owners can then take steps to address them and improve their technical SEO.
Identify and Implement Best Practices on Website Structure and Architecture
Implementing best practices for website structure and architecture is another important step in optimizing the technical SEO of any website. Whether it is ecommerce, SaaS products or just a blog, site structure and architecture play crucial roles. Website structure and architecture include things like using a clear and logical hierarchy, using descriptive and accurate URLs and using internal linking to help search engines understand the relationships between different pages on the website.
Evaluate the Website Speed and Optimise for Better Performance
Pagespeed and load time are other key factors. The process can include things like optimizing images, minimizing code, and using a content delivery network (CDN). Website owners can also use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to identify specific issues that are impacting their website’s page speed and to get suggestions on how to improve it.
Identify and Implement the Right Schema Types
Another important step in the technical optimisation process is schema optimisation. Schema markup is a type of code that is added to a website to help search engines understand the content on the website. It includes important information like the type of content, the author of the content, and the date the content was published. Using schema markup and structured data can help to improve search engine rankings by making it easier for search engines to understand the content on a website. When you conduct an audit, identify the proper schema types that should exist on the page and write them using guidelines on Schema.org.
Review Robot.txt File and Sitemap
As a website owner, it is also important to optimise your sitemap and robot.txt files to ensure that search engine bots are not blocked by the robot.txt file on your website. Sitemaps are files that contain a list of all the pages on a website and can help search engines to find and understand the content on a website. Robots.txt is a file that tells search engines which pages on a website should be indexed and which should not. Submitting sitemaps and robots.txt can help to improve search engine rankings by ensuring that search engines are able to find and understand the content on a website.
Track Progress on Search Console
Another important step you must understand how to handle is site monitoring. Keep a constant eye on the website traffic through Search Console and look out for errors that may be picked up by search engine bots when crawling your website. Monitoring the website’s search engine rankings, and monitoring the website’s page speed and load time. When you keep an eye on these metrics, you can quickly identify and address any issues that may be impacting their technical SEO and search engine rankings.
Impact of Technical SEO on Search Engine Ranking
Improves Website Visibility and Accessibility for Search Engines
One of the most significant impacts of technical SEO on search engine rankings is its ability to improve visibility and accessibility for search engines. When you optimize a website’s backend and infrastructure, you make it easier for search engines to crawl, index, and understand the content on the website. This approach involves the following: Clear and logical hierarchy, responsive design, and optimizing page speed and load time. It is also important to point out that if search engine bots cannot crawl your website, it becomes impossible to index that website no matter the quality of the content it has.
Improvement in Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
When you optimise your website’s backend and infrastructure, you directly improve the user experience. For example; optimizing page speed and load time makes your website load quickly and smoothly and gives your site visitors better experience, which can lead to higher click-through rates and increased traffic. Another strategy is to improve your website responsiveness through mobile experience.
Improvement in Crawlability and Indexability
Improving the website’s crawlability and indexability is another way that technical SEO impact search engine ranking. Search engines use web crawlers to explore and index the content on a website, and a well-structured and optimized website makes it easier for these crawlers to navigate. This includes factors like the website’s XML sitemaps, robots.txt file, and the use of proper header tags and meta tags. By making it easy for the crawlers to access and understand the website’s content, technical SEO helps search engines to better understand the website’s content and its relevance to specific search queries.
Using Structured Data
Structured data are codes that are added to a website’s HTML that help search engines understand the content on the website. They contain important information such as product information, reviews, ratings, event information, and more. Sometimes, more detailed information like phone numbers and addresses form important components of local business schema. Providing search engines with this additional information allows them to understand the website’s content better and can potentially lead to rich snippets and other enhancements in the search results.
Better Mobile Friendliness
Technical SEO also helps in improving the website’s mobile-friendliness and responsiveness. With more and more people using mobile devices to access the internet, it is essential for websites to be optimized for these devices. Things to pay attention to here include the following: Responsive design, which ensures that a website looks and functions correctly on different screen sizes, and implementing mobile-friendly features like larger text and buttons. Google has stated that mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor, and a website that is not optimized for mobile devices will likely struggle to rank well in search results.
Website Security
You already know that a good number of people will not attempt to visit your website if it doesn’t load on a secured connection. Websites that are secured with HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) have a slight edge over HTTP websites in terms of SEO. As Google is pushing for a more secure internet and actively encourages website owners to switch to HTTPS, it is likely that this will become an increasingly important ranking factor in the future.
Examples of the Impact of Technical SEO on Search Engine Ranking
There are many examples of successful technical SEO campaigns and their impact on search engine rankings. One example is this travel website that specializes in providing important information about travel and camping, the website had a poor structure and was not mobile-friendly, as a result, it had poor search engine rankings. We conducted an audit and optimised the website structure, making it mobile-friendly, and optimizing page speed and load time, the website’s search engine rankings improved significantly and it saw a significant increase in website traffic.
Jumia is another example is an e-commerce website which was facing issues with its checkout process, leading to high bounce rates and poor search engine rankings. We identified the issue through Google Analytics audit and worked on improving the checkout process and user experience, resulting in lower bounce rates and improved search engine rankings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, technical SEO is a critical aspect of any SEO strategy that should not be overlooked. It is the foundation upon which a website’s search engine visibility is built and plays a crucial role in determining a website’s search engine rankings. It is the process of optimizing a website’s backend and infrastructure to improve its visibility and accessibility for search engines. Through proper technical SEO techniques, you can ensure that your website is easily crawlable, indexable, and understandable for search engines. This can lead to higher search engine rankings, increased traffic, and better user experience.
Technical SEO is not a one-time task but a continuous process that requires constant monitoring and updates. It is important for you to stay up-to-date with the latest technical SEO best practices and to regularly audit their websites to identify and address any technical issues that may arise. Doing so, you can ensure that their website is always optimized for search engines and is able to compete in the ever-changing digital landscape.
It’s not only about following the guidelines and best practices but also about understanding the user’s journey and providing them with the best possible experience. Optimizing important aspects like website’s structure, mobile experience, page speed, URLs, schema markup and structured data, sitemaps and robots.txt, and website security, website owners can ensure that their website is easily accessible, user-friendly, and provides a great experience. This can lead to higher engagement, increased conversions, and ultimately better search engine rankings.
