What Is Technical SEO? Basics and Best Practices

What Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is astir improving your website to marque it easier for hunt engines to find, understand, and store your content. 

It besides involves idiosyncratic acquisition factors. Such arsenic making your website faster and easier to usage connected mobile devices.

Done right, method SEO tin boost your visibility successful hunt results.

In this post, you’ll larn the fundamentals and champion practices to optimize your website for method SEO.

Let’s dive in.

Why Is Technical SEO Important?

Technical SEO tin marque oregon interruption your SEO performance. 

If pages connected your tract aren’t accessible to hunt engines, they won’t look successful hunt results—no substance however invaluable your contented is.

This results successful a nonaccomplishment of postulation to your website and imaginable gross to your business.

Plus, a website’s velocity and mobile-friendliness are confirmed ranking factors.

If your pages load slowly, users whitethorn get annoyed and permission your site. User behaviors similar this whitethorn awesome that your tract doesn’t make a affirmative idiosyncratic experience. As a result, hunt engines whitethorn not fertile your tract well.

To recognize method SEO better, we request to sermon 2 important processes: crawling and indexing.

Understanding Crawling and How to Optimize for It

Crawling is an indispensable constituent of however hunt engines work. 

Crawling happens erstwhile hunt engines travel links connected pages they already cognize astir to find pages they haven’t seen before.

For example, each clip we people caller blog posts, we adhd them to our main blog page.

So, the adjacent clip a hunt motor similar Google crawls our blog page, it sees the precocious added links to caller blog posts.

And that’s 1 of the ways Google discovers our caller blog posts.

There are a fewer ways to guarantee your pages are accessible to hunt engines:

Create an SEO-Friendly Site Architecture

Site architecture (also called tract structure) is the mode pages are linked unneurotic wrong your site.

An effectual tract operation organizes pages successful a mode that helps crawlers find your website contented rapidly and easily.

So, guarantee each the pages are conscionable a fewer clicks distant from your homepage erstwhile structuring your site.

Like this:

In the tract operation above, each the pages are organized successful a logical hierarchy.

The homepage links to class pages. And the class pages nexus to idiosyncratic subpages connected the site.

This operation besides reduces the fig of orphan pages.

Orphan pages are pages with nary interior links pointing to them, making it hard (or sometimes impossible) for crawlers and users to find them.

If you’re a Semrush user, you tin easy find whether your tract has immoderate orphan pages.

Set up a project successful the Site Audit instrumentality and crawl your website.

Once the crawl is complete, navigate to the “Issues” tab and hunt for “orphan.”

The instrumentality shows whether your tract has immoderate orphan pages. Click the bluish nexus to spot which ones they are.

To hole the issue, add internal links connected non-orphan pages that constituent to the orphan pages.

Submit Your Sitemap to Google

Using an XML sitemap tin assistance Google find your webpages.

An XML sitemap is simply a record containing a database of important pages connected your site. It lets hunt engines cognize which pages you person and wherever to find them.

This is particularly important if your tract contains a batch of pages. Or if they’re not linked unneurotic well.

Here’s what Semrush’s XML sitemap looks like:

Your sitemap is usually located astatine 1 of these 2 URLs:

• yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
• yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml

Once you find your sitemap, taxable it to Google via Google Search Console (GSC).

Go to GSC and click “Indexing” > “Sitemaps” from the sidebar. 

Then, paste your sitemap URL successful the blank tract and click “Submit.”

After Google is done processing your sitemap, you should spot a confirmation connection similar this:

Understanding Indexing and How to Optimize for It

Once hunt engines crawl your pages, they past effort to analyse and recognize the contented connected those pages.

And past the hunt motor stores those pieces of contented successful its hunt index—a immense database containing billions of webpages.

Your webpages indispensable beryllium indexed by hunt engines to look successful hunt results.

The simplest mode to cheque whether your pages are indexed is to execute a “site:” relation search.

For example, if you privation to cheque the scale presumption of semrush.com, you’ll benignant “site:www.semrush.com” into Google’s hunt box.

This tells you (roughly) however galore pages from the tract Google has indexed.

You tin besides cheque whether idiosyncratic pages are indexed by searching the leafage URL with the “site:” operator.

Like this:

There are a fewer things you should bash to guarantee Google doesn’t person occupation indexing your webpages:

Use the Noindex Tag Carefully

The “noindex” tag is an HTML snippet that keeps your pages retired of Google’s index.

It’s placed wrong the <head> conception of your webpage and looks similar this:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

Ideally, you would privation each your important pages to get indexed. So usage the noindex tag lone erstwhile you privation to exclude definite pages from indexing. 

These could be:

• Thank you pages
• PPC landing pages

To larn much astir utilizing noindex tags and however to debar communal implementation mistakes, work our usher to robots meta tags.

Implement Canonical Tags Where Needed

When Google finds akin contented connected aggregate pages connected your site, it sometimes doesn’t cognize which of the pages to scale and amusement successful hunt results. 

That’s erstwhile “canonical” tags travel successful handy.

The canonical tag (rel="canonical") identifies a nexus arsenic the archetypal version, which tells Google which leafage it should scale and rank.

The tag is nested wrong the <head> of a duplicate leafage (but it’s a bully thought to usage it connected the main leafage arsenic well) and looks similar this:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/original-page/" />

Additional Technical SEO Best Practices

Creating an SEO-friendly tract structure, submitting your sitemap to Google, and utilizing noindex and canonical tags appropriately should get your pages crawled and indexed. 

But if you privation your website to beryllium afloat optimized for method SEO, see these further champion practices.

1. Use HTTPS

Hypertext transportation protocol unafraid (HTTPS) is simply a unafraid mentation of hypertext transportation protocol (HTTP).

It helps support delicate idiosyncratic accusation similar passwords and recognition paper details from being compromised.

And it’s been a ranking signal since 2014.

You tin cheque whether your tract uses HTTPS by simply visiting it. 

Just look for the “lock” icon to confirm.

If you spot the “Not secure” warning, you’re not utilizing HTTPS.

In this case, you request to instal a unafraid sockets furniture (SSL) oregon transport furniture information (TLS) certificate.. 

An SSL/TLS certificate authenticates the individuality of the website. And establishes a unafraid transportation erstwhile users are accessing it.

You tin get an SSL/TLS certificate for escaped from Let’s Encrypt.

2. Find & Fix Duplicate Content Issues

Duplicate content is erstwhile you person the aforesaid oregon astir the aforesaid contented connected aggregate pages connected your site.

For example, Buffer had these 2 antithetic URLs for pages that are astir identical:

• https://buffer.com/resources/social-media-manager-checklist/
• https://buffer.com/library/social-media-manager-checklist/

Google doesn’t penalize sites for having duplicate content.

But duplicate contented tin origin issues like:

• Undesirable URLs ranking successful hunt results
• Backlink dilution
• Wasted crawl budget

With Semrush’s Site Audit tool, you tin find retired whether your tract has duplicate contented issues.

Start by moving a afloat crawl of your tract and past going to the “Issues” tab.

Then, hunt for “duplicate content.” 

The instrumentality volition amusement the mistake if you person duplicate content. And connection proposal connected however to code it erstwhile you click “Why and however to hole it.”

3. Make Sure Only One Version of Your Website Is Accessible to Users and Crawlers

Users and crawlers should lone beryllium capable to entree 1 of these 2 versions of your site:

• https://yourwebsite.com
• https://www.yourwebsite.com

Having some versions accessible creates duplicate contented issues.

And reduces the effectiveness of your backlink profile. Because immoderate websites whitethorn nexus to the www version, portion others nexus to the non-www version.

This tin negatively impact your show successful Google.

So, lone usage 1 mentation of your website. And redirect the different mentation to your main website.

4. Improve Your Page Speed

Page velocity is simply a ranking origin some on mobile and desktop devices.

So, marque definite your tract loads arsenic accelerated arsenic possible. 

You tin usage Google’s PageSpeed Insights instrumentality to cheque your website’s existent speed.

It gives you a show people from 0 to 100. The higher the number, the better.

Here are fewer ideas for improving your website speed:

• Compress your images—Images are usually the biggest files connected a webpage. Compressing them with representation optimization tools like ShortPixel volition trim their record sizes truthful they instrumentality arsenic small clip to load arsenic possible.
• Use a contented organisation web (CDN)—A CDN stores copies of your webpages connected servers astir the globe. It past connects visitors to the nearest server, truthful there’s little region for the requested files to travel. 
• Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files—Minification removes unnecessary characters and whitespace from codification to trim record sizes. Which improves leafage load time.

5. Ensure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly

Google uses mobile-first indexing. This means that it looks astatine mobile versions of webpages to scale and fertile content.

So, marque definite your website is compatible connected mobile devices.

To spot if that’s the lawsuit for your site, usage the aforesaid PageSpeed Insights tool.

Once you tally a webpage done it, navigate to the “SEO” conception of the report. And past the “Passed Audits” section.

Here, you’ll spot whether mobile-friendly elements oregon features are contiguous connected your site:

• Meta viewport tags—code that tells browsers however to power sizing connected a page’s disposable area
• Legible font sizes
• Adequate spacing astir buttons and clickable elements

If you instrumentality attraction of these things, your website is optimized for mobile devices.

6. Use Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumb navigation (or “breadcrumbs”) is simply a way of substance links that amusement users wherever they are connected the website and however they reached that point. 

Here’s an example:

These links marque tract navigation easier.

How?

Users tin easy navigate to higher-level pages without the request to repeatedly usage the backmost fastener oregon spell done analyzable paper structures.

So, you should decidedly instrumentality breadcrumbs. Especially if your tract is precise large. Like an ecommerce site.

They besides payment SEO.

These further links administer nexus equity (PageRank) passim your website. Which helps your tract fertile higher.

If your website is connected WordPress oregon Shopify, implementing breadcrumb navigation is peculiarly easy.

Some themes whitethorn see breadcrumbs retired of the box. If your taxable doesn’t, you tin usage the Yoast SEO plugin and it volition acceptable up everything for you.

Pagination is simply a navigation method that’s utilized to disagreement a agelong database of contented into aggregate pages. 

For example, we’ve utilized pagination connected our blog.

This attack is favored implicit infinite scrolling.

In infinite scrolling, contented loads dynamically arsenic users scroll down the page. 

This creates an contented for Google. Because it whitethorn not beryllium capable to entree each the contented that loads dynamically.

And if Google can’t entree your content, it won’t look successful hunt results.

Implemented correctly, pagination volition notation links to the adjacent bid of pages. Which Google tin travel to observe your content.

Learn more: Pagination: What Is It & How to Implement It Properly

8. Review Your Robots.txt File

A robots.txt record tells Google which parts of the tract it should entree and which ones it shouldn’t.

Here’s what Semrush’s robots.txt record looks like:

Your robots.txt record is disposable astatine your homepage URL with “/robots.txt” astatine the end. 

Here’s an example: yoursite.com/robots.txt

Check it to guarantee you’re not accidentally blocking entree to important pages that Google should crawl via the disallow directive. 

For example, you wouldn’t privation to artifact your blog posts and regular website pages. Because past they’ll beryllium hidden from Google.

Further reading: Robots.txt: What It Is & How It Matters for SEO

9. Implement Structured Data

Structured information (also called schema markup) is codification that helps Google amended recognize a page’s content.

And by adding the close structured data, your pages tin triumph affluent snippets.

Rich snippets are much appealing hunt results with further accusation appearing nether the rubric and description.

Here’s an example:

The payment of affluent snippets is that they marque your pages basal retired from others. Which tin amended your click-through complaint (CTR).

Google supports dozens of structured information markups, truthful take 1 that champion fits the quality of the pages you privation to adhd structured information to.

For example, if you tally an ecommerce store, adding merchandise structured information to your merchandise pages makes sense.

Here’s what the illustration codification mightiness look similar for a leafage selling the iPhone 15 Pro:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/", 
"@type": "Product", 
"name": "iPhone 15 Pro",
"image": "iphone15.jpg",
"brand": {
"@type": "Brand",
"name": "Apple"
},
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"url": "",
"priceCurrency": "USD",
"price": "1099",
"availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
"itemCondition": "https://schema.org/NewCondition"
},
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.8"
}
}
</script>

There are plentifulness of escaped structured information generator tools like this one. So you don’t person to constitute the codification by hand.

And if you’re utilizing WordPress, you canuse the Yoast SEO plugin to instrumentality structured data.

10. Find & Fix Broken Pages

Having breached pages connected your website negatively affects idiosyncratic experience.

Here’s an illustration of what 1 looks like:

And if those pages person backlinks, they spell wasted due to the fact that they constituent to dormant resources.

To find breached pages connected your site, crawl your tract utilizing Semrush’s Site Audit. 

Then, spell to the “Issues” tab. And hunt for “4xx.”

It’ll amusement you if you person breached pages connected your site. Click connected the “# pages” nexus to get a database of pages that are dead.

To hole breached pages, you person 2 options:

• Reinstate pages that were accidentally deleted
• Redirect aged pages you nary longer privation to different applicable pages connected your site

After fixing your breached pages, you request to region oregon update immoderate interior links that constituent to your aged pages.

To bash that, spell backmost to the “Issues” tab. And hunt for “internal links.” The instrumentality volition amusement you if you person breached interior links.

If you do, click connected the “# interior links” fastener to spot a afloat database of breached pages with links pointing to them. And click connected a circumstantial URL to larn more.

On the adjacent page, click the “# URLs” button, recovered nether “Incoming Internal Links,” to get a database of pages pointing to that breached page.

Update interior links pointing to breached pages with links to their updated locations.

11. Optimize for the Core Web Vitals

The Core Web Vitals are velocity metrics that Google uses to measurement idiosyncratic experience. 

These metrics include:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)—Calculates the clip a webpage takes to load its largest constituent for a user 
• First Input Delay (FID)—Measures the clip it takes to respond to a user's archetypal enactment with a webpage
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)—Measures the unexpected shifts successful layouts of assorted elements connected a webpage

To guarantee your website is optimized for the Core Web Vitals, you request to purpose for the pursuing scores:

• LCP—2.5 seconds oregon less
• FID—100 milliseconds oregon less
• CLS—0.1 oregon less

You tin cheque your website’s show for the Core Web Vitals metrics successful Google Search Console.

To bash this, sojourn the “Core Web Vitals” report.

You tin besides usage Semrush to spot a study specifically created astir the Core Web Vitals.

In the Site Audit tool, navigate to “Core Web Vitals” and click “View details.”

This volition unfastened a study with a elaborate grounds of your site's Core Web Vitals show and recommendations for fixing immoderate issues.

Further reading: Core Web Vitals: A Guide to Improving Page Speed

12. Use Hreflang for Content successful Multiple Languages

If your tract has contented successful aggregate languages, you request to usage hreflang tags.

Hreflang is an HTML property utilized for specifying a webpage's connection and geographical targeting. And it helps Google service the close versions of your pages to antithetic users.

For example, we person aggregate versions of our homepage successful antithetic languages. This is our homepage successful English:

And here’s our homepage successful Spanish:

Each of our antithetic versions uses hreflang tags to archer Google who the intended assemblage is.

This tag is reasonably elemental to implement.

Just adhd the due hreflang tags successful the <head> conception of each versions of the page.

For example, if you person your homepage successful English, Spanish, and Portuguese, you’ll adhd these hreflang tags to each of those pages:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://yourwebsite.com" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://yourwebsite.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="pt" href="https://yourwebsite.com/pt/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://yourwebsite.com" />

13. Stay On Top of Technical SEO Issues

Technical optimization isn't a one-off thing. New problems volition apt popular up implicit clip arsenic your website grows successful complexity.

That’s wherefore regularly monitoring your method SEO wellness and fixing issues arsenic they originate is important.

You tin bash this utilizing Semrush’s Site Audit tool. It monitors implicit 140 method SEO issues.

For example, if we audit Petco’s website, we find 3 issues related to redirect chains and loops.

Redirect chains and loops are atrocious for SEO due to the fact that they lend to a antagonistic idiosyncratic experience.

And you’re improbable to spot them by chance. So, this contented would person apt gone unnoticed without a crawl-based audit.

Regularly moving these method SEO audits gives you enactment items to amended your hunt performance.