Table of contents
ShowHideWelcome to Part 3 of our Basics of SEO mini-series: What Is Technical SEO? This mini-series is designed to give you an idea of the areas we provide with our SEO services along with an explanation of why these areas are important.
In our previous posts we covered 2 of the main pillars of SEO: On-page SEO & Off-page SEO. Today, we take a deep dive into Technical SEO.
Introduction
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, standing out in the vast online landscape is both a challenge and a necessity. To succeed, you need more than compelling content and a beautiful website; you need a robust technical foundation. In fact, according to website Search Engine Journal, "Good website content should be complemented by a strong Technical SEO foundation." Technical SEO comes into play serving as the bedrock of your online presence. But what exactly is Technical SEO, and why is it so crucial?
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO, in simple terms, is the art of optimising your website and server to ensure that search engines can crawl and index your site in an effective fashion. It's the behind-the-scenes work that makes your website more search-engine-friendly. This optimisation focuses on technical elements, ensuring your website's architecture, speed, and all-round performance meet the standards set by search engines.
Why is Technical SEO Important?
Technical SEO plays a pivotal role in ensuring that search engines can easily gather the information they need from your website, enabling them to deliver your content to people searching for it. It's the bridge between your content and your audience, making it possible for your target audience to find your website. Here's why it's so important:
Crawling and Indexing
Crawling is the process by which search engines discover your website, and indexing is when they add your site to their database. Technical SEO ensures that this process is smooth, efficient, and error-free, making it more likely for your website to be indexed correctly.
XML Sitemaps
XML sitemaps are like roadmaps for search engines. They help search engines understand the structure of your website and the relationships between different pages. This ensures that search engines don't miss out on any essential content.
Duplicate Content
Structured Data
Structured data, often represented using schema markup, provides context to search engines. It helps them understand the content on your site better, making it more likely for them to display rich snippets in search results.
Hreflang
If you target audiences in different countries or languages, hreflang tags are crucial. They help search engines understand which version of your website to show to users in different regions, enhancing the user experience.
On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO
Technical SEO primarily falls under on-page SEO because it deals with elements that directly affect your website's performance. In contrast, off-page SEO is more about building backlinks and relationships with external websites.
SEO Writing
SEO writing is the art of crafting content with the intent of ranking on the first page of search engines. To achieve this, focus on understanding searchers' intent, creating the best answers to their queries, and presenting your content in a reader-friendly format.
Meta Tags
Meta tags, such as title tags, description tags, and header tags, provide critical information about your website to search engines.
Leading SEO tool suite Semrush states: "Meta descriptions do not directly affect your rankings in Google. But a well-written meta description can encourage users to click on your link instead of scrolling past it."
Internal Links
Internal links are essential for helping search engines understand the structure of your website and the relationships between pages. They also assist users in navigating your site, improving the user experience.
Content
High-quality, original content is at the heart of SEO. It provides value to users, engages your audience, and improves your website's visibility in search results.
Keyword Research
Understanding the keywords and phrases users are searching for is key to optimising your content. Keyword research helps you identify and target the terms that resonate with your audience.
Keyword research is also important when up against competitors, both business or SEO. Search Engine Journal states "Your SEO competitors are the ones who rank on the first search page of the keywords you're targeting, regardless of whether they're your business competitors."
Link Building
Building high-quality backlinks from other websites is vital for improving your website's authority and visibility in search results. This off-page SEO technique complements your technical efforts.
SEO Checklist
Using an SEO checklist is a practical way to ensure that your website is optimised for search engines. It helps identify and fix technical SEO issues, optimise content, and enhance your website's visibility in search results.
A good starting point is making sure your code is clean and correct. Semrush maintains that "diagnosing technical SEO issues goes much faster and is far less frustrating" when it is.
SEO Basics Pt. 3: Conclusion
Have a project in mind? Get in touch!
If you like what you've seen here, or have something different in mind, then don't hesitate and contact SiteJacket today.
