Gone are the days when incorporating keywords into content was considered to be ‘the one and only way’ to optimize on-page SEO.
We are living in an era where you have a lot to do when it comes to optimizing your website’s foundation. And what’s that? It is Technical SEO. This aspect of SEO is meant to reveal your presence in the eyes of Search Engine Sites, making it easy to navigate, interpret, and rank.
Still confusing?
Let’s learn about it with an example.
Imagine you have hosted a birthday bash at your home. You have invited a lot of guests, but you have kept your front door locked; thus, no one finds their way in. You got it right.
That’s exactly how your website works in the digital space. Technical SEO streamlines all behind-the-scene elements, ensuring that your front door is open to let search engines like Google acknowledge you.
So, when we talk about Technical SEO, we mean to look at things like how responsive your website is, if it’s user-friendly, and whether search engines can crawl effectively. This will build the base of your website that will, in turn, support everything from content to design.
So, let’s dive deep into the topic to explore which elements will help your website thrive.
8 Components of Technical SEO That You Must Know
#1 – Crawlability and Indexability
The idea of crawlability is how easy it is for search engine bots to find your website. These bots are, nonetheless, digital tourists who look for their destinations and find them. What if your website is easy to navigate and paves the path for clear access?
To make this possible, the XML sitemap plays a key role. It provides a roadmap to search engines by listing key pages on your site, ensuring that none of your important pages are left unexplored.
On top of this is robots.txt.file. This file is the bee’s knees when it comes to scrutiny. It provides a set of instructions to the bot that lay preferences on which pages it must focus for indexing.
Making bots crawl your most important pages is the first thing that must be followed with indexability. This means that your search engine crawler would like to store your pages in its index to make them ranked in the long run under certain search results.
Certain criteria have to be met for a page to be indexable. One helpful tool in this regard is canonical tags.
It helps filter out duplicate content and lets the search engine know which version of the content is the main one. This is to avoid confusion when several pages appear with similar content; therefore, focus is diverted to the most important ones.
#2 – Mobile-Friendliness
Google has been really particular about how your website appears on the smartphone at first, and that’s the reason why it’s popularly known as mobile-first indexing. Search rankings are highly dependent on mobile-friendliness, and this is why they are the major determiner for your website ranking and indexing.
Poor mobile experience is one of the major reasons for escalated bounce rates – users leave sites without spending much time on them. It will also drastically decrease their probability of revisiting this site; thus, this would absolutely overshadow your service or product.
The very first thing that comes across is the consideration of website design. It must fit accurately to different screen sizes while offering a responsive, consistent experience to its users. The responsiveness will prevent frustration, which might appear due to excessive scrolling to zoom in or out of a screen to fit a size.
Another aspect that is highly regarded is streamlined navigation. As smartphones fit in hands, the layout of the website should be such that it catches the eyeballs without making them overwhelmed.
#3 – Site Speed and Core Web Vitals
It’s since 2010 that responsive websites, coupled with faster website scrolling speed, are thought to offer the best user experience, which is why they rank high on search engines.
Google has provided a roadmap to website owners named Core Web Vitals to help them optimize usability and speed. This narrow control of the website’s functioning turns out to be crucial in determining aspects like lag time, responsiveness to actions, and visual stability regarding changes in options.
There appear 3 Core Web Vitals that play a pivotal role in enhancing users’ experience.
The first and foremost is the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which determines how quickly the content on a page loads. A loading time of less than 2.5 seconds is thought to be ideal, which diminishes bounce rates.
Secondly, First Input Delay (FID) calculates the delay that exists at the first user’s interaction, such as when clicking or tapping. Ideally, it has to be under 100 milliseconds in order to appear as an instantaneous response to the users.
Lastly, Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is the measure of visual stability of the webpage. This is defined as the change in page layouts and visuals as the page loads. Lower CLS is preferred to prevent disruptions.
#4 – Site Structure and URL Optimization
Each page on your website is like a book in a library. By shallow navigation, we mean that your priority web pages are just a few clicks away from your landing page. This allows the visitors to find key information instantly without a lot of delays, hence preventing them from bouncing away in frustration.
For instance, if someone is looking for your contact info, crawling through various pages might appear daunting. If the right type of information is showcased close to the homepage, people will most likely find the required information within 2-3 clicks.
Moreover, descriptive URLs with relevant names rather than generic names are phenomenal at giving key ideas about a page. For example, pages like “technicalseobasics” instead of “page9783” will guide people on what they are looking for.
#5 – Secure Your Site With SSL
If you are after having a secure website where data is all end-to-end encrypted, then you must get your hands on an SSL certificate. Secure websites are vital to win the trust of users and are phenomenal at escalating search engine rankings.
SSL certificate adds a label of security, while without it, you will appear unsecure to the users. This certification protects sensitive information like login details and credit card credentials from cybersecurity threats.
When it comes to considering technical SEO, such certifications boost positive rankings by preventing malicious attacks that pose a serious risk to your website. Providing a safe browsing experience to the customers incredibly heightened the trust of the users. Every website that starts with a padlock symbol like “https://…” gives a sense of security, leading to improved satisfaction and conversion.
#6- Enhances Visibility With Schema Markup
Take schema markups as the little clues to help search engines navigate the nitty-gritty about your website’s content. It does not provide a complete picture; in fact, it gives hints or keywords that summarize the main points.
In the world of technical SEO, schema markups set the stage for action. The specific codes are the key descriptor of your website, defining exactly what each page contains. These then appear as snippets that are quick to catch the user’s attention.
With its use, the overall website’s visibility is improved, leading to higher ROI (return on investment) and CTR (click-through rates).
#7 – Continuous Auditing and Monitoring
SEO is not like that. You do it for once and then sit back and relax forever. It’s always evolving, and only those who adapt themselves to evolution stand firm in the test of resolve. Regular auditing helps identify your website’s shortcomings before it becomes an alarming threat to your business.
Tools like Google Console, Screaming Frog, and PageSpeed Insights are vital when it comes to staying top of the game in technical SEO.
In a Nutshell
Technical SEO might appear to be a lot of work, but to be very honest, it lays the foundation of your website on which your pillars will be constructed. From crawlability to mobile-friendliness to auditing, it has a lot to do with respect to visibility, engagement, and ranking.
It just needs regular upkeep to help your website improve gradually. Employing various strategies will turn the tables from low-ball sales to striking high returns.
