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Welcome to the ultimate guide to technical SEO! In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the critical aspects of technical SEO and how it plays a crucial role in enhancing your website's performance. From understanding the importance of technical SEO to conducting a thorough audit, we've got you covered.
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO refers to the optimisation of your website's technical aspects to enhance its search engine visibility and performance. It involves improving the backend and infrastructure of your site to make it more accessible and understandable to search engine crawlers. Technical SEO focuses on elements like site crawlability, sitemaps, robots.txt, and canonicalization. While many people have a common misconception that technical seo solely refers to the speed of their website, it is so much more than that.
Why is Technical SEO Important?
Technical SEO plays a crucial role in determining how well search engines can discover and index your website's content. A well-optimised technical framework ensures that search engine crawlers can easily access and interpret your web pages. It also helps in identifying and fixing crawl errors, duplicate content issues, and broken links that can negatively impact your site's performance.
When your website is technically sound, it enhances user experience, boosts search engine rankings, and contributes to your overall digital marketing success. Prioritising technical SEO ensures that your site is well-prepared to compete in the competitive online landscape, providing a solid platform for growth and visibility.
If all of these sound confusing to you, don't worry, you'll better understand it as we cover the key terms under the spectrum of Technical Search Engine Optimisation.
Conducting a Technical SEO Audit:
Site Crawlability
Site crawlability is a fundamental aspect of technical SEO that refers to how effectively search engine crawlers can navigate and access the content on your website. Think of search engine crawlers as digital bots that systematically "crawl" through web pages to gather information about the content and structure of your site. These crawlers follow links from one page to another, indexing the information they find to be later retrieved and displayed in search engine results.
To ensure optimal site crawlability, it's crucial to have a well-structured website with clear and logical navigation, which can be done through the following few implementations.
What is a sitemap?
A sitemap is a crucial component of technical SEO that serves as a blueprint of your website's structure. It is essentially a hierarchical list of all the pages on your site, designed to help search engine crawlers navigate and index your content more efficiently. By providing a sitemap, you give search engines a clear roadmap to explore and understand the organization of your website.
A well-structured sitemap helps ensure that all your essential pages are crawled and indexed, enhancing their chances of appearing in search engine results. It is particularly beneficial for large websites with numerous pages, as it streamlines the process of indexing and reduces the chances of important pages being overlooked. Additionally, sitemaps play a vital role in informing search engines about the last modification date of each page, helping to prioritize fresh content for indexing.
Robots.txt
Robots.txt is a text file placed in the root directory of your website, serving as a set of instructions to search engine crawlers about which pages or directories should not be crawled or indexed. It is an essential tool for controlling which parts of your website you want to be visible to search engines and which ones you wish to keep private or restricted.
With robots.txt, you can disallow crawlers from accessing specific areas of your site, such as admin pages, confidential documents, or duplicate content that you don't want to be indexed. This file acts as a gatekeeper, preventing sensitive information from showing up in search results while ensuring that crawlers focus on valuable content.
How to create a Robots.txt file
You can simply use an online tool or you can write it out yourself:
Blocking all web crawlers from all content:
User-agent: * Disallow: /
Blocking a specific web crawler from a web page:
User-agent: GooglebotDisallow: /example-subfolder/blocked-page.html
However, do ensure that you properly configure your robots.txt files, as any errors in its implementation may accidentally block crawlers from accessing essential pages, affecting your site's visibility in search results. Most of your CMS such as Webflow or Wordpress would have their own set of features or plugins to ease the process, so be sure to check them out before adjusting any code on your page.
Canonicalization
Canonicalization is a technical SEO process that involves specifying the preferred version of a web page when there are multiple versions with identical or highly similar content. This issue often arises when websites use different URLs for the same page or when similar pages are accessible through different URLs.
Search engines may interpret these duplicated pages as duplicate content, leading to potential penalties in search rankings. To avoid this, canonical tags are added to the HTML of the preferred page, indicating that it should be treated as the primary version. This way, search engines understand that all versions with similar content should be attributed to the canonical (preferred) version, consolidating ranking signals and preventing duplicate content issues.
By employing canonicalization, you ensure that search engines direct all ranking authority to the preferred version of your content, improving its visibility in search results and optimizing your site's SEO performance. Likewise, each CMS has their own way of implementing Canonicalization.
In Webflow's case, they simplified the entire process. All you have to do is to:
- Go into your Webflow Dashboard
- Click into Project Settings > SEO.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will find the Global Canonical Tag setting.
- Input the canonical tag.
Optimizing Site Speed
Site speed plays a pivotal role in determining the overall user experience and SEO performance of your website. Faster-loading websites not only keep visitors engaged but also rank higher in search engine results. While there are advanced techniques that a SEO specialist would employ, in this guide, we will only cover the basics that will help your build your foundation for Technical SEO. There are several key pointers to optimise your site speed. If you're using WordPress, we find this video to be a pretty useful guide in covering the basics of optimising your WordPress site:
Image Optimization
Image optimization is a crucial step to reduce page load times. It involves compressing and resizing images to strike a balance between quality and file size. By using efficient image formats like WebP and employing image compression tools, you can significantly reduce the image file size without compromising visual appeal.
Additionally, you can consider lazy loading images. This essentially allows images below the fold to load only when they come into view, further enhancing the website's loading speed when a user enters your website.
Browser Caching
Leveraging browser caching enables certain website elements to be stored on a user's device after the initial visit. This means that subsequent visits to your website will be faster, as the cached elements don't need to be re-downloaded from the server. By setting appropriate caching headers on your server, you can control how long elements should be cached, striking a balance between optimal performance and up-to-date content delivery.
Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
Minification is the process of removing unnecessary characters such as white spaces, comments, and line breaks from CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files. To put it in simple terms, smaller file sizes result in faster loading times. Utilize minification tools to automatically optimize your website's code and remove any redundancies. Keep in mind that minification should be done carefully to avoid any unintended impact on the website's functionality. A common practice we do is to check on the status of each page every time we implement a minification, to ensure that the website is still fully functional.
Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources
Render-blocking resources are CSS and JavaScript files that hinder the initial rendering of a webpage. Addressing this issue involves optimizing critical CSS to load first, allowing the initial visual elements of the page to be displayed without delay. You can also use asynchronous loading for non-essential JavaScript and defer the loading of scripts that are not immediately required for the initial page display.
Reduce Redirects
Redirects, while sometimes necessary, can add extra time to page loading. Minimize the use of unnecessary redirects, especially chains of redirects, as each additional redirect increases the time it takes to load a page. Use server-side redirects sparingly and consider utilizing 301 redirects for permanent changes.
A 301 redirect is a type of HTTP status code that indicates a permanent redirect from one URL to another. When you use a 301 redirect, you are essentially telling search engines and browsers that the original URL has permanently moved to a new location. This is different from other types of redirects, such as 302 (temporary) redirects.
Mobile Optimization
Mobile optimization is a paramount aspect of modern web design. In this digital era, where mobile devices reign supreme, ensuring that your website delivers an impeccable performance on smartphones and tablets is non-negotiable. A seamless mobile experience not only enhances user satisfaction but also garners favor with search engines, bolstering your online presence.
Picture a website that loads swiftly, flawlessly adapts to various screen sizes, and offers intuitive navigation on mobile – that's the epitome of elegance in the digital realm.
Hosting and Server Performance
A robust hosting and server performance form the backbone of a smooth online experience. Behind the scenes, a well-engineered hosting infrastructure ensures your website operates with speed and reliability. Think of it as the strong foundation that supports your online presence. With top-notch hosting, your website loads quickly and functions seamlessly, making a positive impression on visitors. By investing in reliable hosting and server performance, you ensure your brand stays on top of its digital game. It's like having a solid and dependable partner that keeps your website running like clockwork.
Fixing Broken Links
Broken links can disrupt the flow of your website and negatively impact your SEO efforts. It's crucial to regularly audit your site for broken links and address them promptly. By rectifying these issues, you not only improve user experience but also demonstrate professionalism and credibility to search engines. For example, if your site has a blog post linking to a page that no longer exists, updating the link to redirect users to a relevant page or removing it altogether can enhance user satisfaction.
You can check the links of your pages using Google Search Console. Simply, access the 'Crawl Errors' report to view any URL errors and take necessary action to fix them.
User Experience
User experience lies at the heart of every successful website. It's about creating a journey that delights and engages visitors from the moment they land on your site. From intuitive navigation to mobile responsiveness, every aspect should resonate with your audience. If you're using Figma to design your website, consider checking out this informative video on user experience.
Imagine you visit an e-commerce website looking for a specific product. As soon as you land on the homepage, you are greeted with a clean and visually appealing design. The navigation menu is easy to find, and the categories are well-organized, allowing you to quickly locate the section you need.
Once you click on a category, you are presented with a grid layout of products, complete with clear images, concise descriptions, and pricing information. The filtering and sorting options make it effortless to refine your search based on your preferences.
When you decide to make a purchase, the checkout process is smooth and secure. You have the option to create an account or proceed as a guest. The form fields are minimal and only ask for necessary information. The website also offers multiple payment options, ensuring convenience and catering to a broader audience.
Throughout the browsing experience, you notice that the website loads quickly and is responsive across different devices, making it easy to shop regardless of what device the user is on. This is a broad example of a good user experience.
Technical SEO Consultant
Technical SEO is the backbone of a successful online presence. By paying attention to the technical aspects of your website, you lay the groundwork for better visibility, user experience, and search engine rankings. At Showman Digital, our expert team of SEO specialists combines technical prowess and creative insights to elevate your website's performance in the competitive digital landscape. Let us be your guide in implementing effective technical SEO strategies that will elevate your brand to new heights.
