- What is TECHNICAL SEO? Engl. Technical SEO
- Common tasks related to technical SEO:
- 1. Checking the No index tag
- 2. Organized Robots.txt file
- 3. Setting the Canonical tag for “duplicates”
- 4. Setting the XML sitemap for the website
- 5. Creating an SEO-friendly website structure
- 6. Improving website speed
- 7. Making the website mobile-friendly
- 8. Setting up AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages
- 9. Removing “dead” links – 404 error
- 10. Checking the SSL certificate
- 11. Setting up 301 redirection in the .htaccess file
- 12. Setting up Schema MARKUP
- 13. Improving user experience – UX
What is TECHNICAL SEO? Engl. Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the process of optimizing a website to ensure that it meets the technical requirements of modern search engines with the goal of better organic ranking. Technical SEO elements enable Google to correctly find, render, crawl, and index the site and correctly recognize the site architecture.
Most of the technical SEO adjustments listed here are typically done during the creation of a web project at KUHADA web agency. Check for details.
In short, technical SEO helps (or better said, is a prerequisite) for search engines, or more specifically Google, to find, correctly read, and index your content without obstacles. The next step for Google is simply ranking, for which technical SEO also indirectly contributes.
Technical SEO cannot directly improve your content’s position on Google if the content itself is not of high quality and if the overall ON-PAGE SEO optimization is not well executed. However, if a technical issue on your website prevents search engines from indexing your content, it won’t appear on the SERP (search engine results page) regardless of the content quality and other SEO activities.Additionally, technical SEO can also include activities aimed at improving user experience (UX) and accessibility.
The purpose of this article is not to instruct the end user on how to configure technical SEO elements by themselves, as this would require a separate article for each element, but to familiarize our clients with what tasks are considered Technical SEO and what is typically done in the KUHADA agency during the creation of a web project, and what is agreed upon separately.
Common tasks related to technical SEO:
Technical SEO is part of overall SEO activities, but if the web project was handled by a quality web agency, technical SEO should have been properly implemented during the creation of the web project.
- Checking the No index tag
- Organized Robots.txt file
- Setting the Canonical tag for “duplicates”
- Submitting the XML sitemap to Google
- Creating an SEO-friendly website structure
- Improving website speed
- Making the website mobile-friendly
- Setting up AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages
- Removing “dead” links – 404 error
- Checking the SSL certificate
- Setting up 301 redirection in the .htaccess file
- Setting up Schema MARKUP
- Improving user experience – UX
1. Checking the No index tag
One of the most important things in technical SEO, if this tag is set on your website, you’re not visible on Google. The No index tag is a part of the HTML code that can be added to a page to signal to Google not to index that page. You can add the No index tag inside the <head> section of the HTML code, and it generally looks like this: <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”> or specifically for Google: <meta name=”googlebot” content=”noindex”>
In WordPress, a more elegant solution looks like this:
| Visibility to search engines |
|---|
The web agency, after creating the website, will also check if the No Index tag is turned off to ensure that your website is visible on Google.
2. Organized Robots.txt file
The Robots.txt file is a file that tells search engines whether to crawl specific pages or parts of the website.
The Robots.txt file is typically used when we want to remove a page from the index. Although the No index tag can do this more easily than the robots.txt file, the robots.txt file is more suitable if we only want to remove specific files (images, PDFs, etc.) from the search engine index. More details can be found here.
This is not done by default when creating a web project, but is agreed upon separately, as the robots.txt file is considered outdated and is only used in “special” cases.
3. Setting the Canonical tag for “duplicates”
Canonical tag tells Google which URL represents the main page for certain content, which URL to index. This URL is ranked in search results while search engines crawl other pages with similar content much less often and generally exclude them from results. The Canonical tag is one of the best ways to avoid issues with duplicate content on multiple pages of the website.
The canonical tag is added inside the <head> section of the page:
<link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.mysite.com/maincontent.html” />
Finding and solving duplicate content issues. Examples of duplicate occurrences:
- The website is available with or without the “www” prefix in its URL
- The website is available through both “HTTP” and “HTTPS” protocols.
- There are multiple versions of the website using different URLs (e.g., print version or when sorting categories, etc.)
This is not done by default when creating a web project but is agreed upon separately, as duplicate content should not appear in standard web projects. If it does, it’s a sign that the client has special requirements, and that will be agreed upon separately.
4. Setting the XML sitemap for the website
Submitting the XML sitemap to Google is another task for developers when creating a web project. The sitemap helps Google’s crawler discover the website’s structure. Google’s Search Console checks these sitemaps at regular intervals, and the more often you update your content or publish new pages, the more frequently Google will visit your sitemaps, searching for new links… Since websites usually have multiple sitemaps, they are submitted through Google tools like SEARCH CONSOLE.
The web agency, after creating the website, will also submit the sitemap to Search Console.
5. Creating an SEO-friendly website structure
Google highly values a good heading hierarchy, with the mandatory H1 tag. In addition to the heading hierarchy, the content structure and proper categorization are essential. A well-organized website is also suitable for visitors, contributing to UX (user experience) by allowing users to find the information they need easily and quickly. Most of the organization is handled by the CMS (Content Management System), such as WordPress, and the heading hierarchy is usually predefined by the template.
Apart from the CMS and template settings, many adjustments are left to the developers to ensure this step in technical SEO is properly executed.
This is not typically done by default when creating a web project, but is agreed upon separately. Depending on the budget, for lower-tier projects, heading hierarchy and special categorization are not usually included, as clients often request the most affordable solution.
6. Improving website speed
Users today expect websites to load in under a second, or at most 2-3 seconds. If they leave the page due to poor experience caused by slow loading, the bounce rate increases, which directly harms SEO performance. Therefore, page load speed is one of the most important factors in technical SEO.
Poor hosting and bad templates are, in our opinion, the most common issues if things haven’t gotten completely “out of control”, leading to a poor page in other aspects as well. Elements directly affecting website load speed include:
- Image size (images should be optimized and compressed)
- CSS, JS, and HTML files
- Server response time
You can test your site’s speed using Google PageSpeed Insights.
The web agency will also test website speed once the project is finished and provide feedback if improvements are necessary.
7. Making the website mobile-friendly
In today’s world, more and more people are using mobile phones to browse the web, so making your website mobile-friendly is one of the most critical SEO activities. A mobile-friendly website will rank better on Google, especially since the mobile-first approach has become the standard.
Mobile optimization includes several things, such as:
- Responsive design (adapting content to different screen sizes)
- Optimized images
- Making buttons and text easily clickable on small screens
At KUHADA agency, a responsive design is mandatory for all new websites, so it will be part of every web project.
8. Setting up AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages
For news websites and similar fast-content sites, AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a great way to ensure that mobile users can access your content quickly. This is especially important for SEO performance since Google rewards fast-loading content.
If the web project you are creating is news-oriented or if the client requests it, AMP will be included.
9. Removing “dead” links – 404 error
Google does not like dead links because they lead to a bad user experience. If a page is no longer available, it’s essential to either remove it from the website or set up a 301 redirect to a relevant page.
For larger websites, the number of dead links may be high, and sometimes it may not even be apparent to the user. The web agency will run regular tests and remove any dead links from the site.
10. Checking the SSL certificate
An SSL certificate encrypts your website’s connection, improving both security and trust with your users. It’s essential for e-commerce websites or any website that deals with sensitive user data.
Google has been giving priority to secure websites for years, so it’s a critical part of technical SEO. If your website doesn’t have an SSL certificate, your rankings may suffer. The web agency will ensure SSL is implemented.
11. Setting up 301 redirection in the .htaccess file
This is important when a page has been moved permanently to a new location. If there are outdated URLs or removed pages, a 301 redirect will ensure that visitors and search engines are directed to the correct new URL. Setting up the proper redirects is an essential task for ensuring that Google and users can find the relevant pages.
The web agency will check for outdated links and set up 301 redirects where necessary.
12. Setting up Schema MARKUP
Schema Markup is a form of microdata that helps search engines better understand your website’s content. It enhances your search results by enabling rich snippets, which are the additional pieces of information you see in the search results (such as reviews, ratings, and prices).
The web agency will implement schema markup for your website when necessary.
13. Improving user experience – UX
User experience (UX) involves designing websites that are easy to navigate and provide the best experience for users. This is an essential part of SEO because Google ranks websites that are easier for users to navigate higher.
UX factors include:
- Clear navigation
- Fast loading times
- Mobile-friendliness
- Readability and content organization
Good UX practices are implemented in the web agency’s process to ensure your website performs well on search engines.
