Is your website invisible to search engines? You’re not alone. Many site owners struggle with technical SEO. It’s the key to getting found online. This post will show you how to fix common technical SEO issues.

Get ready to get seen!

Quick Wins

• Technical SEO helps search engines read and understand your website, visibility and rankings.
• A well designed site structure with clear URLs, breadcrumbs and internal linking makes it easier for users and search engines to find your way around your site.
• Sitemaps, robots.txt files and canonical tags help search engines crawl and index your pages.
• HTTPS, Core Web Vitals and mobile-friendliness are important for search rankings and user experience.
• Structured data, broken links and hreflang tags for multi-language sites will help your site even more.

Table of Contents

• What Is Technical SEO?
• Why Is Technical SEO Important?
• Optimise Website Structure for SEO
• Crawlability
• Indexability
• Advanced Technical SEO
• More SEO Tips
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO is making your website search engine friendly. It’s like giving your site a service so Google and other search engines can find, crawl and show your pages in search results.

This involves tweaking things like site speed, mobile friendliness and content structure. By fixing these behind the scenes elements you increase your chances of ranking higher in search.

Without a solid base even the best content won’t stand tall in search rankings. It covers everything from site structure to using HTTPS for security.

These help search engines index your site correctly and users find what they need quickly. Good technical SEO means better visibility, more traffic and happier visitors.

Why Is Technical SEO Important?

Technical SEO is key to your website showing up in search results. Without it your pages might not be seen by search engines and you’ll lose traffic and sales. Google and other search engines have complex systems to crawl and index websites.

If your site isn’t set up right these systems might miss important pages or content. This can hurt your chances of ranking even if you have great content.

Site speed and mobile friendliness are big ranking factors. Slow sites have high bounce rates which can lower their search rankings. Since 2014 using HTTPS is also a signal search engines look at.

By focusing on these technical aspects you can increase your site’s visibility and give users a better experience. This in turn can mean more traffic, higher rankings and better results for your business online.

Optimise Website Structure for SEO

Your website’s structure matters to search engines. A good setup helps users find what they need fast. It also makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site. Want to learn how to make your site’s structure work for you? Read on!

SEO Friendly Site Structure

A well planned site structure helps search engines and users find your content. Let’s see how to create an SEO friendly site structure for your website.

• Group related pages together in logical categories. This makes it easy for users to find what they need quickly.
• Keep your site’s depth shallow. Users should be able to reach any page in three to four clicks from the homepage.
• Use clear and descriptive names for your categories and pages. This helps both users and search engines understand your content.
• Develop an internal linking strategy. Link related pages to each other to pass link equity and guide users through your site.
• Build a clear hierarchy with your main categories at the top.
• Add breadcrumbs to help users navigate your site. They also give search engines more context about your site’s structure.
• Use XML sitemaps to help search engines find and index all your pages. Submit these to Google Search Console for better crawling.
• Don’t have orphan pages by linking to them from other relevant pages on your site. Use Semrush’s Site Audit tool to find these lonely pages.
• Keep your URL structure consistent and easy to read. Use keywords in URLs when it makes sense for users.
• Balance the number of pages under each category. This helps to distribute link equity more evenly across your site.

Consistent and Descriptive URL Structures

URLs are a big part of SEO success. Good URLs help both users and search engines understand your content better.

• Keep URLs short and concise. 50-60 characters max to avoid truncation in search results.
• Use hyphens to separate words in URLs. This makes them easy to read for humans and search engines.
• Include your main keyword in the URL. This tells search engines what the page is about.
• Don’t use numbers or dates in URLs unless necessary. This keeps them evergreen and relevant over time.
• Use lowercase letters in URLs. Mixed case can cause issues with some servers and duplicate content problems.
• Don’t use underscores, spaces or special characters in URLs. These can cause encoding issues and look ugly.
• Create a logical structure in your URL. For example: yoursite.com/category/subcategory/product-name.
• Use real words in URLs instead of ID numbers or codes. This tells users what to expect before they click.
• Keep URL structures consistent across your site. This gives better user experience and better crawling.
• Don’t keyword stuff in URLs. Use your main keyword once, but not too much.

Breadcrumb Navigation for Better Usability

Breadcrumb navigation is like a trail of digital breadcrumbs on your site. It shows users where they are and how to get back. This simple tool helps users to navigate your website.

It’s a win-win: users find what they need faster and search engines understand your site better.

Adding breadcrumbs is easy with most website builders. They help to distribute link equity across your site which is good for SEO. Plus they make your site structure clear to both humans and search bots.

This will help your rankings and users.

Crawlability

Crawlability is important for search engines to find and rank your site. We’ll show you how to make your website crawlable for search bots.

Submit to Google

Submitting your sitemap to Google is part of technical SEO. It helps search engines find and index your pages faster.

• Go to Google Search Console and log in.
• Click on your site.
• Sitemaps in the left sidebar.
• Enter your sitemap URL (e.g. yoursite.com/sitemap.xml)
• Click Submit.
• Check the Success message to see if Google got it.
• Check the Submitted sitemaps for any errors.
• Check the Crawl stats to see how often Google crawls your pages.
• Fix any crawl errors Google reports to improve your site’s indexing.

Review and Update your Robots.txt

Robots.txt is part of your website’s technical SEO. It tells search engines which parts of your site they can and can’t crawl, so you can control how your site appears in search results.

• Check for errors or outdated rules
• Remove blocks on pages you want search engines to see
• Add rules to block private or duplicate content
• Use the Disallow directive to block specific URLs or folders
• Add your sitemap URL to the robots.txt file
• Test your robots.txt using Google Search Console’s testing tool
• Update the file when your site structure changes
• Keep it simple and readable for bots and humans
• Use comments to explain complex rules or directives
• Make sure the file is in the root directory of your site.

Link to Deep Pages

Internal linking helps search engines find and rank your deep pages. It also distributes link equity across your site.

• Link from high traffic pages to deep pages
• Use descriptive anchor text for internal links
• Create content clusters to link related pages
• Link to old content from new blog posts
• Use breadcrumbs to show page hierarchy and structure
• Link in your site’s main navigation
• Add a “Related Posts” section at the end of blog articles
• Link to deep pages in your site’s footer
• Link to deep pages in images where possible
• Create a HTML sitemap page with links to all pages
• Fix orphan pages by linking to them from other pages on your site
• Use tools like Semrush to find orphan pages that need internal linking
• Don’t overlink – keep it natural and useful
• Update old content with new internal links periodically

Indexability

Indexability is the key to getting your pages noticed by search engines. It’s about making sure your content can be found and understood by Google and other search bots.

Use the Noindex Tag

The noindex tag is a SEO pro’s best friend. It tells search engines not to show certain pages in their results. You might use it for pages like login screens or thank you pages after a purchase.

These pages don’t need to be found through search. By using this tag you keep your site clean and focused for search engines.

But be careful! Don’t overuse the noindex tag. You could accidentally hide important content from search engines. Always check your site’s traffic and rankings after adding noindex tags.

This way you can catch any issues quickly. Smart use of noindex tags can help manage duplicate content and keep your site’s search presence sharp.

Canonical Tag

These magic tools tell search engines which page is the master. By using them you avoid confusing Google and other search engines.

It’s like giving them a map to your best content.

Here’s the details: add rel=”canonical” to your page’s HTML. This tag points to the original version of your content. For example if you have two similar pages, pick the main one and add the tag to the other.

This way, search engines know which page to show in results. It’s a simple fix that can supercharge your SEO.

Advanced Technical SEO

Ready to get technical? Advanced technical SEO can give you an edge. These go beyond the basics.

Use HTTPS

HTTPS is secure. Google loves it so much they’ve used it as a ranking signal since 2014. To get HTTPS you need an SSL/TLS certificate. You can get one for free from Let’s Encrypt.

Once you have it, make sure to redirect all your HTTP traffic to HTTPS. This tells search engines and visitors you care about their security. It’s like putting a big lock on your front door – everyone feels more secure.

But HTTPS isn’t just about security. It also makes your site load faster and users trust you more. Visitors see that little padlock in their browser and know they’re in good hands. Plus with HTTPS you avoid those scary “not secure” warnings that can freak off potential customers.

It’s a win-win for your SEO and your users’ peace of mind.

Optimize for Core Web Vitals

Google uses these metrics to rank websites. They focus on three main areas: loading, interactivity, and visual stability. For loading aim for a Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less.

So your main content should load quickly. For interactivity aim for a First Input Delay of 100ms or less. This means your site responds fast to user actions.

Lastly for visual stability keep your Cumulative Layout Shift at 0.1 or lower. This stops those annoying layout shifts as the page loads.

To improve these scores compress images and use modern formats. Minimize JavaScript and CSS. Use a content delivery network to serve files faster. Remove unused code and optimize your server response time.

These will make your site load faster and run smoother. Better Core Web Vitals means higher rankings and happier visitors.

Mobile-Friendliness

Mobile friendly sites are a must in today’s digital world. Google now uses mobile-first indexing which means it looks at the mobile version of your site first. To make your site mobile friendly start by checking how it looks on different devices.

Use PageSpeed Insights to test your site and get tips to improve it.

Don’t forget the basics. Use meta viewport tags to control how your site looks on mobile screens. Choose fonts that are readable on small screens. Make sure buttons and links are big enough to tap with your finger.

These simple steps will make a big difference on mobile devices.

More SEO Tips

Ready to level up your SEO? These extra tips will help you stand out in search. Keep reading to see some cool stuff!

Add Structured Data for Rich Snippets

It can make your site stand out in search results with rich snippets.

1. Use schema markup to give search engines more info about your content.
2. Choose the right schema type for your page, like Product, Recipe or Event.
3. Add the schema code to your HTML using JSON-LD format.
4. Test your structured data with Google’s Rich Results Test tool.
5. Apply Product schema to e-commerce pages to show price and stock info.
6. Use Review schema to show star ratings in search.
7. Add FAQ schema to get more space in search listings.
8. Use HowTo schema for step by step guides or tutorials.
9. Use Article schema for blog posts to show publish date and author.
10. Apply LocalBusiness schema for physical stores to show address and hours.
11. Use VideoObject schema to get video thumbnails in search.
12. Add BreadcrumbList schema to show site hierarchy in search listings.
13. Add JobPosting schema for job listings to show in Google for Jobs.
14. Use Event schema to show dates and ticket info for upcoming events.
15. Apply Recipe schema to show cooking time and ratings for food blogs.

Fix Broken Pages and Dead Links

Broken pages and dead links can kill your site. Let’s fix these and get your site healthy.

• Use Semrush’s Site Audit to find 4xx errors on your site.
• Check your site for 404 “Not Found” pages.
• Find links that point to pages that don’t exist on your site.
• Update or remove internal links that go to broken pages.
• Set up 301 redirects for pages you’ve moved to new URLs.
• Scan your site for external links that go to dead pages on other sites.
• Replace dead external links with live ones or remove them.
• Check your backlinks and fix any that point to broken pages on your site.
• Run site audits regularly to catch new broken links before they become problems.
• Fix soft 404s by setting up your 404 page correctly.
• Check for broken images and replace or remove them.
• Update your XML sitemap after fixing broken pages and links.
• Monitor your site’s crawl budget to make sure search engines can crawl all your pages.

Hreflang for Multi-language Sites

Hreflang tags help search engines understand your site’s language versions. They’re a must for multi-language sites to reach global audience.

• Hreflang tags tell Google which language is on a page
• These tags tell Google which pages should show up in search results for a language or region
• Add hreflang tags to your HTML head or in your sitemap
• Use the ISO 639-1 format for language codes (e.g. “en” for English, “es” for Spanish)
• Add a tag for each language version of a page, including the current page
• Don’t forget to add an x-default tag for your site’s main language
• Self-reference each page with its own hreflang tag to avoid duplication
• Check your hreflang tags with Google Search Console
• Fix hreflang errors asap to avoid ranking issues
• Use hreflang even if your content is the same but for different regions
• Make sure your server can handle multiple languages
• Keep your site structure the same across all language versions for easy navigation

Conclusion

Technical SEO significantly impacts your website’s success. Implementing these tips will enhance your site’s visibility and user experience. Search engines prefer fast, well-structured sites that are easy to crawl.

Maintain your site’s updates and regularly check its performance. These strategies will help improve your position in search engine results pages.

Frequently Asked Questions