Technical SEO: Building a Strong Foundation
Technical SEO addresses the behind-the-scenes setup of your website to ensure search engines (and users) can access and navigate it easily. Even the best content won't rank if search engines can't properly access, crawl, and index your site.
In this section
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO involves optimizing the infrastructure and technical elements of a site to improve its visibility in search engines. This includes aspects like site architecture, code optimization, page speed, mobile-friendliness, and ensuring that search engines can effectively crawl and index your content.
Recommended Resources:
The Housing Agent Analogy
"Technical SEO is like setting up your housing agent's office for optimal client experience."
Our housing agent might have great knowledge and sales skills, but imagine if:
- Their office is hard to find with no clear signage (poor crawlability)
- The door is locked when clients arrive (blocking factors)
- The waiting room is disorganized with no clear pathways (poor site structure)
- The office takes forever to reach by elevator (slow page speed)
- The building has no wheelchair access (not accessible/mobile-friendly)
- The office is in a sketchy area with no security (lack of HTTPS)
Such issues would keep clients away no matter how good the agent is. Similarly, technical SEO ensures your website's "office" is well-organized, accessible, secure, and provides a pleasant visitor experience.
You can think of Google's crawler (often called "Googlebot") as a client trying to visit every room in the agent's office to see what's available. Technical SEO makes sure Googlebot can do so without obstacles, ensuring all your content can be found and evaluated.
Site Crawlability & Indexability
Before your site can rank in search results, search engines must be able to find, crawl, and index it. Crawlability refers to a search engine's ability to access and crawl through your site's content. Indexability refers to whether this content can be added to the search engine's index.
Learn More:
For an official guide to indexing and crawling, check out Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF)
XML Sitemaps
What is an XML Sitemap?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all important pages on your website, helping search engines discover and crawl them efficiently. Think of it as a building directory or map that guides visitors to every room.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/</loc>
<lastmod>2023-06-01</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>1.0</priority>
</url>
</urlset>
Best Practices for Sitemaps:
- Include all important, canonical URLs
- Exclude non-canonical, noindexed, and low-value pages
- Keep sitemaps under 50,000 URLs and 50MB (create multiple if needed)
- Update sitemaps when new content is published
- Submit your sitemap through Google Search Console
- Include the sitemap location in your robots.txt file
Robots.txt
The robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which parts of your site they can or cannot access.
What is robots.txt?
A robots.txt file is a text file at the root of your site that provides instructions to search engine crawlers. It's like having clear signage in your office building indicating which areas are public or private.
User-agent: *
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /admin/
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml
Important Considerations:
- Don't use robots.txt to hide sensitive information (it's publicly accessible)
- Be careful not to accidentally block important content
- For pages you don't want indexed but do want crawled, use meta robots tags instead
- Include your sitemap URL in the robots.txt file
- Test your robots.txt in Google Search Console to ensure it works as expected
Common Mistake: Using robots.txt to block content you don't want in search results. This isn't reliable as some search engines might still index the URL (without crawling the content). For proper control over indexing, use the noindex meta tag or HTTP header.
Crawl Budget Optimization
Search engines have limited resources to crawl websites. Your site's "crawl budget" refers to how many pages search engines will crawl on your site in a given time period.
How to Optimize Crawl Budget:
- Eliminate duplicate content using canonical tags
- Fix broken links and 404 pages
- Reduce low-quality or thin content pages
- Improve site speed (faster pages can be crawled more efficiently)
- Use the URL removal tool in Google Search Console for outdated content
- Implement proper pagination and avoid infinite scroll without proper implementation
- Block crawling of search result pages, tag pages, or other auto-generated content with minimal value
Housing Agent Analogy: Imagine if the housing agent's filing system included multiple duplicate copies of the same listing, outdated listings, and empty folders. The more organized the filing system, the more efficiently they can show properties to clients. Similarly, optimizing crawl budget ensures search engines focus on your important pages.
Site Structure & Navigation
A logical, well-organized site structure helps both users and search engines navigate your content efficiently.
URL Structure
Clean, descriptive URLs benefit both users and search engines. They provide context about the page's content and help establish site hierarchy.
Best Practices for URLs:
https://example.com/houston/downtown-apartments
https://example.com/p?id=123&cat=45&loc=29
- Use lowercase letters (URLs are case-sensitive)
- Separate words with hyphens, not underscores
- Include relevant keywords but keep URLs reasonably short
- Avoid unnecessary parameters, numbers, or codes
- Create a logical hierarchy reflecting your site's structure
- Avoid special characters and spaces
Site Hierarchy
A clear site hierarchy helps users and search engines understand the relationship between pages and content sections. It also distributes link equity effectively throughout your site.
Elements of a Good Site Structure:
- Shallow depth: Users should be able to reach any page within 3-4 clicks from the homepage
- Logical categories: Group related content together
- Clear navigation: Main navigation should highlight key sections
- Breadcrumbs: Help users understand their location and navigate back
- Consistent linking: Internal linking should reinforce the hierarchy
Example of a Good Site Hierarchy:
Homepage
├── Apartments
│ ├── Downtown
│ │ ├── 1-Bedroom
│ │ ├── 2-Bedroom
│ │ └── 3-Bedroom
│ ├── Midtown
│ └── Uptown
├── Houses
├── Resources
│ ├── Renting Guide
│ ├── Neighborhood Information
│ └── FAQ
└── About Us
├── Our Team
├── Testimonials
└── Contact
Housing Agent Analogy: A well-organized office has clear departments, easy-to-navigate hallways, and logical groupings of information. Clients can easily find what they need without getting lost or frustrated. Your website should be just as intuitive.
Page Speed & Performance
Page speed is a critical factor for both user experience and SEO. Slow-loading pages frustrate users and can negatively impact your search rankings.
Pro Tools:
Advanced SEOs often use tools like Ahrefs to analyze technical aspects. Learn more in this comprehensive Ahrefs guide from Backlinko.
Did you know? Research shows that 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load. Each second delay in load time can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability.
The Three Core Web Vitals:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Measures loading performance - how quickly the main content of a page loads.
Good target: 2.5 seconds or faster
First Input Delay (FID)
Measures interactivity - how quickly the page responds to user interactions.
Good target: 100 milliseconds or less
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Measures visual stability - how much elements move around as the page loads.
Good target: 0.1 or less
Google uses Core Web Vitals as ranking signals, so optimizing for these metrics directly impacts SEO. You can measure your site's performance using tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, or the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console.
Speed Optimization Tips
Improving page speed requires addressing multiple factors. Here are key optimizations to consider:
Image Optimization
- Compress images without sacrificing quality
- Use modern formats like WebP
- Implement lazy loading for images
- Specify image dimensions in HTML
- Use responsive images for different screen sizes
Code Optimization
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
- Remove unused code and dependencies
- Use asynchronous loading for non-critical scripts
- Combine multiple CSS/JS files when appropriate
- Reduce the impact of third-party scripts
Caching & Compression
- Enable browser caching for static resources
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
- Enable GZIP or Brotli compression
- Implement server-side caching if applicable
- Use cache validation
Hosting & Server Optimization
- Choose a reliable hosting provider
- Consider server location relative to your audience
- Optimize database queries
- Use HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 protocol
- Implement server-side rendering where appropriate
Housing Agent Analogy: If a client has to wait in a slow elevator for 5 minutes to reach the agent's office, they might leave before they ever meet the agent. Similarly, users often abandon slow websites before seeing your content, no matter how good it is.
Mobile Optimization & Security
As mobile usage continues to dominate internet traffic, mobile optimization has become crucial for SEO. Similarly, website security is an increasingly important ranking factor.
Mobile-First Indexing
What is Mobile-First Indexing?
Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. This means that how your site appears and functions on mobile devices directly impacts your search rankings.
Best Practices for Mobile Optimization:
- Use responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes
- Ensure text is readable without zooming
- Make buttons, links, and form elements large enough to tap easily
- Avoid software that's not common on mobile devices (like Flash)
- Keep important content and functionality above the fold when possible
- Test your site using Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool
- Check for mobile usability issues in Google Search Console
- Avoid intrusive interstitials (pop-ups) that block content
HTTPS & Security
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is the secure version of HTTP, encrypting data sent between your browser and the website you're visiting. Google has confirmed that HTTPS is a ranking signal.
Benefits of HTTPS:
- Secure data transmission (especially important for forms, login pages, etc.)
- Builds user trust (browsers show a padlock icon for secure sites)
- Provides a small ranking boost in Google
- Required for many modern browser features
Implementing HTTPS:
- Purchase and install an SSL certificate (or use a free one from Let's Encrypt)
- Implement proper redirects from HTTP to HTTPS
- Update internal links to use HTTPS
- Update external service integrations
- Test your SSL implementation with tools like Qualys SSL Labs
Housing Agent Analogy: An agent's office in a secure building with proper locks and security gives clients peace of mind. They feel comfortable sharing personal information and trust the agent more. Similarly, HTTPS secures your website and builds user trust.
Key Takeaways from Technical SEO
- Technical SEO creates a strong foundation that allows your content to be properly crawled, indexed, and ranked
- Use XML sitemaps and proper robots.txt files to guide search engines through your site
- Create a logical site structure with clean, descriptive URLs
- Optimize page speed by compressing images, minifying code, and implementing caching
- Ensure your site is mobile-friendly and secured with HTTPS
- Regularly check for technical issues using tools like Google Search Console