A Beginner’s Guide to Technical SEO: What You Need to Know
Are you looking to improve your website’s search engine ranking? Then you’re in the right place! In this beginner’s guide to technical SEO, we’ll cover everything you need to know to get started.
Technical SEO refers to the process of optimising your website’s infrastructure and backend to improve its visibility and ranking in search engines. While technical SEO may sound intimidating, it’s crucial for website owners to understand and implement.
Technical SEO Basics
Now that we have a basic understanding of what technical SEO is, let’s dive into the technical SEO basics. There are several key concepts that beginners need to know to get started:
Crawlability
Crawlability is an essential aspect of technical SEO. It refers to the ability of search engine bots to crawl and index the content on your website. To ensure crawlability, you need to make sure that your website’s robots.txt file is properly configured, and that there are no technical issues such as broken links or duplicate content that may hinder bots from crawling your site.
Site Speed Optimisation
Another important aspect of technical SEO is site speed optimisation. Google considers page load speed as one of the key factors in its ranking algorithm, so it’s essential to ensure that your website loads quickly. You can achieve this by optimising your images, minifying your code, leveraging browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
Indexing
Indexing is another critical component of technical SEO. Indexing refers to the process of adding your website’s pages to search engine indexes. To ensure that your site is properly indexed, you need to create and submit an XML sitemap to search engines. Additionally, you can use the robots.txt file to instruct search engines on which pages to crawl and which to ignore.
Schema Markup
Schema markup is a form of structured data that helps search engines understand the content on your website better. By using schema markup, you can provide additional context to search engines about the content on your site, which can lead to enhanced search results and features such as rich snippets. Common schema markup types include organisation, product, and article. To implement schema markup, you can use various tools and plugins, or you can add the markup directly to your website’s HTML.
The Importance Of Mobile Optimisation
In today’s mobile-focused world, it’s crucial for website owners to optimise their sites for mobile devices. Neglecting mobile optimisation can lead to a high bounce rate and penalties from search engines, making it a major mistake in technical SEO. As most internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, it’s essential to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, responsive, and easy to navigate on smaller screens.
Mobile optimisation not only enhances user experience but also has a significant impact on search engine ranking. Google has confirmed that mobile optimisation is a critical factor in search engine ranking, and websites that are not mobile-friendly will be penalised in search results. Moreover, users are more likely to return to a website if it’s easy to navigate on their mobile device, increasing the time spent on your website and ultimately improving your search engine ranking.
There are several steps you can take to optimise your website for mobile devices. One common approach is to use responsive design, which adjusts your website to fit the size of the user’s screen. This may involve resizing images, adjusting font sizes, and reorganising content for smaller screens. Additionally, page speed is crucial, as mobile users are typically more sensitive to slow loading times. Ensuring that your website loads quickly on mobile devices can enhance user experience and search engine ranking.
In addition to responsive design and page speed, other factors are vital when optimising your website for mobile devices. It’s essential to ensure that your website’s buttons and links are easy to tap on a mobile screen and that your website’s text is legible on a smaller screen. You can also consider implementing mobile-specific features, such as click-to-call buttons, to improve the user experience.
Avoiding A Broken Link Blunder
Ignoring broken links is one of the common technical SEO mistakes that website owners often make. Broken links occur when a link on a website leads to a page that no longer exists or has been moved. Broken links can be frustrating for users as they prevent them from accessing the content they were hoping to see, leading to a negative user experience. If users encounter too many broken links on your website, they may become frustrated and leave your website, which can result in a high bounce rate and reduced search engine ranking.
Keep in mind that engines like Google take broken links into consideration when ranking websites. If your website has too many broken links, Google may consider it to be of lower quality and rank it lower in search engine results. This can have a negative impact on your website’s traffic and ultimately your business.
To avoid broken links, website owners should regularly check their website for broken links and fix them as soon as possible. One way to check for broken links is to use a broken link checker tool, which can scan your website and identify any broken links. Once broken links have been identified, website owners should take steps to fix them, such as updating the link to the correct page or removing the link altogether.
You can also prevent broken links by being proactive and avoiding linking to pages that are likely to be moved or deleted in the future. This can include avoiding linking to temporary pages or pages that are no longer being updated. Of course, you should test all links before publishing them to ensure that they are working correctly.
Technical SEO Tools
Here are some helpful tools to help you get through the wonderful world of technical SEO:
SEMrush
One of the most popular tools for technical SEO is SEMrush. This tool provides a comprehensive site audit that highlights technical SEO issues and provides recommendations for improvement. It also includes features for keyword research and tracking, as well as competitor analysis. With SEMrush, website owners can easily identify and fix technical SEO issues to improve their website’s ranking in search engines.
Ahrefs
Another powerful tool for technical SEO is Ahrefs. This tool offers a suite of features for keyword research, backlink analysis, and site audits. With Ahrefs, website owners can identify technical SEO issues and track their progress over time. It also offers competitor analysis features to help website owners stay ahead of the competition.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that provides website owners with insights into their website’s performance in search engines. It offers features for indexing, crawling, and search analytics, allowing website owners to identify and fix technical SEO issues. Google Search Console also provides recommendations for improving website performance in search engines.
Moz
Moz offers a suite of tools for technical SEO, including site audits, keyword research, and backlink analysis. Its site audit tool identifies technical SEO issues and provides recommendations for improvement. Moz also offers a range of educational resources to help website owners improve their technical SEO skills and stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices.
Let’s Get Technical! Reach Out To Budget SEO Today
Technical SEO is a vital aspect of website optimisation, and Budget SEO is here to help you take advantage of it! Our team of experienced professionals is well-versed in technical SEO and can help you identify and fix any issues your website might be facing. From site audits to keyword research and backlink analysis, we offer a comprehensive range of services to help you improve your website’s visibility and ranking in search engines.
So, don’t wait any longer to take your website’s technical SEO to the next level. Contact Budget SEO today and let us help you reach your full potential!
