Technical SEO

Improving your website’s technical SEO is crucial for enhancing its visibility and performance in search engine results. These aspects of search engine optimization might require a considerable level of technical skill to implement. However, even if you have limited programming knowledge, these skills might be useful to acquire because, in most organisations, SEO specialists work in tandem with software engineers to improve the rankings of the company's websites. If you are a web developer, these skills might be useful as you can essentially provide search engine optimization services to your clients. Thus creating a potential avenue for upselling and diversifying your revenue streams. Here’s a breakdown of the key technical factors:

1. Optimizing URL Structures

• Use Descriptive URLs: Ensure URLs are clear, concise, and include relevant keywords that describe the page content. Avoid long, complex URLs with unnecessary parameters.
• Use Hyphens Instead of Underscores: Hyphens are preferred because search engines treat them as word separators, while underscores are not recognized in the same way.
• Avoid Dynamic URLs: Where possible, avoid using dynamic URLs with long query strings. Instead, use static, human-readable URLs.
• Use Lowercase Letters: URLs should be in lowercase to avoid duplication issues where example.com/Page and example.com/page are treated as different URLs.

2. Implementing Schema Markup

• Structured Data: Add schema markup (structured data) to your website to help search engines understand the content better. This can include product information, reviews, events, articles, and more.
• Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool: Validate your schema markup using Google’s tool to ensure it is correctly implemented and error-free.
• Enhance Rich Snippets: By implementing schema markup, you can enable rich snippets, such as star ratings, product prices, and availability, which can improve your CTR in search results.
• JSON-LD Format: Use JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) as it is the recommended format by Google for adding structured data to your site.

3. Fixing Broken Links

• Conduct Regular Audits: Use tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, or Ahrefs to regularly audit your website for broken links (404 errors).
• Implement 301 Redirects: For any broken links, implement 301 redirects to point them to the most relevant page. This preserves any link equity from the old URL.
• Update Internal Links: Ensure all internal links are updated to point to the correct, live pages. Broken internal links can lead to a poor user experience and hurt your SEO.
• Custom 404 Pages: Create a custom 404 error page that provides users with options to navigate back to the site, minimizing the impact of broken links.

4. Ensuring Proper Website Indexing

• Submit XML Sitemap: Create and submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. This helps search engines discover and index all relevant pages on your site.
• Robots.txt File: Ensure your robots.txt file is correctly configured to allow search engines to crawl essential pages. Avoid blocking important directories or pages.
• Canonical Tags: Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues. This tells search engines which version of a page is the master copy.
• Mobile-Friendly Design: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly, as Google uses mobile-first indexing. This means your mobile site’s performance can affect your ranking.
• Optimize Crawl Budget: If your site is large, optimize your crawl budget by ensuring that search engines focus on your most important pages. Avoid wasting the crawl budget on low-value or duplicate pages.

Additional Considerations

• Page Speed: Optimize your website’s loading speed, as it’s a ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to identify and fix performance issues.
• Secure Your Website: Ensure your website is served over HTTPS. A secure website is a trust signal to both users and search engines.
• Check for Indexing Issues: Regularly review Google Search Console for any indexing issues or warnings, such as pages blocked by robots.txt or excluded from the index.

By focusing on these technical aspects of SEO, you can significantly improve your website’s search engine visibility, user experience, and overall performance.