🔍 What is Technical SEO?

Technical SEO refers to the process of optimising your website’s infrastructure so that search engines can crawl, index, and understand it properly. It’s less about content and more about performance, structure, and functionality.

Think of it like a building: Technical SEO is the wiring, plumbing, and foundations. It’s not always visible, but it’s essential for everything to run smoothly.

🚀 Why Technical SEO Matters

Google wants to send users to websites that are fast, secure, and well-organised. If your site is slow, broken, or confusing to bots, it will struggle to rank—no matter how great your content is.

Good technical SEO helps:

• ✅ Improve crawlability and indexation
• ✅ Boost site speed and performance
• ✅ Enhance mobile experience
• ✅ Prevent duplicate content and errors

🔧 Key Technical SEO Elements

📄 1. XML Sitemap

This is a file that lists all your important pages, helping search engines find and index them.

• Submit it through Google Search Console
• Keep it updated automatically (most SEO plugins help)

🚫 2. Robots.txt

This file tells search engines what not to crawl. Use it carefully—block spammy URLs, but don’t block important pages by mistake.

📱 3. Mobile-Friendliness

Google uses mobile-first indexing, so your website needs to work well on all screen sizes.

• Use responsive design
• Test with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool

⚡ 4. Site Speed & Performance

Slow sites frustrate users and Google. Page speed is a ranking factor.

• Optimise images and code
• Use caching and a CDN
• Minimise JavaScript and CSS

🔒 5. HTTPS & Security

Google prefers secure sites. Make sure your site uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate.

🧱 6. Structured Data (Schema Markup)

This adds extra information to your site that helps Google understand your content better—like reviews, recipes, events, etc.

• Use tools like Schema.org and Google’s Rich Results Test

🔁 7. Canonical Tags

If the same content appears on multiple URLs, canonical tags tell Google which version is the “master.” This prevents duplicate content penalties.

🚧 8. Broken Links & 404 Errors

Fix broken links and redirect old pages properly. Too many 404 errors hurt both SEO and user experience.

🛑 Common Technical SEO Mistakes

• 🚫 Blocking important pages with robots.txt
• 🚫 Not having an XML sitemap
• 🚫 Using slow, outdated hosting
• 🚫 Having too many redirects or broken links
• 🚫 No SSL certificate or expired HTTPS

🛠️ Tools to Help With Technical SEO

You don’t need to be a tech wizard. These tools make technical SEO much easier:

• 🧰 Google Search Console – Indexing and performance insights
• 🚀 PageSpeed Insights – Site speed suggestions
• 🕷️ Screaming Frog – Crawl your site like Google does
• 🔎 Ahrefs / SEMrush – Technical site audits

✅ Quick Recap

• ⚙️ Technical SEO is the engine room of your website
• 📱 Mobile speed and user experience are critical
• 📄 Use sitemaps, structured data, and canonical tags
• 🔒 Security, speed, and clean code all matter