If you have become interested in search engine optimisation (SEO) then you have probably come across the term technical SEO. But what does that really mean?
In this article, we issue all question marks and also fit in with sharing five simple tips to get started with technical search engine optimisation.
What is technical SEO?
Just as the name speaks about, technical SEO is about optimising the technical components that help determine a site’s positions in the search engines.
More often, many say that it is about website and server optimisations that make it easier for search engine spiders to index a website.
Personally, on the other hand, I think there are many more that fit under the term technical search engine optimisation.
The indexing, however, is vital when it comes to the technical bit because it is the basis of all the different search engines, whether it be Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo.
It is therefore of utmost importance that you ensure that your site can be indexed as efficiently as possible. To learn more about how indexing works, we recommend that you read our previous article focusing on Google indexing .
Then you work with technical SEO
The area of technical search engine optimisation is of course very wide and contains hundreds of different ranking factors that you can optimize. Below, however, we have gathered some of the most important points that you should address first:
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1. Get an XML Page Map
An XML page map – also known as XML sitemap – is simply a register of all pages on a website. These are usually found on www.dinwebbsite.se/sitemap.xml and make it easier for search engines to index your site.
If you do not have an XML page map at this time, you should get it immediately. Something that can easily be done through, for example, Yoast SEO . Once you have implemented a site map, you should also submit it to Google via Search Console (SC).
Navigate to SC and click on “scan actions”
Then select “Sitemaps”
Touch “add / test sitemap”
Then enter the URL of your Sitemap and press “send”
2. Implement an SSL Certificate
Although an SSL certificate does not affect the indexing itself, it has nevertheless proved to be a very important ranking factor which, in my opinion, falls under the category of technical SEO.
If you are not familiar with this type of certificate before, it is in short a security technology that can be used. ensures that your site provides a secure and encrypted connection between its server and visitors.
There are a variety of ways – both free and costly – that you can use to implement an SSL certificate on your site. However, I recommend you try Let’s Encrypt which offers free certificates.
3. Optimise your charging time
If you read our previous article on Google’s Speed Update then you are probably aware that the search giant since July 2018 uses charge time as a ranking factor also on mobile devices. Something that is incredibly important to keep in mind as you also migrated to a mobile-first index .
To check how good or bad your charging time is, I recommend using the Google PageSpeed Insights and / or Pingdom tools . If your charging time turns out to be poor and you want to learn how to improve it, you may want to read our previous article ” 5 ways to improve your site’s loading time “.
4. Make sure your mobile site is customisable
As previously mentioned, Google has migrated to a mobile-first index, which means that the mobile version of your site is now seen as the primary version when indexing and ranking. However, this is not the only reason why a mobile site is important. In our article “The importance of a mobile-adapted website “, we are driving the rest of them.
To check whether mobile-friendly your website is, I recommend you use Google’s Mobile Friendliness Test . Simply enter your URL and then click on “Run test”:
5. Fix 404 pages
When you delete a page from your website, visitors will be met by a so-called 404 page. Something that creates problems for both the visitors and the search engines spiders. To check if you have any 404 pages, you can use the index coverage report in the Google Search Console.
If you have this, I recommend that you make a 301 redirect to a similar page, or to the start page. If you use WordPress as a publishing tool, I recommend that you use a plug-in called Redirection .
