Technical SEO Provides Structure To Your Website
Technical SEO plays a vital role in improving your website’s ranking in search engine results. While content quality and relevance are crucial, technical aspects of your website can significantly impact its visibility and overall performance. Technical SEO focuses on optimizing your website’s infrastructure, code, and configuration to ensure that search engines can effectively crawl, index, and understand your content. By addressing technical issues and implementing best practices, you can enhance your website’s search engine ranking and provide a better user experience.
Is your Website Crawlable for Search Engines?
Increase your website speed and Google Search ranking With Technical SEO. During a Technical SEO Audit the LDR SEO Team with analyze and improve your website to increase its ranking on Google. Technical SEO basics include:
Website SiteMap
Creating a website sitemap is essential for Google Search. It serves as a comprehensive list of all the pages on your website, aiding search engines in effectively crawling and indexing your content.
Navigation
Create a sound menu structure (navigational elements) to make the website easy to browse. Use a shallow depth navigation structure to reduce the number of clicks to access the content. (Many SEOs will reduce the number of pages by adding more content to each page. See Content SEO for more information.) Add internal links to the pages for cross reference as this makes for a more cohesive, easy-to-navigate website.
With a clear website navigation structure, Google can clearly index and display content efficiently and improve your organic rankings.
Breadcrumb menus help users visualize their location on the website. This navigation option generally increases the usability of the website, which increases its ranking on search engines.
Structured Data
Structured data refers to a standardized format for providing information about a webpage’s content to search engines like Google. It helps search engines understand and categorize the information on a website more effectively. By adding structured data to your website, you provide additional context and meaning to the content, making it easier for search engines to index and display your website in search results.
One key aspect of structured data is the use of rich snippets. Rich snippets are enhanced search results that display additional information alongside the traditional title and description. They provide users with a quick preview of the web page’s content, increasing the visibility and click-through rates of search listings. Rich snippets can include elements like star ratings, reviews, pricing, product availability, and more, depending on the nature of the website.
Schema markup utilizes a structured data format to provide a clear description of the data on a webpage, making it easier for search engines to categorize and display relevant information to users.
By implementing schema markup and structured data, website owners can potentially enhance their visibility, increase user engagement, and provide a better experience for search engine users.
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Mobile Phones
Always check that your website is mobile-friendly. Google had implemented a Mobile-First Indexing algorithm that includes ease of use and speed as dominant ranking factors. If you are uncertain of the mobile-friendliness of a website, Google has its own Mobile-Friendly Test.
According to Statista, there are now approximately 3.5 billion smartphone users across the globe.
The good news is that most WordPress themes are responsive, ie mobile-friendly. The LDR teams can redesign your website pages and pop-ups for mobile browsers. We are also a reliable high-speed website hosting company. Google had implemented a Mobile-First Indexing algorithm that includes ease of use and speed as dominant ranking factors.
Crawlable
A well-optimized internal linking structure plays a crucial role in improving the crawlability of your website. Search engines employ robots, also known as crawlers or spiders, to navigate and index web pages. By strategically linking different pages within your website, you can ensure that search engine crawlers can easily discover and access all of your important content. This helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website, leading to better visibility in search results.
Optimizing your website’s internal linking structure, monitoring your robot files, and testing canonical tags are essential steps to enhance the crawlability of your website. Regularly reviewing and updating your robots.txt file can prevent search engines from indexing sensitive or irrelevant pages while allowing them to access and index the pages that matter most.
Know how to use URLs
Editing the website’s URL (link) names increase the relevance of the page structure. Use your primary keyword for the menu name, and keep it simple. Eliminate stop words as they add no value.
Are you taking advantage of canonical URLs? Canonicalization is not only the best way but also a recommended practice to effectively eliminate duplicate content issues within URLs. By implementing canonical URLs, you establish a clear and preferred version of your web pages, consolidating their ranking potential and avoiding any negative impact caused by duplicate content.
Speed Matters
In terms of technical SEO, how fast is your website? Google is well aware that slow web pages provide a subpar browsing experience. Statistical reports indicate that a 10-second page load speed can lead to a 123 percent increase in bounce rate. Since Google made page speed a ranking factor in 2021, the speed of your website has become more crucial than ever. To assess the speed of your web pages across all devices, we utilize PageSpeed Insights for comprehensive testing.
The LDR SEO Team dedicates time to website speed optimization.
- Enabling compression
- Minifying JavaScript, CSS, and HTML
- Reducing redirects
- Using browser caching
- Using a content distribution network
- Optimizing images
404 Errors
It’s common for websites to have some dead or broken links, leading to 404 errors. To prevent this from happening, it’s important to always redirect the URL of dead links to relevant and active pages. This ensures that when users click on a link, they are directed to the correct and functional content, avoiding the disappointment and frustration that comes with encountering a broken link.
Broken links disappoint and frustrate your readers. Ensuring your website is free of 404s errors and broken links can enhance user experience and improve the search result ranking. Taking the time to manage and rectify 404 errors can significantly enhance your website’s performance and overall user satisfaction.
Webmaster Tools
Webmaster tools, such as Google Search Console, are helpful tools provided by search engines to assist website owners in monitoring and optimizing their websites. Google Search Console, specifically, is a powerful and user-friendly tool that allows you to gain insights into how your website performs in Google’s search results.
Google Search Console alerts you to any potential issues or errors that may impact your website’s performance, such as crawling errors, security issues, or mobile compatibility problems. It also allows you to submit sitemaps, request the removal of specific URLs from search results, and even monitor your website’s backlinks.
Secure Your Website
Securing your website with HTTPS is a crucial aspect of technical SEO, as it ensures the protection of both your website and its visitors’ information. By implementing HTTPS, you establish a secure and encrypted connection, enhancing the security of data transmission between the user’s browser and your website. The presence of the padlock icon in the browser’s address bar signifies a safe browsing experience, instilling trust in users and encouraging them to share sensitive information without fear of compromise.
In addition to the security benefits, HTTPS is highly favored by search engines, making it an important factor in technical SEO. Websites that utilize HTTPS receive a ranking boost, leading to improved visibility and increased organic traffic. Furthermore, as HTTPS has become the standard practice, modern web browsers now label non-HTTPS websites as “not secure,” potentially deterring visitors. By embracing HTTPS, you not only protect your website and users but also align with evolving security standards and maintain a positive online reputation, all of which contribute to an effective technical SEO strategy.
Implementing HTTPS provides not only enhanced security but also additional advantages from a technical SEO perspective. HTTPS connections, supported by the newer HTTP/2 protocol, offer faster and more efficient website loading times, ultimately improving the overall browsing experience for users. Moreover, for websites that engage in e-commerce or handle sensitive data, HTTPS is indispensable as it establishes trust with customers and minimizes the risk of data breaches, contributing to a solid foundation of technical SEO practices.
Implementing HTTPS not only safeguards your website and users’ data, but it also provides other advantages. HTTPS connections are faster and more efficient due to newer HTTP/2 protocol support, improving the overall browsing experience. Additionally, HTTPS is essential for e-commerce websites or any site that collects sensitive information as it helps to establish trust with customers and reduce the risk of data breaches.
Technical SEO Can Be Tricky
Having a well-performing website is a far cry from adding stock images and keyword stuffing. Quality websites have both technical integrity (structure) and quality content that your ideal audience cares about. Technical SEO Strategies need to be set up. We use a variety of Google Search Console tools, proven techniques, and methods to identify technical weaknesses and improve the user experience and generate traffic.
Seeking a winning Technical SEO Strategy? Technical SEO is an integral part of any SEO strategy. Allow the Technical SEO Specialists at LDR to implement SEO strategies that provide your business with a distinct advantage over your competitors.
