Before you beef up your pages with keyword-rich content, any successful search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy should involve analysing your website's technical infrastructure. This includes both front and backend elements — things visitors can and cannot see — and is what helps search engines to crawl, index, and rank your content effectively.

When it comes to an optimised website; keywords are the meat, and technical elements are the bones. A technical audit can lead to immediate improvements of your search engine ranking before you even begin your keyword research.

But what exactly are we supposed looking for in technical audits? This blog post will dive into some of the key definitions and concepts in technical SEO.

1. Crawlability

Crawlability refers to a search engine's ability to access and navigate your website's pages. If a website is easily crawlable, search engine bots can follow links throughout the site and discover all the content available. Technical factors that affect crawlability include:

Robots.txt: A file that tells search engine bots which pages they can or cannot crawl. You should place it in the root folder of your site: https://domain.com/robots.txt
Sitemaps: XML sitemaps provide a roadmap for search engines to follow and discover all the important pages on your site. We suggest adding a sitemap into Google Search Console manually.

2. Indexability

Indexability is the capability of a website to be indexed (i.e. ranked) by search engines after being crawled. Indexing means that the search engine has analysed and stored the content of the pages in its database, making them available in search results. Key technical elements influencing indexability include:

Meta Tags: Meta tags can instruct search engines whether to index a page or not.
Canonical Tags: These tags prevent duplicate content issues by specifying the "canonical" or preferred version of a page.
Noindex Tags: Tells search engines not to index a specific page.

3. Page Speed

Page Speed is a critical factor in both user experience and SEO. Faster-loading pages are preferred by search engines and can lead to higher rankings. Important aspects of page speed include:

Image Optimisation: Reducing the size of images without compromising quality.
Browser Caching: Storing resources in the browser so that pages load faster on subsequent visits.
Minification: Removing unnecessary characters from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to reduce their size.

4. Mobile-Friendliness

Mobile-Friendliness ensures that your website performs well on mobile devices. With the majority of web traffic coming from mobile, search engines prioritise mobile-friendly sites. Elements of mobile-friendliness include:

Responsive Design: Adjusting the layout of the website to fit different screen sizes.
Touchscreen Readiness: Ensuring that buttons and links are large enough and spaced appropriately for touch interactions.
Mobile Page Speed: Optimising for faster load times on mobile networks.

5. HTTPS

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is an extension of HTTP, which ensures secure communication over the internet. Websites using HTTPS are favoured by search engines because they provide a safer and more trustworthy user experience. Key points about HTTPS:

SSL/TLS Certificates: These certificates encrypt the data exchanged between the user's browser and the web server.
Trust Signals: HTTPS is a trust signal for users, indicating that their data is secure.

6. Structured Data

Structured Data involves using specific code (such as schema markup) to help search engines understand the content of your pages better. Structured data can enhance search results with rich snippets, including reviews, ratings, and event information. Types of structured data:

Schema Markup: A standardised format to label content, helping search engines understand the context.
Rich Snippets: Enhanced search results with additional information, such as star ratings or event dates.

Rich snippets for technical seo example — *An example search result with rich snippets*

7. Canonicalisation

Canonicalisation is the process of selecting the preferred version of a webpage when there are multiple versions available. This helps prevent duplicate content issues and ensures that search engines index the correct page. Important components:

Canonical Tags: HTML elements that specify the preferred version of a page.
Redirects: 301 redirects can permanently redirect users and search engines to the preferred page.

8. URL Structure

URL Structure refers to the way URLs are organised and presented on a website. A clean, descriptive, and well-organised URL structure can improve both user experience and search engine rankings. Best practices for URL structure include:

Descriptive Keywords: Including relevant keywords in the URL.
Hyphens: Using hyphens to separate words, making URLs more readable.
Avoiding Special Characters: Keeping URLs simple and free of special characters.

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While content is key, you’ll never fully unlock your website’s potential without taking care of its technical health.

A good SEO strategy is all-encompassing of keyword-rich content, site infrastructure, and link building. If you want to harness traffic from search engines and attract more visitors to your website, ask our team about an SEO website audit.

Understanding Technical SEO: Key Definitions