When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
What is Technical SEO?
Technical search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of website optimization guidelines and techniques designed to ensure a website can be found, crawled, and indexed by search engines such as Google. Technical SEO refers to activities to improve a site’s code, structure, and performance to help search engines better understand and index it.
Technical aspects of SEO focus on the back-end elements of a website (i.e., the technical components and structure), and individuals typically need familiarity with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (JS) to fix or improve some of the technical issues. For organizations managing large-scale global or e-commerce websites, ongoing communication with web development teams is required to implement technical SEO guidelines.
Several technical SEO elements, such as page speed and mobile optimization, are confirmed website ranking factors, while others generally contribute to a site’s overall visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), making it more accessible and user-friendly.
Technical SEO is one of three pillars of SEO – a framework that outlines essential SEO strategy practices. The other two are on-page SEO (e.g., optimizing content, keywords, and HTML tags) and off-page SEO (e.g., building authority through backlinks and other external signals).
Key Takeaways
- Technical SEO means optimizing the technical aspects of a website so it’s found, crawled, and indexed by search engines.
- Elements like page speed and mobile optimization are confirmed ranking factors.
- The three pillars of SEO include technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.
- Technical SEO examples include site structure, security, and page speed.
- Websites with poorly implemented technical SEO will not rank well in SERPs.
- Show Full Guide
Technical SEO Importance
Implementing technical SEO best practices (e.g., optimizing website speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data, and security) ensures a website can be properly crawled, indexed, and found by search engines.
Websites with poor technical SEO are unlikely to rank well in SERPs, even with high content quality. This is because pages that are inaccessible to search engines or have technical issues may negatively affect the user experience and rankings.
While technical SEO is important for search engines to effectively understand and index a website, it is not enough on its own. SEO strategies must also include on-page and off-page SEO practices to maximize SERP rankings and increase organic traffic.
3 Key Components of Technical SEO
- Crawlability: Ability for search engines to discover pages. Crawlability factors include internal linking, URL structure, and robots.txt.
- Indexability: Ability for search engines to store and rank pages. Indexability refers to factors like meta tags, canonical tags, and sitemaps.
- Performance: Site speed and load times affecting user experience. Performance factors include page load times, server response times, and mobile-friendly (responsive) design.
Technical SEO Tools
Technical SEO tools provide reports and recommendations on site speed, mobile-friendliness, and crawlability. Tools may also offer structured data testing and generate XML sitemaps.
Examples include:
How to Do a Technical SEO Analysis?
Crawl your website using SEO audit tools.
Check site structure to optimize URLs, sitemaps, and robots.txt.
Identify indexability errors, such as canonical tags and redirects.
Analyze site speed and fix slow-loading pages.
Verify mobile optimization using SEO tools, such as Lighthouse.
Audit site security, including SSL certificates.
Review core performance metrics (loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability).
Fix crawl errors reported by Google Search Console.
Technical SEO vs. On-Page SEO vs. Off-Page SEO
Ensuring website architecture is sound, crawlable, and indexable.
Examples include site structure, security, page speed, and mobile-friendliness.
Ensuring pages are optimized for higher, relevant traffic.
Examples include keyword optimization, meta tags, internal links, and user experience elements.
Ensuring external factors signal authority and reliability.
Examples include backlink building, social media shares, brand mentions, and local SEO.
Technical SEO Activities
Technical SEO activities involve tasks designed to help search engines find, crawl, and index a website. Ultimately, these SEO activities will help visitors discover the site in search engines and improve user experience.
What does technical SEO include? Technical SEO basics involve creating sitemaps, updating meta descriptions on individual pages, and managing backlinks. More complex tasks include fixing duplicate content issues, minimizing JavaScript and CSS files, and improving site security.
Business owners who are unsure of how to do technical SEO, can consider using the services of a technical SEO specialist to manage site audits and fix technical errors.
10 Ways to Improve Your Technical SEO
- Add structured data
- Check for mobile optimization
- Fix broken links
- Fix crawl errors
- Implement canonical URLs
- Improve page speed
- Optimize robots.txt
- Optimize XML sitemap(s)
- Use internal linking
- Verify indexed content
Technical SEO Examples
Technical SEO examples include:
Technical SEO Benefits
Technical SEO optimization offers many benefits for website owners. Auditing the site and fixing technical issues ensures it is properly indexed and ranked by search engines.
Benefits include:
- Ensures the website is easy to navigate
- Improves search engine ranking
- Improves site security
- Increases brand reputation and authority
- Increases website traffic
The Bottom Line
The technical SEO definition refers to activities related to the back-end components of a website to improve the site’s code, structure, and performance, helping search engines find and understand it. It’s important to ensure a website can be found, crawled, and indexed – if not, the website may appear lower in search results or not at all, depending on the specific issue. Websites with technical issues negatively affect user experience and result in a loss of organic search engine traffic.
Technical SEO basics, like adding meta tags or fixing broken links, are accessible to most individuals managing a website. Using SEO tools to audit a site for technical issues will help you prioritize the tasks.
Other elements, including mobile optimization and minimizing JavaScript and CSS files may require some technical knowledge. Businesses can enlist the help of a technical SEO specialist to fix these issues and help search engines crawl and index effectively.
FAQs
What is technical SEO in simple terms?
What is technical SEO vs. on-page SEO?
What is technical content in SEO?
What is SEO in technical terms?
References
- Ahrefs—Marketing Intelligence Tools Powered by Big Data. (Ahrefs)
- Google Search Console (Search.google)
- GTmetrix | Website Performance Testing and Monitoring (Gtmetrix)
- SEO Software for Site Checkup & Assessment – Netpeak Software (Netpeaksoftware)
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider Website Crawler (Screamingfrog.co)
- Semrush – Online Marketing Can Be Easy(Semrush)
- Yoast SEO: the #1 WordPress SEO Plugin • Yoast (Yoast)
- Overview | Lighthouse | Chrome for Developers (Developer.chrome)
- Core Web Vitals: What They Are & How to Improve Them (Semrush)
