Mastering Technical SEO: Core Concepts and Best Practices

Technical SEO is a crucial aspect of website optimisation, ensuring that your site is accessible, fast, and optimised for both search engines and users.

In this Mediaworks masterclass, we covered essential topics like crawling, indexation, Core Web Vitals, and common Technical SEO issues. Let’s dive into these concepts and understand how they shape your SEO strategy.

Understanding Crawling and Indexation

Crawling and indexation are the foundational steps that search engines like Google take to understand your website.

• Crawling is when Googlebot (Google’s crawler) visits your website to discover new content. It does this by following links on your site, whether they are internal links or links from external websites. Crawling allows Google to understand the structure of your site and gather data about its pages.

• Indexation is the process where Google stores this information in its index. However, not all pages that are crawled get indexed. If a page is deemed irrelevant or low-quality, it might not be indexed, even if Googlebot has crawled it.

Crawl Budget: Why It Matters

Your crawl budget is the amount of resources Googlebot spends crawling your site. Think of Googlebot as a librarian and your website as a library. The more authoritative and well-structured your site is, the more often Googlebot will visit. For example, large websites like Amazon are crawled frequently (sometimes every hour), while smaller websites may be crawled less often.

Optimising your crawl budget ensures that Googlebot spends its time on your most important pages, like product pages or blog posts that drive traffic.

Optimising Crawling and Indexation

Several factors can impact your site’s crawling and indexation:

1. Internal Linking: Prioritize internal links to the most important pages. This helps guide Googlebot to your most valuable content and encourages frequent crawls.

2. Fix Broken Links: Broken links and redirect chains waste Googlebot's crawl budget. Ensure that all links on your site lead to relevant, existing pages.

3. Use of Canonical Tags: If you have duplicate content across multiple pages, use canonical tags to tell Google which page should be considered the primary one.

Sitemaps: Submitting a sitemap via Google Search Console is critical. It acts as a roadmap for Googlebot, telling it which pages to prioritise for crawling.

Core Web Vitals: User Experience Matters

Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure the user experience on your website. These include:

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures how long it takes for the largest visible element (e.g., a hero image or headline) to load. A fast LCP means users can start engaging with your content quickly.

2. First Input Delay (FID): Measures how long it takes for a user to interact with a page after they click something (e.g., a button or link). The quicker the response, the better the user experience.

3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures how much the layout of a page shifts as it loads. If content shifts unpredictably, users can get frustrated. A good CLS score means stable content loading.

Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor, but it’s important to note that these metrics should be seen as indicators of good user experience. High content relevance still outweighs page speed, but a fast, smooth experience contributes to better engagement and, ultimately, higher rankings.

Technical SEO Issues That Can Block Growth

Several technical issues can hinder your site’s SEO performance. Addressing these issues can help you ensure smooth crawling, indexation, and user experience:

1. Mobile Usability: Ensure your website is fully optimized for mobile users. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it prioritises the mobile version of your site for ranking.

2. Duplicate Content: Duplicate content confuses search engines and wastes crawl budget. Use canonical tags or 301 redirects to consolidate content.

3. Site Structure and Internal Linking: Organize your website logically, linking to your most important pages. A clear structure makes it easier for both users and search engines to navigate.

4. Redirects and Broken Links: Redirect chains and broken links create unnecessary load on Googlebot, wasting crawl budget and potentially harming your SEO.

5. JavaScript Rendering: Ensure that JavaScript content is rendered properly by search engines. Googlebot can render JavaScript, but there can be issues with how your site is set up.

6. Index Bloat: Avoid letting Googlebot crawl and index irrelevant pages. Ensure that Google only crawls and indexes the pages that are valuable for SEO.

The Role of Content and AI in SEO

While it’s tempting to create content at scale using AI tools, it’s crucial to remember that content must be high-quality and unique to add value to your site. Low-quality, mass-produced content can clog up your crawl budget and lead to index bloat, which harms your SEO efforts.

In SEO, sometimes less is more. Focus on quality content that solves user problems and enhances your website’s authority.

Key Takeaways

1. Crawl and indexation are vital steps in SEO. Understanding how Googlebot crawls your site and indexes pages is key to driving traffic.

2. Optimise your crawl budget by fixing broken links, prioritising important pages, and using sitemaps.

3. Core Web Vitals matter, but content quality is still the primary ranking factor. Aim for a seamless user experience while providing valuable content.

4. Technical issues can block SEO growth. Address issues like mobile usability, duplicate content, and JavaScript rendering to ensure your site is optimised for both users and search engines.

5. Content should be high-quality and unique. Avoid creating excessive content that doesn’t add value, as it can negatively affect your crawl budget and indexation.

Conclusion

Mastering technical SEO is a long-term investment that pays off by improving both search rankings and user experience. By understanding and implementing the core concepts of crawling, indexation, and Core Web Vitals, you can ensure that your website is optimized for both search engines and users.