When most people think about SEO, they picture keywords, blog posts, and social media links. But there’s a lot more happening under the hood of your website that affects how search engines see and rank it. That’s where technical SEO comes in. It’s the behind-the-scenes work that ensures search engines can crawl, index, and understand your site effectively.

If your website isn’t technically sound, all your content and keyword efforts could go to waste. Let’s break down the essentials in simple terms.

1. Ensure Your Website is Crawlable

Search engines like Google use bots to crawl your website. If they can’t reach or read certain pages, those pages won’t show up in search results.

What to do:

• Use a robots.txt file to guide search engines on what to crawl.

• Create and submit an XML sitemap in Google Search Console.

• Avoid broken links and dead-end pages.

2. Speed Up Your Website

A slow site frustrates visitors and can hurt your rankings. Google prioritizes websites that load quickly, especially on mobile devices.

Quick fixes:

• Compress images without compromising quality.

• Use browser caching and a content delivery network (CDN).

• Minimize unnecessary code and scripts.

3. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

With mobile-first indexing, Google predominantly uses the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing.

Best practices:

• Use responsive design so your site adapts to any screen size.

• Avoid tiny fonts and hard-to-click buttons.

• Test mobile usability in Google Search Console.

4. Fix Crawl Errors

Crawl errors occur when search engines can’t access a page.

Check for:

• 404 “Page Not Found” errors.

• Redirect loops or chains.

• Server errors (5xx codes).

Use tools like Google Search Console to find and fix these issues.

5. Optimize Your URL Structure

A clean and descriptive URL helps both users and search engines understand your page.

Tips:

• Keep URLs short and keyword-rich.

• Use hyphens instead of underscores.

• Avoid random numbers or meaningless strings.

6. Implement HTTPS

Security is a ranking factor. If your website is still using HTTP, it’s time to switch to HTTPS.

Why it matters:

• It encrypts data between your site and visitors.

• Builds trust with users.

• Google may give a small ranking boost.

7. Use Structured Data Markup

Structured data (Schema.org) helps search engines understand your content better and can enable rich snippets in search results.

Examples:

• Reviews and ratings.

• Event details.

• Product information.

8. Regularly Audit Your Site

Technical SEO isn’t a one-time job. Websites evolve, and so do search engine algorithms.

Audit tools to try:

• Google Search Console.

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider.

• Ahrefs or SEMrush.

The Bottom Line

Technical SEO may seem complicated, but once you understand the basics, it’s just about keeping your site healthy and easy for search engines to read. Think of it like maintaining the foundation of a house — the better it’s built, the stronger everything else will stand.

At DigIN, we handle all the behind-the-scenes technical work so your business can focus on growth. From site audits to speed optimization, we make sure your website is ready to perform at its best.