If you want your website to rank well on the leading search engines, you must have a solid SEO plan in place.
There are many SEO elements, and each one has its own set of SEO checklists, such as an on-page SEO checklist, an off-page SEO checklist, a technical SEO checklist, and so on. We’re going to talk about technical SEO checklists in this article.
Welcome to The Complete Technical SEO Checklist: 15 Best Practices.
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO is upgrading a website’s technical elements to improve the ranking of its pages in search engines.
The cornerstones of technical optimization include making a website quicker, more straightforward to crawl, and intelligible for search engines.
On-page SEO, which focuses on optimizing components on your website to improve rankings, includes technical SEO. It’s the polar opposite of off-page SEO, which focuses on increasing a website’s exposure through other means.
SEO is a lot more involved than just your website’s content, and how well your site ranks in search engines is influenced by a variety of things.
This article will go through the technical SEO checklist and some of the most critical things to remember as you try to improve your rankings.
Technical SEO is a collection of recommended practices for increasing your website’s search engine performance. It is an element of an overall Digital Marketing strategy for generating more traffic from organic searches and refers to any adjustments made to your site that enhance how search engines crawl and index material.
This encompasses everything from content to code, but it all boils down to optimizing your website so that it may rank higher and be found more quickly by search engines.
Technical SEO is more than just what you do on the front end; it also includes how you code behind the scenes. There’s a lot to discuss in this area, both in terms of technical SEO best practices and the tools that are available to help you achieve your goals.
It covers everything from programming languages to page load speeds, security, mobile responsiveness, and so forth.
The Importance Of Technical SEO
Technical SEO is a mystery to the majority of individuals. However, if you’re in the business of supplying clients with digital marketing services, it’s critical that you grasp everything there is to know about the subject.
Many organizations ignore the significance of the technical SEO checklist. The search engine optimization (SEO) sector is a broad and ever-changing field.
As the world becomes more digital, search engines algorithms are continually altering to keep up with the changes.
This might make hiring an outside team or consultant to manage all of these upgrades complex for small business owners with limited funds.
That’s when technical SEO fixes come in handy!
- Robots.txt
It’s a basic technical SEO tool that has the power to make or ruin a website. It allows search crawlers to skip pages by providing directions and is critical to a website’s crawl functionality.
- Sitemap
A sitemap, which may be either XML or HTML, is used to guide crawlers through the site structure. It is shown at the footer of a website to assist visitors in locating certain pages.
- The Design of the Website
Proper website architecture is the cornerstone of XML sitemaps and breadcrumbs, which help search engine crawlers index your pages. There are a few essential components to good site architecture:
- Adaptability to mobile devices
On tiny displays, mobile-friendly designs look terrific and are easy to grasp. As the number of individuals utilizing mobile devices to access the internet continues to expand, mobile browsing is becoming increasingly popular.
- Website loading time
“53% of mobile site visitors quit a page that loads longer than three seconds,” according to research. The websites should load quickly so that you can improve your ranks in search engine result pages (SERP).
Technical SEO is a crucial aspect of the whole website optimization process that is sometimes overlooked. It shouldn’t be, because it has a lot of advantages for your website and business.
The Complete Technical SEO Checklist: 15 Best Practices
Here are the 15 main elements to think about when creating a technical SEO checklist for a new or current website!
1. Errors in Crawling
Crawling problems make it harder for search engines like Google to locate and index your material, which may significantly impact your organic search rankings.
Crawl problems can be caused by a variety of factors, including algorithm updates, mistakes in the robots.txt file that have been deleted from the site, or crawlers being unable to obtain material because it is missing. Although they may appear to be innocent, if left uncorrected, these faults might negatively impact SEO.
Your site will not be indexed in search engines if it is not crawled; as a result, visitors will never locate your site in search engines.
Crawling errors are inconvenient for both website owners and users, but there are ways to resolve them before your SEO suffers!
2. Canonical Tag
It is regarded as a necessary component of the technical SEO checklist. The rel canonical tag (“rel canonical”) tells search engines that you only want one version of your page to appear in the results, not numerous. In practice, it instructs Google as to which URL should be shown when someone conducts a search on this topic!
When there are numerous pages with the same content and no mechanism to define which one should rank higher in search engine results, a Canonical problem occurs.
A webpage’s recommended URL is this. Although it is often the URL that search engines index, it may also be used to redirect visitors from one URL to another. People searching for your website may come across the incorrect URL in their results, and search engines like Google may also show this inaccurate information.
The difficulty with the Canonical website is that it might be challenging to diagnose. Figuring out the actual source of an issue can take a long time and a lot of work.
3. Loading Speed Of Page
The technical SEO checklist would not be possible without this component. It’s quite aggravating to have to wait for a long time simply to see what the website is about. It not only wastes your time, but it also gives the impression that the website is amateurish. As a result, one of the most essential variables in SEO ranking and web design is website speed.
The amount of time it takes for all of the content on a webpage to fully load is measured in milliseconds. Users will wait longer for pages to load on a sluggish website, which will lower consumer satisfaction and drive them away from your site.
Google has even begun to award sites with quick page loading in search engine results. But how can you tell if your site is taking too long to load?
Google Web Vital is a new tool in the Google Search Console that allows you to see how your website performs on mobile and desktop platforms. It displays the page speeds of a website. It also includes suggestions for enhancing the mobile user experience.
Images can be optimized, a content delivery network can be used, and JavaScript and CSS files can be compressed to reduce loading time.
4. The No-index Tag
When it comes to SEO, it’s crucial to understand how a No index tag might affect your website. A no-index tag instructs search engines not to index the page or follow any of its links.
This implies that Google will still crawl the pages, but they will not appear in its search results.
Understanding how Google crawls and indexes your site is critical in the fast-paced world of SEO.
A no-index tag on the page is one approach to do this. Certain standards must be followed in order for Google to crawl and index the material on your website. When it comes to No Index tags, the one thing that jumps out the most is that if you have a “index” directive in the robots meta tag or inside page code asking Google not to index a certain URL or collection of URLs, those URLs will be deleted from search engine results pages (SERPs). This implies that any material found at these URLs will not appear in SERPs.
5. Inline Styles
It’s crucial to understand the SEO implications of utilizing inline CSS styles on a website. Inline style sheets are constructed by directly adding style rules into a web page’s HTML code, and they’re normally not suggested for large websites or eCommerce sites.
Due to their tendency to reduce page load performance, inline styles are an outdated coding method that is deprecated in favour of CSS style sheets. Inline style has also been shown to excessively complicate HTML code when applied incorrectly, resulting in slower loading speeds for your website or blog post.
6. Keyword Cannibalization
When two or more pages on your site compete for the same term, this is known as keyword cannibalization. This might result in both of them being ranked lower, as well as one of them being punished by Google. Keyword cannibalism should be avoided at all costs because it lowers SEO rankings for all of your websites.
Keyword cannibalization is the idea that if you have numerous sites addressing the same search query, they will fight for position in Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Result Page). As a result of being outranked by other rival sites that are not impacted by this issue, neither page ranks high enough to realize its potential. In addition, an over-optimization penalty may be levied on the affected pages.
7. Responsiveness to Mobile Devices
A responsive website adjusts to the size of the browser window, providing for optimal viewing on all devices. Mobile responsiveness is a must-have for the technical SEO criteria. As more people use their mobile devices to access the internet, the value of flexible site design for SEO has risen considerably in recent years.
Google has declared that websites that are not mobile-friendly would be penalized.
This implies that your website will be ranked lower in Google searches, and it may possibly be delisted entirely.
Only by ensuring that your website is optimized for all platforms, including smartphones and tablets, can you escape this penalty. As consumers increasingly use their mobile devices to obtain information about products and services, responsive web design (RWD) should be at the centre of any SEO plan now more than ever.
Without having to produce different copies of your content or rely on sub-optimal workarounds like redirects or responsive graphics, you can give an excellent user experience across many platforms using RWD.
8. SSL Supported
An SSL certificate is necessary for a website since it protects it against hackers and other types of cyber-attacks. The SSL Certificate encrypts data sent back and forth between you and your website users. However, not all SSL certificates are made equal, so choose your selection carefully! Check the amount of security it provides to ensure you purchase the proper one for the task.
SSL certificates are not new, but they have recently become increasingly crucial. What are the advantages of obtaining an SSL certificate?
First and foremost, it safeguards your clients’ information from being stolen by thieves operating outside of your website.
Second, it improves the credibility and conversion rates of your business.
Finally, with Let’s Encrypt, you can acquire a three-month trial SSL certificate for free!
So, what do you have to lose? Start using Let’s Encrypt right away!
9. Custom The 404 Error Page
When a web browser tries to view a webpage that cannot be found, a custom 404 error page is usually presented. The goal of this page, which usually contains an error notice as well as connections to other pages on the website, is to help visitors discover what they’re searching for. A custom 404 error page may do more than simply show an error message; it can also provide material that can help address the problem or answer queries.
When this happens, it’s aggravating, but did you realize it has an effect on SEO? Google and other search engines may punish sites with a significant number of 404 errors, assuming that such pages are of low quality or untrustworthy. The most excellent method to improve a website’s user experience is to create a personalized 404 error page.
10. Deprecated HTML
When a website uses deprecated HTML, what does it mean? What impact may this have on the site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs)?
Google’s search algorithm is continually being updated in order to improve the user experience and deliver a more accurate depiction of material. The “Mobile-First” change substantially influences how Google ranks websites that employ obsolete HTML tags. They will also rank lower for searches that incorporate such tags.
HTML tags that have been deprecated are those that have lost their use due to the advent of new technologies. That’s right, it’s time to bid these old pals farewell: b >, I >, and u >. These out-of-date aspects are no longer required with the arrival of new design trends such as flat design.
You are entitled to better than out-of-date designs! These deprecated tags may not appear to be essential right now, but they will have an impact on your SEO results since sites that contain them will appear lower in Google searches.
11. Errors in JavaScript
Site mistakes are now a ranking element for Google’s algorithm, according to the company. If your website has JavaScript issues, it might cause major losses in ranks and visitors.
On a website, JavaScript mistakes have a negative impact on search rankings. This is due to the fact that the crawler software used to index websites is unable to interpret material that contains JavaScript errors and consequently does not index or rank pages effectively.
12. Technology
The technology you utilize for your website is also taken into account when ranking for SEO. It comprises IP addresses for servers, DNS servers, and web servers, among other things.
When a webmaster employs insecure and insecure technology, his or her site never rises in the SERPs. And Google has the option of putting this site in the sandbox. As a result, for your website, always utilize clever and up-to-date technology.
13. SPF Records
Are you familiar with the term “SPF record”?
It stands for Sender Policy Framework, and it’s a method of confirming who’s sending emails. There are several advantages to having one, but if not correctly set up, it might have bad consequences for your SEO.
According to a recent study, increasing the use of SPF records might have a significant influence on your SEO. This is due to the fact that when you send an email, it will appear in the recipient’s inbox as “from” whichever domain you’re sending from, rather than merely “from” Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail. If the domain has a bad reputation, all emails from that domain will be deemed spam and disregarded.
What is the solution? SPF records should be set up for your domains!
14. Reduce The Size Of JavaScript and CSS Files.
The amount of JavaScript and CSS files on a website grow as it grows in size. This might result in web pages that are bloated and take a long time to load. Minified versions of these files are not only quicker, but they also include less code, making it easier for search engine crawlers to interpret and index your website’s information.
Many minification tools exist to reduce the size of JS code by eliminating unneeded whitespace, comments, formatting characters, and other elements.
15. Email Security and Privacy
With recent headlines about data breaches, hacks, and leaks occurring all over the world, email privacy, sometimes known as “data protection,” is becoming increasingly prominent. With a greater understanding of email privacy comes a greater focus on how it might affect SEO results.
Though it isn’t a ranking indicator in the SERPs, the webmaster should keep it private for general privacy reasons.
You’ve undoubtedly come to this blog article because you’re curious about how email privacy affects your SEO. Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s a big difference between making your emails public and not making them public at all.
It’s worth noting that if someone gets access to your inbox, they also have access to any links contained inside the emails, which might affect how high you appear in Google searches for specific terms. There are, however, workarounds!
One method is to use a temporary email account or forward messages from your main account to one with higher privacy settings so that people aren’t privy to everything else going on in your life while they’re reading these communications. So go ahead and do it privately today.
Few Auditing Tools for Technical SEO
There are several technical SEO audit tools available to aid in the optimization of your website. The following will be included:
- SEMRush
- Screaming Frog
- Google Webmaster Tools
- Majestic
- Moz Pro and
- Google Analytics
- Ahrefs
Each of these tools is critical for understanding different parts of your website’s performance, so you should use them all to gain a complete view of where you are in terms of SEO optimization.
In Conclusion,
An effective technical SEO approach is essential for an SEO strategy’s success. Internal linking and website loading times must be flawless in order to achieve a technically optimal website.
Technical parameters should be checked on a regular basis for faults and misunderstandings so that they may be identified and corrected immediately.
The above mentioned – The Complete Technical SEO Checklist with 15 Best Practices that you can use to optimize your website and increase organic search traffic to help you get started. If you want to learn more about SEO, You can join Digital Scholar’s Online Digital Marketing Course.
We hope this article was useful for your knowledge. If you have any questions, queries, or views regarding the same, kindly let us know in the comments section below.
We will be delighted to have to converse with you.
One Comment on “The Ultimate Technical SEO Checklist with 15 Best Practices to Optimize Your Website 2024”
Thank you for providing this informative blog about Technical SEO. They have been extremely beneficial to me, and I am grateful to have discovered such an informative website.