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A Checklist of the Top Technical SEO Factors You Should Focus On
Simran March 19, 2024 922 views


Why do some websites appear at the top of search results while others are hard to find? No, there is no genie that obeys the command of website owners. So, what is the reason? The answer often lies in technical SEO.

Technical SEO services are one of the pillars of an overall SEO strategy, and they are the bridge between websites and Google rankings. Without a solid technical SEO strategy, your website will fail to make a mark in Google’s eyes, even if you have put in hours of work into the website.

Today, we’ll shed light on the most crucial technical SEO factors, providing a checklist you can use to optimise your website for search engines. By ensuring your site is technically sound, you’ll pave the way for better organic rankings and increased website traffic.

Let’s get started.

Technical SEO Fundamentals

At its core, technical SEO refers to the optimisation of your website’s behind-the-scenes aspects that make it search engine-friendly. As a top-tier SEO company in Bangalore, we, at RepIndia, focus on the four key elements of technical SEO:

Technical SEO Fundamentals

Source: https://shorturl.at/ouPZ2

  • Crawling: Search engines send out “crawlers” (also known as spiders or bots) to discover and explore your website’s content.
  • Indexing: Once crawled, search engines determine if and how your content should be included in their search results.
  • Rendering: Search engines need to be able to understand and interpret your website’s content, including code and text.
  • Website Architecture: The structure and organisation of your website play a vital role in how search engines navigate and understand your content.

Why is Technical SEO Important for Your Website?

Search engines can’t rank what they can’t find or understand. By addressing technical SEO issues (best addressed through our expert SEO services in India), you ensure search engines can easily access, crawl, index, and ultimately rank your website’s content.

#1 – Site Structure and Navigation

A well-organised website structure is crucial for technical SEO. A clear hierarchy with logical internal linking helps search engines crawl and index your pages efficiently.

Here’s what to consider for a solid site structure:

  • URL Hierarchy: Implement a clear and descriptive URL structure that reflects your website’s organisation.
  • Internal Linking: Strategically link to relevant pages within your website to guide search engines and users through your content.
  • Navigation Menus: User-friendly navigation menus help both search engines and visitors find the information they need.
  • Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs provide users with a visual understanding of their location within your website’s hierarchy.

#2 – Crawling, Rendering, and Indexing

Search engines use crawlers to discover new and updated content on your website. Whether it’s a digital marketing company in Bangalore or Los Angeles, a professional SEO team works on the website’s crawlability first when it comes to technical SEO. Here’s a simplified breakdown of the process.

Crawlers discover your website through links from other websites or your Sitemap (more on that later). The robots.txt file instructs crawlers on which areas of your website they can and cannot access. Crawlers then render your website’s content similar to how a user’s browser would.

Based on the rendered content and various ranking factors, search engines decide whether to index your pages and how to rank them.

Several factors can affect crawling and rendering, including:

JavaScript, AJAX, and Dynamic Content: While these technologies offer functionality, they can sometimes hinder search engine crawlers’ ability to access your content.

Slow-loading Pages: Search engines prioritise user experience, and slow loading times can negatively impact crawling and indexing.

Thin and Duplicate Content

The entire package of technical SEO services cannot be complete without content. Search engines value high-quality, informative content. Thin content (lacking depth or value) and duplicate content (identical content appearing on multiple URLs) can hurt your website’s SEO performance.

Here’s how to address these issues:

1. Identifying Thin Content

Watch out for pages with minimal content. These pages typically have very short text sections and lack details or explanations. When evaluating your content,  ask yourself if it comprehensively addresses the topic. Thin content can also come in the form of information readily available elsewhere.

If a page simply rehashes existing information and offers no unique perspective, it might be considered thin content. Ultimately, the focus should be on user experience. Would a visitor find this page informative and helpful? If not, it might be a sign of thin content.

2. Addressing Thin Content

There are a couple of ways to address thin content. If the content already exists on your site, you can enhance it by adding details, examples, data, or different perspectives. This will flesh out the content and make it more informative for visitors.

Another approach is to consolidate pages. If you have multiple pages with very similar thin content, consider merging them into a single, more comprehensive page. This will improve the overall quality of your content and avoid confusing search engines.

Ultimately, you should focus on creating rich content. Being a reputed SEO company in Bangalore with many case studies to show for it, we understand the value of high-quality content.

Target informative, well-researched content that establishes your expertise and provides value to the user. This type of content will naturally attract both users and search engines.

3. Identifying Duplicate Content

Identifying duplicate content can be done in a couple of ways. There are several online website auditing tools available that can scan your website and pinpoint potential duplicate content. These tools are a great starting point. However, it’s also important to manually review your content, especially for pages targeting similar keywords. This can help uncover additional duplicates that the automated tools might miss.

4. Rectifying Duplicate Content

There are a few ways to rectify duplicate content.

One approach is to use canonical tags. A canonical tag essentially tells search engines which version of a duplicate page is the preferred one. This helps avoid confusion and ensures your most valuable content gets ranked. For permanent redirects, you can use 301 redirects. A 301 redirect points duplicate pages to the preferred version. This informs search engines and users of the new location for the content.

Finally, if duplicates have slightly different content, consider consolidating them into a single, improved page. This will eliminate redundancy and create a more robust piece of content.

To ensure that you don’t miss rectifying any duplicate content, you can leverage the SEO services in India we offer and increase the technical SEO score of your website.

You can learn more about topic clusters, a vital part of creating high-quality content, in this blog.

PageSpeed Optimisation

Website speed is a crucial factor for both user experience and SEO rankings. Slow loading times can frustrate visitors and negatively impact search engine crawling and indexing.

To improve your website’s page speed, here are a few pointers:

  • Reduce image file sizes without sacrificing quality.
  • Implement caching mechanisms to store frequently accessed files and deliver them faster to users.
  • Prioritise the loading of critical resources (like HTML and CSS) to ensure your content displays quickly.

Extra Technical SEO Tips

Beyond the core elements, here are some additional technical SEO practices we recommend as an experienced digital marketing company in Bangalore that you must consider:

  • Canonical Tags and Hreflang: Use canonical tags to specify the primary version of a page if you have duplicate content and Hreflang tags to indicate different language versions of your website.
  • 404 Pages and 301 Redirects: Design informative 404 pages for broken links and utilise 301 redirects to handle permanent URL changes properly.
  • Structured Data and Mobile Optimisation: Leverage schema markup (structured data) to provide search engines with richer information about your content, potentially leading to richer search results.
  • Mobile Optimisation: In today’s mobile-first world, ensure your website is responsive and delivers an optimal user experience on all devices.

Final Thoughts

Technical SEO is the foundation for a strong search engine presence. By implementing the strategies outlined in this checklist, you can ensure your website is crawlable, indexable, and, ultimately, competitive in search results.

Technical SEO is an ongoing process that requires you to regularly monitor your website’s performance and adapt your strategies as needed. 

Our SEO specialists in RepIndia can ensure your technical SEO is as effective as it can be with above-par technical SEO services in India.

After all, we know all the technicalities!

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