![\"Illustration](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/technical-seo-800.jpg\")
\nThings like on-page SEO and content get a lot of attention in the business world. That is the usual SEO focus, and of late throwing on more content seems to be the norm. Often and mistakenly overlooked is everything that goes into making a website run smoothly. We can optimize these areas through technical SEO. And yes, an underperforming website can impact your rankings for many reasons.<\/p>\n
In this article, I\u2019ll outline five technical SEO best practices you should follow (and how to get started with them) to ensure you website is primed for both users and search engines:<\/p>\n
Sometimes website owners choose a shared hosting plan versus a dedicated hosting plan to save on the costs of hosting a website. When this happens, you share an IP address with other websites. This can present SEO problems as both a speed issue (more sites per shared server means each may be slower) and a neighborhood issue.<\/p>\n
Say you share your hosting with other websites that happen to be spammy websites. If a site is caught performing spam tactics, the entire IP block and all the sites that share that IP address could be put on a block list, also called an IP blacklist or IP blocklist. That means you\u2019re in a bad neighborhood, so to speak. This significantly impacts email, but it can cause conversion issues if your emails are blocked \u2026 and poor conversion is a marketing fail.<\/p>\n
While this \u201cbad neighborhood\u201d problem used to be much more prominent, and Google has also indicated<\/a> that it would be hard to be SEO tainted by surrounding bad neighbors, I still would not take any chances.<\/p>\n IMO we do not KNOW that there is no TRUST impact on a bad neighborhood. And Google can say what they like \u2014 for a little effort, why take the chance? Still, blocked emails kill sales.<\/p>\n Probably a more obvious issue is the performance of your website when you share hosting. Being on a shared hosting plan may mean that your servers are not as efficient. You’re often fighting other sites for resources that could impact load time and, indirectly, your organic search rankings, to say nothing of conversion.<\/p>\n There are a couple of things you can do here to look into these potential problems:<\/p>\n Bad Neighborhood Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n Performance Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are my thoughts on whether you should use a shared hosting plan:<\/p>\n Your web server runs your website. When a webpage is requested, the server receives that request and responds with the content of that page. When you have server issues, it can impact the user experience and search engine rankings.<\/p>\n There is much to consider when evaluating a server, from its type to how well it performs. In this section, though, we\u2019ll focus on server errors.<\/p>\n Server status codes are a response by the server in response to a client request. You can find a full list of server status codes at W3.org here<\/a>. Sometimes servers produce errors when a visitor or search engine spider tries to access something on your website.<\/p>\n Because certain status codes could impact your rankings, so you want to check server response codes and know what is happening with your website.<\/p>\n In particular, here are the following status codes that you want to pay special attention to and fix right away:<\/p>\n Common server errors include a 302 and 404. Here\u2019s a video I did on 302s that you can check out:<\/p>\n Both HTML sitemaps and XML sitemaps are important technical SEO steps. These sitemaps help their users (website visitors and search engines) navigate the site and discover content.<\/p>\n An HTML sitemap<\/strong> is a webpage on your website containing links to key webpages (first and second-level navigation pages) so both humans and search spiders can navigate your site. Google has said that the HTML site map is useful to search engines as it flags what are the most important pages for users (and Google), so the HTML sitemap should focus on top important pages.<\/p>\n Originally, HTML sitemaps were made just for website visitors to navigate a website. However, because search engine spiders use links to navigate from one page to another, HTML sitemaps can be a useful shortcut for search engines to find and index content on a website.<\/p>\n So to recap: Having an HTML sitemap in the footer your website allows:<\/p>\n An XML sitemap<\/strong> is a file that you put on your website to tell search engines about the webpages, images and videos that are on the site. An XML sitemap works like a content map, helping ensure search engines crawl and index more thoroughly.<\/p>\n A technical SEO best practice is to create an XML sitemap and ensure it\u2019s always up to date so that search engines crawl and index all the important content on your site.<\/p>\n Google says<\/a> that sites under 500 pages might not need an XML sitemap, so some people may think it\u2019s not that important.<\/p>\n And while the search engines should be able to find all the content on your site by following links, most websites don\u2019t have proper linking architecture. So it can be hard for search engines to discover the content.<\/p>\n There are several important considerations when designing your HTML sitemap:<\/p>\n At one point, Google recommended having less than 100 links on each page (and then later dropped that recommendation). The numbers are arbitrary, just don\u2019t be spammy.<\/p>\n I discuss how many links are too many for a page in this video:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what to keep in mind when you create your XML sitemap:<\/p>\n For more, read: What Is an XML SItemap and How Do I Make One?<\/a><\/p>\n Search engines have a limited crawl budget<\/a> for all sites. If a site is slow to load, the search engines cannot crawl all webpages within the crawl budget. This results in a site having fewer indexed pages, which decreases opportunities for rankings.<\/p>\n Page speed is a factor in search engine ranking algorithms. Fast performance is also a critical component of the user experience. If your website takes too long to load, users will abandon it in favor of a different website that does not take as long.<\/p>\n And with Google’s focus on Core Web Vitals and the emphasis on speed there, this is a critical factor for overall ranking. (For expert tips to improve your CWV, watch our on-demand webinar<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Research has shown that faster performance results in improved KPIs for websites. For example, Pinterest reported<\/a> that reducing wait time by 40% resulted in a 15% increase in SEO traffic and a 15% increase in conversion rate to sign up.<\/p>\n In 2021, Google rolled out the page experience algorithm update<\/a>, which combines things like site speed and responsiveness when evaluating a website. So focusing on speed is more important than ever.<\/p>\n A site’s responsiveness and speed have a direct effect on a user’s willingness to use and return to a site.<\/p>\n When you are assessing your page load speed, you want to be as fast or faster than your competition. In other words, your website does not need to be the fastest website in the world. The goal is to be least imperfect<\/a> compared to your competitors.<\/p>\n That said, improving website speed can be time-consuming and expensive. When using tools to evaluate your webpage speed, make sure you have a professional review of the scores. You\u2019ll want to make sure you focus on improving the right metrics. Improving certain metrics past a certain threshold may be difficult, and not worth the resources.<\/p>\n Here are some things that can slow webpage load time:<\/p>\n I talk more about some of these in one of our \u201cAsk Us Anything\u201d videos:<\/p>\n There are several tests you can run your webpages through. Here are a few:<\/p>\n For more on website speed and page experience, check out the following resources:<\/p>\n The majority of web traffic<\/a> today (about 55% as of Q1 2021) comes from a mobile device. A mobile-friendly website creates a good experience for people who visit a website from a smartphone or tablet. While that percentage certainly varies by industry and search mission, the fact is that being mobile-friendly is vital. Google indexes your content using a mobile version of the spider, so your designs must be friendly for mobile users.<\/p>\n A mobile-friendly website matters to your search engine rankings because Google wants websites on page one that offer great content through a good experience to mobile users.<\/p>\n In 2021, Google rolled out mobile-first indexing. Google\u2019s announcement<\/a> explains what that means:<\/p>\n Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page\u2019s content when evaluating the relevance of a page to a user\u2019s query. Since the majority of users now access Google Search with a mobile device, Googlebot primarily crawls and indexes pages with the smartphone agent going forward.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This was yet another signal from Google that mobile-friendliness is critical.<\/p>\n In an earlier article I wrote on mobile friendliness<\/a>, I outlined four steps you can take to get your website in tip-top shape for mobile users:<\/p>\n 1. Test your current site<\/strong>: Check out Google\u2019s Mobile-Friendly Test<\/a> and the mobile usability report<\/a> in Google Search Console.<\/p>\n 2. Learn about mobile-friendly best practices<\/strong>. Check out Google\u2019s guide here<\/a> and our guide on mobile SEO and UX optimization<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n 3. Implement changes<\/strong>. Here, you may have to decide about things like website configuration<\/a> (responsive is the current recommendation), website content, and website speed (covered in the last section of this article).<\/p>\n 4. Watch for common mistakes<\/strong>. One major pitfall to avoid is sacrificing needed content for the sake of speed. I\u2019ve written about that as well in: Why an Insanely Fast Site Is Your New Priority<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is just a sampling of the technical SEO best practices you can and should implement on your website. No aspect of SEO is \u201cset it and forget it,\u201d so there will always be more testing to do and more improvements to make.<\/p>\n The steps outlined in this article give a good starting point for a sound technical SEO foundation.<\/p>\n Our SEO experts can provide technical SEO services to ensure your website runs smoothly and outperforms your competition. Contact us today<\/a> and let us know how we can help.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Every website owner aspires to secure a prominent spot on search engine results pages while delivering a seamless experience to users. Achieving this delicate balance requires strategically optimizing your website’s technical aspects. Each element is crucial in determining your online success, from server performance to mobile responsiveness.<\/p>\n To begin, consider the hosting of your website. Shared hosting may seem cost-effective but can impact website speed and performance due to shared resources. Investing in dedicated hosting ensures a smoother user experience and minimizes downtime, contributing positively to both search rankings and user satisfaction.<\/p>\n Server errors can hinder the crawlability of your site, affecting its visibility on search engines. Regularly monitor server response codes to identify and rectify issues promptly. A well-maintained server enhances search engine indexing and ensures a seamless browsing experience for visitors.<\/p>\n Sitemaps, both HTML and XML, are powerful tools for aiding navigation and indexing. HTML sitemaps assist users in finding essential pages, while XML sitemaps guide search engine bots to relevant content. Regularly updating and optimizing these sitemaps provides clear paths for users and search engines to explore your website.<\/p>\n Website speed remains a critical factor for both search engines and users. Slow-loading pages can lead to high bounce rates and lower search rankings. Minimize image sizes, leverage browser caching, and optimize code to ensure swift page loading. Google’s Core Web Vitals emphasize the importance of fast-loading pages, making this optimization even more imperative.<\/p>\n Lastly, prioritize mobile friendliness. A responsive design is paramount with a significant portion of users accessing websites via mobile devices. Google’s mobile-first indexing underscores the importance of mobile compatibility for search rankings. Ensure your website displays seamlessly across various devices to provide a positive user experience.<\/p>\n Optimizing your website’s technical aspects is a multifaceted endeavor that directly impacts search engine rankings and user satisfaction. By focusing on hosting, server errors, sitemaps, website speed, and mobile friendliness, you can create a strong foundation for online success. Incorporating these insights and taking proactive steps will elevate your website’s performance and solidify your online presence.<\/p>\n Step-by-Step Procedure: How to Optimize Your Website’s Technical Aspects for Improved Search Engine Rankings and User Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Evaluate Your Hosting Options: Assess the pros and cons of shared vs. dedicated hosting, considering factors like speed and resource sharing. By following these comprehensive steps, you can optimize your website’s technical aspects effectively, improving search engine rankings and a superior user experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here are five technical SEO best practices you should follow and how to get started to ensure your website is primed for both users and search engines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":169544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1500,1232,1363,1476],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/WebPageTest-screenshot-750.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/a>2. Server Errors<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>\nWhat To Do: Server Errors<\/h3>\n
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![\"Free](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/SEOToolSet-Free-Check-Server-Tool.png\")
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BC.com-404-page.png\")
<\/a>3. Sitemaps<\/h2>\n
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What To Do: HTML Sitemaps<\/h3>\n
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![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BC.com-sitemap-footer.png\")
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BC.com-branded-HTML-sitemap.png\")
<\/div>\nWhat To Do: XML Sitemaps<\/h3>\n
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\nSubmitting the sitemap can also help you identify errors through the Sitemaps report<\/a> in Google Search Console.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BC.com-video-XML-sitemap.png\")
<\/a>4. Website Speed<\/h2>\n
What To Do: Website Speed<\/h3>\n
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![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BC-homepage-webpage-test-750.png\")
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<\/a>5. Mobile Friendliness<\/h2>\n
What To Do: Mobile Friendliness<\/h3>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/BC.com-mobile-friendly-test.png\")
Technical SEO Is Never Done<\/h2>\n
<\/a>FAQ: How can I optimize my website’s technical aspects for improved search engine rankings and user experience?<\/h3>\n
\n2. Monitor Server Response Codes: Regularly check for server errors and address them promptly to ensure optimal crawlability.
\n3. Optimize Sitemaps: Update and maintain both HTML and XML sitemaps, ensuring they reflect your site’s structure and content.
\n4. Prioritize Website Speed: Optimize images, enable browser caching, and streamline code to enhance page loading times.
\n5. Embrace Mobile Friendliness: Adopt a responsive design that provides a seamless experience across various devices.
\n6. Implement Core Web Vitals: Familiarize yourself with Google’s Core Web Vitals and optimize your site accordingly.
\n7. Leverage PageSpeed Insights: Use Google’s tool to identify areas for improvement in your website’s speed performance.
\n8. Consider Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Explore CDNs to distribute content and reduce server load for faster page loading.
\n9. Use GZIP Compression: Enable GZIP compression to reduce the size of files transmitted between your server and visitors’ browsers.
\n10. Optimize CSS and JavaScript: Minify CSS and JavaScript files to reduce their size and improve website loading speed.
\n11. Enable Browser Caching: Configure your server to enable browser caching, reducing load times for returning visitors.
\n12. Optimize Images: Compress images without compromising quality to decrease page load times.
\n13. Implement Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): Consider using AMP to create lightweight and fast-loading versions of your webpages.
\n14. Monitor Mobile Usability: Regularly check Google Search Console for mobile usability issues and address them promptly.
\n15. Test Across Devices: Test your website’s appearance and functionality across various devices and screen sizes.
\n16. Ensure Clear Navigation: Simplify your website’s navigation to enhance user experience and search engine crawlability.
\n17. Regularly Audit and Update: Regularly audits your website’s technical aspects and make necessary updates.
\n18. Stay Updated on Industry Trends: Keep abreast of changes in search engine algorithms and best practices for technical SEO.
\n19. Utilize Professional Tools: Leverage SEO tools to analyze your website’s technical performance and identify areas for improvement.
\n20. Continuously Monitor and Refine: Technical optimization is ongoing; regularly monitor, analyze, and refine your strategies to maintain optimal performance.<\/p>\n