Technical SEO is the foundation of every successful search strategy. Without it, even the best content will struggle to rank. Technical SEO refers to the optimisations you make to help search engine crawlers access, index, and understand your website. Unlike content SEO, these are largely behind-the-scenes fixes — but they have an outsized impact on rankings and organic traffic.
Core Technical SEO Fixes: Crawling and Indexing
Before Google can rank your pages, it must first find and index them. Check your robots.txt file to ensure you are not accidentally blocking important pages. Verify your XML sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console and contains only canonical, indexable URLs.
Use the Coverage report in Search Console to identify pages with errors, warnings, or that have been excluded from the index. Fix 404 errors with proper 301 redirects. Remove or canonicalise thin or duplicate pages that dilute your crawl budget.
- Audit robots.txt for accidental blocks
- Submit and verify XML sitemap in Search Console
- Fix all 4xx and 5xx errors with proper redirects
- Identify and resolve duplicate content with canonical tags
- Ensure crawl budget is not wasted on low-value pages
Page Speed and Core Web Vitals
Google uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. The three key metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and Interaction to Next Paint (INP). Aim for LCP under 2.5 seconds, CLS under 0.1, and INP under 200ms.
Common fixes include: enabling server-side caching, compressing and properly sizing images (use WebP format), deferring non-critical JavaScript, and using a CDN to reduce latency. Run PageSpeed Insights on your key pages monthly and track improvements.
HTTPS, Security, and Site Architecture
HTTPS is a confirmed Google ranking signal. Ensure your entire site redirects to HTTPS (not just the homepage). Check for mixed content warnings — pages that load HTTP resources on an HTTPS page — as these undermine security and can trigger browser warnings.
Site architecture affects how link equity flows through your site. A flat architecture (most pages within 3 clicks of the homepage) ensures crawlers can reach all your content efficiently. Use internal linking strategically to pass authority from high-authority pages to pages you want to rank.
Mobile Usability
Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check key pages. Ensure text is readable without zooming, tap targets are appropriately sized, and content does not overflow the screen.
Check the Mobile Usability report in Search Console for specific errors affecting your site. Common issues include text too small to read, clickable elements too close together, and viewport not set correctly. These are straightforward fixes that can have an immediate positive impact on rankings.
Structured Data and Schema Markup
Structured data helps Google understand your content and can earn you rich results in search (star ratings, FAQs, product info, breadcrumbs). Implement schema markup using JSON-LD — the format Google recommends. Start with Organisation schema on your homepage, Article schema on blog posts, and Product/Review schema on e-commerce pages.
Use Google’s Rich Results Test to validate your markup. Monitor the Rich Results report in Search Console to see which pages are eligible and which have errors. Rich results increase click-through rates significantly — FAQ schema alone can double the space your result takes up on the search results page.
Work With a Team That Gets Results
Technical SEO is not a one-time task — it requires regular auditing as your site grows. A quarterly technical SEO review keeps your foundation solid and your rankings climbing. Explore our SEO services and find out how Balistro can help your business grow faster.
