What is technical SEO? Basics and best practices

What is method SEO?

Technical SEO is the activity of optimizing a website's infrastructure truthful hunt engines and AI systems tin crawl, render, index, and mention its content. It's the instauration that determines whether your pages are eligible to look successful accepted hunt results and AI-generated answers.

As hunt has expanded beyond accepted results into experiences for illustration ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and CoPilot, getting the method fundamentals correct has go much consequential. Content value unsocial doesn’t matter if hunt systems can’t scope aliases construe your pages successful the first place. 

This guideline walks done really crawling and indexing work, covers the champion practices that astir impact some accepted and AI hunt visibility, and shows you really to audit and support them connected an ongoing basis. 

Why is method SEO important?

Technical SEO is important because it determines whether hunt engines and AI systems tin access, understand, and scale your content. 

Without a coagulated method foundation, your champion contented won’t look successful hunt results aliases get cited successful AI-generated answers, nary matter really valuable it is. 

That intends mislaid traffic, missed business opportunities, and less chances to beryllium references erstwhile users move to AI for answers. 

Technical SEO lays the instauration for everything else. It ensures hunt engines tin crawl your site, render its contented correctly, understand really pages subordinate to each other, and scale the correct versions.

That instauration now supports some accepted hunt results and AI-driven hunt features.

AI hunt systems for illustration ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini still trust connected beardown method SEO fundamentals. If your pages aren’t crawlable aliases indexable, they’re acold little apt to beryllium surfaced aliases cited successful AI-generated answers. 

And erstwhile your tract structure, rendering, and metadata are clear, it becomes easier for hunt systems to extract and construe your contented accurately.

Understanding crawling and really to optimize for it

Crawling is an basal constituent of really hunt engines work. It’s besides the first measurement toward some accepted hunt visibility and inclusion successful AI-powered hunt experiences.

Crawling happens erstwhile hunt engines travel links connected pages they already cognize astir to find pages they haven’t seen before.

For example, each clip we people caller blog posts, we adhd them to our main blog page.

The adjacent clip a hunt motor for illustration Google crawls our blog page, it tin observe caller pages done those soul links.

There are a fewer ways to guarantee your pages are accessible to hunt engines:

Create an SEO-friendly tract architecture

Site architecture (also called tract structure) is the measurement pages are linked together wrong your site.

An effective tract building organizes pages successful a measurement that helps crawlers find your website contented quickly and easily. Clear relationships betwixt pages besides make it easier for hunt systems to understand really topics link crossed your site.

So, guarantee each the pages are conscionable a fewer clicks distant from your homepage erstwhile structuring your site.

Like this:

This type of level helps hunt engines find and prioritize your pages much efficiently and ensures important contented is conscionable a fewer clicks from the homepage, reducing the number of orphan pages.

Orphan pages are pages pinch nary soul links pointing to them, making it difficult (or sometimes impossible) for crawlers and users to find them.

If you’re a Semrush user, you tin easy find whether your tract has immoderate orphan pages.

Set up a project successful the Site Audit instrumentality and crawl your website.

Once the crawl is complete, navigate to the “Issues” tab and hunt for “orphan.”

The instrumentality shows whether your tract has immoderate orphan pages. Click the bluish nexus to spot which ones they are.

To hole the issue, adhd internal links connected non-orphan pages that constituent to the orphan pages.

Submit your sitemap to Google

Using an XML sitemap tin thief Google find your webpages.

An XML sitemap is simply a record containing a database of important pages connected your site. It lets hunt engines cognize which pages you person and wherever to find them.

This is particularly important if your tract contains a batch of pages. Or if they’re not linked together well.

Here’s what Semrush’s XML sitemap looks like:

Your sitemap is usually located astatine 1 of these 2 URLs:

• yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
• yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml

Once you find your sitemap, taxable it to Google via Google Search Console (GSC).

Go to GSC and click “Indexing” > “Sitemaps” from the sidebar. 

Then, paste your sitemap URL successful the blank section and click “Submit.”

After Google is done processing your sitemap, you should spot a confirmation connection for illustration this:

Allow the correct AI crawlers

Your robots.txt file controls whether hunt engines and AI crawlers (like OAI-SearchBot) tin entree your content.

Start by checking your robots.txt record for accidental blocking of important pages aliases resources. Your robots.txt record is usually located astatine yoursite.com/robots.txt.

If your extremity includes visibility successful ChatGPT hunt experiences, make judge OAI-SearchBot isn’t blocked.

If you want a page excluded from hunt results, usage the noindex tag. Blocking crawling unsocial doesn’t forestall URLs from appearing successful results if different pages nexus to them.

JavaScript rendering and crawlability

If your tract relies heavy connected JavaScript (for example, single-page applications), crawling unsocial isn’t capable — contented often needs to beryllium rendered earlier it’s visible to hunt engines.

Unlike Google, galore AI crawlers (such arsenic GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, and ClaudeBot) don’t execute JavaScript. They trust connected the first HTML response, truthful immoderate contented that only appears aft rendering whitethorn not beryllium seen.

Google typically processes JavaScript successful phases: crawling, rendering, and indexing. 

If cardinal contented aliases soul links only look after rendering, make judge they load reliably and aren’t delayed aliases hidden down personification interactions.

Also debar blocking JavaScript files aliases different resources needed for rendering successful robots.txt, since that tin forestall Google from seeing important on-page content. This is particularly important for modern frameworks and single-page exertion sites wherever navigation and contented loading hap client-side.

You tin usage Site Audit to emblem JavaScript-related issues, specified arsenic blocked resources aliases pages wherever important contented whitethorn not beryllium rendered correctly.

Check retired our full guideline to JavaScript rendering for much info.

Understanding indexing and really to optimize for it

Indexing is the process of analyzing and storing the contented from crawled pages successful a hunt engine's database — a monolithic scale containing billions of webpages. Your pages must beryllium indexed earlier they tin look successful hunt results.

Your webpages must beryllium indexed by hunt engines to look successful hunt results.

The simplest measurement to cheque whether your pages are indexed is to execute a “site:” usability search.

For example, if you want to cheque the scale position of semrush.com, you’ll type “site:www.semrush.com” into Google’s hunt box.

This tells you (roughly) really galore pages from the tract Google has indexed.

You tin besides cheque whether individual pages are indexed by searching the page URL pinch the “site:” operator.

Like this:

There are a fewer things you should do to guarantee Google doesn’t person problem indexing your webpages:

Use the noindex tag carefully

The “noindex” tag is an HTML snippet that keeps your pages retired of Google’s index.

It’s placed wrong the <head> conception of your webpage and looks for illustration this:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

Use the noindex tag only erstwhile you want to exclude definite pages from indexing. Common candidates include:

• Thank you pages
• PPC landing pages
• Internal hunt consequence pages
• Admin and login pages
• Staging aliases trial URLs
• Filter and benignant variations of the aforesaid merchandise listing

To study much astir utilizing noindex tags and really to debar communal implementation mistakes, publication our guideline to robots meta tags.

Implement canonical tags wherever needed

When Google finds akin contented connected aggregate pages connected your site, it sometimes doesn’t cognize which of the pages to scale and show successful hunt results. 

That’s erstwhile “canonical” tags travel successful handy.

The canonical tag (rel="canonical") identifies a nexus arsenic the original version, which tells Google which page it should scale and rank.

The tag is nested wrong the <head> of a copy page (but it’s a bully thought to usage it connected the main page arsenic well) and looks for illustration this:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/original-page/" />

Additional method SEO champion practices

Creating an SEO-friendly tract structure, submitting your sitemap to Google, and utilizing noindex and canonical tags appropriately should get your pages crawled and indexed. 

But if you want your website to beryllium afloat optimized for method SEO, see these further champion practices.

1. Use HTTPS

Hypertext transportation protocol unafraid (HTTPS) is simply a unafraid type of hypertext transportation protocol (HTTP).

It helps protect delicate personification accusation for illustration passwords and in installments paper specifications from being compromised.

And it’s been a ranking awesome since 2014.

It besides builds personification spot and aligns pinch modern browser standards, which emblem non-HTTPS sites arsenic “Not secure.” 

HTTPS is besides a baseline awesome for AI systems that aboveground and mention web content, arsenic astir awesome platforms prioritize unafraid sources erstwhile selecting what to reference. 

You tin cheque whether your tract uses HTTPS by simply visiting it.

Just look for the “lock” icon to confirm.

If you spot the “Not secure” warning, you’re not utilizing HTTPS.

In this case, you request to instal a unafraid sockets furniture (SSL) aliases carrier furniture information (TLS) certificate.

An SSL/TLS certificate authenticates the personality of the website. And establishes a unafraid relationship erstwhile users are accessing it.

You tin get an SSL/TLS certificate for free from Let’s Encrypt.

2. Find & hole copy contented issues

Duplicate content occurs erstwhile you person the aforesaid aliases astir the aforesaid contented connected aggregate pages connected your site.

For example, Buffer had these 2 different URLs for pages that are astir identical:

• https://buffer.com/resources/social-media-manager-checklist/
• https://buffer.com/library/social-media-manager-checklist/

Google doesn’t penalize sites for having copy content.

But copy contented tin origin issues like:

• Undesirable URLs ranking successful hunt results
• Backlink dilution
• Wasted crawl budget

With Semrush’s Site Audit tool, you tin find retired whether your tract has copy contented issues.

Start by moving a afloat crawl of your tract and past going to the “Issues” tab.

Then, hunt for “duplicate content.”

The instrumentality will show the correction if you person copy content. And connection proposal connected really to reside it erstwhile you click “How to fix.”

3. Make judge only 1 type of your website is accessible to users and crawlers

Users and crawlers should only beryllium capable to entree 1 of these 2 versions of your site:

• https://yourwebsite.com
• https://www.yourwebsite.com

Having some versions accessible creates copy contented issues and splits your backlink profile, truthful take 1 type and redirect the other.

4. Improve your page speed

Page velocity is simply a ranking facet some connected mobile and desktop devices.

So, make judge your tract loads arsenic accelerated arsenic possible.

You tin usage Google’s PageSpeed Insights instrumentality to cheque your website’s existent speed.

It gives you a capacity people from 0 to 100. The higher the number, the better.

Here are a fewer ideas for improving your website speed:

• Compress your images: Images are usually the biggest files connected a webpage. Compressing them pinch image optimization devices for illustration ShortPixel will trim their record sizes truthful they return arsenic small clip to load arsenic possible.
• Use a contented distribution web (CDN): A CDN stores copies of your webpages connected servers astir the globe. It past connects visitors to the nearest server, truthful there’s little region for the requested files to travel.
• Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files: Minification removes unnecessary characters and whitespace from codification to trim record sizes. Which improves page load time.

5. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly

Google uses mobile-first indexing. This intends that it looks astatine mobile versions of webpages to scale and rank content. 

As a result, your mobile pages request to incorporate the aforesaid halfway content, links, and system information arsenic your desktop type (known arsenic "mobile parity"). If thing is missing from the mobile version, it efficaciously doesn't beryllium for indexing aliases ranking. Google evaluates the mobile experience, not the desktop one.

To cheque this for your site, usage the aforesaid PageSpeed Insights tool.

Once you tally a webpage done it, navigate to the “SEO” conception of the report. And past the “Passed Audits” section.

Here, you’ll spot whether mobile-friendly elements aliases features are coming connected your site:

• Meta viewport tags — codification that tells browsers really to power sizing connected a page’s visible area
• Legible font sizes
• Adequate spacing astir buttons and clickable elements

If you return attraction of these things, your website is optimized for mobile devices.

6. Use breadcrumb navigation

Breadcrumb navigation (or “breadcrumbs”) is simply a way of matter links that show users wherever they are connected the website and really they reached that point.

Here’s an example:

These links make tract navigation easier.

How?

Users tin easy navigate to higher-level pages without the request to many times usage the backmost fastener aliases spell done analyzable paper structures.

So, you should decidedly instrumentality breadcrumbs. Especially if your tract is very large. Like an ecommerce site.

They besides use SEO.

These further links administer nexus equity (PageRank) passim your website. Which helps your tract rank higher.

If your website is connected WordPress aliases Shopify, implementing breadcrumb navigation is peculiarly easy.

Some themes see breadcrumbs retired of the box. If yours doesn’t, astir SEO plugins will adhd them automatically, aliases you tin instrumentality them manually pinch breadcrumb schema.

7. Use pagination

Pagination is simply a navigation method that’s utilized to disagreement a agelong database of contented into aggregate pages.

For example, we’ve utilized pagination connected our blog.

This attack is favored complete infinite scrolling, wherever contented loads dynamically arsenic users scroll. Because hunt engines whitethorn not entree each dynamically loaded content, immoderate pages whitethorn not beryllium crawled aliases look successful hunt results.

Implemented correctly, pagination will reference links to the adjacent bid of pages. Which Google tin travel to observe your content.

Learn more: Pagination: What Is It & How to Implement It Properly

8. Review your robots.txt file

A robots.txt record tells Google which parts of the tract it should entree and which ones it shouldn’t.

Here’s what Semrush’s robots.txt record looks like:

Your robots.txt record is disposable astatine your homepage URL pinch “/robots.txt” astatine the end.

Here’s an example: yoursite.com/robots.txt

Check it to guarantee you’re not accidentally blocking entree to important pages that Google should crawl via the disallow directive.

For example, you wouldn’t want to artifact your blog posts and regular website pages. Because past they’ll beryllium hidden from Google.

Refer backmost to the “Allow the Right AI Crawlers” conception to study really to cheque if you’re blocking them.

Further reading: Robots.txt: What It Is & How It Matters for SEO

9. Implement system data

Structured information (also called schema markup) is codification that helps Google amended understand a page’s content.

And by adding the correct system data, your pages tin triumph rich | snippets.

Rich snippets are much appealing hunt results pinch further accusation appearing nether the title and description.

Here’s an example:

The use of rich | snippets is that they make your pages guidelines retired from others. Which tin amended your click-through complaint (CTR).

Structured information besides helps hunt engines understand what a page is astir and the cardinal elements connected it — specified arsenic products, organizations, recipes, events, and reviews.

This clearer knowing improves really hunt systems construe your content. And it tin make your accusation easier to reuse successful hunt features and AI-powered answers.

On the flip side, if the markup doesn’t lucifer what users see, hunt engines whitethorn disregard it aliases emblem it arsenic misleading.

So, erstwhile implementing system data, make judge it accurately reflects the visible contented connected the page — meaning the specifications successful your markup (such arsenic merchandise names, prices, aliases ratings) should lucifer what users tin really see.

Google supports dozens of system information markups, truthful take 1 that champion fits the quality of the pages you want to adhd system information to.

For example, if you tally an ecommerce store, adding merchandise system information to your merchandise pages makes sense.

Here’s what the sample codification mightiness look for illustration for a page trading the iPhone 15 Pro:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org/",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "iPhone 15 Pro",
"image": "iphone15.jpg",
"brand": {
"@type": "Brand",
"name": "Apple"
},
"offers": {
"@type": "Offer",
"url": "",
"priceCurrency": "USD",
"price": "1099",
"availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
"itemCondition": "https://schema.org/NewCondition"
},
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.8"
}
}
</script>

There are plentifulness of free system information generator devices for illustration this one. So you don’t person to constitute the codification by hand.

And if you’re utilizing WordPress, you tin usage the Yoast SEO plugin to instrumentality system data.

10. Find & hole surgery pages

Having surgery pages connected your website negatively affects personification experience.

Here’s an illustration of what 1 looks like:

And if those pages person backlinks, they spell wasted because they constituent to dormant resources.

To find surgery pages connected your site, crawl your tract utilizing Semrush’s Site Audit.

Then, spell to the “Issues” tab. And hunt for “4xx.”

It’ll show you if you person surgery pages connected your site. Click connected the “#pages” nexus to get a database of pages that are dead.

To hole surgery pages, you person 2 options:

• Reinstate pages that were accidentally deleted
• Redirect aged pages you nary longer want to different applicable pages connected your site

After fixing your surgery pages, you request to region aliases update immoderate soul links that constituent to your aged pages.

To do that, spell backmost to the “Issues” tab. And hunt for “internal links.” The instrumentality will show you if you person surgery soul links.

If you do, click connected the “# soul links” fastener to spot a afloat database of surgery pages pinch links pointing to them. And click connected a circumstantial URL to study more.

On the adjacent page, click the “# URLs” button, recovered nether “Incoming Internal Links,” to get a database of pages pointing to that surgery page.

Update soul links pointing to surgery pages pinch links to their updated locations.

11. Optimize for Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are metrics Google uses to measurement personification experience.

These metrics include:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Calculates the clip a webpage takes to load its largest constituent for a user
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP): Measures really quickly a page responds to personification interactions
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures the unexpected shifts successful layouts of various elements connected a webpage

To guarantee your website is optimized for the Core Web Vitals, you request to purpose for the pursuing scores:

• LCP: 2.5 seconds aliases less
• INP: 200 milliseconds aliases less
• CLS: 0.1 aliases less

You tin cheque your website’s capacity for the Core Web Vitals metrics successful Google Search Console.

To do this, sojourn the “Core Web Vitals” report.

You tin besides usage Semrush to spot a study specifically created astir the Core Web Vitals.

In the Site Audit tool, navigate to “Core Web Vitals” and click “View details.”

This will unfastened a study pinch a elaborate grounds of your site's Core Web Vitals capacity and recommendations for fixing immoderate issues.

Further reading: Core Web Vitals: A Guide to Improving Page Speed

12. Use hreflang for contented successful aggregate languages

If your tract has contented successful aggregate languages, you request to usage hreflang tags.

Hreflang is an HTML property utilized for specifying a webpage's connection and geographical targeting. And it helps Google service the correct versions of your pages to different users.

For example, we person aggregate versions of our homepage successful different languages. This is our homepage successful English:

And here’s our homepage successful Spanish:

Each of our different versions uses hreflang tags to show Google who the intended assemblage is.

This tag is reasonably elemental to implement.

Just adhd the due hreflang tags successful the <head> conception of each versions of the page.

For example, if you person your homepage successful English, Spanish, and Portuguese, you’ll adhd these hreflang tags to each of those pages:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://yourwebsite.com" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://yourwebsite.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="pt" href="https://yourwebsite.com/pt/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://yourwebsite.com" />

13. Stay connected apical of method SEO issues

Technical optimization isn't a one-off thing. New problems will apt popular up complete clip arsenic your website grows successful complexity.

That’s why regularly monitoring your method SEO wellness and fixing issues arsenic they originate is important.

You tin do this utilizing Semrush’s Site Audit tool. It monitors complete 140 method SEO issues.

For example, if we audit Petco’s website, we find 3 issues related to redirect chains and loops.

Redirect chains and loops are bad for SEO because they lend to a antagonistic personification experience.

And you’re improbable to spot them by chance. So, this rumor would person apt gone unnoticed without a crawl-based audit.

Regularly moving these method SEO audits gives you action items to amended your hunt performance.

Monitoring devices tin besides thief way visibility successful newer hunt experiences. For example, Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance study shows really often your contented is cited crossed Microsoft Copilot, Bing's AI-generated summaries, and prime partner integrations.

14. Reduce ambiguity crossed formats

Keep your text, images, videos, and system information accordant crossed the page. Use the aforesaid names, labels, and descriptions for cardinal topics aliases entities throughout.

Search systems analyse aggregate types of contented connected a page, not conscionable text. They whitethorn measure images, videos, captions, system data, and surrounding contented to understand what a page is about.

When these elements each intelligibly mention to the aforesaid taxable aliases entity, it’s easier for hunt engines and AI systems to construe and reuse your content.

For example, return a look astatine Apple's Refurbished iPhone page. 

The aforesaid entity appears consistently crossed aggregate surfaces:

• The H1 and supporting assemblage transcript some lead pinch "Refurbished iPhone"
• The page title and meta explanation repetition the aforesaid entity ("Refurbished iPhone Deals - Apple")
• Open Graph tags (og:title, og:description, og:url) each reference "refurbished iPhone"
• The URL way itself includes /refurbished/iphone

When visible content, page metadata, and URL building each constituent to the aforesaid entity, hunt engines and AI systems get a clearer awesome astir what the page is about. If those surfaces drift isolated — captions referring to 1 product, metadata to another, assemblage transcript to a 3rd — the page becomes harder to construe and easier for AI systems to skip over.

To trim ambiguity and thief hunt engines amended understand your content:

• Use accordant names for products, topics, aliases entities crossed text, images, and metadata
• Write descriptive alt matter and captions that bespeak the page topic
• Ensure filenames and surrounding matter lucifer the contented of images aliases videos
• Align system information pinch the visible page content

Putting it each together

Technical SEO covers a batch of ground, but you don't request to hole everything astatine once. Start pinch the fundamentals — crawlability, indexability, HTTPS, and mobile acquisition — past activity done the practices that impact your tract most. Pages pinch beardown method foundations enactment eligible to beryllium surfaced and cited successful some accepted hunt results and AI-generated answers.

The astir reliable measurement to find retired wherever your tract stands coming is to tally a afloat audit, past revisit your priorities each 4th arsenic your tract grows and hunt behaviour continues to shift.