Technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Google
Google Page Experience Algorithm Update
In June 2021 Google began using Page Experience as a search ranking factor: Core Web Vitals, Mobile Usability, Security, Ad Experience.
Find out how to nail the Page Experience Update with Technical SEO.
The very most fundamental purpose of any business's website is to attract traffic that converts.
And for organic search traffic - traffic that doesn't come from paid ads, and makes up 53% of all website traffic - SEO is what makes that happen.
In getting organic, converting traffic to your website, it’s not how many search engines you can get to index your site that counts - it’s how highly your site is ranked for the queries that your most valuable potential customers are using in their searches.
And your pages need to be optimized for the search engine most used by your best potential customers.
That's Google.
Because 93% of all web browsing sessions begin with a search - and 92% of those searches worldwide are done using Google.
Technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will improve the ranking of your web pages by Google - making them easier to find and understand - by using advanced technical skills and all search engine best practices to analyze, upgrade, repair, and fine-tune your website to make it more easily spidered, indexed and comprehended by the Googlebot crawler.
And in the process, technical SEO will also improve the experience your website provides for human users on both desktop and mobile devices.
Why Technical SEO?
Technical search engine optimization (SEO) contributes to enhanced website performance by making pages:
Faster loading, easier to navigate and more usable, for better user experience
Mobile-friendly, because under Google's policy of mobile-first indexing, the version of a website's content seen by the smartphone Googlebot crawler is used for indexing and ranking.
More easily understood and more accurately indexed and ranked against queries by Google’s BERT, MUM and other algorithms
Unique as to content, to avoid competition among pages that results in lower rankings for all
Up to date, by redirecting the URLs of retired pages to current alternatives and avoiding 404 (Not Found) errors
Safe for users, through use of TLS (Transport Layer Security, successor to now deprecated Secure Socket Layer) - a protocol for encrypting internet traffic and verifying server identity
In turn, that enhanced website performance will:
Differentiate you from your competition
Increase your return on advertising spend, since an SEO campaign involves no media buy, only our modest agency fee
Produce more prequalified website traffic from people who are using Google organic search to look for products or services like yours
Used in conjunction with Google Ads, increase the number of links to your website on a Google search return page, producing more website exposure to potential customers and enhancing the legitimacy of your brand
Reach your entire customer base with website pages optimized for each of your target demographics and for each level of your conversion funnel from introductory content to create awareness for new prospects to conversion-directed content for those ready to buy
Produce higher-quality leads with which you can begin to engage for future business
Convert lookers to buyers at a much greater rate and lower cost than outbound strategies like cold-calling or e-mail blasting
Give you powerful insights and hard data about your target demographics
Keep prospects on your website longer, viewing more content, maximizing lead-gathering and selling opportunities
Improve the experience users get from your website, getting you repeat visits
Create and increase awareness, authority and trust for your brand, through its enhanced visibility in search
An incomplete list of issues that technical SEO can fix includes:
- Failed Google Core Web Vitals assessments
- Broken links and 404 errors
- Excessive HTTP requests
- Uncompressed HTML
- HTML errors
- Slow-loading image, audio and video files
- Duplicate content
- Unindexed pages
- Orphan pages
- Non-critical CSS and Javascript files that slow down page rendering
- Duplicate titles and meta description tags that cause ranking competition between pages
- Unused stylesheet code that slows page loading
- Missing Google Analytics tracking code
- White space and HTML comments that slow page loading
- Images that could delay loading until after critical resources have been rendered
- Static assets not cached
- Page titles and meta descriptions too long or too short
- Pages blocked by robots.txt file
- Use of Flash
- Mobile unfriendliness: too-small text, clickable elements too close together
- No custom 404 error page
- Illusion of completeness leaving critical content unread
An example of the results that technical SEO analysis and on-page improvements can produce:
Google PageSpeed Insights Mobile Analysis of our ACROGlobal.com site
following Technical SEO analysis and on-page improvements
Why you should outsource SEO to a professional
- SEO is harder than it looks. Doing SEO well requires specialized knowledge, skills and tools.
- SEO is always evolving. Just keeping up 100% with Google's ranking algorithm changes would be a full-time job, and there are technical and regulatory changes constantly ongoing that impact SEO as well.
- SEO takes a lot of time. Your time is better - and more profitably - spent doing what you do best: running your business. Leave SEO to a pro.
- Hiring staff to do SEO is expensive. Even if you're able to hire capable people - not necessarily a given - by bringing SEO in-house you immediately begin to incur training and overhead expenses.
- Measurement and reporting of results is a key part of SEO. I know what key performance indicators determine the impact of SEO on your business goals, and will report those to you regularly.
Done expertly (as I will), technical search engine optimization for Google, followed by conscientious maintenance to keep up with Google’s ever-changing product features and ranking algorithms, will very significantly increase the number of qualified prospects finding and engaging with your site, as well as the number and value of transactions those new customers will complete with your business.
Do you want more and higher-quality website traffic and more conversions? Get a free consultation to learn how I can help you do that. Just complete and send this form to contact me today.
Some of My Blog Posts About Technical SEO
Google Page Experience Ranking is coming to desktop in February 2022
That means: You must have passing scores on Core Web Vitals, HTTPS not HTTP, no intrusive interstitials.
Google MUM has the potential to be a game-changer in search and SEO
MUM is multilingual (75 languages) and multi-modal (both text and images) and has 1000X the question-answering power of BERT.
To assess content quality, Google doesn't just look at text [VIDEO]
John Mueller: "[I]t's not the case that we would look at just purely the text...we really want to look at the website overall."
New research finds a one-second reduction in page load time lifts conversion 5.7% on mobile, 3.3% on desktop
58% of bounces are from pages that take longer than 4 seconds to load.
Google introduces Search Console Insights (BETA)
New tool is intended to help content creators and publishers understand what resonates with their audiences.
More comprehensive Schema.org markup validator to replace Google Structured Data Testing Tool
The new Schema.org validator is intended to be a 'general-purpose' tool you can use to debug many more structured data types than those supported by Google.
Google wants to see at least some content 'above the fold'
"A part of your page should be visible when a user goes there" - not just images, and without scrolling."
How to use the Google Search Console Performance Report
If you're managing a website, you need to be using Google Search Console reports.
Technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Resources
Google Webmaster Central Blog
Updates on crawling, indexing and ranking - direct from Google
Search Engine Journal
News, analysis, insights and guides
Search Engine Land
Industry experts share tips, tactics, and strategies.
SEM Post
Spots new Google features being tested, provides comprehensive analyses of algorithm updates.
Contact me:
David H. Boggs, MSBoston and Maine
36 Sea Street
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
685 East Seventh Street
Boston, MA 02127
USA
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