Google Page Experience Algorithm Update
In June 2021 Google will begin using Page Experience as a search ranking factor: Core Web Vitals, Mobile Usability, Security, Ad Experience. Is your website ready?
Find out more.Technical Website Optimization (SEO) for Google Search
In getting unpaid traffic from search engines, 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 keywords 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.
Technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will improve the rankings of your web pages by search engines - making them easier to find - by analyzing, repairing, upgrading and fine-tuning the tech aspects of your website to make it more easily spidered, indexed and understood by Googlebot and other search-engine crawlers. 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 contributes to enhanced website performance by making pages:
Faster loading, easier to navigate and more usable, for better user experience
More easily “crawlable” by the Googlebot search agent
More easily understood and more accurately indexed and ranked against queries by Google’s BERT and other algorithms
Unique as to content, to avoid duplicate-content penalties and 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, via an SSL certificate
In turn, that enhanced website performance will:
Differentiate you from your competition
Produce a lot of prequalified traffic - people who are looking for what you’re offering
Convert lookers to buyers at a much greater rate 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
Done expertly (as I will), technical optimization for Google, followed by conscientious maintenance to keep up with Google’s ever-changing ranking algorithms, will very significantly increase the number of qualified prospects finding your site, as well as the number and value of transactions those new customers will complete with your business.
Some of My Blog Posts About Technical SEO
Use Pingdom Website Speed test to see what’s slowing down your website
Images, CSS stylesheets and Javascript files likely contribute.
Google passage based ranking makes SEO easier - and harder
Permits more flexible content, but can produce more zero-click results.
Load pages faster by eliminating render-blocking resources
Non-critical CSS and Javascript is slowing down rendering of your pages
62.9% of Google Search users say descriptions in organic returns are #1 driver of clicks
And descriptions in organic search returns are controlled by the people who write the website copy.
Minify HTML, CSS and JavaScript to speed up web pages, reduce server load
In my test the Minifier reduced pagefile size by 25.57%.
New/improved Google PageSpeed Insights includes Performance Score, real-world Field Data, Lab Data
The latest free Google PageSpeed Insights tool provides lots of actionable information you can use to speed up loading of your website
Technical Search Engine Optimization - 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.