Technical SEO: a complete guide to optimizing your website and achieving better positions on Google

Understand what technical SEO is, why it's essential, and how to apply it to your digital strategy with practices, tools, and practical examples..

When we talk about SEO, most people think of keywords, optimized content and backlinks. However, there is a silent and decisive pillar for the success of the strategy: the Technical SEO.

In the world of digital marketing, having good content and link-building strategies isn't enough. Without a solid foundation, every effort can be compromised.

That's where the Technical SEO, one of the three pillars of SEO (alongside on-page SEO and off-page SEO) and the foundation that ensures search engines can correctly crawl, index, and understand your website.

In this complete guide to technical SEO, you will understand in depth what it means, why it is essential for Google, what its main factors are, how to perform a technical audit and which tools to use to keep your website at a high level of performance.

What is technical SEO??

THE Technical SEO is the set of practices aimed at the structure and configuration of a website, ensuring that it is crawlable by search engines and offers an efficient browsing experience to users.

While the On-page SEO cares about the relevance of the content and the Off-page SEO with the authority and reputation of the website, Technical SEO is what makes sure everything works properly behind the scenes.

Some practical examples of what technical SEO encompasses:

• Page loading speed;
• Mobile responsiveness;
• Friendly URL architecture;
• Security (HTTPS and SSL);
• Creation and updating of XML sitemap;
• Robots.txt file configured correctly;
• Fixed tracking errors and redirects;
• Implementation of structured data (Schema.org).

Without these adjustments, A website may have good content, but it won't have a chance to compete for the top spots on Google.

Why Technical SEO is Essential for Google?

Google's algorithms evaluate hundreds of factors when ranking pages, many of which are technical.

If the search engine cannot crawl, index and load your pages efficiently, you will hardly achieve good positions, regardless of the quality of the content.

Main impacts of technical SEO

Core Web Vitals

Metrics that measure the actual user experience regarding loading, interactivity, and visual stability.

Mobile-first indexing

Since 2019, Google has prioritized the mobile version of the website for ranking.

Security (HTTPS)

Pages without SSL are marked as insecure and lose credibility.

Crawl budget

Google allocates a crawl limit to each site; technical issues waste this resource.

In short: Technical SEO helps Google understand your website, the trust him and the offer the best experience to users.

Main technical SEO factors

Here are the pillars that should be worked on in any technical strategy:

1. Site Speed and Core Web Vitals

One of the most critical factors for ranking and user experience.

• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): measures the time for the largest element on the page to load;
  
• FID (First Input Delay): measures the time until the site is interactive;
  
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): measures visual stability, preventing elements from “jumping” on the screen.
  

Good practices:

• Compress images and videos.
• Use asynchronous loading for scripts.
• Adopt content delivery network (CDN).
• Minify CSS and JavaScript.
  

2. Mobile-friendly and responsive

More than 50% of searches are done by mobile devices. Google has already confirmed that it prioritizes the mobile version of the site.

Good practices:

• Use responsive design on all pages.
• Avoid intrusive pop-ups on small screens.
• Ensure that buttons and menus are clickable on touchscreens.
  

Useful tool: Google Mobile-Friendly Test.

3. Website architecture and URL structure

Good architecture makes it easier for both users to navigate and search engines to track them.

Good practices:

• Maintain logical hierarchy between categories and pages.
• Use short, descriptive URLs (e.g., /blog/seo-tecnico).
• Create clear menus and breadcrumbs for internal navigation.
  

4. XML sitemap and robots.txt

• XML Sitemap: tells Google which pages to index.
• Robots.txt: instructs which areas of the website may or may not be crawled.
  

Tips:

• Update the sitemap whenever new pages are created.
• Avoid blocking important pages in robots.txt.
• Submit the sitemap via Google Search Console.
  

5. Canonical tags and duplicate content

Duplicate pages confuse Google and dilute authority.

• Use rel=“canonical” to indicate the main version of a page.
• Avoid internal duplicate content.
  
• Example: e-commerce product pages with variations (color/size) should use canonical tags to consolidate authority.

6. HTTPS and website security

HTTPS has been a ranking factor since 2014. It also instills trust in users.

• Valid SSL certificate is required.
• Always redirect HTTP versions to HTTPS.
  

7. Crawl errors and broken links

404 pages and broken links harm the experience and consume crawl budget.

• Monitor on Google Search Console.
• Fix or redirect unavailable pages.
  

8. Correct redirectss

• 301: used for permanent redirects.
  
• 302: used only in temporary situations.
  
• Avoid redirect chains.
  

9. Structured data (Schema.org)

They help Google better interpret content and display rich snippets.

• Articles: title, author, date.
  
• Products: price, stock, review.
  
• Events: location, date, time.
  
• FAQs: direct questions and answers.
  

Practical Technical SEO Checklist

✅ Check Core Web Vitals.
✅ Ensure responsive design.
✅ Configure XML sitemap.
✅ Review robots.txt.
✅ Implement HTTPS.
✅ Fix broken links.
✅ Configure 301 redirects.
✅ Use canonical tags.
✅ Implement structured data.
✅ Monitor tracking errors regularly.

Recommended tools for technical SEO

• Google Search Console: monitor indexing, errors and performance.
  
• Screaming Frog: technical audit of URLs, titles, meta tags and errors.
  
• PageSpeed Insights/Lighthouse: performance analysis and Core Web Vitals.
  
• GTmetrix: detailed speed diagnosis.
  
• SEMrush / Ahrefs: complete technical reports.
  

Technical SEO vs. On-Page SEO: What Are the Differences?

Although often confused, they are complementary:

• Technical SEO: focuses on traceability, indexing and technical performance.
  
• On-page SEO: optimizes content and direct user experience.
  

Example: Technical SEO ensures the site loads within 2 seconds; on-page SEO ensures the title is attractive to increase CTR.

How to do a technical SEO audit?

An audit is essential to identify bottlenecks and opportunities.

Technical audit steps

1. Map the site with crawlers (Screaming Frog).
   
2. Check Core Web Vitals in PageSpeed Insights.
   
3. Check mobile version with Mobile-Friendly Test.
   
4. Analyze sitemap and robots.txt.
   
5. Fix broken links and 404 errors.
   
6. Review redirects.
   
7. Check security (HTTPS).
   
8. Implement structured data.

It is recommended to carry out audits every 6 months or after significant changes to the website.

Trends in technical SEO

Technical SEO evolves alongside Google's algorithms. Here are some trends for the coming years:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning helping with performance analysis.
  
• EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness): increasingly integrated into the way Google evaluates pages.
  
• Semantic indexing: seeks to understand the context beyond the keywords.
  
• Integration with UX: Technical SEO and user experience become inseparable.
  
• Audit automation: integration of crawlers into development pipelines (CI/CD).
  

Technical SEO is the foundation for achieving solid positions on Google

THE Technical SEO is the foundation of any ranking strategy. It ensures that your website is traceable, fast, safe and well structured, fundamental points for content and off-page SEO to have a real impact.

Investing in technical SEO is investing in sustainable growth: improves user experience, optimizes Google resources and increases the chances of reaching the top positions.

If you want to apply technical SEO best practices to your website, follow55 can help.

👉 Talk to the follow55 team and discover how our team of experts can structure a complete technical SEO strategy, connecting performance, technology, and content to generate real results.