Technical SEO: the foundations that matter

What technical SEO is

Technical SEO is the foundation that lets search engines find, crawl, and understand your site. It is not about tricks or hacks. It is about making your site accessible to search engines.

For more on SEO basics, see search engine optimisation basics.

Site structure and crawlability

1) Clear site structure

A clear site structure helps search engines understand your content and helps users find what they need.

• Logical hierarchy: Organise pages into clear sections (e.g. services, about, articles).
• Shallow depth: Important pages should be no more than 3-4 clicks from the homepage.
• Consistent navigation: Use the same navigation structure across your site.

For more on site structure, see website structure: organising pages for users and search.

2) XML sitemap

An XML sitemap tells search engines which pages exist and how often they change.

• Include all important pages: Homepage, service pages, key articles, and landing pages.
• Keep it updated: Add new pages when you publish them.
• Submit to Search Console: Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console.

3) Robots.txt

Robots.txt tells search engines which parts of your site they can and cannot crawl [2]Source 2 .

• Allow important pages: Make sure important pages are not blocked.
• Block unnecessary areas: Block admin areas, search results, or duplicate content if needed.
• Keep it simple: Most small sites do not need complex robots.txt rules.

Indexing and crawlability

1) Make pages indexable

Search engines need to be able to read and index your pages.

• No noindex tags on important pages: Check that key pages are not blocked with noindex.
• HTML content: Important content should be in HTML, not just images or JavaScript.
• Fast loading: Slow pages are crawled less often [5]Source 5 .

2) Fix crawl errors

Check Google Search Console for crawl errors and fix them.

• 404 errors: Fix broken links or add redirects for moved pages.
• Server errors: Fix 500 errors that prevent crawling.
• Blocked resources: Make sure CSS and JavaScript are not blocked if they affect content.

3) Mobile-friendly

Your site must work on mobile devices [5]Source 5 .

• Responsive design: Pages should adapt to different screen sizes.
• Readable text: Text should be readable without zooming.
• Touch-friendly: Buttons and links should be easy to tap.

For more on responsive design, see responsive design: why all devices matter equally.

URLs and redirects

1) Clean URLs

URLs should be clear, readable, and stable.

• Descriptive: URLs should describe the page content (e.g. /services/websites/ not /page-123/).
• Short and simple: Avoid long URLs with unnecessary parameters.
• Consistent: Use the same URL structure across your site.

2) Redirects

When URLs change, use redirects to preserve SEO value [3]Source 3 .

• 301 redirects: Use permanent redirects for moved pages.
• Redirect chains: Avoid long chains of redirects (A → B → C).
• Test redirects: Make sure redirects work and point to the right destination.

For more on redirects, see redirects and URL changes: how to move pages without losing SEO.

Structured data

1) What structured data does

Structured data helps search engines understand your content and can make your results look better [4]Source 4 .

• Rich results: Can show extra information in search results (e.g. star ratings, prices, events).
• Better understanding: Helps search engines understand what your content is about.
• Local business: Essential for local businesses to appear in local search results.

2) What to use

Use structured data where it adds value, not everywhere.

• LocalBusiness: For local businesses (name, address, phone, opening hours).
• Article: For blog posts and articles (headline, author, date).
• Organisation: For your business (name, logo, contact information).
• BreadcrumbList: For navigation breadcrumbs.

3) Testing structured data

Test structured data to make sure it is correct.

• Rich Results Test: Use Google's Rich Results Test to check your structured data.
• Search Console: Monitor for structured data errors in Search Console.
• Keep it accurate: Only mark up content that actually exists on the page.

Page speed and Core Web Vitals

Fast pages rank better and provide better user experience [5]Source 5 .

• Core Web Vitals: LCP, INP, and CLS affect search rankings.
• Mobile speed: Mobile page speed is especially important.
• Server response time: Fast hosting and server response times help.

For more on performance, see fast websites: what fast means in 2026 and Core Web Vitals for business owners.

HTTPS and security

HTTPS is required for modern websites and affects search rankings.

• SSL certificate: Use a valid SSL certificate for all pages.
• Force HTTPS: Redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
• Mixed content: Avoid loading HTTP resources on HTTPS pages.

For more on security, see security basics for small business websites.

What you can ignore

Not every technical detail matters for small sites.

• Schema.org markup: Use it where it helps, but do not overdo it.
• Hreflang tags: Only needed if you have multiple language versions.
• Canonical tags: Useful for duplicate content, but not always necessary.
• Meta robots tags: Most pages do not need special robots directives.

Tools to check technical SEO

• Google Search Console: Check indexing, crawl errors, and Core Web Vitals.
• PageSpeed Insights: Test page speed and Core Web Vitals.
• Rich Results Test: Test structured data.
• Mobile-Friendly Test: Check if your site works on mobile.

Summary

Technical SEO foundations: clear site structure, XML sitemap, robots.txt, indexable pages, clean URLs, proper redirects, structured data where helpful, fast pages, HTTPS.

Focus on: making pages crawlable and indexable, fixing errors, keeping pages fast, using structured data where it adds value.

Ignore: complex schema markup you do not need, hreflang if you only have one language, canonical tags unless you have duplicate content.

For help with technical SEO, see SEO services. For more on SEO basics, see search engine optimisation basics. You can also get in touch to discuss your SEO needs.