You’re already familiar with the importance of SEO for your website, right? After all, statistics suggest that 93% of all online searches connect people with new products and services, making your website your single most important marketing tool today. Technical SEO, though, is a bit different. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, you’re not alone. In pursuit of technical SEO, agency hires will conduct various website and server optimizations to help search engine spiders more effectively crawl your site.
Understanding the Process
Search engines tend to prefer websites with technical characteristics like faster load times and responsive designs. Enter Technical SEO. Agency hires that perform this task work to ensure the technical side of your site is up to par for those search engine spiders. They look at your site’s security and structure to ensure it meets the search engine algorithms’ standards so you’ll hit page one of the rankings every time. Exactly what’s involved? Take a look at this list:
- Security Concerns: In 2014, Google made a bold announcement. They wanted to see Secure Sockets Layer technology, or SSL, everywhere. Sites that use this technology create an encrypted link between the searcher’s browser and the web server that hosts the site. Google’s goal here is to help provide an additional layer of security for those using its browser. It’s pretty easy to tell if a site uses SSL already. The site’s URL will begin with https rather than HTTP. That one simple shift is a big part of technical SEO, and while it’s not hard to make it, you’ll have to install an SSL certificate through your website, which can be a little complex for some people.
- Mobile-Friendly Technology: More people than ever are using mobile to search the web, and Google is working to ensure it’s easy to see sites on mobile phones and tablets. A big part of technical SEO today is providing sites have a responsive website design so they automatically adjust to become readable on any website. Over the past few years, Google has become incredibly clear that they want to see responsive sites, and to encourage that, they’re making it part of their rankings. They have taken a mobile-first approach, so if your technical SEO agency hasn’t already addressed this concern, they probably should.
- Site Speed: Search engines want sites that load fast. It’s long been part of the algorithm, but that can be tough to do. Technical SEO agencies, though, use several processes to help increase page load speed. They can switch your site to a faster host. They can use a quicker DNS provider, a single CSS stylesheet, and even optimize image files. These changes spell one key: quick response times when people click on your site.
- Site Map: Don’t already have an XML site map? It’s often one of the first things technical SEO agencies look for, as it helps a search engine understand your site while it works to crawl it. It’s like a map for your site, containing fairly useful information about each page. While it’s not tough to build, it is key for better rankings.
What Can a Technical SEO Agency Do For You?
A technical SEO agency can do all those things and much more, but the key thing they can likely do is improve your overall ranking. Better rankings mean more traffic and reaching out to your target audience. That can mean more conversions every time they hit your site. While SEO can be about many things these days, if you’re not working with a team to address key aspects of technical SEO, you may not be reaching your goals.
Having trouble finding an SEO agency in London? Look no further than Reposition. We can help you with your technical SEO and so much more. To learn more about our SEO services and how we can improve your technical SEO, reach out and contact us today. We’re the team to have on your side.
Author’s Bio:
Hitesh is a digital marketing strategist and entrepreneur withovern 15 years of digital marketing, start-ups, branding, and customer acquisition strategies. Hitesh is the CEO and Founder of Reposition Group, which encompasses several companies in the digital sector, including SEO.co.uk, Reposition.co.uk, and Bouncezap.com.