Last Updated on 18 February 2025 by Stu Edwards
People can’t find your website without search engines crawling and indexing it first.
These behind-the-scenes processes determine whether your content appears in search results — or gets buried.
But do you know the technical-related configurations that are hurting your site’s visibility?
That’s where technical SEO comes in.
In this article, you’ll learn what technical SEO is, why it matters, and the seven most critical issues to prioritise, so search engines can properly crawl, index, and rank your site.
What is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO is a branch of search engine optimisation (SEO) by which the technical aspects of a website are optimised—such as site structure, crawlability, and performance—to improve its visibility and ranking in search engines.
Technical SEO is so fundamental: it helps your site get found.
When people hear “technical SEO,” they might think of fixing broken links or making pages load faster—and yes, that’s part of it. But it also includes:
- Making sure search engines can crawl and index your site properly with XML sitemaps and robots.txt.
- Securing your site with HTTPS and avoiding duplicate content issues.
- Giving a smooth, mobile-friendly experience for visitors.
- Using structured data (schema markup) to help search engines understand your content better.
At its core, technical SEO removes obstacles that might prevent search engines from discovering and ranking your content.
So how is it different from other types of SEO, like content SEO?
Technical SEO differs because it has less to do with the site’s content or promotion. The focus is optimising technical-related configurations, like:
- HTTP status
- Internal linking
- Meta robots tags
- XML Sitemaps
The end goal being that the website content is accessible to search engines.
What makes technical SEO so valuable?
Technical SEO is what makes sure your site can be found, crawled, and ranked by search engines.
Without it, even the best content won’t reach its audience.
It helps to:
1. Make your content discoverable
You could have the best content in your industry — but if search engines can’t find it, it might as well not exist.
Search engines rely on well-structured, crawlable sites to index pages.
If your site has broken links, slow load times, or missing technical elements, search engines hit roadblocks—and your content stays buried.
Instead of wondering why your pages aren’t showing up in search results, technical SEO clears the path.
Search engines find your content, users engage with it, and your site grows.
2. Improve user experience and engagement
Technical SEO isn’t just for search engines — it’s for people too.
A site that loads quickly, adapts to mobile devices, and runs smoothly keeps visitors around.
And search engines notice. If people leave your site because it’s slow or frustrating to navigate, your rankings take a hit.
But when your site is fast and easy to use, visitors stay longer—and search engines reward you for it.
Take page speed, for example. If a page takes too long to load, people leave. Every fraction of a second affects bounce rates, engagement, and even conversions.
A technically sound website removes friction. Users get the information they need, search engines see the engagement, and your rankings improve.
Further Reading
3. Stay competitive in search rankings
Many sites focus on content and backlinks but ignore technical issues that hold them back. Meanwhile, Google looks at factors like mobile usability, security (HTTPS), and Core Web Vitals when ranking sites.
That means a competitor with strong technical SEO can outrank a site with better content but poor optimisation. Search engines prioritise efficiency and user experience—so if your site is slow or difficult to navigate, it’s at a disadvantage.
7 technical SEO issues to prioritise
A few years ago, Aleyda Solis published a tweet sharing useful SEO decision flow charts.
I believe the SEO prioritisation decision chart is still just as relevant today.
That said, if I’m asked:
“Of all the many technical SEO issues to fix, which do you think are the most impactful ones?”
I’d say:
- Indexing
- Poor internal linking
- Lack of schema markup
- Duplicate content
- Slow page speed
- Mobile usability issues
- Broken links
Let’s talk about each one.
1. Indexing
When asked about the most common mistake experienced technical SEO professionals make, Patrick Stox, product advisor and technical SEO at Ahrefs, said:
“The ones that have an impact? Failing redirects after a migration, no one seems to get that right. No indexing stuff.”
Failing redirects after a migration, no one seems to get that right.
He’s right. Indexing issues are one of the most common — and most critical — technical SEO mistakes.
Indexing issues occur when search engines can’t properly crawl and index your pages.
This means your content won’t appear in search results, no matter how great it is.
A few tips to solve & prevent:
✅ Check Google Search Console for indexing errors and submit your sitemap.
✅ Make sure your robots.txt file isn’t blocking search engines.
✅ Fix crawl errors like 404 pages and server issues quickly.
✅ Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content confusion.
2. Poor internal linking
Internal links help search engines understand your site’s structure and pass ranking power between pages.
When internal linking is weak, you risk:
- Orphaned pages (pages with no internal links, making them hard to find).
- Uneven ranking potential (some pages get all the SEO love while others are ignored).
- A frustrating user experience (visitors struggle to navigate your site)
A few tips to solve & prevent:
✅ Build a logical internal linking structure that connects related pages.
✅ Use clear, descriptive anchor text to help both users and search engines understand the link.
✅ Regularly audit your site for orphaned pages—and link to them.
✅ Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to find and fix broken internal links.
3. Lack of schema markup
Schema markup is structured data that helps search engines understand your content better.
Without it, you’re missing out on rich snippets, which can improve click-through rates.
Google has confirmed that having schema on your website isn’t a direct ranking factor.
That doesn’t mean schema is useless.
In fact, Google has also said that schema helps them understand your content more clearly.
And when search engines better understand your page, they’re more likely to rank it for the right queries.
A few quick tips to on schema:
✅ Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to generate schema.
✅ Focus on key schema types like Article, Product, FAQ, and Local Business.
✅ Test your schema with Google’s Rich Results Test to catch errors.
✅ Update your schema regularly as your content evolves.
4. Duplicate content
Duplicate content (content that appears in more than one place, either on the same website or across different sites) confuses search engines and can weaken your rankings.
It happens more often than you’d think — thanks to URL parameters, HTTP vs. HTTPS versions, syndicated or even copied content.
So, how do most people fix it?
Sophie Brannon ran a Twitter poll with nearly 1,000 responses, and 57.5% said canonicalisation was their go-to solution.
Canonicalisation is great — but only if the duplicate content is an exact match.
That’s why I also agree with John Mueller’s take, shared by Barry Schwartz:
Adding value has always been and will always be king.
5. Slow page speed
Google is obsessed with speed — and for good reason.
From Google:
“Speeding up websites is important—not just to site owners, but to all Internet users.”
When pages take too long to load, users leave. That means higher bounce rates and fewer conversions.
From Think with Google:
“As page load time goes from one second to 10 seconds, the probability of a mobile site visitor bouncing increases 123%.”
The cost of slow webpages?
Amazon’s previously calculated that a page load slowdown of just one second could cost it $1.5+ billion in revenue each year…
6. Mobile usability
Even though Google retired the Search Console’s Mobile Usability report, mobile usability still matters a lot.
From Google:
“[Mobile usability] remains critical for users, who are using mobile devices more than ever, and as such, it remains a part of our page experience guidance.”
This means that Google is looking at your site as if they are on a smartphone.
7. Broken links
Broken links (404 errors) frustrate users and waste search engines’ crawl budget.
When visitors hit a dead end, they’re more likely to leave — hurting engagement and increasing bounce rates.
Search engines also struggle. If they waste time crawling broken links, they might miss important pages that should be indexed.
A few quick tips to solve and prevent broken links:
✅ Regularly audit your site using tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs.
✅ Redirect broken links to relevant pages with 301 redirects.
✅ Update internal links whenever you change a URL.
✅ Use Google Search Console to monitor and catch new broken links.
A smooth, error-free site keeps users and search engines (and SEOs!) happy.
Fix technical SEO issues and improve your rankings today
Technical SEO lays the groundwork for better search visibility, higher rankings, and a seamless user experience. By fixing key issues like page speed, indexing, and structured data, you create a website that both users and search engines love.
At Growth Minded Marketing, we help businesses with everything covered in this article (and more) with our technical SEO services .
If you’re ready to improve your website’s performance, schedule a free strategy call with us today.
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