Welcome to the fifth chapter of IMG’s SEO 101 course! In the fifth part of our series, we’re teaching you everything you need to know about technical SEO — from what it is to site architecture and the elements of great website content. Keep reading to find out more!
What Is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO is the process of optimizing your website to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index, with the end-goal being to improve your site’s organic ranking. Some examples of technical SEO elements include structured data, site speed, and mobile readiness. Search engines like Google use three main factors to rank your website: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.
- On-page SEO Elements: Content that tells search engines what your page is all about. Examples mage alt text, keywords, meta descriptions, H1 tags, and more.
- Off page SEO Elements: Informs to search engines how popular and valuable your page is.
- Technical SEO: Refers to elements that optimize how well search engines can crawl and index your site.
However, it’s important to note that these three categories often overlap. Technical SEO works in tandem with other forms of SEO in addition to link building strategies to help increase your site’s ranking so that you appear higher up on search engine result pages (SERP).
Here’s an SEO inspired rendition of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to help you visually understand the hierarchy of the 5 categories of technical SEO.
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Why is on-page SEO important?
57% of marketing executives say on-page content development was the most effective SEO tactic. Meaning that crafting relevant, well-written content is only half of the process. Getting your content in front of the eyes of audience members requires optimizing various page elements so bots can easily crawl and index your site.