Why Can't I Find My Business on Google?
9 Sep
2023 Technical SEO Checklist For Beginners & Experts
May 22, 2023
If you are anything like us at Digital Treasury, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve your technical SEO game. And with the waves of changes that hit the SEO metrics in 2021, you want to know if the strategies you’ve been using will still be as effective in 2023, right?
In that case, you’d be pleased to learn the content of this article. Here, we have summarized all the steps you need to maintain and up your technical SEO in 2023 into a 7-point ultimate checklist. Have a look!
Then, once you're done, check out our 5 day SEO challenge!
7-point Technical SEO Ultimate Checklist To Improve Your Website in 2023
Spoiler alert: There won't be a whole lot of changes to what you already do. If your technical SEO practices are positive and solid, you only need a little guidance. Either way, this list contains all you need!
Revisit Your Website Architecture
The first thing you should optimize in 2023 is your website structure. Why?
The core of technical SEO issues lies in how easily search engine bots can crawl and index your website. However, even with a poorly-structured site, your audience might still read your posts and even buy from the links. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same thing for Google.
Unless your website architecture is top-notch, crawlers will hardly find your web pages. Ultimately, that would lead to crawling and indexing issues. So, what should you do?
In 2023, revisit your website architecture.We’ll advise you to stick to a flat structure that is suitable for your audience as well as search engine bots. And as part of your restructuring efforts, take a look at your URL component. Ensure that it is SEO-friendly – in other words, paginate your URLs.
Note: If you'd redesign your website or restructure its content, always redirect your old URLs to the new ones. Else, search engine bots will experience broken links, which might affect your site user experience.
Pro tip: If your website architecture is already excellent, still perform audits to fix crawling and indexing issues before they spiral out of control.
Related reading: How Often Should You Redesign Your Website?
Audit Your Website’s Robots.txt File
If you are particularly worried about your website's indexing, you should check your robots.txt file first. Aside from being a critical technical SEO component, it is the first thing search engine bots check on your website.
For those reasons, the robots.txt file is a big deal – and it will continue to be so even in 2023. But you might want to find it first and check the pages with the "disallowed" tags. That would be the key to resolving the majority of your crawlability headaches.
Note: you can find the robots.txt file using Google Search Console. And if you don’t want search engine bots to crawl a particular page on your website, specify such with the “disallow” tag.
Create & Use Sitemaps
We understand that creating sitemaps might be a bit of work for you. However, if you are bent on improving your technical SEO game in 2023, you need these elements. In particular, your website needs HTML and XML sitemaps. Why?
Much like architecture and pagination, sitemaps are crucial to your website’s visibility to search engines and humans. Visibility aside, these elements are also essential to your site’s indexing.
In essence, create as many sitemaps as required by your website. About that, we'll advise you to have one for each content format on your site. For example, create a sitemap for categories like your PDFs, images, and videos.
Check Your Site’s Loading Speed
You probably know this point already and might have even put in considerable work to improve the speed of your website. Regardless, you can still do better – continue improving your site’s speed even in 2023. Here is why:
Though loading speed has long been a ranking factor for SERPs, it's more crucial since the June 2020 page experience update. In essence, you can never slack on your site’s loading speed - even beyond 2023.
But, say your website loading speed is beyond 10 secs – what then? What can you do?
This guide can help: How To Speed Up Your Website & Why It’s Important!
Create & Check Your Links
Quality links, be it internal or external, are key contributing factors of SEO. When done right, they can improve your website’s user experience. However, if you need the links for technical SEO, we'll suggest that you check your internal links in 2023.
In essence, if you want a particular page on your website to index and rank, you need to bulk it up with internal links. Also, ensure that the sources are from authority sites with significant crawlability.
Most importantly, check all your internal links to find broken and dead weights. Once you find the mishaps, fix them on the spot.
Treat Google Core Web Vitals Kindly
Google Core Web Vitals is a big umbrella that captures your website's loading speed, visibility, and responsiveness. So, they are a big deal. Besides, these "vitals" are now crucial to ranking your site on SERPs – since May 2021. And trust us, they will grow in importance even in 2023.
So, what should you do?
Like you optimized and updated your website architecture, you’d also do the same for the Google Core Web Vitals. And fortunately, there is a standard you can aim for using Page Insights. Check it out:
- Loading speed – 2.5 seconds
- First Input Delay – 100 milliseconds
- Visual stability – should be less than one-tenth of a second
Overall, ensure that your website passes the Google Core Web Vitals test!
Suggested reading: First Input Delay (FID): What Is It? How Can You Reduce It?
Use HTTPS
Another critical component of the Google Core Web Vitals is security. Your website should be as secure as possible. That is the only way you can ensure the safety of your users’ data, their trust, and continued visits.
In that case, you should upgrade from HTTP to HTTPS. The latter is a secure version, and it comes with an SSL certification. But beyond the SSL certificate, HTTPS is also one of the ranking factors on SERPs.
Bottom line: if you have not upgraded your URL, you should do so in 2023. Use HTTPS and maintain a single site version to avoid confusion.
Key Takeaways
In 2023, stick to the technical SEO strategies that focus on your website user experience. And throughout the process, remember to treat Google Core Web Vitals kindly – always!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Your Provide Case Studies Or Examples Of Previous Work?
Yes, we can provide case studies and examples of our previous work. Potential clients frequently request these to see concrete evidence of our past successes. They want to understand how we’ve helped similar businesses achieve their goals through SEO and website development. Our case studies typically highlight our clients’ challenges, the strategies we implemented, and the measurable results we achieved, such as increased traffic and higher conversion rates. This builds trust and demonstrates our ability to deliver on our promises.
Do You Offer Ongoing Maintenance And Support After The Website Is Launched?
Post-launch support is crucial for maintaining website performance and security. Clients want to know if the company provides:
Regular Updates: Ensuring the website remains up-to-date with the latest software versions and security patches.
Technical Support: Assisting with any issues that arise, such as bugs or downtime.
Content Updates: Offering services to update or add new content as the business evolves.
Performance Monitoring: We regularly check the site’s speed, uptime, and other critical metrics to ensure optimal performance. This ongoing support provides peace of mind, ensuring that the client’s website remains effective and secure over time.
What is SEO, And Why Is It Important For My Business?
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a digital marketing approach focused on boosting your website’s presence on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. By refining different elements of your site—such as content, meta descriptions, and backlinks—SEO works to improve your website’s position in search engine results. This increased visibility is vital as it attracts more organic traffic, potentially leading to a rise in leads, sales, and overall business success. Businesses frequently discuss the basics of SEO, its importance in attracting targeted visitors, and how it supports wider business goals.
How Long Does It Take To See Results From SEO?
SEO is a strategy that requires a long-term commitment, and it's essential to have realistic expectations from the outset. Typically, businesses may notice significant improvements within 3 to 6 months. However, this can differ depending on factors such as the level of competition, the industry, and the website's current condition. While addressing technical issues can result in some early successes, meaningful increases in rankings and traffic usually develop over time. Clients often ask for a clear timeline to gauge when they might start seeing a return on their investment (ROI).
What Does Your SEO Process Involve?
Website Audit and Analysis: Conduct a thorough evaluation of the site to pinpoint strengths, weaknesses, and areas that can be enhanced.
Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords that your potential customers actively search.
On-Page Optimisation: Improving various on-page elements such as meta tags, headers, content, and internal linking to increase site effectiveness.
Content Development: Crafting high-quality, engaging content tailored to the needs of your target audience.
Link Building: Securing backlinks from credible websites to enhance the site's domain authority.
Technical SEO:Ensuring the website is technically robust, with fast loading speeds, mobile responsiveness, and secure connections.
Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustment: Regularly track performance and make necessary adjustments based on data and trends. Clients ask about these steps to ensure they are investing in a thorough and effective SEO strategy.
How Do You Measure The Success Of An SEO Campaign?
Success in SEO is measured through a variety of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including:
Organic Traffic: The number of visitors coming to the website from search engines.
Keyword Rankings: The position of targeted keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Conversion Rates: The percentage of visitors who take desired actions (e.g., filling out a form, making a purchase)
.Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave the site after viewing only one page.
Domain Authority: A score that predicts how well a website will rank in SERPs based on factors like link quality.
ROI (Return on Investment): Evaluating the financial return from SEO activities in comparison to the cost. Clients want to understand these metrics to gauge the effectiveness and profitability of their SEO investments.
How Do You Stay Updated With The Latest SEO Trends And Best Practives?
SEO is an ever-evolving field, with search engines like Google regularly updating their algorithms. We make it a priority to stay ahead of these changes.This might involve:
Continuous Learning: Attending industry conferences, webinars, and training sessions.
Membership in Professional Organisations: Being part of SEO communities or organisations that provide the latest insights.
Regular Testing and Experimentation: Consistently testing new strategies and adapting to changes in algorithms.Industry Research: Staying informed with the latest studies, white papers, and expert opinions in the digital marketing sector.We are confident that our SEO strategies are current and that we are proactive in adopting best practices.
Do You Offer Ongoing Maintenance And Support After The Website Is Launched?
Post-launch support is crucial for maintaining website performance and security. Clients want to know if the company provides:
Regular Updates: Ensuring the website remains up-to-date with the latest software versions and security patches.
Technical Support: Assisting with any issues that arise, such as bugs or downtime.
Content Updates: Offering services to update or add new content as the business evolves.
Performance Monitoring: We regularly check the site’s speed, uptime, and other critical metrics to ensure optimal performance. This ongoing support provides peace of mind, ensuring that the client’s website remains effective and secure over time.
How Do You Ensure That My Website Is User Friendly And Optimised For Conversions?
Yes, we ensure that your website is both user-friendly and optimised for conversions. We understand that clients want a website that attracts visitors and encourages them to take action. To achieve this, we focus on several key areas:
User Experience (UX) Design: We create an intuitive and engaging interface that makes navigation easy and enjoyable for users.Responsive Design: We ensure your website is mobile-friendly and looks great on all devices.
Call to Action (CTA): We strategically place buttons and forms to prompt users to take the desired actions.
Speed Optimisation: We ensure fast load times to reduce bounce rates and keep users engaged.
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO): We analyse user behaviour and make data-driven adjustments to increase the percentage of visitors who convert.By incorporating these principles, we maximise the chances of turning your website visitors into customers.
