Technical SEO: What You Need To Know

The Ultimate Guide to Technical SEO for Australian Businesses

Search engine optimisation (SEO) and effective online digital marketing campaigns involve more than keyword research and content creation — it also requires backend tasks not visible to the end user. This is referred to as technical SEO and is the foundational blueprint upon which all successful SEO strategies are built.

In this guide, we’ll dive deeper into what technical search optimisation is, why it’s important for your online success, what to include in your technical SEO checklist, and more.

Technical SEO is the backbone of a well-optimised website, ensuring that search engines can efficiently crawl your site, understand its structure, and rank it appropriately. This guide covers essential elements to improve your site’s crawling and indexing performance, helping Australian businesses maximise their search visibility.

What is Technical SEO?

For those who know what SEO is, technical SEO is a crucial aspect that involves maintaining and updating your site’s underlying infrastructure to allow search engines to crawl it more efficiently. Search engines deploy crawlers to your site to analyse its HTML code, JavaScript, performance, structure, and much more. This analysis helps them understand what your site is all about and whether or not it’s informative and user-friendly.

Think of technical SEO as the behind-the-scenes engineering of your website. It typically starts with a technical website optimisation audit, which includes improving your site speed, making it more discoverable, fixing architectural issues, and more. Simply put, technical SEO focuses on what search engines “see” and how they interact with your site, rather than what your human visitors primarily see.

Why is Technical SEO Important?

Google and other search engines don’t experience your website in the same way a human user does. Technical SEO is the bedrock of your SEO strategy and ensures that search engines can properly index and navigate your site.

Some of the benefits of investing in your technical SEO strategy:

• Increasing your website visibility: A technically sound site is more likely to be found and ranked.
• Improving your SEO and getting better rankings: Directly impacts how high your pages appear in search results.
• Improving page speed: Faster sites lead to happier users and better rankings.
• Identifying site structure issues: Ensures a logical flow for both users and crawlers.
• Eliminating duplicate content: Prevents search engine confusion and potential penalties.
• Enhancing user experience and SEO: A fast, secure, and easily navigable site keeps visitors engaged.

Core Pillars of Technical SEO

Mastering technical SEO involves understanding and implementing several key elements:

1. Crawlability & Indexability: Helping Google Find & Understand Your Site

For your website to appear in search results, search engines must first crawl (discover) its pages and then index (store) them.

• Crawl Budget Optimization: This refers to the number of pages Google is willing to crawl on your site within a given timeframe. Optimising crawl budget is crucial for larger websites, as it ensures search engines prioritise your most important content. You can improve crawl budget by:
• Robots.txt: This file tells search engine crawlers which pages or sections of your site they should or shouldn’t crawl. Proper configuration prevents wasted crawls on unimportant or sensitive pages.
• XML Sitemaps: An XML sitemap acts as a roadmap for search engines, listing all the important pages on your site. Submitting an updated sitemap helps Google discover new or updated content quickly.
• Internal Linking: A strong and logical internal link structure helps search engines discover all your pages, understand their relationships, and pass “link equity” (authority) throughout your site.
• Canonical Tags: Used to prevent duplicate content issues by telling search engines which version of a page is the preferred one to crawl and index.
• Dealing with 404s & Orphan Pages: Broken links (404 errors) and “orphan pages” (pages with no internal links pointing to them) waste crawl budget and hinder indexability. Proper 301 redirects and strategic internal linking are essential.
• Page Load Speed: Slow pages hinder crawlers and can lead to a reduced crawl rate.
• Robots Meta Tags & Noindex: These HTML tags provide granular control over how search engines process specific pages. The noindex tag tells Google not to add certain pages to its search results, useful for low-value or duplicate content.
• Google Search Console (GSC) for Diagnostics: This is a vital and free tool for diagnosing and improving your website’s technical issues.
  • It acts as your direct communication channel with Google, helping you:
    • Detect and fix crawl errors.
    • Monitor crawling and indexing activity.
    • Track which pages are appearing in search results.
    • Submit updated sitemaps for better coverage.
    • Monitor Core Web Vitals.

2. Site Speed & Core Web Vitals: The User Experience Imperative

Website speed is a critical ranking factor for Google and directly impacts user satisfaction. Google uses Core Web Vitals to measure site load speed and real-world user experience.

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures how quickly the main content on your page loads. Aim for 2.5 seconds or less. Optimizing images, improving server response time, and using CDNs can help.
• First Input Delay (FID) / Interaction to Next Paint (INP): FID measures how quickly your page responds to a user’s first interaction. INP, which replaces FID in March 2024, measures overall page responsiveness. Aim for 100ms or less for FID, and 200ms or less for INP. This involves optimizing JavaScript execution and third-party scripts.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Tracks how much content on your page unexpectedly moves around while loading. Aim for 0.1 or less. Ensure images have dimensions specified and avoid dynamically injected content without proper space reservation.

Practical Technical SEO Techniques:

• Image Optimization: Compress images, use modern formats like WebP, and implement lazy loading.
• Code Minification: Reduce file sizes by minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files.
• Browser Caching: Stores parts of your website on a user’s device for faster loading on return visits.
• Server Response Time & Hosting: Choose a high-performance hosting provider, ideally an Australian one if your primary audience is local.
• Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Distribute your content across servers worldwide, serving it from the closest location to the user for faster delivery.

3. Mobile-Friendliness: Reaching Every Australian User

Google operates on a mobile-first indexing principle, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your content for indexing and ranking.

• Responsive Design: Essential for ensuring your website adapts seamlessly to all screen sizes and devices.
• Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test: Use this tool to identify any issues.
• User Experience on Mobile: Ensure easy navigation, readable fonts, and appropriately sized touch targets.

  

4. Website Security (HTTPS): Trust & Authority

Securing your site with HTTPS through SSL is a top priority for search engines and crucial for user trust.

• SSL Certificate: Install an SSL certificate and ensure all pages use HTTPS.
• Regular Updates: Keep plugins, themes, and your CMS updated to prevent vulnerabilities.

5. URL Structure & Site Architecture: Logical & User-Friendly

A well-structured URL and clear site architecture make your site easier for both users and search engines to navigate and understand.

• Clean, Descriptive URLs: Use short, keyword-friendly URLs and slugs that clearly indicate page content.
• Breadcrumbs: Implement breadcrumb navigation for improved user experience and to help search engines understand your site hierarchy.
• 301 Redirects: Properly implement 301 redirects for any outdated, moved, or removed pages to preserve SEO value.
• Duplicate Titles & Meta Descriptions: Avoid these, as they can confuse search engines and dilute your SEO efforts.

6. Structured Data (Schema Markup): Adding Context for Rich Results

Structured data is a markup applied to a webpage’s code that gives search engines more detail about what’s on the page and how to interpret it.

• Benefits: Can lead to rich snippets (e.g., star ratings, product prices, in-depth FAQ pages) in search results, making your listings more appealing and increasing click-through rates.
• Common Schema Types: Local Business, Product, Article, FAQ, Review, How-To.
• Testing Tools: Use Google’s Rich Results Test to validate your implementation.

Technical SEO Checklist

Here’s a comprehensive checklist to guide your site’s SEO audit focusing on technical issues:

1. Website Crawling & Indexing

• Ensure robots.txt is correctly configured and not blocking important pages.
• Use Google Search Console to check for crawl errors and fix any issues.
• Generate and submit an XML sitemap to Google & Bing.
• Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.
• Check and fix orphan pages (pages with no internal links).
• Implement structured data (schema markup) for better search visibility.

2. Site Speed & Performance

• Enable Gzip compression to reduce file sizes.
• Use WebP image format and enable lazy loading.
• Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files.
  Reduce server response time with a high-performance hosting provider.
• Implement browser caching for returning visitors.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN), especially for international visitors.

3. Mobile Optimisation

• Ensure your website is fully responsive on all screen sizes.
• Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check for issues.
• Avoid intrusive pop-ups or interstitials that harm user experience.
• Optimise for Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID/INP, CLS) to enhance mobile usability.

4. Security & HTTPS

• Install an SSL certificate and ensure all pages use HTTPS.
• Regularly update plugins, themes, and CMS to prevent security vulnerabilities.
• Monitor for broken links and fix them to prevent 404 errors.

5. URL Structure & Navigation

• Use short, keyword-friendly URLs (avoid long or dynamic URLs).
• Ensure breadcrumb navigation is enabled for better user experience.
• Implement 301 redirects for outdated or removed pages.
• Avoid using duplicate title tags and meta descriptions.

6. Internal Linking & Site Architecture

• Maintain a clear, logical site structure (ideally no more than 3 clicks to any page).
• Use descriptive anchor text for internal links.
• Ensure important pages receive internal link equity from high-traffic pages.

7. Technical SEO Considerations for Australian Sites

• Use TDL’s such as.com.au domain if targeting an Australian audience.
• Host your website on an Australian server for better local SEO performance.
• Set Google Search Console to target Australia.
• Optimise for Google Discover if publishing news or informative articles.
• Implement hreflang tags if serving multiple languages or regions.

Why an Expert is Better Than an Online Checker

While technical and website SEO checkers are incredibly useful diagnostic tools, they are not a replacement for a seasoned SEO expert. Checkers excel at identifying specific issues (“problem identifiers”), but they can’t offer the deep understanding, strategic thinking, or holistic view that a human expert provides (“problem solvers”). An expert interprets the data, understands the nuances of your business and industry, prioritizes fixes, and develops a comprehensive strategy for sustainable growth.

The Foundation for Sustainable Growth

Investing in technical SEO can seem challenging for business owners without firsthand experience. However, a solid technical optimisation audit and ongoing strategy are the keys to online success for your business. It’s a continuous journey that requires regular attention to adapt to evolving algorithms, competitor actions, and user behaviour.

Need some help?

As Australia’s leading SEO services agency, we have a deep understanding of all technical SEO aspects. We can help you understand what each element means, set priorities and even implement those recommendations. Our SEO experts don’t rely on just one tool or report; they analyse your site from top to bottom using many different tools and personal experience to get a full picture of what your site needs from a technical perspective. We then look at your competitive landscape, evaluate your content, and create and implement the changes you need to deliver real, impactful results based on your goals.

Feel free to reach out to OMG, book a free strategy session, and get your own bespoke SEO audit created specifically for you.

Are you an Australian Business? Need Help With Paid Ads and / or SEO? Then simply reach Out:

PPC Sydney | PPC Melbourne | PPC Brisbane | PPC Gold Coast | PPC Perth | PPC Adelaide | PPC Hobart | PPC Canberra

SEO Sydney | SEO Melbourne | SEO Brisbane | SEO Hobart | SEO Perth | SEO Adelaide | SEO Gold Coast | SEO Canberra | SEO Darwin

About the Author

Andrew Raso

Andrew Raso, Co-founder and Global CEO of Online Marketing Gurus, has been instrumental in transforming the agency from a start-up into a $15 million global powerhouse. Since co-founding OMG in 2012 with colleague Mez Homayunfard, Andrew has leveraged his deep expertise in SEO and digital marketing to drive OMG’s expansion across Australia, the US, and Singapore.