What is Technical SEO?

Indexing is the meticulous cataloging of your website’s content that follows the crawling process. Think of it as a library’s catalog, where each book (or webpage) is categorized, tagged, and stored for easy retrieval. This step involves analyzing the information gathered during crawling, extracting keywords, and associating them with specific topics. A well-indexed website ensures that when users search for relevant keywords, your content has a higher chance of being displayed in search results.

Rankings are the crowning achievement that every website aspires to achieve. After crawling and indexing, search engines assess the quality and relevance of your content to assign it a position in search results. This process involves considering a multitude of factors, including the content’s relevance to user queries, its authority, and the user experience it offers. Websites that successfully master crawling, indexing, and rankings are the ones that shine brightly in the search engine spotlight, attracting more visitors, engagement, and ultimately, business success.

Meta robot tags, often referred to as meta robots or robots meta tags, are HTML elements that provide instructions to search engine crawlers on how they should interact with a specific web page. These tags play a crucial role in controlling how search engines index and display content from a website. Meta robot tags are particularly important in Technical SEO as they contribute to the overall search engine optimization strategy.

There are several directives that can be used within meta robot tags:

1. index: This directive tells search engines that the page’s content should be indexed. It’s the default behavior if no meta robot tag is specified.
2. noindex: This directive instructs search engines not to index the page’s content. It’s often used for pages that you don’t want to appear in search results, such as thank-you pages, login pages, or duplicate content.
3. follow: This directive allows search engines to follow the links on the page. It’s the default behavior for search engine crawlers if no meta robot tag is specified.
4. nofollow: This directive tells search engines not to follow the links on the page. It’s often used for pages where you don’t want to pass authority to the linked pages.
5. noarchive: This directive prevents search engines from storing a cached copy of the page. It’s used when you want to prevent users from accessing older versions of the page’s content.
6. nosnippet: This directive prevents search engines from showing a snippet of the page’s content in the search results. It’s useful when you want users to visit the page to see the full content.

Using meta robot tags strategically can help you control how search engines interact with your website’s pages, optimize your crawl budget, and improve the overall user experience. They are an essential tool for ensuring that search engines understand your content and display it appropriately in search results.

Canonicalization is a critical concept in Technical SEO that addresses the issue of duplicate content across a website. It involves specifying the preferred version of a web page when multiple versions of the same content exist. The goal of canonicalization is to inform search engines which version of the content should be considered the authoritative or primary source, thus avoiding confusion and potential SEO issues.

Duplicate content can arise due to various reasons, such as multiple URLs pointing to the same content, parameter variations, or slight differences in URL structures. Search engines might struggle to determine which version to index and rank, potentially leading to diluted search rankings and the wasted allocation of crawl budget.

Canonicalization is implemented using a special HTML tag known as the “canonical tag” or “rel=canonical.” By adding this tag to the header section of the HTML code of a page, you’re indicating to search engines the preferred version of the content. When search engines encounter the canonical tag, they consolidate the ranking signals for the different versions and attribute them to the specified canonical URL.

For instance, if you have a product page that exists at both “example.com/product” and “example.com/products?id=123,” you can add a canonical tag to the “example.com/product” page to indicate that it’s the preferred version. This helps ensure that search engines recognize the intended version and consolidate ranking signals accordingly.

Canonicalization not only aids in streamlining your website’s SEO efforts but also enhances user experience by directing visitors to the most relevant and authoritative content. By indicating the primary source of content, you contribute to a more organized and efficient web presence, positively impacting your search engine rankings and user engagement.

Canonical tags, also known as rel=canonical tags, are HTML elements used in web pages to indicate the preferred version of a URL when multiple versions of similar or identical content exist. These tags are particularly important in addressing the issue of duplicate content, which can negatively impact search engine rankings and user experience.

The primary purpose of a canonical tag is to help search engines understand which version of a web page’s content should be considered the authoritative or original source. This is especially useful when there are different URLs leading to the same or very similar content. By specifying the canonical URL using the rel=canonical tag, you’re guiding search engines to consolidate the ranking signals and attribute them to the specified canonical URL.

For instance, if your website has both “example.com/blog/post” and “example.com/blog/post?id=123” URLs for the same blog post, you can add a canonical tag to the “example.com/blog/post” page. This tag communicates to search engines that “example.com/blog/post” is the preferred version, preventing the dilution of ranking signals across multiple URLs.

Canonical tags offer several benefits:

• Consolidating Ranking Signals: By specifying the canonical version, you ensure that search engines attribute all ranking signals to a single URL, boosting its overall search visibility.
• Avoiding Duplicate Content Penalties: Canonical tags help prevent duplicate content issues, which can lead to search engine penalties or lower rankings.
• Improving User Experience: When search engines understand the preferred version of your content, they can present a consistent and relevant result to users.

The installation process involves a few steps:

1. Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR): The server administrator generates a CSR, which includes information about the website and its domain name.
2. Purchase or Obtain an SSL Certificate: The CSR is submitted to a Certificate Authority (CA) to purchase or obtain an SSL certificate. The CA verifies the domain ownership and issues the certificate.
3. Install the SSL Certificate: The SSL certificate, along with any intermediate certificates provided by the CA, is installed on the web server. This usually involves copying and pasting the certificate data into the server’s configuration files.
4. Configure the Web Server: The server’s configuration needs to be updated to enable HTTPS using the SSL certificate. This typically involves specifying the SSL certificate’s location and other security settings.
5. Test the Installation: After installation, the SSL certificate’s functionality is tested to ensure that it’s correctly set up and provides secure connections.

Once the SSL certificate is properly installed, users accessing the website through HTTPS will see the padlock icon in the browser’s address bar, indicating that the connection is secure. Additionally, the website’s URL will start with “https://” instead of “http://”, indicating the presence of the SSL certificate and the secure browsing environment.