Technical SEO basics
In one line
Technical SEO basics ensure search engines can crawl, index, render and trust your site: a clean structure, working sitemap and robots.txt, HTTPS, speed, mobile-friendliness and valid schema.
The essentials
- Crawlability: robots.txt allows key pages; internal links connect them
- Indexability: important pages are indexed (check Search Console)
- Sitemap: an XML sitemap, submitted
- Security & speed: HTTPS, fast Core Web Vitals
- Mobile-friendly, responsive design
- Clean URLs, canonical tags, valid schema
Why it matters
Technical issues silently cap everything else, great content on an uncrawlable or slow site won't rank. Get the basics right so your on-page and off-page work can pay off.
Frequently asked
Do small sites need technical SEO?
Yes, the basics (indexing, speed, mobile, a sitemap) apply to every site, even if crawl-budget concerns don't.
How do I check my technical health?
Use Google Search Console (coverage, experience) and a crawler/audit tool, then fix indexing and speed issues first.
Put this into practice
Grade your site against our 250-point AEO/GEO checklist and see exactly what to fix, free, no signup.