With another year coming to a close, digital marketers are taking stock of the strategies that worked – and didn’t work – over the past 12 months. As consumer behavior and technological capabilities continue to change at a rapid pace, those at the forefront of digital innovation are looking ahead to 2024 and seeking new tactics to strengthen their position. One area attracting significant interest is technical SEO, as more businesses recognize the critical role technical foundations play in delivering an exceptional user experience across all digital touchpoints.
By optimizing code, site structure and performance behind the scenes, technical SEO helps create frictionless journeys that retain customers and drive organic traffic – two factors that will be even more crucial in the coming year.
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With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at how companies are using technical SEO to support their digital marketing efforts and stay ahead of the curve.
Understanding Technical SEO
Before diving into how businesses are leveraging technical SEO, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of what it entails. According to a Technical SEO expert, technical SEO refers to the optimization of elements on a website that improve its crawlability, indexing, and overall user experience. These elements include site structure, page loading speed, mobile-friendliness, and code optimization.
Technical SEO is often overlooked in favor of content and off-page SEO strategies like link building. However, it plays a critical role in improving search engine rankings by providing a solid foundation for other SEO tactics to build upon. As search engines continue to prioritize user experience, technical SEO has become a crucial component of any digital marketing strategy.
How Companies Are Leveraging Technical SEO
Enhancing Site Speed for a Better User Experience
With attention spans continuing to dwindle and people increasingly accessing the internet on mobile devices, site speed has become more critical than ever. According to technical SEO specialists at Thrive, 53% of mobile users will abandon a site that takes longer than three seconds to load. Therefore, companies are investing resources into optimizing their websites’ speed using technical SEO strategies.
Some common techniques used to improve site speed include compressing images and minifying code, leveraging browser caching, and reducing server response time. These measures not only enhance the user experience but also help boost search engine rankings.
Improving Mobile-Friendliness
As mobile usage continues to rise, having a responsive website is no longer an option – it’s a necessity. Google has even rolled out mobile-first indexing, which means that its algorithms will primarily use the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking. Companies are recognizing this shift and investing in technical SEO to ensure their websites are mobile-friendly.
Improving mobile-friendliness involves making sure that a website’s design and content display correctly on all devices, regardless of screen size. This includes optimizing images, font sizes, and buttons for smaller screens and using responsive design to ensure the site layout adjusts seamlessly based on the device it is being viewed on.
Creating Seamless Site Navigation
A well-structured website not only makes it easier for users to find what they’re looking for, but it also helps search engines crawl and index content more efficiently. By using technical SEO tactics like creating a logical hierarchy of categories and subcategories, implementing breadcrumb navigation, and optimizing internal links, companies can improve their site’s navigation and enhance the overall user experience.
Prioritizing Accessibility
Another critical aspect of technical SEO is ensuring website accessibility for users with disabilities. Not only does this align with ethical and legal obligations, but it also opens up the website to a broader audience. Companies are using technical SEO strategies like adding alt text to images, using descriptive headings, and providing transcripts for videos and audio content to improve their site’s accessibility.
Optimizing Site Structure and Sitemaps
A well-designed site structure ensures that search engines can easily crawl and index all pages on a website. This is especially crucial for larger websites with a lot of content. By using technical SEO techniques like creating an XML sitemap, using robots.txt to control what pages are indexed, and optimizing URL structures, companies can help search engines better understand their site’s hierarchy and improve their rankings.
Conclusion
As digital marketing continues to evolve, companies must prioritize technical SEO to support their efforts effectively. By optimizing site speed, improving mobile-friendliness, creating seamless navigation, prioritizing accessibility, and optimizing site structure and sitemaps, businesses can create frictionless user experiences that drive organic traffic and increase conversions. As we look towards the future of digital marketing, it’s clear that technical SEO will continue to play a critical role in achieving success. So, keep these strategies in mind and stay ahead of the curve in 2024 and beyond. Remember, by investing in technical SEO now, you are setting yourself up for long-term success in the ever-changing digital landscape.