April 18, 2023 •Devin Dabney
Let’s be real: no matter how you slice it, SEO is complicated. There’s a lot of moving parts, which means moving targets—all in an ever-changing, ever-evolving market. So, how are companies supposed to form a good SEO strategy if everything keeps dancing around? Solving the sphinx’s riddle of SEO can feel impossible—especially when, more or less, the answer to that riddle changes every day.
Thankfully, there are some fundamental strategies that don’t change. No matter what the SEO landscape looks like, it pays dividends to focus on the four basic types of SEO, developing a plan for each. But a common pitfall for digital marketing strategies is they primarily focus on on-page and off-page SEO. While both are certainly important, they don’t tell the whole story of SEO success.
Enter technical SEO: one of the more challenging types of SEO. Many pieces of technical SEO go unnoticed when they’re working properly. It’s not as flashy as keyword research, but it’s just as important, and in some cases, more important. So today, we at DemandJump are going to show you why you should be more focused on your technical SEO—mainly, by showing you what a technical SEO specialist does. To start, let’s define what exactly “technical SEO” entails.
What Is Considered Technical SEO?
Technical SEO encompasses everything that helps search engine spiders crawl your website, improving indexing and ultimately, organic search rankings. Most technical SEO techniques revolve around this idea, but there are also user experience (UX) design components to consider. To optimize the back end of your website, you’ll need the expertise of a technical SEO specialist.
Here are some of the key questions a technical SEO specialist will ask when evaluating your website:
- Crawling | Are search bots able to easily “crawl” (or read) your website?
- Indexing | Can Google easily search, store, and reference your content for search engines?
- Page Speed | How quickly does your page load when users access it?
- Mobile-Friendliness | Is your content easily read on a smartphone, tablet, or mobile device?
- Site Structure | Does your website layout make sense to both users and search engines?
And those are just a few of the factors that comprise technical SEO. As you can see, most of what goes into technical SEO is back-end focused, and of course, more technical.
Why Is Technical SEO Important?
As Janet Jackson once said, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” While end users don't usually notice good technical SEO, they will notice bad technical SEO. Slow load times, clunky mobile experiences, and a nonsensical site layout will quickly turn people and web crawlers away from your content. What’s more, if your site is not set up well for search engines, users will never make it to your content in the first place.
Imagine that: having a treasure trove of helpful, well-written content, only to never have it reach your audience—all because of a few technical mistakes. But, “the devil is in the details,” and that goes double for SEO. You can have good keywords, and be set up for local SEO success, but if your technical SEO isn’t right, most of that other work loses its value.
Are Off-Page SEO and Technical SEO the Same?
As it turns out, they couldn’t be more opposite from one another. Technical SEO is a subcategory of on-page SEO, while off-page SEO is focused on generating traffic through means other than the website. Some off-page SEO strategies include social media channels, guest blogging, and any means of cross-collaboration with other brands. Off-page SEO gets people to your content, and technical SEO makes sure that content shines when your audience finds it.
Can I Do SEO on My Own?
You can, but a better question to ask is, “Why would you want to?” Unless you already have in-house expertise, chances are that doing SEO by yourself isn’t worth it. You’ll spend a lot of time, money, and resources, and while you might do a fine job on your own, it’ll cost you much more than is necessary.
Maybe an even better question to ask would be, “Do you want to do SEO on your own…or do you want to do it well?” Because if you’d prefer the latter, it’s probably better to seek outside help. There are many experts out there—such as technical SEO consultants—who can review and improve your site with you.
DemandJump: Plan for Page One, From Day One
There are many pieces to the SEO puzzle, and technical SEO is just one of them. When it comes to creating great content for your target audience, we at DemandJump are the people for the job. With the help of our Pillar-Based Marketing (PBM) methodology, you’ll be able to craft a digital presence that is compelling, data-driven, and—here’s the best part—tailored to what your target audience is looking for in real-time.
Our Consumer Insights platform ensures that your content strategy is airtight, with keywords that come directly from the mouth of your consumers. What’s more, our team of strategists and writers have a wealth of experience in various SEO tactics, so your Pillar content will not only be good, it’ll be search-engine friendly as well. Our work can set you up for success; the rest, friends, is up to you.
We could say more, but our platform can speak for itself. See firsthand and try it for free, right now!
DemandJump's podcast, Page One or Bust!, discusses in great detail the methodology of Pillar-Based Marketing and how it is shifting the way people think about how to target their ideal customers where they are in their search journey. Check out the below clip from a previous episode, or listen to the full episode at this link.