Technical SEO: Fix what stops Google finding you.
Technical SEO is the behind-the-scenes work that lets search engines find, read and understand your website. When it goes wrong, good pages can stay hidden from Google however well they’re written, and the cause is rarely visible from the outside.
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What it is
The part of SEO you can’t see
Content is what your pages say. Technical SEO is whether search engines can get to it.
Before Google can show a page, it has to find it, fetch it, read it and decide it’s worth keeping.
Search engines do that with automated crawlers that follow links from page to page. Anything that gets in their way, like broken links, pages blocked by mistake, several copies of the same page, a slow server or content that only appears once scripts run, means fewer of your pages are shown, or the wrong ones are.
Technical SEO finds and removes those obstacles. Most of it is invisible to visitors, which is exactly why problems can sit unnoticed for years.
Why it matters
Everything else builds on it
Good content, a good design and good reviews all depend on search engines being able to read your website.
- A page only counts if it’s foundA brilliant page that Google can’t crawl or index won’t bring in a single visit from search.
- Small problems multiplyOn a website with hundreds of products or pages, one mistake in a template can affect every one of them.
- Visitors notice tooSlow pages, broken links and error pages put customers off as well as search engines.
- It protects what you’ve builtRedesigns, new platforms and plugin updates can quietly undo years of work if nobody checks.
When it’s worth a look
Good pages that Google doesn’t show
The signs that something technical is holding a website back.
- Traffic that droppedAfter a redesign, a move to a new platform or a Google update, and nobody can say why.
- Pages that don’t appearNew pages that never show up in Google, or old ones that still do and shouldn’t.
- Competitors outranking youWith pages that are thinner or older than yours.
- A big websiteThousands of products, filters or locations, where small problems multiply.
- A redesign coming upSo the new website fixes what’s wrong instead of copying it across. Website migrations
- No one has lookedA website that’s never had a technical check, often because whoever built it didn’t do SEO.
What it covers
The main areas, in plain English
The things that decide whether search engines can find, understand and rank your pages.
- CrawlingCan search engines reach every page that matters? Broken links, blocked pages and dead ends.
- IndexingWhich of your pages are in Google, which aren’t, and why.
- DuplicatesPages competing with each other, and canonical tags that point the wrong way.
- RedirectsChains, loops and old addresses that no longer lead anywhere useful.
- Site structureHow your pages link together, and whether your most important pages get the attention they need.
- Speed and Core Web VitalsWhat slows your pages down on real phones, and what to do about it.
- Structured dataThe extra information that helps Google understand your business, your products and your pages.
- JavaScriptContent that only appears once scripts run, and whether Google sees it.
- Titles and descriptionsThe basics that decide how your pages look in search results, and whether people click.
- Online shopsFilters, categories, product variants and out-of-stock pages, where shops lose the most.
How I help
From a crawl to a list of fixes
Plain English throughout, and nothing fixed without your say-so.
- 01
Access and a crawl
Read access to Search Console and Analytics, then a full crawl of your website with tools like Lumar.
- 02
The audit
Every issue with its evidence, why it matters and the fix, most important first.
- 03
A call
We go through it together and agree what to fix first.
- 04
Fixes, then a check
I make the fixes or brief your developer, then check that Google has picked them up.
Where it comes from
Big-shop experience, sized for yours
At THG, I worked on the technical SEO of LOOKFANTASTIC, Cult Beauty and Myprotein.
They’re very large online shops, where one mistake in a template can hide a whole category from Google. The same checks work at any size, and they’re quicker to put right on a smaller website.
The audit in a redesign proposal costs nothing, because it’s there to plan the new website. A technical SEO audit is for a website you’re keeping: it goes deeper, and gives you or your developer a list of fixes to work through.
Questions
Questions, answered.
If yours isn’t here, ask me: there’s no such thing as a silly question about your own website.
Ask me a questionWhat is technical SEO?
It’s the part of SEO that deals with how your website works rather than what it says: whether search engines can crawl and index your pages, how those pages link together, how fast they load, and whether duplicates or broken links get in the way.
What’s the difference between technical SEO and on-page SEO?
On-page SEO is about what each page says: its title, headings and content. Technical SEO is about whether search engines can reach and make sense of those pages in the first place. Both matter, and a good audit looks at where they meet.
How do I know if my website has technical problems?
Google Search Console, which is free, shows which of your pages Google has indexed and flags many common problems. A crawl of the whole website finds the rest. If you’re not sure what Search Console is telling you, a technical audit explains it.
What’s the difference between an SEO audit and a technical SEO audit?
“SEO audit” can mean anything from an automated report to a full review. A technical audit looks at how search engines crawl, index and understand your website: the foundations everything else depends on. If it shows your content or local search need work too, I’ll say so.
How much does a technical SEO audit cost?
From £995, depending on the size of your website. Fixes are quoted from the audit, so you know what each one involves before you decide.
Will fixing technical issues improve our rankings?
It removes what’s holding your pages back, which often helps, but nobody can honestly promise a ranking. Competition, your content and Google itself all play a part, and I’ll tell you what to expect for your website.
Can you work with our developer or agency?
Yes. Each fix is written so a developer can act on it, and I’m happy to talk it through with them.
Let’s talk
Want to know what’s holding your website back?
Tell me your website’s address and what you’d like it to achieve. I’ll reply personally, usually the same working day.