If your website loads slower than a turtle on a treadmill… you’ve already lost.
And if Google can’t crawl your site? You don’t exist.
Today we’re breaking down the nuts and bolts of technical SEO — and why it’s the secret weapon no one’s talking about.
It’s the engine under the hood of every high-ranking website. You could have the best content in the world, but if your technical SEO sucks? You’re invisible.
By the end of this video, you’ll know exactly what to fix, how to fix it, and what most people mess up — even the pros.
And trust me — there’s one technical mistake almost everyone makes… and we’ll cover that in just a bit.
What is Technical SEO?
Let’s get something straight — technical SEO has nothing to do with writing blogs, keywords, or backlinks. That’s content and off-page SEO.
Technical SEO is everything behind the scenes that helps search engines actually find, understand, and index your content.
It’s like building a house. Your blog posts? That’s the furniture.
Your link building? That’s the street signs pointing to your house.
Technical SEO? That’s the foundation, the plumbing, the wiring — the stuff no one sees, but everything falls apart without it.
Here’s what we’ll go over:
-
Crawling and indexing
- Site speed
- Mobile-friendliness
- Structured data (aka Schema)
- HTTPS and security
- Canonicals and duplicate content
- Site architecture
- Core Web Vitals
If you’ve ever wondered why your site isn’t ranking — even though your content’s solid — this is probably why.
Crawling and Indexing
Imagine Google as a robot spider crawling the web. It follows links from page to page and makes copies of what it finds.
Your job? Make sure it can actually find and read your pages.
- Robots.txt: This tiny file tells Google where it’s allowed to go. If you mess this up? You could accidentally block your whole site.
- Sitemap.xml: This is like giving Google a roadmap of your pages. No sitemap = good luck getting indexed.
- Noindex tags: If you’re telling Google “don’t index this” on accident? Yeah… your pages won’t show up in search. At all.
Quick tip: Use Google Search Console. It’ll show you exactly which pages are indexed and which are being ignored like last year’s TikTok trends.
Site Speed
Nobody waits. Not your visitors. Not Google.
In fact, if your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, over 50% of users will bounce.
And Google knows that. Page speed is a ranking factor — no question.
Here’s how to speed things up:
- Compress your images — don’t upload 5MB hero shots.
- Use lazy loading — load images only when people scroll to them.
- Minimize JavaScript and CSS — too much code = slow site.
- Use a CDN — gets your site closer to the user, geographically.
- Switch to faster hosting — your shared hosting isn’t cutting it anymore.
A slow site is like having a Ferrari with flat tires. Doesn’t matter how powerful your content is — no one’s sticking around to read it.
Mobile-Friendliness
Google is mobile-first. That means it judges your site based on how it performs on phones — not desktops.
So if your site looks like a jigsaw puzzle on mobile, that’s a problem.
Make sure:
- Fonts are readable without zooming
- Buttons are big enough to tap
- Images don’t break the layout
- No horizontal scrolling
Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Fix what’s broken.
Most people check sites on their phones now — so if you ignore this, you’re basically ghosting your audience.
Schema Structured Data
Schema is like speaking Google’s language.
It’s code that helps search engines understand what your content actually means.
Example:
You write a recipe post. Schema tells Google — “Hey, this is a recipe. Here’s the ingredients. Here’s the cook time. Here’s a 5-star rating.”
And boom — you can get rich results with pictures, stars, and more right in the search results.
Add schema for:
- Articles
- Recipes
- Products
- Events
- Reviews
- FAQs
It won’t guarantee rankings, but it can increase clicks and improve how you show up. And that’s a win.
HTTPS and Security
This one’s simple: If your site isn’t HTTPS by now, you’re basically telling Google and users “hey, don’t trust me.”
Google flat-out said HTTPS is a ranking factor. Plus, browsers like Chrome will warn users if your site’s not secure.
How to fix it?
- Get an SSL certificate (usually free with your host)
- Redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS
- Update internal links to use HTTPS
It’s a quick fix that builds trust and keeps you competitive.
Canonicals and Duplicate Content
Ever have two URLs with the same content? Like:
- /products/red-shoes
- /products/red-shoes?color=red
Google sees that as two pages. And it hates duplicate content.
Use a canonical tag to say: “Hey Google, these are the same thing — rank this version.”
Why does it matter?
- Prevents splitting your SEO juice
- Avoids keyword cannibalization
- Keeps your site clean and focused
Most CMS platforms like WordPress or Shopify handle this automatically, but double-check it’s set up right.
Site Architecture
Good site structure = better rankings. Period.
If users — or Google — get lost on your site, it’s game over.
Here’s what to do:
- Use a clear hierarchy: Home > Category > Subcategory > Product/Page
- Keep important pages within 3 clicks of the homepage
- Use internal links to connect related content
- Make sure URLs are clean and simple (e.g., /about-us instead of /page?id=123)
Think of it like organizing a library. If books are just scattered randomly, no one finds what they need.
But if everything’s labeled, grouped, and easy to navigate? Boom — happy readers and happy Googlebot.
Core Web Vitals
This is Google’s way of saying: “We want your site to not suck.”
Core Web Vitals measure:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How fast your main content loads
- First Input Delay (FID): How fast your site reacts to user input
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): How stable your site layout is while loading
You know those annoying sites where stuff keeps jumping around while you’re trying to click? Yeah. That’s bad CLS.
Fixing these usually means:
- Optimizing images
- Reducing third-party scripts
- Avoiding weird fonts and animations that shift content
- Using proper dimensions for media
Use tools like PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse. They’ll tell you exactly what to fix.
The Real Problem
Here’s the deal: Most people think they’ve done technical SEO because they installed a plugin.
But plugins only cover the basics.
The real problem is people don’t check — they don’t test their robots.txt, their indexing, their speed, their mobile usability.
It’s like painting over cracks in a wall without fixing the foundation.
The truth? SEO isn’t just about content. It’s about making sure the content can even be seen.
The Turning Point
Once you clean up your technical SEO, things start to click.
- Pages get indexed faster
- Rankings stabilize
- Traffic stops fluctuating
- Your content finally performs the way it’s supposed to
I’ve seen this over and over — the second a site fixes its technical issues, it’s like flipping a switch.
Look, technical SEO isn’t sexy. It’s not flashy. You can’t tweet “I fixed my canonical tags” and go viral.
But it’s the difference between a site that ranks… and a site that doesn’t.
To recap:
- Make sure your site is crawlable and indexable
- Speed matters more than you think
- Mobile-first is not optional
- Schema helps search engines understand your content
- HTTPS is a trust signal
- Canonicals prevent confusion
- Site architecture keeps everything findable
- Core Web Vitals are your user experience scorecard
Fix these, and Google will actually start paying attention to your content.