Technical SEO and User Experience Basics

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to:

1. Understand how technical SEO and user experience affect your website's search rankings
2. Improve your site's loading speed, mobile performance, and security
3. Use Core Web Vitals to monitor and enhance site performance
4. Create clear site architecture that works for users and search engines
5. Keep your site crawlable and track user engagement effectively

Introduction

Search engines have become increasingly sophisticated, and they now prioritise websites that offer excellent technical performance alongside great user experiences. This chapter covers the technical SEO and UX fundamentals you need to know in 2025.

We'll focus on the essentials: site speed, mobile compatibility, security, and site structure. These aren't just technical boxes to tick – they directly impact how users interact with your site and how search engines rank it.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Optimising Site Speed and Mobile Performance

Site speed remains one of the most important ranking factors. Google's Core Web Vitals measure how fast and stable your site feels to users.

Step 1: Test your current speed using Google PageSpeed Insights. Enter your URL and check both mobile and desktop scores.

Step 2: Focus on these key improvements:

• Compress images before uploading them
• Enable browser caching through your hosting provider
• Remove unnecessary plugins that slow your site down
• Aim for loading times under 2.5 seconds on mobile

Step 3: For WordPress sites, install a caching plugin like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache to handle technical optimisations automatically.

Step 4: Test your mobile performance using Google's Mobile-Friendly Test. Fix any issues it identifies, particularly around text size and button spacing.

Lesson 2: Securing Your Website

Security affects both user trust and search rankings. Google actively penalises insecure websites.

Step 1: Get an SSL certificate from your hosting provider. This enables HTTPS (the padlock icon in browsers).

Step 2: If you're using WordPress, install the Really Simple SSL plugin to handle the technical setup automatically.

Step 3: Keep your CMS and plugins updated. Set up automatic updates where possible to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Step 4: Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication for your admin accounts.

Lesson 3: Creating Clear Site Architecture

Good site structure helps both users and search engines understand your content.

Step 1: Organise your content into logical categories. Create a simple menu structure that doesn't go more than three levels deep.

Step 2: Use descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords. For example: /seo-basics/technical-seo rather than /page123.

Step 3: Structure your content with clear headings (H1, H2, H3) that follow a logical hierarchy.

Step 4: Add internal links between related pages to help users navigate and show search engines how your content connects.

Lesson 4: Maintaining a Crawlable Site

Search engines need to crawl your site to index it properly. Make this process as smooth as possible.

Step 1: Create an XML sitemap. WordPress users can generate one automatically using plugins like Yoast SEO or RankMath.

Step 2: Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and monitor for crawling errors.

Step 3: Fix broken links regularly. Use tools like Broken Link Checker (WordPress plugin) or Screaming Frog for larger sites.

Step 4: Avoid duplicate content by using canonical tags and ensuring each page has unique, valuable content.

Practice

Complete this practical exercise to apply what you've learned:

1. Test your website's speed using Google PageSpeed Insights
2. Check your mobile performance with Google's Mobile-Friendly Test
3. Verify your site has HTTPS enabled
4. Review your main navigation – can users find what they need within three clicks?
5. Identify three specific improvements you could make based on your test results

Write down your findings and prioritise which improvements to tackle first.

FAQs

What's the most important technical SEO factor to focus on first?
Site speed and mobile performance. These directly affect user experience and are significant ranking factors.

How often should I check my site's technical performance?
Run speed tests monthly and check Google Search Console weekly for any crawling issues or security problems.

Do I need technical skills to improve my site's SEO?
Basic improvements like installing plugins and optimising images require minimal technical knowledge. For more complex issues, consider hiring a developer.

How long does it take to see results from technical SEO improvements?
Speed improvements show immediate benefits for users. Search ranking improvements typically take 2-4 weeks to become noticeable.

What's the difference between desktop and mobile Core Web Vitals?
Google prioritises mobile performance since most users browse on mobile devices. Focus on mobile scores first if you need to prioritise.

Jargon Buster

XML Sitemap: A file that lists all the important pages on your website, helping search engines crawl and index them efficiently.

Core Web Vitals: Google's specific metrics for measuring user experience, including loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

SSL Certificate: A security protocol that encrypts data between your website and users' browsers, enabling HTTPS.

Canonical Tag: HTML code that tells search engines which version of a page is the main one when similar content exists on multiple URLs.

Crawling: The process search engines use to discover and scan web pages before adding them to their index.

Wrap-up

Technical SEO and user experience work together to create websites that both users and search engines love. Focus on the fundamentals: fast loading times, mobile optimisation, security, and clear site structure.

These improvements aren't one-time tasks. Regular monitoring and maintenance keep your site performing well as technology and user expectations evolve. Start with speed and mobile performance, then work through security and site structure improvements systematically.

Ready to take your SEO knowledge further? The next chapter covers advanced keyword research techniques to complement your technical improvements.

Join Pixelhaze Academy to access more comprehensive SEO training and get hands-on support with your website optimisation.