Ask a group of website owners what “SEO” means, and most will talk about keywords, catchy headlines, and backlinks. But there’s another side to search engine optimization that doesn’t get as much attention: technical SEO. And you don’t have to be a developer to get the basics right.
Technical SEO is about making your website easy for search engines to discover, understand, and show to people. It’s like maintaining the backstage of a theater—most visitors never see it, but if it’s a mess, the whole show can fall apart. If you run a business, blog, or personal site, the technical stuff might sound intimidating. But understanding the essentials isn’t as complicated as you think.
The Basics: What Technical SEO Actually Is
Technical SEO is any behind-the-scenes work that helps your site “talk” to Google. It’s not about what words you use, but how the website is built and organized. Its main goal is to help search engines crawl (read) and index (store) your website’s pages with no problems.
There are several reasons this matters. Technical SEO makes your site easier to use, faster, and more trustworthy—for both people and search engines. In short, it helps your site show up in search results and gives people a better experience.
The Key Parts of Technical SEO (And What They Actually Mean)
Let’s break down the core pieces one by one.
1. Website Structure: Setting Up an Easy Map
Google and other search engines use bots to crawl websites. They start at your homepage and follow every link, like a robot explorer. If your site is organized in a simple, logical way, these bots can find and understand all your pages.
Think of your website as a tree with branches. Your main sections (like “About,” “Services,” “Blog”) should be easy to spot in your menu. Pages deeper in the site—like a blog post or product page—should connect back with clear navigation and links.
Even small things help. For example, short, descriptive URLs (like /shoes/women/sneakers instead of /category?id=17) are easier for users and bots to read.
2. Page Speed: No One Likes to Wait
You’ve probably clicked away from a slow website. Search engines notice this, too.
A slow page is one of the biggest dealbreakers for people online. It also hurts your rankings in search results. Speed can be affected by image sizes, messy code, too many plug-ins, or a sluggish hosting provider.
If you want to check your site’s speed, tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix are easy to use. They’ll show you where things slow down, and offer specific tips, like compressing images or removing extra code.
3. Mobile-Friendliness: Your Site Needs to Work on Phones
Most searches happen on mobile devices now. If your website only looks good on desktops, you’re missing out on lots of traffic.
Search engines reward mobile-friendly sites with higher rankings. A mobile-friendly site resizes itself for small screens, keeps text readable, and makes buttons easy to tap.
You can check how your site looks on phones and tablets using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Try visiting your site on different devices to see what regular visitors experience.
4. Indexing and Crawling: Getting Your Pages Found
If Google can’t find your pages, they won’t show up in search results. Indexing is just Google’s way of storing pages in its giant database.
You have some control over what Google sees. Two common tools are the robots.txt file and an XML sitemap. Robots.txt is like a “keep out” sign for bots, telling them which folders or pages to skip. A sitemap is the opposite—it’s a list of important pages you definitely want bots to see.
Most site builders and WordPress plugins can generate an XML sitemap for you with a few clicks.
5. HTTPS and Security: Making Sure People Feel Safe
Security has a direct impact on SEO. Websites using HTTPS (the secure version of HTTP) get a small rankings boost and are trusted more by visitors.
How do you get HTTPS? You need an SSL certificate, which encrypts data between your site and users. Most web hosts sell these, but some offer them for free with your hosting plan.
If you see a padlock symbol next to your website address in your browser, you’re using HTTPS. If not, people may see a “Not Secure” warning, which can scare them away.
6. Structured Data: Telling Google Exactly What’s on Your Page
Structured data means adding extra information to your pages in a way search engines can read. It helps Google understand the details, like whether a page is a recipe, a product, an event, or a review.
This is usually added using something called schema markup. For you, the upside is those “rich results” you see in Google—a recipe card, star ratings, or event details.
There are online tools and WordPress plugins to help add basic schema. You don’t have to write code, but knowing the benefit is helpful: you might show up higher in search, and your listing could stand out more to users.
7. Canonical Tags: Dealing With Duplicate Pages
Sometimes, your website has two pages with similar content, even if it wasn’t on purpose. This can confuse search engines and hurt your rankings.
A canonical tag is a simple line of code you add to one of the pages, telling Google “This is the main version.” WordPress SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math can help you set canonical tags without touching code.
Cleaning up duplicates keeps things clear for both users and search engines.
Technical SEO Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming
If this list feels like a lot, you’re not alone. The good news is that there are tools built with non-developers in mind. You don’t need to memorize every part—knowing the basics gets you most of the way there.
Helpful Tools for Anyone (No Coding Needed)
You might wonder, “Do I need to learn HTML?” The answer is no. Some of the most popular technical SEO tools are made for regular people, not developers.
For example, Google Search Console is free, easy to set up, and lets you see how Google views your site. Screaming Frog has a free basic version that crawls your site like a search engine bot and points out problems, but it does use a lot of technical words.
WordPress users often use SEO plugins like Yoast, Rank Math, or All in One SEO. They include built-in checks for sitemaps, canonical tags, robots.txt, and more—so you click a button instead of changing code.
If you work with someone else on your website, free tools like Ahrefs Webmaster Tools or SEMrush Site Audit can flag issues with speed, mobile-friendliness, and security.
How Non-Developers Can Keep Sites in Shape
You don’t need to tinker under the hood every day, but a routine check every few months goes a long way. Run a simple audit using one of the free tools above. Fix what you can—like updating plugins, changing a too-long URL, or compressing big photos.
Technical SEO changes over time, but most big issues (like mobile-friendliness and site speed) don’t change overnight. Reading blogs or guides, like those at jjajayo.com, helps keep you up to date without being overwhelming.
If you run into something tricky, a quick Google search or reaching out to support on your website platform usually does the trick.
Takeaways: Technical SEO Made Simple
Technical SEO isn’t just for the people writing code. It’s a set of habits that help your site stay healthy, visible, and safe for everyone who lands on it.
You don’t have to tackle every item right away. Just make sure your basics—site structure, speed, mobile layout, and security—are in order. The rest can come as you learn more or run into issues.
Most non-developers find that, with the right tools and a little curiosity, technical SEO isn’t as scary as it seems. It can just be part of good site care, much like updating content or sharing your links on social media.
Checking up on this once in a while saves a lot of stress later on. If you’re curious, there’s always something new to try—but you don’t have to fix what’s not broken.
For most people, knowing enough to spot a problem and knowing where to find a solution will cover nearly every technical SEO issue you’ll face. That’s usually all you need to keep your site happy in the long run.