What Is Technical SEO and Why Should You Care About It?

Most business owners think SEO is just writing blog posts and adding keywords. That is the visible tip of the iceberg. Underneath, there is a layer of plumbing called technical SEO. If this plumbing is broken, your beautifully written content might never be seen by a single customer. You do not need to know how to write code to understand this, but you do need to know what to look for and what to ask your developer. This guide breaks down the five critical technical components for a typical small business website in Calgary or anywhere else.

What Is an XML Sitemap and How Do I Know If I Have One?

Think of an XML sitemap as a map of your website that you hand to search engines. It is a simple list of every page you want Google to know about. Without it, Google has to crawl your site by following links from page to page, which can be slow and inefficient, especially if you have pages that are not linked well from your homepage.

Why It Matters

A sitemap does not guarantee rankings, but it helps Google discover your content faster. If you publish a new service page and it is not linked prominently from your main navigation, the sitemap tells Google, "Hey, look at this page." It is particularly useful for sites with many pages or isolated pages that are hard to find through internal linking alone.

How to Check If Yours Is Set Up Correctly

  • Check for the file: Go to your browser and type yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. If you see a list of URLs, you have one. If you see a 404 error, you do not.
  • Check for updates: Open the file and look at the <lastmod> date. It should be recent. If it is months old, your sitemap is not updating automatically when you publish new pages.
  • Check Search Console: Log into Google Search Console, go to the "Sitemaps" report, and see if your sitemap is submitted and if it says "Success" or if there are errors.

What to Tell Your Developer

Ask them: "Is our XML sitemap auto-updating? I want to ensure that every time I publish a new page or service, it is added to the sitemap within 24 hours without me having to do anything." If they use WordPress, this is often handled by plugins like Yoast or Rank Math, but you still need to verify it is working.

What Is Robots.txt and Should I Worry About It?

The robots.txt file is a text file that lives on your server. It tells search engine crawlers (bots) which parts of your website they are allowed to visit and which parts they should ignore. It is like a "Do Not Enter" sign for specific rooms in your house.

Why It Matters

For most small business sites, you want Google to see everything. The most common mistake is accidentally blocking your entire site. This happens when developers copy-paste a default robots.txt file that says Disallow: /, which means "do not crawl anything." If this is in place, your site will vanish from search results.

How to Check If Yours Is Set Up Correctly

  • Visit the file: Type yourdomain.com/robots.txt in your browser.
  • Look for blocks: If you see Disallow: / under the User-agent: * section, your entire site is blocked. This is a critical error.
  • Check for specific blocks: It is normal to block admin pages like /wp-admin/ or staging sites like /dev/ or /staging/. But your main content pages should never be blocked.

What to Tell Your Developer

Say: "Please verify that our robots.txt file is not accidentally blocking our main content pages. I want to ensure that only admin and staging areas are disallowed, and that the root directory is fully accessible to Google."

Why Is HTTPS So Important and How Do I Check It?

HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP. You know you have it when you see a padlock icon in your browser's address bar. This encrypts the data sent between your website and your visitors, protecting forms and personal information.

Why It Matters

Google has stated that HTTPS is a lightweight ranking signal. More importantly, Chrome and other browsers label non-HTTPS sites as "Not Secure," which scares away customers. If you are collecting email addresses or contact forms, HTTPS is non-negotiable for trust and compliance.

How to Check If Yours Is Set Up Correctly

  • Visual check: Load your homepage. Look for the padlock. Click it to see if the certificate is valid and not expired.
  • Check for mixed content: Sometimes a page is HTTPS, but it loads images or scripts from HTTP sources. This causes a warning. Right-click the page, select "View Page Info," and check the "Media" and "Security" tabs for any non-secure resources.
  • Test redirects: Type http://yourdomain.com in your browser. It should automatically redirect to https://yourdomain.com. If it stays on HTTP or gives an error, your redirect is broken.

What to Tell Your Developer

Ask: "Do we have a valid SSL certificate that auto-renews? Also, please confirm that all HTTP traffic automatically redirects to HTTPS and that we have no mixed content warnings on our key service pages."

What Are Redirects and Why Do They Matter?

A redirect is a way to send visitors (and search engines) from one URL to another. You need them when you change a page's name, delete a page, or move your site to a new domain. Without redirects, old links to your site will lead to "404 Not Found" errors.

Why It Matters

Broken links waste crawl budget (Google's time) and frustrate users. More importantly, if you had a page ranking well and you changed its URL without redirecting, you lose all that ranking authority. You start from scratch.

How to Check If Yours Is Set Up Correctly

  • Check for 404 errors: Use a tool like Screaming Frog or a free online broken link checker. Enter your URL and see if any pages return a 404 status code.
  • Test old URLs: If you recently changed a page name, type the old URL into your browser. It should take you to the new page, not an error page.
  • Check for redirect chains: If you type an old URL and it bounces through three or four pages before landing, that is a chain. It is slow and inefficient. You want a single hop.

What to Tell Your Developer

Say: "When we update page URLs, I need 301 permanent redirects implemented immediately. I also want to ensure there are no redirect chains and that all broken links are either fixed or redirected to the most relevant existing page."

What Are Crawl Errors and How Do I Fix Them?

Crawl errors occur when Google tries to access a page on your site but cannot. This could be because the page is missing (404), the server is timing out, or there is a permission issue. These errors are reported in Google Search Console.

Why It Matters

While Google is forgiving of occasional errors, too many can hurt your site's health. If Google cannot crawl a page, it cannot index it. If it cannot index it, it cannot rank it. For a small business, missing a key service page due to a crawl error is a direct loss of revenue.

How to Check If Yours Is Set Up Correctly

  • Use Google Search Console: Go to the "Pages" report (formerly Index Coverage). Look for pages with a status of "Not indexed" or "Excluded."
  • Look for patterns: If you see many 404 errors for URLs with strange parameters (like ?utm_source=...), you might have a tracking code issue. If you see 500 errors, your server is unstable.
  • Check server logs: If you have access, look at your server logs for frequent timeouts or permission denied errors.

What to Tell Your Developer

Ask: "Can you review our Google Search Console for crawl errors? I want to ensure that any 404 errors are either fixed or redirected, and that we are not blocking Google from crawling important pages due to server timeouts or permission issues."

Do I Need to Worry About Structured Data?

Structured data, or schema markup, is code you add to your site to help Google understand what your content is. For example, you can tell Google that a specific page is a "LocalBusiness" with an address, phone number, and opening hours.

Why It Matters

Structured data helps Google display rich results, such as star ratings, FAQs, or business hours directly in the search results. While it does not directly boost your ranking, it makes your listing more attractive, which can increase click-through rates. For local businesses, adding LocalBusiness schema helps Google verify your details.

How to Check If Yours Is Set Up Correctly

  • Use the Rich Results Test: Google offers a tool where you paste your URL. It will show you if your structured data is valid and if you are eligible for rich results.
  • Check for errors: Look for warnings about missing required fields. For example, if you have a LocalBusiness type, you must include the address, phone number, and opening hours.

What to Tell Your Developer

Say: "Please implement valid JSON-LD structured data for our LocalBusiness profile, including our address, phone number, and opening hours. Ensure it passes Google's Rich Results Test without errors. Note that for FAQ pages, schema is less likely to show rich results for most sites now, but it still helps with understanding."

What Should I Do Next?

Technical SEO is not a one-time task. It requires monitoring. As you add new pages, update services, or change your site design, technical issues can creep in. Regular audits are essential to catch these issues before they impact your traffic.

If you are unsure about any of these checks or need help implementing fixes, working with a specialist can save you time and prevent costly mistakes. At Eikeland SEO, we handle these technical foundations so you can focus on running your business. You can contact us to discuss how we can help secure your site's technical health.