The Importance of Regular Technical SEO Maintenance

The Importance of Regular Technical SEO Maintenance

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not a one-and-done task. To maintain strong rankings in search results, websites need ongoing technical SEO maintenance. This involves regularly monitoring and improving a site's technical SEO foundations.

Conduct Regular Site Crawls

The first step in technical SEO maintenance is to check that search engines can properly crawl and index your site. Site crawls reveal any crawling errors or issues that may be blocking pages from being indexed. Crawls should be performed regularly, such as monthly or quarterly. Use tools like Screaming Frog, DeepCrawl, or SiteBulb to crawl a site. Review any crawling errors or restrictions and address any problems.

Check Indexation Status

It's not enough for pages to be crawlable, they need to actually get indexed by search engines. Checking a site's indexation status reveals any pages that may have fallen out of the index, or new pages that are not yet indexed. Use Google Search Console to monitor indexation stats. Compare the number of indexed pages to an internal site audit to catch any pages missing from the index. Submit new URLs for indexing if needed.

Monitor Site Speed

Site speed is a ranking factor. Check page speed metrics regularly using PageSpeed Insights or WebPagetest. Optimizing page speed involves techniques like enabling compression, caching, using a CDN, lazy loading images, and removing render-blocking JavaScript. Measure speed over time to ensure optimizations are improving performance. Aim for a page load time of under 3 seconds.

Update Site Architecture

As a site grows, its information architecture may need revising. Review site structure and internal linking to ensure a logical flow that makes sense to users and search engines. Add breadcrumb navigation, improve internal link anchor text, and consolidate redundant pages. Break up large pages into multiple related pages. Create XML sitemaps and submit them in the Search Console.

Fix Technical Issues

Technical problems like broken links, missing page redirects, duplicated content, and metadata errors can negatively impact SEO. Audit sites for technical SEO best practices. Redirect broken links to working pages. Use 301 redirects for moved pages. Address duplicate content problems. Update page titles and meta descriptions. Fix structured data errors. Stay on top of fixes.

Monitor Analytics

Use web analytics to spot drops in organic traffic or landing pages that aren't performing well. Compare search traffic and rankings across keywords month-over-month. Address any pages that are losing positions or search traffic. Staying on top of changes can prevent more significant declines in the future.

With regular seo technical maintenance, sites can maintain strong organic search visibility over the long term. Setting reminders to regularly check crawling, indexation, speed, architecture, technical issues, and analytics allows technical problems to be fixed before they significantly impact SEO and traffic.