If you have ever received a project to develop a website with SEO requirements, you definitely know how a familiar process can turn into chaos – changes in meta tags and structure, as well as additional optimization of loading speed and redirects, can stretch your work for weeks. The earlier you learn to interact with SEO, the easier it will be not only to launch websites visible to search engines but also to explain to the client that the lion’s share of such edits should be laid out at the design stage.
Below we will explain what technical website optimization is in simple terms and will also tell you how to find a common language with an SEO specialist.
What is Technical SEO
Technical SEO or technical website optimization is a way to make the website friendly not only for people but also for search engine bots. For a search engine, it is important:
That pages are accessible and indexable;
That the website loads quickly;
That the website structure is clear and logical;
That the code does not interfere with search bots recognizing the content placed on a specific page.
All this falls within the area of responsibility of technical SEO, which means – the developer themselves. Because no even the “dirtiest” SEO technique will help if the website itself loads in more than three seconds, and menu elements do not help users navigate due to broken links or 301/302 redirects.
Main Technical SEO Tasks Through the Eyes of a Developer
Here is a checklist on technical SEO that may be handed over to you:
Improving indexation: for a page to appear in search, it must be allowed to be crawled by Google robots, which means you need to correctly set up robots.txt and remove noindex/403/500 headers;
Ensuring a logical website structure: you need to create a logical URL hierarchy with nested pages, as well as optimize navigation and breadcrumbs;
Increasing loading speed: achieved through lazy-load, reducing the size of CSS and JS code, as well as optimizing LCP and CLS metric values;
Working on HTML markup: you will need to adjust headings, as well as add semantic HTML and microdata;
Optimizing JavaScript and CSS: you will need to determine whether JS rendering worsens page indexation and also check the impact of CSS on the website’s responsiveness and accessibility.
Overall, this is not a complete list of technical SEO optimization techniques, and here you can include everything that directly concerns working with the website.
Common Tasks from an SEO Specialist – And Why They Are Needed
When an SEO specialist asks you for something, it does not mean that they want to ruin your day. It is needed to fix technical holes before the new website or its next version is launched. Here are typical technical website optimization tasks that come from SEO specialists:
Redesign the <meta title> and <h1 heading>. These headings are critically important for search results, so they must be unique and informative;
Determine canonical URLs. They help fight duplicate pages, which is important for online stores with filters and tools for sorting product positions;
Optimize redirects. Correct 301/302 redirects allow you to maintain the website’s positions after migrating to a new engine;
Change the contents of Sitemap.xml and robots.txt. Sitemap.xml contains a list of all important pages that should be visible to the search engine, and the robots.txt file closes unimportant ones (for example, technical sections) from indexing;
Work on Core Web Vitals metric values. They determine page loading speed as well as a number of UX indicators that directly affect the website’s ranking in search results;
Improve website accessibility. This implies the presence of text alternatives (image alt attributes), aria-labels, focus states, and everything else that makes the website inclusive and easy to perceive not only for ordinary users but also for people with visual, motor, and cognitive impairments.
SEO for Developers or How to Work with an SEO Specialist and Not Go Crazy
Before we move on to recommendations on technical optimization, you need to come to the realization that you and the SEO specialist have different metrics for the effectiveness of your work. Therefore, define the rules of interaction from the very beginning so that the technical promotion of the website is as productive as possible.
Indicate the time costs even for seemingly the simplest tasks. You, as a technical specialist, understand that a request like: “We need to add tags” sometimes turns into a total change of template architecture, which often does not assume these fields at all. Therefore, it is better to immediately ask the SEO for a checklist of tasks with descriptions and final goals so that you can timely ask clarifying questions and estimate the labor costs.
Ensure transparency of communication – otherwise, you will have to do the same work twice. A technical request from an SEO specialist: “We need canonical on all pages due to duplication” can be perceived incorrectly – you might add one rel=canonical (for example, to a URL without parameters). However, this will not solve the problem since the SEO did not explain which duplicates are appearing, and you just added the canonical incorrectly. To avoid this, request examples of duplicate URLs and clarify which URLs should be considered the main ones, because in addition to the rules of their formation, it will be necessary to adjust the routing/logic of the CMS.
Explain that working on speeding up the website can be a long process. Technical tasks from the SEO expert in the format: “We need to speed up the website” require developers to radically redo everything possible, from fonts and server logic to images and APIs. In this regard, it is necessary to analyze the Lighthouse report (or, for example, PageSpeed) together and correctly prioritize tasks.
Clarify unclear wording. Technical edits from the SEO in the style of: “We need 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones” can be confusing since developers often just receive a huge list of URLs in Excel without any explanation. Therefore, clarify with the SEO specialist the structure of the source/target addresses, the priority/patterns of the redirects, as well as the cause-and-effect relationships between “from where” and “to where.” After that, check a test set of URLs together with the SEO (for example, using Screaming Frog or the Redirect Path plugin) and only then proceed to mass implementation.
Make sure the SEO has made correct conclusions so that you do not have to perform useless work. Let’s imagine that the SEO specialist claims: “robots.txt blocks indexing.” It turns out that they checked the dev server, where indexing, in fact, should be blocked. To avoid this, try to initially use separate robots.txt files, indicating for which environment each of them is intended. Also, provide your SEO colleague with technical documentation defining which domains/environments are involved in indexing. Restrict access to staging sites by IP/password so that they do not appear in search.
There can be a whole ocean of such situations related to technical SEO, so to prevent them, from the very beginning of your interaction, create a separate file in Notion/Google Docs, where you will have:
A list of SEO tasks and status;
The structure of the website/templates;
A list of indexing points;
Rules for canonical, robots.txt, sitemap.xml, etc.
Guide for Working with SEO and Development on Different Websites
Technical optimization has its specifics determined by the website’s content management system. Let’s look at the most popular engines below.
WordPress
WordPress has been considered one of the most popular CMS in the world for many years (including among SEO specialists). If the website you are working on is based on it, you definitely need to familiarize yourself with how Yoast SEO, RankMath, or All in One SEO plugins work.
As for technical optimization of loading speed, here W3 Total Cache and WP Rocket (for caching) and minimizing external scripts will help. Also, make sure that the selected theme supports correct headings, does not insert duplicates, and allows you to edit metadata.
Webflow & Tilda
Webflow (Western variant) and Tilda (CIS variant) are favorite builders of marketers, which have some limitations from the SEO perspective. In particular, editing robots.txt and sitemap here is available only in the paid version, and canonical and meta tags must be added manually. In addition, redirects in them are configured only in the personal account, and clean HTML/CSS (which is sometimes so necessary for technical speed optimization) is completely absent. Therefore, complex SEO scenarios for these CMS are unavailable.
Custom CMS and Frameworks Based on React, Vue, Laravel, and Django
Here you can “spread your wings” in terms of technical setup – it is important to establish full contact with the SEO specialist from the very beginning.
You will have to work on implementing SSR and prerendering (this is especially relevant for SPA based on React/Vue), as well as on the URL structure. No less important will be the technical optimization of the contents of sitemap, robots.txt, and meta tags. Finally, you should not neglect Core Web Vitals (namely, CLS, LCP, and FID metrics). Implementing lazy load, asynchronous scripts, and image optimization solutions will help you improve them.
Tools Developers Should Know
Here is a list of tools you should at least be superficially familiar with, even if you do not plan to closely tie yourself to technical website promotion in the future.
Lighthouse. Being part of Chrome DevTools, this tool independently analyzes web pages for performance, SEO, and accessibility, allowing you to identify speed issues and get detailed recommendations for fixing technical problems.
PageSpeed Insights. This solution does roughly the same as Lighthouse but shows metrics in real time.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider. This is a desktop crawler that scans the website just like a search bot would. With its help, you can identify tag errors, understand how the search engine sees the website structure, and also find broken links, redirects, and duplicates.
Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Serpstat. All these tools perform end-to-end analysis of the website’s visibility, external links, keywords, and content. Using them, you can understand which pages are underperforming in traffic and have poor structure.
Google Search Console. This is an official tool from Google for tracking indexing and errors on the website. It explains the reasons for the lack of indexing, categorizing them (mobile usability, Core Web Vitals, sitemap, robots.), and displays the queries for which the website is already visible in search.
Prerender.io and Rendertron. These tools provide content rendering for bots, which can be useful for SPA (in particular, if you do not yet have SSR set up but need content to be accessible to search engines).
ngrok and localtunnel. These solutions allow you to demonstrate a local website to the SEO specialist or client before its full deployment. In general, this is an excellent choice for collaborative work, especially when validation of SEO suitability on a real prototype is required.
The Benefit of SEO + Development Synergy
The more productive your interaction with the SEO specialist is, the more chances there are that everyone will win. In the end, your work on technical SEO optimization will be appreciated by the client, as you will launch a website that will immediately rank well on Google and bring in organic traffic.
FAQ: How to Understand What the SEO Specialist Wants from You
What happens if you ignore technical SEO?
If you overlook technical SEO, the website may fail to get indexed due to its slow performance and other critical factors for search bots. As a result, no matter how much you work on content and link building, the website will not appear in search.
Why do SEO specialists require clean code and JS minimization?
Clean and understandable code without excessive JS helps bots crawl the page faster and correctly identify its structure. Too heavy scripts can slow down the loading process and hinder indexing, especially on mobile devices.
How often should a technical audit of the website be conducted?
On average, once every 3 months, but for large websites, the frequency should be higher.
What is more important – loading speed or responsiveness?
These metrics are part of Core Web Vitals, and they are equally important since Google focuses on the overall “impression” of the user experience.
Is it possible to improve website SEO without involving a developer?
Yes, technical website promotion can, in some cases, be performed independently – for example, if your website is based on a CMS that has the appropriate plugins. At the same time, in-depth technical SEO optimization of the website (template, code, server-side rendering edits) almost always requires developer expertise.
What are some quick solutions for a developer in technical SEO?
There are three universal technical SEO optimization techniques for a website that will help you quickly improve its performance: working on redirects (301 instead of JS transitions), removing duplicate pages, and setting up lazy load for images.
Is it necessary to consider SEO when developing SPA or PWA?
Yes, since such websites often use client-side rendering, which complicates indexing. To make the website content accessible for bots to crawl, you need to implement SSR/prerendering and carefully plan the routing.
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