SEO · Technical SEO
Technical
SEO(07)The foundation every ranking sits on.
Before content or links can do anything, Google has to find, read and trust your site. I make sure nothing on it is broken, buried or blocked.
Illustrative audit. Pages and numbers are examples.
What is technical SEO?
Technical SEO is everything under the hood that decides whether Google can find, read and trust your site: how pages get crawled, which ones get indexed, where old links lead and how duplicate pages are handled. Visitors never see it, but it sets the ceiling for everything else.
Why it matters
Great content can’t rank on a site Google can’t read. One stray noindex tag, a broken redirect or a bloated sitemap can quietly keep your best pages out of search. Fixing the foundation first means every page you publish afterward gets a fair shot, in Google and in the AI tools that read the web.
How I do it
- Chapter 01 · 01–02Crawl and indexMap every page the way Google does, and make sure the right ones make it into the index.
- Chapter 02 · 03–05Guide the crawlersClean redirects, a sitemap worth reading and robots rules that point crawlers at what matters.
- Chapter 03 · 06–07Clean up and monitorConsolidate duplicate URLs, fix errors at the source and keep watching so they stay fixed.
01 · Crawl and index
Site crawl
See your site the way Google does.
I crawl your whole site with the same kind of tools search engines use, following every link to every page. It shows how your site is really put together: what’s reachable, what’s buried, what’s broken and where Google is wasting its time.
Illustrative crawl. Pages and numbers are examples.
02 · Crawl and index
Indexing
If it isn’t indexed, it can’t rank.
Google doesn’t keep every page it finds. I check which of your pages made it into the index, work out why the rest didn’t and fix the cause, whether that’s a stray noindex tag, a thin page or one Google thinks is a duplicate.
Illustrative report. Numbers are examples.
03 · Guide the crawlers
Redirects
Every old link should land somewhere useful.
When pages move, links break and redirect chains pile up, slowing your site and leaking the credit old links earned. I map every old URL to its best new home, cut chains down to a single hop and fix the links that point at dead ends.
Illustrative redirect map. URLs and numbers are examples.
04 · Guide the crawlers
XML sitemaps
A clean list of the pages that matter.
Your sitemap tells Google which pages you want found. Most are cluttered with redirects, dead pages and things that shouldn’t be indexed. I cut yours down to the pages worth ranking, keep it updating on its own and submit it in Search Console.
Illustrative sitemap. URLs and numbers are examples.
05 · Guide the crawlers
Robots.txt
Point crawlers at what matters, and away from what doesn’t.
One wrong line in robots.txt can hide a whole site from Google. I check yours for mistakes, keep crawlers out of the filter and search pages that waste their time, and help you decide which AI crawlers should be allowed to read your content.
Illustrative file. Numbers are examples.
06 · Clean up and monitor
Canonical tags
One page, one address.
The same page often lives at several URLs: sorting filters, tracking codes, http and https, even a stray capital letter. Google splits your ranking power across all of them. Canonical tags tell Google which version is the real one, so the credit goes to a single page.
Illustrative URLs. Numbers are examples.
07 · Clean up and monitor
Crawl errors
Fix the dead ends before visitors find them.
Pages that return errors, time out or load empty frustrate visitors and make Google trust your site less. I track crawl errors in Search Console, fix each one at the source and validate the fix so Google knows it’s done, then keep watching every week.
Illustrative report. Numbers are examples.
Recognized · B2B SEO
Best B2B SEO Agencies
Named one of the 20 best B2B SEO agencies for 2026.
SEOS.co reviews and ranks SEO agencies by specialty. Ritner Digital made its 2026 list of the best B2B SEO agencies, recognized for B2B SEO, digital strategy and content marketing for B2B companies that want a focused partner.
SEOS.co20 Best B2B SEO Agencies for 2026
From the blog
More on technical SEO
- Website auditThe Indianapolis Website Audit: 20 SEO Problems That Cost Local Businesses LeadsThe problems a technical audit turns up, from pages Google never indexed to redirects that lead nowhere.Read the post →
- IndexingRitner Digital: April 2026 SEO Client Benchmark ReportReal Search Console data, including what the first days of indexing look like on a newer site.Read the post →
- CrawlingYou Started Publishing SEO Content and Your Leads Dipped. Here’s Why That’s Normal — and When It Recovers.What happens while Google re-reads your whole site after new pages go up, and when it settles.Read the post →
- Thin pagesStop Building Doorway Pages: Why Thin Location Pages Are Killing Your Local SEOWhy near-identical pages hurt more than they help, and what to build instead.Read the post →
- Internal linksThe Invisible Salesperson: How Internal Links Guide Website Visitors Toward Becoming CustomersHow the links between your pages guide visitors, and give crawlers a path to every page.Read the post →
- Search ConsoleWhat Is a Content Sprint in SEO, and Why Do Impressions and Clicks Usually Go Up?Why a burst of new pages lifts impressions, and how indexing and internal links play into it.Read the post →
Featured Client
True BlueAutos
A commercial truck dealership in Greensburg, Indiana. We built an SEO content strategy around the questions real truck buyers ask, and in about three months their Google visibility grew fast.
- +48%Google clicks
- +93%Search impressions
First vs. last 30 days, July–October 2026, Google Search Console. Search growth, not verified sales.
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If you’re into SEO advice that doesn’t put you to sleep, AI search news in plain English, and the occasional plate of pasta, you’ve come to the right place.
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