Technical SEO Basics: Speed, Indexing & Core Web Vitals
Technical SEO explained simply: crawling, indexing, Search Console, site speed, Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS, sitemaps and structured data.
By Mir Ullash2 min readSEO
Great content can’t rank if Google can’t find it, read it or load it quickly. Technical SEO makes sure your website is crawlable, indexable, fast and secure. You don’t need to be a developer to understand the basics — and fixing them often unlocks quick ranking gains.
Crawling and indexing: can Google find your pages?
Google discovers pages by following links and reading your XML sitemap, then decides whether to add them to its index. Set up Google Search Console, submit your sitemap and check the Pages report regularly for errors such as “Crawled – currently not indexed” or “Blocked by robots.txt”.
- Keep an up-to-date XML sitemap and reference it in robots.txt.
- Make sure important pages aren’t blocked by robots.txt or a noindex tag.
- Use canonical tags to tell Google the preferred version of duplicate pages.
- Fix broken links and redirect deleted pages with 301 redirects.
Site speed and Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are Google’s measurements of real-user experience: LCP (how fast the main content loads), INP (how quickly the page responds to taps and clicks) and CLS (how much the layout jumps around). Check them in PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console.
- Compress and resize images; serve modern formats like WebP.
- Load the main hero image first and lazy-load images further down.
- Reduce heavy plugins, scripts and third-party widgets.
- Use good hosting, caching and a CDN.
- Give images and embeds fixed dimensions to prevent layout shift.
Mobile-friendliness and HTTPS
Google indexes the mobile version of your site first, so every page must be fully usable on a phone — readable text, tappable buttons and no sideways scrolling. Your site must also use HTTPS; browsers warn visitors away from insecure pages.
Structured data and site architecture
Structured data (schema markup) helps Google understand your content and can unlock rich results like FAQs, reviews and breadcrumbs. Pair it with a clear site structure: important pages should be reachable within a few clicks from the homepage, with logical internal links between related pages — see the on-page SEO checklist for linking tips.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if my page is indexed by Google?
+
Use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. It shows whether the page is indexed and, if not, why — and lets you request indexing after fixing issues.
Do Core Web Vitals affect rankings?
+
They are part of Google’s page experience signals. They rarely outrank great content on their own, but between similar pages, a faster and smoother page has an advantage — and converts better.
