In today’s digital arena, great content is not enough; your website’s infrastructure must be just as powerful. Technical SEO is the engine room of online visibility, ensuring your site is crawlable, fast, and well-structured.

For Drupal sites, there's a unique solution:

DrupalFit—a purpose-built SEO audit tool tailored for the Drupal ecosystem. Let’s explore the core categories of technical SEO, use cases, and how DrupalFit helps identify and solve problems fast.

Technical SEO: What It Is and Its Significance

When people think of SEO, strategies like keyword research, crafting meta descriptions, and building backlinks typically come to mind. These front-end tactics are essential for improving your website’s visibility in organic search results. However, they only address part of the picture.

On the backend, Technical SEO plays a crucial role. It focuses on the foundational elements that support your organic growth, such as site structure, mobile optimization, and page speed. While these aspects may not seem as exciting, they are essential to ensure your content performs effectively in search engines.

The first step to enhancing your technical SEO is conducting a site audit to understand your website's current health. This audit reveals areas like crawl errors, indexability issues, and slow loading speeds that may be holding your site back. Based on the findings, you can develop a strategy to improve problem areas.

Technical SEO is especially important because if your site has major technical flaws—such as being non-indexable—no amount of keyword targeting or backlink building will matter. That’s why in a comprehensive SEO campaign, a technical SEO audit is often the first and most detailed step.

It also serves as a foundation for other SEO teams. For example, the on-page SEO team relies on the audit to identify missing elements like meta descriptions, H1 tags, or thin content. Only after these issues are addressed can they move forward with keyword-driven content strategies.

Similarly, off-page SEO efforts like competitor link audits are usually held off until the technical groundwork is in place.

In essence, technical SEO is the backbone of your entire SEO strategy. Without it, your site might never reach its full potential in search rankings, regardless of the quality of your front-end SEO efforts.

Once technical SEO is overlooked, your website may face a series of hidden but impactful issues, such as

Technical SEO: Crawlability & Indexation

Crawlability is the core of your technical SEO plan. Search bots crawl your pages to collect information about your site. If these bots are blocked from crawling, they cannot index or rank your pages. The first step in implementing technical SEO is to ensure that all your important pages are accessible and easy to navigate.

When search bots crawl your website, they start to index pages according to their subject and how relevant they are to that subject. After indexing, your page can appear in the SERPs. Here are some factors that can assist in getting your pages indexed.

Below, we will discuss some items to include in your checklist and some website elements to review to ensure your pages are ready for crawling.

Fix 404s and Broken Links

• Use the Redirect module to create 301 redirects from broken URLs to relevant pages.
• Scan regularly using DrupalFit.
• Implement automatic path aliasing via Pathauto to reduce manual URL changes.

Configure robots.txt

• Block irrelevant admin paths (/admin/, /user/) and allow content paths.
• Review to ensure you're not accidentally blocking search-critical assets.
• Add sitemap URL at the bottom: Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Ensure sitemap.xml Exists and Is Up to Date

• Use Simple XML Sitemap module for automatic sitemap generation.
• Include key content types and exclude utility/admin pages.
• Submit to search engines for better indexation.

Use Canonical Tags

• Configure Metatag module to include automatic canonical URLs.
• Avoid duplicate content via taxonomy listings or paginated pages.
• Ensure only one preferred URL version exists per page.

Avoid "noindex" on High-Value Content

• Audit all Metatag settings to ensure no unintended noindex tags.
• Restrict internal/testing pages with permissions, not noindex.
• Use DrupalFit to crawl and flag all noindex-tagged pages.

Technical SEO: Site Architecture & Internal Linking

Your website consists of several pages. These pages need to be organized in a way that allows search engines to find and access them easily. This is where your site structure, also known as your website’s information architecture, plays a role.

Just like a building relies on architectural design, your site architecture determines how you arrange the pages on your site.

Related pages are clustered together; for instance, your blog homepage connects to individual blog posts, which in turn link to their respective author pages. This setup aids search bots in grasping the connections between your pages.

Your site architecture should influence, and be influenced by, the significance of individual pages. The nearer Page A is to your homepage, the more links it receives, and the greater the link equity those pages possess, the more value search engines will assign to Page A.

For instance, a link from your homepage to Page A carries more weight than a link from a blog post. The greater the number of links pointing to Page A, the more "important" it seems to search engines.

In theory, a site architecture might resemble this, where the About, Product, News, etc., pages are placed at the top of the importance hierarchy.

Ensure that the most crucial pages for your business are positioned at the top of the hierarchy with the highest number of relevant internal links.

To achieve an effective and SEO-friendly site structure, consider the following best practices:

Minimize Link Depth

• Ensure important pages are reachable within 3 clicks from the homepage.
• Improve main navigation menus and sidebar links.
• Create hub pages that consolidate links to deeper content.

Fix Orphaned Pages

• Use Views to generate lists of content and place them in footers or sidebars.
• Review content not linked from anywhere — DrupalFit can identify these.
• Create internal "Related Articles" or "More Like This" sections.

Use Descriptive, Consistent Anchor Text

• Replace generic "click here" links with descriptive keyword-rich text.
• Standardize link language across the site for similar topics.
• Keep the anchor text relevant to the target page's topic.

Technical SEO: Structured Data & Schema

Structured data, known as schema markup, is a type of code that aids Google in comprehending a page's content more effectively.

By incorporating the appropriate structured data, your pages have the potential to earn rich snippets. Rich snippets improve search results by adding more information below the title and description.

To properly implement and benefit from structured data, follow these best practices:

Validate Schema.org Formats (JSON-LD)

• Use the Schema.org Metatag module or JSON-LD via custom templates.
• Prefer JSON-LD over Microdata for easier implementation.
• Validate structured data for correctness and compatibility.

Mark Up Key Content Types

• Add schema for Articles, Products, FAQs, and Events.
• Use Views or templates to insert schema on listing pages.
• Avoid marking up non-visible or misleading content.

Technical SEO: HTTPS & Security

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is the secure form of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It safeguards important user data such as passwords and credit card information from theft. Since 2014, it has also been a factor in search rankings.  

To see if your site is using HTTPS, you can simply run an audit on DrupalFit. Once the audit is complete, you’ll be able to identify key technical issues that need your attention. It helps you prioritize what to fix first for the biggest SEO impact.

Below, we’ve listed some common technical issues along with suggestions on how to resolve them effectively.

Enforce HTTPS

• Redirect all HTTP to HTTPS using .htaccess rules or hosting settings.
• Use Drupal’s Trusted Host Patterns to prevent spoofing.
• Test redirection paths and security headers.

Remove Insecure (HTTP) Content

• Update all hard-coded asset links (JS, CSS, images) to HTTPS.
• Use Search and Replace to fix legacy content.
• Use browser dev tools to identify mixed content warnings.

Fix SSL and Redirect Issues

• Regularly test certificates and TLS settings.
• Avoid redirect chains: HTTP > HTTPS > final page.
• Renew certificates before expiry with automated processes.

Technical SEO: Metadata & Tags

Meta tags are small pieces of HTML code found in the <head> section of your webpage. Your website visitors cannot see them. Nonetheless, search engines, web browsers, and social media sites can reach and use them.

You can view meta tags as a method to inform Google and other search engines about the content of your page and how it should appear in search results. Certain meta tags are more important than others. You should concentrate on just a few key meta tags.

We will clarify what these are below and how you can enhance your metadata and tags:

Unique Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

• Set up the Metatag module to utilize tokens for dynamic content.
• Avoid duplicates across taxonomy terms, paginated views, etc.
• Keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 155.

Proper Open Graph and Twitter Card Setup

• Activate the Metatag: Open Graph and Metatag: Twitter Cards submodules.
• Assign the image, title, and description for every type of content.
• Test integration for proper social display.

Accurate H1–H6 Heading Structure

• Each page should have only one H1, followed by structured H2s/H3s.
• Do not skip heading levels (for example, going from H2 to H4).
• Use semantic headings to improve accessibility and SEO.

Technical SEO: URL Structure & Redirects

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is an internet address made up of three main components: the protocol (such as HTTPS), the domain name (e.g., example.com), and the path (which directs to a particular page or document on the website).

The domain name identifies where a website can be found, while top-level domains (TLDs)—such as .com, .org, or .net—help categorize sites based on purpose or region. The path specifies the precise location of a page, post, or file within that domain.

URL formats can differ based on the objectives of the website. For example, a global website may use URL parameters for languages or regions, while a blog, e-commerce platform, or membership site might have entirely different formatting conventions. Likewise, government websites and social networks often follow unique structural standards.

Despite these variations, it’s important to follow URL best practices—like keeping URLs short, descriptive, and SEO-friendly—to ensure accessibility and clarity for both users and search engines.

In addition, website redirects are used to inform browsers and search engines that a particular URL has moved to a different location. A URL redirect involves applying a specific code (such as a 301 or 302) to one or more URLs, which seamlessly sends users or bots to the new destination without disrupting their experience.

Implement the following strategies to ensure your URLs support both usability and SEO performance:

Avoid Parameters and Unnecessary Slashes

• Configure Pathauto to use clean, keyword-friendly aliases.
• Prevent duplicate URLs with and without trailing slashes.
• Avoid URL parameters for canonical content; use Views filters or taxonomy.

Use 301 (Not 302) Redirects

• Always use 301s for moved or deleted pages.
• Manage redirects using the Redirect module for full control.
• Avoid temporary (302) redirects unless necessary.

Eliminate Redirect Chains

• Limit redirects to one hop from old to new URL.
• Use DrupalFit to find redirect loops or chains.
• Regularly audit the redirect table to remove outdated entries.

These issues not only impact performance but also weaken your whole SEO strategy.

Technical SEO: Why Use DrupalFit?

Drupalfit helps in uncovering and fixing critical issues, ensuring your site is both accessible and optimized for discovery. This includes implementing unique title tags and meta descriptions, setting up Open Graph for enhanced social sharing, and maintaining a proper H1-H6 heading structure to support both SEO and accessibility.

• Natively understands Drupal-specific architecture: Views, Pathauto, and Redirects.
• Flags SEO errors in real time and suggests fixes.
• Designed for content editors, developers, and SEOs working in the Drupal ecosystem.
• Grouping SEO issues by URL helps identify patterns and quantify how many URLs require the same type of fix, making it easier to prioritize and streamline optimization efforts.

Key Takeaways

1. Technical SEO is foundational for performance, visibility, and growth.
2. The initial step in improving your technical SEO is to perform a site audit to assess the current condition of your website.
3. Learn about common technical SEO issues like unindexed pages, duplicate content, and slow speed, and how to optimize them effectively.
4. Drupalfit assists in identifying and resolving important problems, making sure your site is accessible and optimized for search.
5. With DrupalFit, you gain a Drupal-optimized SEO audit tool that uncovers problems others miss and gives you clear solutions.