If you’re running a local business in Portland, Maine, you probably already know how fiercely local pride runs here (almost as fiercely as our love for craft breweries and lobster rolls). But even if you’ve perfected your product or service, your business won’t get the attention from Mainers or visitors it deserves unless you optimize your website for search engines like Google.
That’s where technical SEO strategy comes in.
What Is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO refers to the art and science of optimizing your website’s infrastructure to make it easier for search engines, such as Google, to understand and for users to navigate and interact with.
Search engines must understand your website to crawl, index, and rank your pages appropriately. Technical SEO also ensures that your website performs well for users.
Imagine technical SEO as ensuring that all the signs on your favorite local hiking trail are clear and visible—so no one, especially Google, gets lost. It also provides that the path is clear, allowing you to hike at your desired pace without being bottlenecked by obstacles or other people. Because who likes an overly crowded and slow hiking trail?
Technical SEO includes:
- improving site speed
- ensuring mobile responsiveness
- updating website security
- incorporating structured data
- creating XML sitemaps
- Implementing redirects and fixing broken links
Good technical SEO lays the foundation for all other SEO efforts, such as content and link building. It ensures your content is accessible and appealing to both users and search engines.
Let’s dive into some strategic, actionable SEO tips that’ll have your website popping up on Google faster than seagulls over a dropped French fry in Old Port.
1. Metadata: Your SEO Elevator Pitch
Think of your metadata as your quick pitch to potential customers—and Google. Metadata includes your page titles, which differ from your article headlines, and meta descriptions, which inform search engines about the content of your pages.
Ensure that each page on your site has a unique, engaging title and meta description that includes relevant keywords and local search terms, if applicable. For example, consider using phrases like “Portland, Maine coffee shop” or “best cafe in Portland” instead of simply “coffee shop.”
Your page titles and meta descriptions also should not be too short or too long. Title tags should ideally be around 50-60 characters long. Meta descriptions should be approximately 150 to 160 characters long. You can see a screenshot of my title and meta description for my homepage on Google below.
While you can edit titles and meta descriptions directly in the HTML code, many CMS’s have easier ways to do it. For example, Squarespace allows you to directly enter the title and meta description in its page builders. If your website is built on WordPress, you can use a plugin like Yoast SEO.
2. Strategic Internal and External Linking: Connect the Dots
Internal links, which connect different pages within your site, help keep visitors engaged for longer. This signals to Google that your site is valuable and credible. External links to authoritative sites can also boost your credibility. This is akin to name-dropping a well-known local celebrity at a networking event (Stephen King, anyone?).
You want to include relevant links to both internal pages on your website and external websites. Internal links should be between pages that are highly related to each other. For example, if you are a seafood restaurant, you might link an article about lobster rolls and an article about New England clam chowder.
External links should be to highly trusted, authoritative websites featuring relevant additional information or content. For example, the same seafood restaurant might link externally to a local newspaper review of their restaurant in the Press Herald. Or perhaps they can link to a neighborhood directory of shops that customers can browse nearby.
Do not overuse links, but pepper them throughout your pages and content where appropriate and natural. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that your link anchor text—the text in the actual link itself—is relevant and ideally incorporates topical keywords. For example, instead of linking the text “click here” you want to link something like “our article on clam chowder” or “Press Herald Review of Our Restaurant.”
3. Site Speed: No One Likes Waiting
If your site loads slower than summer traffic crossing from Saco into Biddeford, you’re losing customers. Speed is a key ranking factor for Google, especially for the mobile version of your website.
Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights can help identify what’s slowing you down. Common culprits include:
- large image files
- unnecessary plugins
- excessive use of and poorly written JavaScript
- overloaded tracking tags and pixels, such as the Google Analytics tag or the Facebook pixel.
Additionally, Google evaluates site speed through Core Web Vitals—metrics including
- largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
- first Input Delay (FID)
- cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).
Optimizing JavaScript usage and reducing redundant tracking tags or pixels can significantly improve these critical speed factors.
4. Structured Data: Google Loves Clarity
Structured data (or schema markup) might sound more intimidating than a gala ball to an introvert (like me!). However, it’s primarily a means of clearly communicating with Google about what kind of content your page features and its key details.
Think of structured data as giving Google clear driving directions with street names, turns, and landmarks, instead of vague Maine-style directions (“just a few miles past where that old barn near the Elks club in the woods used to be”).
Examples of structured data include:
- Local Business Schema: Communicates essential details about your business, such as hours, address, phone number, and services offered.
- Event Schema: Showcases upcoming events, dates, times, and ticket information directly in search results.
- Product Schema: Highlights your products, prices, availability, and customer reviews in Google’s shopping results.
To easily create and add structured data, use online tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper. If you’re using WordPress, plugins like Rank Math or Yoast SEO make adding schema markup straightforward, eliminating the need for coding. Test your structured data using Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure everything is correctly implemented.
Properly using structured data significantly boosts your visibility in a variety of searches, including local and e-commerce by clearly presenting your business information, products, and special offers directly in Google’s results.
5. Security: HTTPS is a Must
Securing your site with HTTPS is like locking your front door at night. Even in our safe and beautiful state of Maine, this is a basic necessity because the world remains a dangerous place. Google prefers secure sites, and customers expect to see the little padlock symbol when visiting your website.
In addition to implementing SSL certificates and regularly updating your CMS, there are some more ways to keep your site secure. Frequently back up your website data, ensuring you can quickly recover your site in case of an attack or accidental data loss.
Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) to monitor, filter, and block malicious traffic to your website. Utilize reliable security plugins, such as Wordfence or Sucuri, to scan for vulnerabilities, malware, and suspicious activity.
Enable two-factor authentication (I know, I know) for your website’s administrative accounts to add an extra layer of security. And finally, conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and address security gaps proactively.
Safety first!
Final Thoughts: SEO is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Effective SEO requires patience, persistence, and a smart strategy. Regularly updating your website, analyzing your results, and adapting your strategies to stay ahead of algorithm changes will help you thrive in Portland’s vibrant, competitive market.
Now go forth, optimize, and make your Portland business shine brighter than the Portland Head Light. Need help navigating these technical SEO areas? Reach out—I’m always here to help fellow Mainers grow their digital presence.
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