Basic SEO vs Technical SEO

Hello IndieHackers!

It's been a while since I've been here, but I bring you an interesting article about SEO.

Most people think SEO = keywords.

They use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Surfer to find the right terms, optimize content, build backlinks.

But here’s the problem: Even the best content won’t rank if Google can’t see it.

That’s where Technical SEO comes in.

What does that mean?

It’s all about making sure:

• Your page returns a valid 200 OK, not a broken 404

• It's not blocked by robots.txt

• It’s actually listed in your sitemap.xml

• There’s no noindex tag silently excluding it

• Canonical tags don’t point away from it

• There aren’t 10 conflicting versions of the same page

• The page loads fast, has lang, viewport, and alt texts

In short: Technical SEO makes your content available to Google.

If your site has technical issues, Google either:

• skips it entirely

• or ranks it lower because it looks “broken”

SEO Tools:

• Semrush / Ahrefs → Keywords & links

• Surfer SEO → Content optimization

• TrackMySitemap → Technical SEO & indexability

• Screaming Frog → Full-site crawls

• GSC → Visibility diagnostics

Great SEO is not just about what you say. It’s also about whether Google can hear you at all.