Technical SEO is where I spend most of my time and where I do my best work. Over more than a decade specialising in this side of SEO, I have built hands-on experience across website architecture, site speed and performance, search engine indexing, schema markup, and resolving complex crawl issues. That experience, combined with a solid understanding of how search engine algorithms behave, has consistently driven measurable improvements in organic visibility and traffic for the clients I have worked with.

Since joining Fountain Partnership in August 2024, that grounding has carried straight through into agency life, applied across pharmaceutical and healthcare, financial services and FX/payments, B2B manufacturing, transport, regulated financial advice, and trade services clients, spanning both B2B and B2C. 

You will see specific examples of that ongoing work noted through the list below.

The list is not exhaustive, but it covers everything from the fundamentals through to advanced technical SEO. If there is something you need that you cannot see here, just ask.

1. Understanding of search engine algorithms

Good technical SEO starts with a solid grasp of how search engines actually work, and with keeping that knowledge current as things change. My starting points are the Google Quality Rater Guidelines, Google Search Central’s SEO Starter Guide and Webmaster Guidelines, plus Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines and Bing Webmaster Tools, which I rate highly for SEO work.

Search Console is my first stop for spotting algorithm changes, since dips and spikes on specific directories or keyword themes are often the clearest signal something has shifted. In 2023, for example, I picked up on a local search focus in the algorithm well before it was widely discussed, simply by watching which pages moved.

To stay current, I follow Google Search Central’s own updates and @searchliaison on X, along with independent voices including Glenn Gabe, Marie Haynes and Darth Autocrat for a range of perspectives. For wider industry news and analysis, I read Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, Moz Blog, SERoundtable, Search Herald and Blue Array, a UK based agency doing good work in this space, alongside the blogs published by tool providers like Ahrefs, Semrush and Yoast. I also keep a Google Alert running for algorithm update news, so little slips past me.

More recently, the same instinct applies to answer engines and AI Overviews. Tracking how content performs in AI Overviews and LLM citations across pharmaceutical and financial services clients has shown similar patterns worth watching closely, and now shapes the AI visibility strategy work I build into client reporting.

2. Website crawling and indexing

  • Proficient with tools including Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog and Sitebulb and Bing Webmaster Tools. 
  • Strong understanding of how search engines crawl and index websites.
  • Skilled at identifying and fixing crawling and indexing issues.

3. Website structure and architecture

  • Experienced in creating and optimising XML and HTML sitemaps.
  • Strong knowledge of URL structure and SEO friendly URL best practice.
  • Understand the importance of internal linking, including inter-page linking and same page anchor text, and how to optimise it.
  • Skilled in building content silos using pillar and cluster pages.
  • Work with UX teams to recommend improvements to site navigation.
  • Recent work: built a hub-and-spoke site architecture, including service pages, sector pages, case studies and a blog content pillar, for a trade services client (B2B and B2C).

4. On-page SEO optimisation

  • Skilled at optimising meta titles and descriptions to improve click through rate.
  • Know how and when to use header tags, including for long tail SEO.
  • Experienced in keyword placement that keeps pages focused on user intent.
  • Strong understanding of structured data and schema markup.
  • Recent work: delivered schema markup for pillar pages on a pharmaceutical and healthcare client’s UK site (B2C), with a proposal in progress to automate schema deployment across ten international markets.

5. Technical SEO audits

  • Conduct comprehensive technical SEO audits.
  • Identify and prioritise issues affecting performance and navigation.
  • Experienced with redirects and 404 handling at both server and CMS level, including RankMath redirects.
  • Recent work: led a stakeholder risk assessment and recovery plan following a significant indexation drop for a B2B manufacturing client, and produced a technical testing guide so a colleague could independently verify each fix.

6. Website speed and performance

  • Understand page speed metrics and tools including Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse and GTmetrix.
  • Experienced in optimising load times through image optimisation, lazy loading and similar techniques.
  • Strong knowledge of Core Web Vitals, and experienced in working with DevOps teams to achieve a 99 to 100% pass rate across mobile and desktop.

7. Mobile SEO

  • Ensure mobile friendliness and responsiveness.
  • Understand mobile first indexing.
  • Skilled at diagnosing mobile unfriendly pages, including table based markup and Flash content.

8. Technical SEO for e-commerce

  • Handle complex e-commerce SEO issues, including product page optimisation.
  • Knowledge of platform specific SEO, including Shopify.

9. Log file analysis

  • Analyse server logs to understand crawler behaviour, including checking against Google’s own quality rater activity where relevant.
  • Use Screaming Frog as my main tool for log file analysis.
  • Identify issues affecting site accessibility and crawl budget.

10. Site migrations and redesigns

  • Manage the SEO side of website migrations, including HTTP to HTTPS and domain changes.
  • Handle on and off site architecture and asset mapping.
  • Manage redirects and canonicalisation.
  • Ensure SEO continuity through site redesigns and re-platforming.
  • Troubleshoot and prioritise issues during site migrations.
  • Recent work: led the technical recovery site after a hack introduced rogue canonical tags that took the site out of the index. Built an audit toolkit and a plain English recovery guide so the fix was clear to the wider team.

11. Content delivery networks (CDNs)

  • Understand how CDNs work and their impact on SEO.

12. Robots.txt and meta tags

  • Configure and optimise robots.txt files in the correct sequence.
  • Use meta robots tags to control indexing and crawling.
  • Recent work: restructured robots.txt for a financial services and FX/payments client (B2B), including allow-listing AI crawlers and blocking parameterised URLs that were wasting crawl budget.

13. Canonicalisation

  • Understand canonical tags and how to implement them.
  • Manage duplicate and near duplicate content issues.

14. International SEO

  • Handle hreflang tags for multilingual sites.
  • Use hreflang sitemaps to manage multiple markets within a large agency setting.
  • Understand the complexities of geo-targeting and localising search intent by region.
  • Experienced with ccTLDs, subdomains and subdirectories for international domain structures.
  • Adapt websites for local currency, date formats and measurement systems.
  • Use schema to signal content differences between country versions of a site.
  • Recent work: manage multilingual translation and SEO across 10 European markets for a pharmaceutical and healthcare client (B2C), including translated content in Swedish, French, Italian and Portuguese, and separate content libraries reflecting three distinct regulatory product classes.

15. Analytics and reporting

  • Proficient in Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, SEMrush, Website Auditor, Rank Tracker, Screaming Frog and other analytics tools.
  • Set up and interpret SEO related metrics and KPIs.
  • Build detailed reports to track SEO performance over time.
  • Recent work: deliver recurring weekly and monthly SEO performance reporting across the same 10 European markets, using a standardised forecast model to track progress consistently over time.

16. SEO tools proficiency

  • Experienced with industry standard tools including Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz and Majestic for on-page, technical and off-page optimisation.
  • Use these tools for keyword research, backlink analysis and competitor analysis.

17. Security and HTTPS

  • Understand website security and its importance for SEO, including using honeytraps to identify malicious crawlers.
  • Experienced in migrating sites and assets to HTTPS and resolving related issues.

18. Local SEO

  • Optimise for local search, including schema markup.
  • Create, set up and submit local business and review listings, including Yelp, Google Business Profile, Trustpilot and Glassdoor.
  • Understand NAP consistency.
  • Submit businesses to GPS and mapping providers.
  • Manage Google Business Profile listings and local citations, including Bing Places.
  • Monitor online reviews and local reputation.
  • Optimise page content, navigation, UX and architecture to support local search.
  • Curate local content, including events, partnerships and location specific tips, particularly for tourism clients.

19. Technical writing and documentation

  • Document technical SEO recommendations clearly.
  • Create guidelines and best practice documentation for management, development and content teams.
  • Recent work: produced a technical testing guide for a colleague verifying fixes on a B2B manufacturing account, and detailed content briefs with strict copy and tone guidelines for the same client’s commercial pages.

20. Cross-department collaboration

  • Work effectively with developers, designers, content creators and marketing teams.
  • Communicate technical requirements clearly and make sure they are implemented correctly.