Anthony Leaton’s Technical SEO Experience & Skillsets

I am a seasoned expert in the realm of Technical SEO, bringing a wealth of experience and a diverse skillset to the table. With a career spanning over a decade in Technical SEO, I have honed my expertise in all the aspects below and with recent experience. They include optimising website architecture, enhancing site speed and web performance, and ensuring seamless search engine indexing. My proficiency extends to comprehensive audits, schema markup, and resolving complex crawl issues. I have a deep understanding of search engine algorithms have consistently driven significant improvements in organic visibility and traffic for a wide range of clients.

While this list isn’t exhaustive it covers the basics to the advanced level of SEO. If there are things missing from my experience below, let me know.

1. Understanding of Search Engine Algorithms

  • You have to have a general knowledge of how search engines work and better, what’s actually working. Here’s a guide what I use and refer to. Some of these sites are updated more than others. I suggest for SEO you had better start with the Google Quality Rater Guidelines: https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/hsw-sqrg.pdf
  • Google Search Central: This is Google’s official hub for all SEO information and resources.
  • Bing:
  • Staying updated with algorithm changes and updates. The first point of call is understanding search console and recognising the tweaks and errors it puts out, then takes back.

    It is interesting to see which of these pages (which directory / keyword focus) they have. Often this gives a clue to the ‘payload’ as I call it, of an update. Unexplained dips or spikes can signal an algorithm update.

    For example in 2023 I picked up a ‘local’ focus in the algorithm which was only later discussed by the gurus. To master this, do your own research.

    Here’s plenty of resources I use.

    Google Search Central: Google’s official blog is a great resource for announcements on major algorithm updates. You can also subscribe to their updates.

    Google Search Central Twitter: Follow @searchliaison on Twitter for concise updates on algorithm changes from Google itself. Danny Sullivan and John Muller are the main voices. I recommend Glen Gabe and Marie Haynes for their insights. Darth Autocrat is another great one to follow for more controversial views. Here are various sources to read or better for the SEO team to read and come back on for discussion points.

    SEO News Websites: Many websites specialise in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) news and analysis. Subscribing to these sites can keep you informed on the latest algorithm updates and how they might affect your website – Search Herald is one.

    Search Engine Land: A well-respected website in the SEO community, Search Engine Land covers the latest news,updates, insights, and analysis on SEO, PPC, and all things search. While not exclusively focused on the UK, they do cover international SEO news.

    Search Engine Journal: Another industry leader, Search Engine Journal offers in-depth articles, guides, and case studies on all aspects of SEO.

    Moz Blog: Moz Blog is a valuable resource for SEO news and insights, regardless of location.

    SERoundtable: This website focuses on the latest updates and news from Google, including algorithm changes and announcements.

    Blue Array: A UK-based digital marketing agency that publishes helpful and informative SEO content, including blog posts, webinars, and case studies.

    Industry Blogs: Many SEO tools and software companies like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Yoast maintain blogs with valuable SEO content, including research, case studies, and expert opinions.

    SEO Experts: Follow prominent SEO figures like Brian Dean, Danny Sullivan, Neil Patel, and Rand Fishkin on social media or their personal blogs for insights and analysis on the latest SEO trends. Moz’s Whiteboard Friday series is particularly well-regarded in the SEO community.

    SEO Tools and Trackers Websites : SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs often comment upon recent development. However be aware that this information is quite often what is detectable using their software!

    Google Alerts: Set up Google Alerts for “Google algorithm update” to receive notifications whenever relevant news articles are published.

2. Website Crawling and Indexing

  • Proficiency in using tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, and Sitebulb.
  • Great understanding of how search engines crawl and index websites.
  • Ability to identify and fix crawling and indexing issues

3. Website Structure and Architecture

  • Experience with creating and optimising website sitemaps (XML and HTML).
  • Knowledge of URL structure and best practices for SEO-friendly URLs.
  • Understanding of the importance of internal linking and how to optimise it e.g. inter-page linking, same page anchor texts
  • Creation of content silos using pillar and cluster pages
  • Recommendations with UX teams on optimising site navigation

4. On-Page SEO Optimisation

  • Expertise in optimising meta tags (titles, descriptions) to effect better CTR
  • Knowledge of how to use header tags (H1, H2, etc.) e.g. and when to employ long tail SEO
  • Experience with keyword placement and making pages user intent focused
  • Understanding of structured data and schema markup.

5. Technical SEO Audits

  • Conducting comprehensive technical SEO audits.
  • Identifying and prioritising issues that need to be fixed for web performance, navigational, etc
  • Experience with re-directs, 404 pages at server or CMS app level (e.g Rank Math re-directs).

6. Website Speed and Performance

  • Understanding of page speed metrics and tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse and GTmetrix.
  • Experience with optimising website load times (image optimisation, lazy loading, etc.).
  • Knowledge of Core Web Vitals and how to improve them with DevOps to achieve 99-100% pass rate for mobile/desktop

7. Mobile SEO

  • Ensuring mobile-friendliness and responsiveness.
  • Understanding of mobile-first indexing.
  • Experience with AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).
  • Experience diagnosing unfriendly pages (table use markup, Adobe Flash).

8. Technical SEO for E-commerce

  • Handling complex e-commerce SEO issues (product pages).
  • Knowledge of platform-specific SEO (e.g., Shopify).

9. Log File Analysis

  • Analysing server logs to understand crawler behaviour and manual visits from Google (RaterHub) (useful link). Use of Screaming Frog for main analysis.
  • Identifying issues with site accessibility and crawl budget.

10. Site Migrations and Redesigns

  • Experience managing SEO aspects of website migrations (e.g., HTTP to HTTPS, domain changes).
  • On and off-site Website architecture and asset mapping.
  • Redirects, canonicalisation
  • Ensuring SEO continuity during site redesigns or re-platforming.
  • Site Migration troubleshooting and prioritisation

11. Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

  • Understanding how CDNs work and their impact on SEO.

12. Robots.txt and Meta Tags

  • Configuring and optimising robots.txt files in the correct sequence
  • Using meta robots tags to control indexing and crawling.

13. Canonicalisation

  • Understanding canonical tags and their implementation.
  • Managing duplicate and near duplicate content issues.

14. International SEO

  • Handling hreflang tags for multi-language sites (helpful link). Knowledge of hreflang sitemap for easier management across different ‘accounts’ in a huge marketing agency setting
  • Understanding geo-targeting complexities
  • Localising Search Intent query variation by region. 
  • Understanding the complexities of geo-targeting and international domain structures (ccTLDs, subdomains, subdirectories).
  • Currency and Formatting: Adapting websites to display local currency symbols, date formats, and measurement systems.
  • Organisational schema for localising content to countries signalling differences

15. Analytics and Reporting

  • Proficiency with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Bing WebMaster Tools, SEMrush, Website Auditor, Rank Tracker, Screaming Frog, and other analytics tools.
  • Setting up and interpreting SEO-related metrics and KPIs.
  • Creating detailed reports to track SEO performance over time.

16. SEO Tools Proficiency

  • Experience with industry-standard tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Majestic, and others for on-page, technical and off-page optimisation
  • Ability to leverage these tools for keyword research, backlink analysis, competitor analysis, etc.

17. Security and HTTPS

  • Ensuring website security and understanding its importance for SEO. Use of creating honeytraps for identifying malicious crawlers
  • Experience with migrating websites and assets to HTTPS and resolving related issues.

18. Local SEO

  • Optimising for local search results – Schema Markup,
  • Local business and review portal creation, set-up and submission – Yelp, Google My Business, Trust Pilot, Glass Door, etc
  • Understanding NAP Consistency
  • Submission of businesses to GPS companies
  • Managing Google My Business listings and local citations (Bing Business)
  • Monitoring Online Reviews and local Reputation management
  • Optimising Page Content throughout a website including navigation, UX and architecture.
  • Local content curation including local events, local partnerships, provide geographically relevant tips especially for tourism

19. Technical Writing and Documentation

  • Ability to document technical SEO recommendations clearly.
  • Creating guidelines and best practices for internal and external management, development and content teams.

20. Cross-Department Collaboration

  • Ability to work effectively with developers, designers, content creators, and marketing teams.
  • Communicating technical SEO requirements and ensuring they are implemented correctly.