topic Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing? in Content Strategy & SEO

Is Technical SEO still a thing?

TamaraSR — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:01:18 GMT

I've seen many comments saying that learning technical SEO is now useless since search engine criteria is changing a lot with AI. What can we make of that?

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

PamCotton — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 20:47:41 GMT

Hey @TamaraSR. thank you for posting in our Community!

Yes, I feel like Technical SEO is still essential! While AI is evolving in search, factors like site speed, crawlability, and structured data remain crucial for rankings. SEO isn’t dying; it’s adapting haha

To our top experts @TomM2 and @danmoyle do you have any thoughts about it?

Kindly,

Pam

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

Niks18 — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 18:08:30 GMT

Technical SEO is one of the 4 pillars of SEO. So, Technical SEO is a thing. Whether AI or not, we still need to work on the website's technical standpoint and improve its technical performance so people can access our website without hurdles. Technical SEO comprises Structured Data, Mobile friendliness, Page speed, Indexing issues (Usually you see in Google Search Console), and technical errors such as 404 pages, server errors, or incorrect redirects, etc.

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

danmoyle — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 13:34:36 GMT

Hi @TamaraSR! In my experience and research, it's very much a thing still. It's evolving, between tools helping us do the technical side without needing the deep experience of technical SEO from the 2010s to generative AI disruptions, if your website isn't set up to be found, all the content marketing won't help folks find you.

And from what I'm seeing in reports by industry folks, since AI tools pull from the internet much like search engines do, we still need to have our SEO up to snuff. We just now ALSO need to understand how AI tools source their data, and how people interact with it all.

And that's the final key that I think about: the humans. Sure we need to think about these tools, but the bottom line, as it always has been, is how humans interact with our information. If we create for people, we're creating for the tools.

Great question!

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

dlnfx — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 17:15:40 GMT

I would be interested to read why folks are arguing that technical SEO is no longer important. In some ways, I would argue that it's more important than ever.

Good technical SEO practices allow search engines to crawl your website quickly and effectively. Google is famously guarded with their algorithm's weighting, but I can't imagine that AI is *not* taking into consideration things like a page's load time or whether or not the HTML is has semantic tags. You are still penalized for poor technical SEO. Google's recent updates don't reflect any changes here either.

Google's helpful content update may be worth reviewing, as "unhelpful" content is penalized by more than 40% and this has hurt some smaller sites. I am placing a lot of emphasis here on Google because search engines typically follow suit to some degree. This is all relevant to the AI search preview Google has rolled out and that Bing has had for some time.

Beyond all of this, there is a more important consideration when it comes to technical SEO that is often overlooked. More often than not, technical SEO best practices (load time, alt text on images, semantic tags, coherent heading hierarchy) are also accessibility best practices. People use screenreaders more than you would think. If you are working on websites for a business in the US, it is important that your website is adhering to WGAC accessibility guidelines. The reason for this is that you could be sued at anytime for violating the ADA if your site is deemed inaccessible. It's also just good business to make sure as many customers as possible can navigate your website.

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

SterlingGordon — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 22:43:58 GMT

Hey TamaraSR I'm late to the conversation but, just to double down on what danmoyle and PamCotton were saying; I think technical SEO isn’t dying, it’s evolving. AI is changing how search engines work, but the fundamentals of technical SEO still matter.

Simply put, search engines still need structured data. Google’s AI models rely on well-organized, crawlable websites. Things like site speed, indexing, schema markup, and mobile-friendliness still impact rankings.

AI-generated search results pull from high-authority sources. If your site isn’t technically optimized, it won’t be considered trustworthy by Google’s algorithms.

Search Generative Experience (SGE) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) are emerging. Instead of just ranking for traditional search, businesses will need to optimize content for AI-driven results.

Honestly, technical SEO is still important, but the focus is shifting. It’s less about keyword enrichment and more about structured content, entity-based optimization, and user experience. Sites that get this right will continue to rank, even as AI changes the landscape.

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

neetugandhi — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 14:55:18 GMT

Yes, Technical SEO is still very much relevant in 2025, and it remains a crucial part of any digital marketing strategy. While content quality and backlinks are important, search engines like Google continue to prioritize websites that are technically optimized. Technical SEO focuses on improving website speed, mobile-friendliness, crawlability, indexing, structured data, and site architecture. Without a technically sound website, even the best content may struggle to rank.

Re: Is Technical SEO still a thing?

DaniyalNaseer — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 07:49:59 GMT

I wouldn’t say technical SEO is useless—it’s actually more important than ever. AI is changing how search works, but search engines still rely on strong technical foundations like site speed, crawlability, structured data, and clean architecture.