Internal Search Result Pages: Index or Noindex?
Most internal search result pages should be kept out of the index. Here is why, and the two exceptions where letting them in actually wins traffic.
#Technical SEO
Articles tagged with #Technical SEO
Noindex vs Nofollow vs Disallow: When to Use Each
Three controls, three different jobs. Pick the wrong one and you either leak pages into the index, waste crawl budget, or hide content from yourself by accident.
Astro SEO Basics: Title, Meta, Canonical, Hreflang
The minimum-viable SEO setup for an Astro site — what every page must have, why, and the exact patterns that hold up at 500 articles.
Setting Up Sitemap.xml Properly in Astro
How to generate, validate, and submit a sitemap.xml in Astro — including hreflang pairs, exclusion rules, and what Google actually does with it.
How to Design Content-Site Sections So They Scale
Practical taxonomy + URL design for content sites — section schemas, hub-page templates, and sitemap config that scales from 50 to 1000 articles.
How to Generate a Technical SEO Checklist with AI (Tailored to Your Stack)
Skip the generic 80-point SEO checklist. Generate one tailored to your stack (Astro / Next / Hugo / WordPress) with AI in 20 minutes.
How to Avoid Content Duplication When You're Scaling Fast
Duplication kills indexing once you cross a few hundred articles. Here's the script-driven workflow to catch it before Google does.
Canonical URLs Explained — What to Set and What to Avoid
A clear, practical guide to canonical tags — what they do, when they help, and the four mistakes that quietly break indexing.
Will Changing Domains Hurt SEO — and How to Soften the Hit
A domain change always costs some short-term ranking. Use this 301 redirect playbook, Search Console move steps, and verification commands.
hreflang for Bilingual Sites — The Parts That Actually Matter
A practical guide to `hreflang` for English/Chinese (or any two-language) sites — what to put in `<head>`, what most generators get wrong, and how to verify it works.
What to Do in the First 30 Days of a New Content Site
A realistic 30-day playbook for a brand-new content site: indexing, structure, the first 20 articles, and what to ignore.
Next.js Content-Site SEO: The Things That Bite
Next.js does not break SEO, but it has footguns. Use this metadata API, sitemap.ts, and view-source checklist before you ask Google to crawl.
Next.js Image Optimization Basics
`next/image` is the single biggest performance win you get for free — if you actually configure it. Here are the four things to set right.
Sitemap and robots.txt Basics in Next.js
A correctly served sitemap and robots.txt are non-negotiable for SEO. Here is the App Router idiom for both in 2026.
Pillar and Cluster Pages — The Structure Google Rewards
Design pillar and cluster pages so Google understands your topical authority. Includes content schema, link-audit script, and pillar page template.
robots.txt — What to Put, What to Never Put
A surgical guide to robots.txt for indie sites — the two-line default that works, the rules that quietly deindex you, and the difference vs noindex.
Running a Site-Wide Content Audit — A Repeatable Process
A quarterly content audit with concrete scripts: URL inventory, Search Console join, dead-page flags, dupe scanner, broken-link checker, and decision log.
Doing an SEO Review of Your Site with Codex
Use Codex (or any code-aware AI agent) for a technical SEO review with copy-paste prompts, dist/ inspection commands, and a structured-data validator.
Should Your Category Pages Be Indexed?
A decision framework for indexing category / hub pages — when they earn their keep, when they cannibalize, and how to turn empty categories into real landing pages.
Should Tag Pages Be Noindex? (Hint: Probably Yes)
A clear answer to the WordPress-era question — when tag archives help SEO, when they hurt, and the exact noindex pattern to ship.
Site QA with AI — Broken Links, Missing Tags, Thin Pages
Catch the boring site-health issues with a real checklist: copy-paste AI prompts, shell verifiers, and a CI script that fails builds on critical failures.
Structured Data for Content Sites — Start With These Three Types
A no-jargon intro to JSON-LD structured data — the three schema types every content site should ship, and the ones to ignore until you scale.
Subdomain vs Subdirectory for Content: Which Google Prefers
`blog.yoursite.com` or `yoursite.com/blog`? Use this Vercel/Next/Cloudflare rewrite config to keep SEO consolidated on one domain.
What a Sitemap Actually Is (and What Google Ignores)
A plain-English explainer for sitemap.xml — what it does, what it does not do, and the four fields most generators put in that Google never reads.
When (and How) to Refresh Old Articles for Traffic
Refresh only what's worth refreshing — with the Search Console query that finds position 8-20 articles, a refresh template, and re-indexing flow.
How to Write Title Tags and Meta Descriptions That Don't Suck
A 2026 guide to writing `<title>` and `<meta name="description">` that earn clicks — length limits, intent matching, and what Google rewrites anyway.