SEO for Developers — How I Get Pages to Rank
You can build a beautiful site that nobody finds. SEO is how people find it. The good news: most of it is just good engineering.
The basics that actually move the needle
- One clear title and meta description per page — this is what shows up in Google results. Make it read well and include the words people search.
- A single H1 that says what the page is about.
- Semantic HTML — real headings, nav, article, section. Search engines read structure, not just text.
Structured data (the secret weapon)
Adding JSON-LD tells Google exactly what your content is. On my site I use a Person schema so a search for my name can show a rich result, and BlogPosting on every article.
Speed is a ranking factor
Google measures Core Web Vitals. I keep pages fast by shipping little JavaScript, compressing images, lazy-loading below-the-fold media, and avoiding layout shift. A fast site ranks better and feels better.
Mobile-friendly or invisible
Google indexes the mobile version of your site first. If it isn't responsive, you're already losing.
The boring, essential files
- robots.txt tells crawlers they're welcome
- sitemap.xml hands them a map of your pages
- Submit both in Google Search Console, then watch what indexes
SEO is a long game
You don't rank overnight. Publish consistently, keep the site fast and honest, earn a few links, and results compound. Do the fundamentals well and you'll climb.