Google’s Martin Splitt and Gary Illyes recently addressed a common question in search marketing: how technical do SEO professionals need to be?
In a Search Off the Record podcast, they offered guidance on which technical skills are helpful in SEO and discussed the long-standing friction between developers and SEO professionals.
Splitt noted:
“I think in order to optimize a system or work with a system so deeply like SEOs do, you have to understand some of the characteristics of the system.”
However, he clarified that strong coding skills aren’t a requirement for doing effective SEO work.
The Developer-SEO Divide
Splitt, who regularly speaks at both developer and SEO events, acknowledged that the relationship between these groups can sometimes be difficult.
Splitt says:
“Even if you go to a developer event and talk about SEO, it is a strained relationship you’re entering.”
He added that developers often approach SEO conversations with skepticism, even when they come from someone with a developer background.
This disconnect can cause real-world problems.
Illyes shared an example of a large agency that added a calendar plugin across multiple websites, unintentionally generating “100 million URLs.” Google began crawling all of them, creating a major crawl budget issue.
What SEO Pros Need To Know
Rather than recommending that SEO professionals learn to code, Splitt advises understanding how web technologies function.
Splitt states:
“You should understand what is a header, how does HTTPS conceptually work, what’s the certificate, how does that influence how the connection works.”
He also advised being familiar with the differences between web protocols, such as HTTP/2 and HTTP/1.1.
While SEO pros don’t need to write in programming languages like C, C++, or JavaScript, having some awareness of how JavaScript affects page rendering can be helpful.
Context Matters: Not All SEOs Need The Same Skills
Google also pointed out that SEO is a broad discipline, and the amount of technical knowledge needed can vary depending on your focus.
Splitt gave the example of international SEO. He initially said these specialists might not need technical expertise, but later clarified that internationalization often includes technical components too.
“SEO is such a broad field. There are people who are amazing at taking content international… they specialize on a much higher layer as in like the content and the structure and language and localization in different markets.”
Still, he emphasized that people working in more technical roles, or in generalist positions, should aim to understand development concepts.
What This Means
Here’s what the discussion means for SEO professionals:
- Technical understanding matters, but being able to code is not always necessary. Knowing HTTP protocols, HTML basics, and how JavaScript interacts with pages can go a long way.
- Your role defines your needs. If you’re working on content strategy or localization, deep technical knowledge might not be essential. But if you’re handling site migrations or audits, that knowledge becomes more critical.
- Context should guide your decisions. Applying advice without understanding the “why” can lead to problems. SEO isn’t one-size-fits-all.
- Cross-team collaboration is vital. Google’s comments suggest there’s still a divide between developers and SEO teams. Improving communication between these groups could prevent technical missteps that affect rankings.
Looking Ahead
As websites become more complex and JavaScript frameworks continue to grow, technical literacy will likely become more important.
Google’s message is clear: SEOs don’t need to become developers, but having a working understanding of how websites function can make you far more effective.
For companies, closing the communication gap between development and marketing remains a key area of opportunity.
Listen to the full podcast episode below:
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
