8 Common Technical SEO Issues and How to Solve Them!
Technical SEO is strategic adjustments to your website or server such as improving searchability, indexing, SSL, AMP, and click through rates, title tags, etc.
Technical SEO is not content optimization, link building, or social media strategies.
Here is a selection of major technical SEO checklist issues and solutions:
1. HTTPS Security
Your website will chase away visitors when missing security. It will display muted or red and state “not secure”. Check if your site is HTTPS. If not, you need to purchase an SSL certificate from an appropriate authority. Install to solve.
2. Indexing
If your website is not showing up in search results there might be an issue with your indexing. No index = invisible to search engines.
To check, search “site:yoursitename.com”. This will display the count of indexed pages on the site.
- If indexing is absent then add your site to Google.
- If there is a surplus of results check for old versions or a spam hack.
- Less results? Perform an audit. If that doesn’t solve it check your content versus Google Webmaster Guidelines.
- Some other difference? Check for blocks from the robots.txt file or incorrect NOINDEX meta tag
3. Sitemaps
XML sitemaps make your site crawlable. Check: go to Google, type your web address + /sitemap.xml. If no sitemap (i.e. 404 pages) then you can use an XML sitemap tool or use your web developer. WordPress uses the Yoast plugin XML site mapping.
4. Robots.txt
An incorrectly designed robots.txt ends organic traffic. An absent robots.txt means all pages will be indexed but ALL your pages will be crawled. It is also needed for the sitemap.
To check: type the URL into the browser, add /robots.txt at the end. For a result of “User-agent: * Disallow: /” check with your developer in case it’s like that for a reason. For an e-commerce site (complex robots.txt file) analyse very carefully with a developer.
5. Meta Robots NOINDEX Set
Incorrectly designed NOINDEXs can devastate visibility by removing pages with specific configurations from Google’s index.
NOINDEX when in development and remove when live. Double check: go to site’s main page, right click, view page source, ctrl+f “NOINDEX” “NOFOLLOW”. Crosscheck any finds with the developer for relevance and remove irrelevant ones.
6. Slow Speed
Slow speed can be a user’s ISP or hardware problem. Check: Use Google PageSpeed Insights. Have small image file sizes, improve browser caching and server response plus others. Talk to your developer about speed issues found.
7. Homepage singularity
Google might index multiple URL versions for www.yoursight.com/yoursite.com/ https://www etc. If this happens your developer needs to create 301 redirects and set up the canonical domain in Google search console.
8. Rel=Canonical
Rel=canonical tag tells search engines, ESPECIALLY on e-commerce sites, which “original” page is of primary importance. There are varied fixes depending on the complexity. Use Google’s Guide to Rel=Canonical and/or your developer.
Conclusion
There are many other SEO technical issues that might pop up in the lifetime of a website as websites are not static structures but regularly needed development like a car needs new parts. Additional items could be:
- Duplicate Content
- Missing Alt Tags
- Broken Links
- Not Enough Use of Structured Data
- Mobile Device Optimization
- Missing or Non-Optimized Meta Descriptions
- Users Sent to Pages With Wrong Language
Only a professional run SEO audit will present a thorough, fast site health report. SEO technical servicing of your website quickly improves your SERP visibility, and has a hugely positive impact on your visitor’s user experience.
The BirdDog team is dedicated to cultivating open and effective communication.
Reach out to us for solutions not listed above or contact us today for the most effective SEO technical checklist and solutions. Ph: 0416 217843 or email to simon@birddog.com.au
