Fixing Common Technical SEO Issues: A Practical Guide

February 22, 2024
Posted by
Andrew Pottruff
Fixing Common Technical SEO Issues: A Practical Guide

Technical SEO refers to the process of optimizing the infrastructure of your website so that search engines can crawl and index it more effectively.

Unlike on-page SEO, which deals with content and keywords, or off-page SEO, which involves external linking and promotion, technical SEO focuses on the backend elements of your site. These elements include site speed, mobile-friendliness, indexing, site architecture, and security. Addressing technical SEO issues is crucial for any website aiming to achieve and maintain high search engine rankings.

Several technical SEO issues can plague websites, but some are more common than others. These include:

  1. Slow Page Load Times: A slow website can frustrate users and lead search engines to rank it lower.
  2. Mobile Unfriendliness: With the increasing prevalence of mobile browsing, a site that isn't optimized for mobile devices can suffer in rankings.
  3. Poor Site Structure and Navigation: A confusing website structure can hinder search engines from understanding and indexing your site's content.
  4. Duplicate Content: Content that appears in more than one place on the internet can cause search engines to penalize your site.
  5. Broken Links: Links that lead nowhere can harm your site's credibility and usability.
  6. Improper Use of Robots.txt: Misusing this file can prevent search engines from indexing your site correctly.
  7. Missing Alt Tags and Broken Images: Images without alt tags or that don't load correctly can affect user experience and SEO.

Not all technical SEO issues are created equal. Prioritizing which problems to tackle first depends on their impact on your site's performance and user experience. Generally, issues that directly affect your site's visibility and user engagement should be addressed promptly. These include fixing broken links, improving page load times, and ensuring your site is mobile-friendly. Other issues, like optimizing site structure and addressing duplicate content, while important, can be addressed in a more phased approach.

  1. Improve Page Load Times: Use tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights to identify what's slowing your site down and follow the recommendations to make it faster.
  2. Ensure Mobile-Friendliness: Test your site's mobile usability with Google's Mobile-Friendly Test and make necessary adjustments to improve responsiveness.
  3. Optimize Site Structure: Create a logical hierarchy for your content and ensure your navigation is user-friendly. Use breadcrumb navigation and a sitemap to help users and search engines understand your site's layout.
  4. Eliminate Duplicate Content: Use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of a page to search engines, helping to avoid penalties for duplicate content.
  5. Fix Broken Links: Regularly audit your site for broken links using tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider and correct them to improve user experience and SEO.
  6. Correctly Use Robots.txt: Ensure that your robots.txt file is correctly configured to allow search engines to crawl and index your site effectively.
  7. Add and Optimize Alt Tags: Make sure all images on your site have descriptive alt tags to improve accessibility and SEO.

By systematically identifying and addressing these common technical SEO issues, you can significantly improve your site's health and its ability to rank well in search engine results. Remember, technical SEO is an ongoing process. Regularly auditing your site and staying updated on SEO best practices is essential for maintaining its technical integrity and search visibility.