As an SEO professional, it’s important to be aware of the most common technical SEO mistakes and how to avoid them. These mistakes can hurt your website’s visibility and organic search traffic, so it’s crucial to understand and fix them as soon as possible. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the most common technical SEO issues and how you can resolve them.
No HTTPS Security: One of the most common technical SEO mistakes is not installing an SSL certificate on your website. This can hurt your website’s ranking in Google search results and its credibility with users. If you don’t have an SSL certificate, install one as soon as possible.
Not Mobile-Friendly: Another common mistake is not having a mobile-friendly website. In today’s digital world, it’s imperative that your website is accessible and easy to use on all devices. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, consider redesigning it or using a responsive theme.
Slow Page Speed: Page speed is a key ranking factor for Google, so it’s important to make sure your website loads quickly. There are several ways to improve page speed, such as optimizing images and using a content delivery network.
Site isn’t indexed correctly: If your website isn’t being indexed correctly, it won’t appear in search results. This is usually due to a technical error, such as an incorrect robots.txt file. If you think your site isn’t being indexed, contact Google Search Console for more help. There are a few ways to check if your site is being indexed correctly.
One way is to use the “site:” operator in Google search. For example, if you type “site: example.com” into Google, it should return a list of all the pages from your website that are being indexed. If you don’t see any results, it’s likely that your site isn’t being indexed properly. Another way to check is to use the Fetch as a Google tool in Google Search Console. This tool allows you to see how Google crawls and indexes your website.
No XML Sitemaps: XML sitemaps are a valuable asset for any website. They help search engines index your website’s content and can improve your website’s crawling efficiency. If you don’t have an XML sitemap, make sure to create one and submit it to Google Search Console.
If you’re not sure if you have an XML sitemap, the easiest way to check is to use Google Search Console. Once you’ve logged in, click on the “Sitemaps” tab. If there’s a sitemap listed, that means you have one. If not, you’ll need to create one.
Creating an XML sitemap is relatively simple and only requires a few steps:
- You’ll need to create a file called “sitemap.xml” and save it to your website’s root directory.
- You’ll need to add your website’s URL and any other relevant information to the file.
- You’ll need to submit the sitemap to Google Search Console.
Missing or incorrect robots.txt: The robots.txt file is a text file that tells search engines how to crawl and index your website. If the file is missing or inaccurate, it can hurt your website’s SEO. Make sure to create a robots.txt file and submit it to Google Search Console.
Meta Robots NON-INDEX Set: The Meta Robots NON-INDEX Set sets the level of importance on each page. When configured properly, the NON INDEX set will tell search engines not to index a page. This can be useful if you have pages that you don’t want to appear in search results. However, if the NON INDEX set is incorrectly configured, it can hurt your website’s SEO. Make sure to double-check the configuration of your Meta Robots NON-INDEX Set before implementing it on your website.
Incorrect Canonicalization: Canonicalization is choosing the best URL when there are multiple choices. For example, if you have two pages with similar content, you would canonicalize one of the pages and redirect the other. If canonicalization is not done correctly, it can hurt your website’s SEO. Make sure you consult with an SEO expert before canonicalizing any URLs on your website.
Multiple versions of the homepage: If you have multiple versions of the homepage, it can hurt your website’s SEO. For example, if you have a “secure” version of the homepage (HTTPS), make sure to redirect the non-secure version (HTTPS) to the secure version. This will ensure that search engines index only one version of the homepage.
Missing Alt Tags: An Alt tag is a piece of HTML code that allows you to specify an alternative text for an image. Alt tags are important for SEO because they help search engines index images. If an image misses an Alt tag, it can hurt your website’s SEO. Make sure to add Alt tags to all the images on your website.
Incorrectly Configured Redirects: Redirects are used to send users from one URL to another. They are often used when a website’s URL has been changed. If redirects are not configured correctly, they can hurt your website’s SEO. Make sure to consult with an SEO expert before implementing any redirects on your website.
The above content covers some of the most common technical SEO mistakes and how to avoid them. If you’re not sure about something, it’s always best to consult with an expert. Taking the time to fix these mistakes can make a big difference in your website’s SEO.
