When it comes to SEO, even small issues can lead to significant drops in traffic and rankings. Identifying and fixing these issues is crucial to maintaining a healthy and effective website. Below, we’ll explore the 12 most common SEO issues, their importance, and how you can resolve them.
1. Image Pages Indexing
Issue: WordPress sites often have individual pages for every image uploaded, which Google indexes, leading to low-quality pages.
Fix: Use a plugin like Yoast to redirect attachment URLs to the actual image.
2. Non-Secure HTTP Pages
Issue: Pages that aren’t secure (using HTTP instead of HTTPS) can still rank, leading to potential security risks.
Fix: Use the ‘site:domain inurl:-https’ search command to find and secure these pages.
3. Pages You Don’t Know About
Issue: Old or irrelevant pages might be indexed without your knowledge.
Fix: Perform a site search using various terms (e.g., “Lorem ipsum”) to find and remove these pages.
4. Mismatched Content Intent
Issue: Content that doesn’t match search intent leads to poor rankings.
Fix: Analyze the search intent by studying the top-ranking pages and aligning your content format, type, and angle accordingly.
5. Tags and Categories Overload
Issue: Excessive tags and categories, especially empty or outdated ones, can lead to thin content.
Fix: Limit the number of tags and categories, and remove or consolidate those with little content.
6. Title and H1 Inconsistencies
Issue: Titles and H1s that don’t match can confuse Google and users.
Fix: Ensure your H1 and title tags are consistent, especially after updating content dates.
7. Old Publish Dates
Issue: Older dates showing in search results can reduce click-through rates (CTR) and rankings.
Fix: Use a site search with a past date filter to find and update these pages.
8. Improper Heading Tags
Issue: Incorrect use of heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) leads to poor content structure.
Fix: Use only one H1 per page, and ensure a logical hierarchy for H2-H6 tags.
9. Redirected Links
Issue: Key navigational links that go through redirects slow down page load times and create redirect chains.
Fix: Minimize redirects, especially for important links, and fix any unnecessary redirect chains.
10. Redirect Chains
Issue: Multiple redirects between the initial URL and the final URL can weaken link power and slow down crawling.
Fix: Use tools like Screaming Frog to identify and fix redirect chains.
11. Canonical Interlinks
Issue: Internal links pointing to non-canonical pages can confuse search engines.
Fix: Ensure internal links point directly to the canonical pages, especially on e-commerce sites.
12. 404 Pages with Good Backlinks
Issue: Deleted pages with existing backlinks lose their SEO value.
Fix: Redirect 404 pages with valuable backlinks to relevant, active pages using a 301 redirect.
By addressing these common SEO issues, you can enhance your website’s performance, improve rankings, and ultimately drive more traffic to your site. Regular audits and maintenance will ensure that these problems are promptly resolved, keeping your SEO strategy on track.
