Your website is one of the most valuable marketing tools you have. When it doesn’t perform well in search results, it impacts traffic, leads, and ultimately, your revenue. The challenge is that many issues affecting search rankings are often hidden beneath the surface, and you might not realize they’re holding you back.
In this post, we’ll dive into the most common website issues that could be negatively impacting your search rankings, and offer actionable steps you can take to address them.
1) Slow Page Load Speeds
Why It Hurts: Search engines like Google prioritize user experience, and one of the key factors they consider is how quickly your pages load. If your website takes too long to load, visitors will leave, and your bounce rate will skyrocket—both of which signal to search engines that your site isn’t providing a good user experience.
How to Fix It:
- Compress images: Large, unoptimized images can slow down your website significantly. Use tools like ImageOptim to reduce image file sizes without sacrificing quality.
- Leverage browser caching: Caching can reduce the time it takes for repeat visitors to load your website. Ensure you have browser caching enabled through your hosting provider or website platform.
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML: Minifying these files reduces their size and improves load times. Most website platforms have plugins or extensions that can handle this for you, like Autoptimize for WordPress.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs like Cloudflare distribute your site’s content across multiple servers globally, ensuring quicker delivery to users no matter their location.
2) Mobile Optimization Issues
Why It Hurts: Mobile-first indexing means that Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile devices, you risk losing a significant portion of your audience and dropping in search rankings.
How to Fix It:
- Implement a responsive design: Make sure your website adjusts dynamically based on the device it’s being viewed on. Test your site on different screen sizes to ensure the design works on both mobile and desktop.
- Use mobile-friendly buttons and links: Ensure that buttons and links are easily tappable on mobile screens. Elements that are too close together can make it difficult for users to navigate.
- Optimize images for mobile: Serve smaller images for mobile devices to reduce load times. You can use responsive images with the
<picture>element in HTML.
3) Broken Links
Why It Hurts: Broken links lead to a poor user experience, which in turn signals to search engines that your site isn’t maintained well. Search engines see this as a negative ranking factor, and it could cause your rankings to drop.
How to Fix It:
- Conduct regular link audits: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to identify broken links across your website. These tools can scan your entire site and show you where any dead links exist.
- Fix or redirect broken links: If a page no longer exists, create a 301 redirect to an active page. This maintains any SEO value the original page may have had.
- Update internal links: Ensure all internal links on your site are pointing to valid pages, and make sure they align with the content’s relevancy and search intent.
4) Duplicate Content
Why It Hurts: Duplicate content confuses search engines, making it difficult for them to know which version of a page to prioritize. This can dilute the authority of your content and cause search engines to rank your site lower overall.
How to Fix It:
- Use canonical tags: If you have multiple versions of the same page (for example, an HTTP and HTTPS version), use canonical tags to tell search engines which version is the preferred one.
- Consolidate similar pages: If you have pages with similar or identical content, consider merging them into one comprehensive page. This will give search engines a clear signal about which page to prioritize.
- Check for plagiarized content: If you’ve unknowingly published content that’s too similar to other websites, tools like Copyscape can help you identify and rewrite it.
5) Missing or Poorly Optimized Meta Tags
Why It Hurts: Meta tags like title tags and meta descriptions don’t directly influence search rankings, but they play a critical role in click-through rates (CTR). If your meta tags are missing or not optimized, it can impact how often people click on your link in search results, which can indirectly hurt your rankings.
How to Fix It:
- Write compelling meta titles: Make sure each page has a unique, descriptive title that includes the main keyword you’re targeting.
- Optimize meta descriptions: While these don’t directly affect rankings, an enticing meta description can improve your CTR. Keep it under 160 characters and make it clear what the user can expect by visiting your page.
- Avoid keyword stuffing: Don’t overload your meta tags with keywords—this can harm your rankings rather than help.
6) Lack of HTTPS/SSL Security
Why It Hurts: Having an HTTPS-secured website is a ranking factor for Google. Not only that, browsers like Chrome will display a “Not Secure” warning for users visiting sites without HTTPS, which can scare potential visitors away.
How to Fix It:
- Install an SSL certificate: Most web hosting providers offer SSL certificates, and many platforms like WordPress have plugins to help you enable it.
- Redirect HTTP to HTTPS: Once you have an SSL certificate installed, make sure all traffic is redirected to the HTTPS version of your site to avoid any duplicate content issues.
7) Outdated XML Sitemaps
Why It Hurts: An XML sitemap helps search engines find and crawl the important pages on your site. If your sitemap is outdated or missing critical pages, search engines may not properly index all your content, which can negatively impact your rankings.
How to Fix It:
- Update your sitemap regularly: Anytime you add or remove pages, make sure your XML sitemap is updated to reflect these changes.
- Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console: Regularly submitting your sitemap ensures that Google is aware of all the pages on your site and can index them properly.
- Check for errors: Use tools like Google Search Console to identify any errors in your sitemap, such as pages that are being blocked from crawling.
8) Thin or Low-Quality Content
Why It Hurts: Search engines prioritize valuable, comprehensive content that answers users’ queries. If your website contains thin or poorly written content, it will rank lower because it doesn’t provide sufficient value to users.
How to Fix It:
- Perform a content audit: Go through your website’s content and identify pages with low word counts or outdated information. Tools like SEMrush or Yoast’s content analyzer can help you identify thin content.
- Add depth to your content: For pages with thin content, expand them by adding more detailed information, visuals, and relevant links. Focus on providing valuable information that answers user questions in-depth.
- Create a content plan: Going forward, make sure you’re producing high-quality content regularly. Each piece should be unique, informative, and relevant to your audience’s needs.
9) Not Optimizing for Keywords
Why It Hurts: Keywords help search engines understand what your content is about and how it should be indexed. If you’re not optimizing your website content with relevant keywords, you may be missing out on valuable search traffic.
How to Fix It:
- Conduct keyword research: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to find relevant keywords for your industry. Focus on both short-tail and long-tail keywords that match the intent of your audience.
- Naturally integrate keywords: Once you have your target keywords, integrate them naturally into your content, headers, and meta tags. Avoid keyword stuffing, as this can hurt your rankings.
- Keep it relevant: Don’t just target keywords for the sake of it—ensure your content aligns with the keywords you’re optimizing for.
10) Poor Website Navigation and Structure
Why It Hurts: A poorly organized website structure makes it difficult for both users and search engines to navigate and find important content. This can result in lower rankings and a higher bounce rate as users leave your site in frustration.
How to Fix It:
- Simplify your navigation: Ensure your website has a clean, intuitive navigation system. Use clear categories and subcategories so users can easily find what they’re looking for.
- Use internal links: Proper internal linking helps search engines understand the hierarchy and importance of your pages. Make sure you’re linking related content throughout your website.
- Create a logical URL structure: Use clean, readable URLs that reflect the content of the page. Avoid overly complex or lengthy URLs.
11) Excessive Use of Pop-ups and Ads
Why It Hurts: While pop-ups can be useful for capturing leads, too many can hurt user experience. If visitors are overwhelmed by ads or pop-ups, they’ll likely leave your site quickly, which negatively affects your rankings.
How to Fix It:
- Limit pop-ups: Ensure your pop-ups are relevant and don’t disrupt the user’s experience. Avoid displaying multiple pop-ups on a single page.
- Ensure ads don’t block content: If you use ads on your site, make sure they don’t interfere with the readability or accessibility of your content.
- Test for mobile pop-ups: Google penalizes sites with intrusive mobile pop-ups, so test your site on mobile devices to ensure any pop-ups are user-friendly.
12) Missing ALT Text for Images
Why It Hurts: ALT text helps search engines understand what an image represents, which can improve your website’s SEO. Without ALT text, your images are invisible to search engines, and you’re missing an opportunity to rank for image searches and improve accessibility.
How to Fix It:
- Add descriptive ALT text to every image: Ensure that all your website’s images have clear, descriptive ALT text. Focus on explaining what the image is, and where possible, naturally include a relevant keyword.
- Avoid keyword stuffing: While it’s good to use keywords in ALT text, make sure it flows naturally and describes the image accurately, rather than just repeating keywords for the sake of SEO.
- Use unique ALT text for each image: Every image should have its own ALT description to avoid being flagged for duplicate content.
13) Not Using Structured Data (Schema Markup)
Why It Hurts: Structured data helps search engines understand the context of your content better and can improve how your website is displayed in search results (e.g., rich snippets). Without it, you miss the chance to stand out in search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive more traffic to your site.
How to Fix It:
- Implement schema markup: Use structured data to enhance your website’s listings in search results. Tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper can help you easily generate the necessary code.
- Focus on relevant markup types: Depending on your business, you can use different schema types like reviews, FAQs, or product information to make your website more prominent in SERPs.
- Test your markup: Once you’ve implemented schema, use Google’s Rich Results Test to ensure that it’s working correctly and that search engines can read it.
14) Lack of Backlinks
Why It Hurts: Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for search engines. If other high-authority websites aren’t linking back to your site, it can hurt your site’s credibility and search rankings.
How to Fix It:
- Develop a backlink strategy: Reach out to authoritative sites in your industry to see if they’ll link to your content. This could include guest blogging, offering testimonials, or sharing research or insights that they might find valuable.
- Create shareable content: High-quality, valuable content is more likely to attract backlinks. Consider producing infographics, in-depth guides, or original research that other sites would want to reference.
- Disavow bad backlinks: Use tools like Google’s Disavow Tool to get rid of spammy or low-quality backlinks that may be hurting your rankings.
15) Overlooking Local SEO
Why It Hurts: If you’re a business that relies on local customers, ignoring local SEO can seriously impact your rankings in location-based searches. Without proper local SEO tactics, you might miss out on valuable traffic from people searching for services in your area.
How to Fix It:
- Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile: Ensure your business information is accurate and complete, including your address, hours, and contact details. Add relevant categories and keep your profile updated with new images or posts.
- Use location-based keywords: Include your city or region in your website’s titles, meta descriptions, and content where relevant. Make sure that location-based keywords appear naturally and align with the intent of your content.
- Get local backlinks: Build relationships with local businesses, media, and blogs to get backlinks from local websites, which can boost your local search rankings.
16) Failure to Update and Maintain Website Content
Why It Hurts: Stale, outdated content signals to search engines that your site isn’t actively maintained, which can cause your rankings to drop. Fresh content not only attracts more visitors but also keeps search engines crawling your site regularly.
How to Fix It:
- Refresh old content: Review and update older blog posts and pages with the latest information. Add new insights, update any outdated links, and enhance the content to reflect current trends or changes in your industry.
- Create a regular content schedule: Develop a plan to regularly publish new content, whether it’s blog posts, case studies, or news updates. This keeps your website active and engaging for both visitors and search engines.
- Repurpose content: If you have valuable content in a different format (like a webinar or podcast), consider repurposing it into blog posts, infographics, or social media snippets to keep content fresh.
17) Ignoring Analytics and Performance Data
Why It Hurts: If you’re not paying attention to your website’s analytics, you’re missing out on key insights that could help improve your search rankings. Data on traffic, bounce rates, and user behavior can show you where your site is underperforming and where to focus your efforts.
How to Fix It:
- Set up Google Analytics and Search Console: These free tools give you detailed data about your website’s performance, including which pages drive the most traffic and which keywords are bringing users to your site.
- Monitor your bounce rate: A high bounce rate could indicate that users aren’t finding what they’re looking for, which can hurt your rankings. Use the data to identify problem pages and work on improving content, layout, or load time.
- Track keyword performance: Regularly check your keyword rankings and look for trends in how your site is performing. If you notice a drop, investigate and address potential issues.
Final Thoughts
Spotting and addressing website issues that hurt your search rankings is crucial to maintaining a high-performing site. By regularly auditing your website for these common issues, you’ll improve not just your search rankings, but also the overall user experience, which leads to more traffic, better engagement, and higher conversion rates.
If this feels overwhelming or if you need help resolving these issues, consider reaching out to a web design and SEO expert like Graticle Design. Our team specializes in diagnosing and fixing the technical and content-related problems that could be hurting your rankings. Don’t let your website’s hidden issues hold you back—get in touch with us today to see how we can help.
