Mastering Technical SEO: A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Common Issues

The Interplay Between Technical SEO, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO

While technical SEO focuses on a site’s technical health and infrastructure, other forms of SEO help enhance visibility and rankings:

• On-page SEO: Optimizing individual web pages with keywords, titles, meta descriptions, headings, etc.
• Off-page SEO: Earning backlinks, citations, social shares, reviews, and other external signals of popularity

Technical SEO works in concert with on-page and off-page SEO. For example, fast load speeds and mobile optimization (technical SEO) allow on-page elements to be crawlable and indexable. And a solid technical foundation means off-page signals are more impactful.

1 | No HTTPS Security

HTTPS refers to the secured version of the HTTP protocol used on websites. Switching to HTTPS is valuable for:

• Data security – Encrypts data transfer between browsers and servers.
• Privacy – Prevents intrusive snooping or spying on user activity.
• Trust – Instills user confidence by protecting their information.
• SEO boost – Provides a slight ranking increase as a signal of a secure, reputable site.
• Required for new capabilities – Enables features like geolocation that need HTTPS.

As users become more privacy-conscious, migrating sites to HTTPS is necessary.

How to switch from HTTP to HTTPS

Ways to implement HTTPS include:

• Get an SSL certificate – Start by purchasing and installing an SSL certificate on your server.
• Update site references – Change all links referencing HTTP to use HTTPS instead.
• Set up redirects – Redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS using server settings or .htaccess rules.
• Update sitemaps – Resubmit sitemaps to search engines with HTTPS URLs.
• Check for issues – Test for mixed secure/insecure content errors and resolve them.
• Enable HSTS – Use the HTTP Strict Transport Security header for added security.

Migrating to HTTPS requires adjusting references across the site but brings significant user experience and SEO benefits.

2 | Slow Page Load Speed

Page speed measures how quickly the content of a page loads for users. Slow page speeds negatively impact:

• User experience – Users expect fast load times and will likely abandon slow sites.
• Bounce rate – Slow pages increase bounce rates as users leave before viewing other pages.
• Search rankings – With mobile-first indexing, slow speeds may be seen as less mobile-friendly.
• Conversions – Even 100ms delays in speed reduce conversions and sales. Fast sites have higher engagement.

Improving page speed should be a priority for both user satisfaction and SEO performance.

Tools for measuring page load speed

Tools for testing page speed include:

• Google PageSpeed Insights – Provides lab data on mobile and desktop speed performance.
• Pingdom – Tests site speed from global locations to pinpoint issues.
• WebPageTest – Analyzes individual page components and optimizes load speed.
• Chrome DevTools – Has a network tab to see page request waterfalls and identify delays.

Regular monitoring with these tools identifies opportunities for speed optimization.

Strategies for improving load speed

Tactics for faster page speed:

• Optimize images – Compress, resize, lazy load and leverage browser caching.
• Minify CSS/JavaScript – Eliminate unnecessary code to reduce file size.
• Enable compression – Gzip compresses text-based files.
• Fix excessive redirects – Reduce redirect chains, slowing requests.
• Upgrade hosting – Choose optimized servers and infrastructure.
• Improve code – Fix bloated code causing rendering delays.
• Use a CDN – Distribute assets globally to improve performance.
• Avoid heavy plugins – Remove unnecessary plugins weighing pages down.
• Cache wherever possible – Set proper cache headers.

Faster sites engage users more, support SEO, and build brand credibility.

3 | Poor Mobile Optimization

With mobile surpassing desktops as the primary way users access the internet, having a mobile-friendly site is essential. Moreover, Google’s mobile-first indexing makes mobile optimization critical for SEO. Common mobile issues include:

• Slow load speeds – Mobile sites must load fast on cellular networks.
• Small text/buttons – Content must be legible and functional on small screens.
• Unresponsive design – Sites that don’t adapt layouts for mobile.
• Intrusive interstitials – Pop-ups and overlays that provide poor mobile experiences.
• Inaccessible navigation – Menus/navigation must work on mobile interfaces.

Without proper mobile optimization, sites will struggle to rank well in search and engage users.

Tools for assessing mobile optimization

Ways to test mobile readiness:

• Google Mobile-Friendly Test – Provides official Google mobile usability feedback.
• Google PageSpeed Insights – Identifies mobile performance issues and opportunities.
• Search Console – Reports mobile usability issues discovered by Googlebot.
• Chrome DevTools – Lets you emulate mobile experience during development.
• Google Analytics – Track mobile vs. desktop performance.

Regularly using these tools helps catch mobile UX problems early.

Strategies for improving mobile optimization

Tactics to optimize mobile experience:

• Responsive design – Ensure UI dynamically adapts for all devices.
• Reduce image sizes – Smaller image file sizes load faster on mobile.
• Minimal interstitials – Avoid pop-ups and overlays blocking content.
• Legible elements – Content and buttons must be easy to read and engage with on small screens.
• Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) – Leverage Google’s fast mobile page framework.
• Feature snippets – Use structured data for rich result formatting.
• Progressive web apps – Reliable like native apps but with web capabilities.

By fully optimizing for mobile, sites provide better user experiences while securing strong mobile SEO foundations.

4 | Indexing Issues

Indexing refers to search engines adding pages from a website to their search results index. The site will struggle with poor visibility and traffic if pages aren’t properly indexed. Common indexing issues include:

• New pages not being indexed – Often caused by not being added to XML sitemaps.
• Sudden pages dropping from the index – Typically, from sites moving too fast and not allowing time for recrawling.
• Blocked pages – Certain pages are restricted via robots.txt or meta noindex tag.
• Duplicate content issues – Copied or thin content not fully indexed.
• Technical problems – Site errors blocking crawlers from accessing pages.
• Restricted pages – Areas like member portals or checkout steps are not indexable.

Proper indexing is vital for page ranking and driving search traffic. Diagnosing and solving indexing problems should be a priority.

Strategies for ensuring proper indexing

Ways to improve indexing include:

• Submit XML sitemaps – Make search engines aware of new content faster.
• Avoid no-index tags on important pages – Use judiciously and selectively.
• Identify and fix crawl errors – Pages generating 404s or 500s need resolution.
• Consolidate duplicate content – Use canonical tags or 301 redirects to focus on one URL.
• Don’t block important pages – Place key content outside restricted areas when possible.
• Monitor indexing reports – Watch Search Console and site crawl tools for issues.

Ensuring pages are fully indexed in search engines is critical for visibility and traffic.

5 | Incorrect Use of Redirects

Redirects send users and search engines from old or changed URLs to new destinations. When implemented correctly, redirects preserve link equity and authority. However, mistakes can lead to indexing problems, crawling inefficiencies, and lost rankings.

Common redirect issues include:

• Pointing to wrong pages – Often caused by incorrect setup, leading to misdirected users.
• Chaining multiple redirects – Causes crawling inefficiencies and delays in transferring equity.
• Redirect loops – Where Page A redirects to Page B, which redirects back to Page A.
• Slow redirects – Overly complex redirects that take excessive time to process.
• 404 errors – Redirects to deleted pages or those producing 404s.
• Overuse of redirects – Unnecessarily redirecting unimportant pages dilutes equity flow.

Best practices for implementing redirects

Ways to optimize redirects:

• Set up 301 permanent redirects for URL changes and site migrations.
• Use 302 temporary redirects for short-term URL changes like maintenance pages.
• Limit redirect chains to 1-2 hops – Reevaluate architecture if more are needed.
• Avoid “daisy chaining” – Multiple unnecessary redirects passing equity.
• Check for proper functionality and destination page accuracy.
• Monitor redirect speed – Should process <200ms.
• Update internal links to point to new URLs rather than using excessive redirects.
• Set proper server-side caching headers for redirect performance.

Following redirect best practices keeps equity transfer efficient and avoids pitfalls.

6 | Broken Links

Broken links refer to hyperlinks that lead to 404 “page not found” errors. This happens when the destination page is deleted or moved without updating the link. Broken links negatively impact:

• User experience leads to frustration, lack of navigation, and credibility concerns.
• Search engine crawling – Crawlers hit 404s and may stop indexing site pages.
• Rankings – High numbers of site-wide broken links may be interpreted as a sign of poor quality or maintenance.

Even a few broken links can undermine the user and search engine accessibility vital for SEO.

Tools for identifying broken links

Tools for broken link audits include:

• Screaming Frog – Crawls all pages and highlights status codes for each link.
• Xenu Link Sleuth – Checks site for broken links and redirects. Provides link status reports. (Win)
• Google Search Console – Reports discover broken pages and allow resubmission.
• Chrome DevTools lets you view link status codes on individual pages during development.
• Link checker browser extensions – Add-ons like Check My Links that show bad links on pages.

Regular broken link audits ensure critical issues get fixed promptly.

Strategies for repairing or replacing broken links

To address broken links:

• Update or remove broken links pointing to deleted or reorganized content.
• Identify any site-wide menu/navigation links causing widespread issues.
• Replace broken links with relevant alternative content if available.
• Implement 301 redirects from broken pages to correct destinations if possible.
• Add nofollow to risky off-site links that frequently break.
• Enhance efforts to link to reliable, authoritative sites less prone to deletions.
• Improve internal linking structure to reduce dependency on a few broken pages.

Fixing broken links protects visitors and search engine bots from frustration and barriers on a site.

7 | Duplicate Content

Duplicate content refers to identical or similar copies of the same content on one or more pages within a website. This is problematic because search engines want to show the most relevant, authoritative pages in search results, and duplicating content dilutes its value across multiple pages.

Some common examples of duplicate content include:

• Product or service descriptions that are copied word-for-word across multiple product/service pages on a site. For example, an e-commerce site that sells clothing might have the same description for a t-shirt on the category page, product page, and shopping cart page.
• Blog/article content that is published across different sites within a publisher’s network. Many publishers will re-use the same blog content on their primary, regional, and contributor sites.
• Pages that differ only by a parameter in the URL. For example: example.com/page and example.com/page?variant=blue. The core content is the same on both pages.
• Sections of content re-published from another source without substantial changes or rewriting. For example, directly quoting chunks of text from another website.
• Auto-generated pages with templated content. For example, sites that dynamically generate location pages can end up with thousands of pages with duplicate boilerplate content.
• Press releases or syndicated content are re-published without substantial changes.

Duplicate content can occur both within a single domain or across different domains. But in all cases, it dilutes page authority and problems with indexing.

Tools for Identifying Duplicate Content

Several tools can help identify duplicate content issues:

• Google Search Console – Looks for pages with duplicate title tags and meta descriptions. It can help uncover close content duplication within a site.
• Copyscape – Allows entire sites to be crawled to identify matching text across pages. Any full or partial content duplication will be flagged.
• Screaming Frog – Can spider an entire site and provide a report showing pages with duplicated title tags, meta descriptions, H1s, etc. Makes it easy to spot duplicate content issues.
• Siteliner – Scans sites looking for thin, duplicate, or stolen content. Highlights content issues visually.
• Duplicate Content Checker – Checks a sample page against a Google index to detect copied text from other pages. Suitable for confirming duplication.
• Manual Review – For small sites, scanning content manually can help identify duplicate text passages across pages.

Regularly using these tools to audit for duplicate content can help detect issues in their early stages before they escalate.

Strategies for Resolving Duplicate Content

There are several effective strategies for eliminating or consolidating duplicate content:

• Use canonical URLs – Implement rel=canonical tags to signal the definitive URL version of a page with duplicate content. This consolidates authority and indexation to that page.
• Create unique title tags and metadata – Ensure each page has a unique title tag and meta description so search engines can distinguish them.
• Substantially rewrite duplicated content – If the same content exists on different domains, it should be rewritten to be at least 80% unique versions.
• Implement 301 redirects – Redirect duplicate pages to the canonical version so search authority flows to one destination.
• Add nofollow to one copy – If duplication can’t be avoided entirely, add rel=nofollow to secondary documents so search engines ignore them.
• Consolidate similar content – If many pages contain duplicate boilerplate sections (e.g. location pages), consolidate them into standard templates.
• Remove thin pages – Delete overly duplicated or thin pages that offer little unique value.
• Update guidelines for writers – Avoid duplication for in-house and guest writers.

By correctly identifying and addressing duplicate content, sites can present each page’s unique value, improving user experience and SEO visibility.

8 | Incorrect rel=canonical

The rel=canonical tag is used to specify the definitive URL version of a webpage with duplicate content issues. By adding <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://example.com/page”> to a page’s HTML code, you indicate that example.com/page is the primary version that should represent the content in search results.

When search engines crawl pages with canonical tags, they consolidate the authority and value of that content to the specified canonical URL. Pages with canonical tags pointing to other URLs are not omitted entirely but become secondary representations.

Using canonicals properly prevents duplicate content penalties by signalling the canonical or master page. However, they can cause SEO problems if implemented incorrectly.

Common mistakes and how to correct them

Some frequent canonical tag mistakes include:

• Pointing to the wrong page – Often caused by implementation errors like incorrect URLs. Do a crawl to confirm tags are accurate.
• Creating canonical loops – When Page A points to Page B canonical, which points back to Page A. Use screws to break loops.
• Tagging irrelevant or unimportant pages – Only use for duplicate content issues. Avoid diluting power across non-vital pages.
• Applying site-wide – Often added to headers and footers site-wide. But should only be used on select duplicate content pages.
• Blocking geo/language versions – Canonicals may prevent the indexing of international site versions. Use Hreflang instead.
• Causing early deindexing – Canonical pages drop before new pages are fully indexed, creating temporary losses.
• Pointing to 404s – Remove the tag immediately if the canonical URL returns 404 errors.

Fixing canonical errors involves:

• Auditing tags site-wide using tools like Screaming Frog to identify issues.
• Pointing all canonicals to live, relevant pages with unique content representative of that subject.
• Using hreflang tags for international versions instead of canonicals when appropriate.
• Adding new pages to XML sitemap before switching canonicals to ensure quick indexing.
• Removing unnecessary canonicals from less important pages.

Regular canonical audits and correcting errors quickly protect against duplication and consolidation issues.

9 | Poor Site Navigation

Site navigation refers to the menus, links, and architecture that allow users to quickly move around a website. Poor navigation leads to:

• Frustrated users – When users struggle to find pages or content, they often leave.
• Higher bounce rates – If main pages are hard to locate, users exit instead of going deeper.
• Lower time on site – Confusing navigation makes it harder to explore site content.
• Poor indexing – Crawlers may not reach certain pages without explicit linking and architecture.

Optimizing navigation focuses on helping both users and search bots seamlessly reach the most important pages.

Strategies for improving site navigation:

Tactics for better navigation include:

• Consistent menus and links – Maintain consistency across all site pages.
• Label pages clearly – Use descriptive text for menus, links, and buttons.
• Structured layout – Organize content and develop site hierarchy logically.
• Responsive design – Ensure menus work on mobile and adapt to all devices.
• Footer navigation – Provide standard secondary links on the page bottom.
• Link to important pages – Critically review internal linking to prioritize key pages.
• User testing – Watch real visitors navigate and identify issues.
• Search box – Allow searching site content when needed.

Improving navigation enhances the ability of visitors to engage with content and navigate sites easily.

10 | Missing XML Sitemaps

Sitemaps are XML files that list all the pages on a website to help search engines index content more efficiently. Submitting sitemaps provides key benefits:

• Faster indexing – Crawlers discover new and updated pages that may not have been found otherwise.
• Prioritization – Pages like the homepage and blog can be marked with higher priority to focus on crawling.
• Indexing control – Pages can be explicitly included or excluded from indexing.
• Diagnostics – Missing pages in Search Console reports may indicate indexing issues.

Having a comprehensive sitemap dramatically improves the crawling and indexing process.

How to create and submit an XML sitemap

Ways to implement effective sitemaps:

• Use a sitemap generator – Automatically create a sitemap listing all site pages.
• Provide multiple sitemaps – Large sites may require separate sitemaps by section or type.
• Include image sitemaps – List image URLs to be sure they are crawled.
• Set page priority – Mark the homepage and critical sections as high priority.
• List the newest content first – Help crawlers discover the latest blog posts and additions sooner.
• Resubmit frequently – Resubmit sitemaps after any significant site changes.
• Include in robots.txt – Add a sitemap reference in the root robots.txt file.
• Validate formatting – Use tools like the W3C Validator to check for syntax issues.

Proper XML sitemaps should be a foundational component of every SEO technical setup.

11 | Missing or Incorrect Robots.txt

The robots.txt file explains what parts of a site search engines can and cannot crawl. It can:

• Block pages – Tell crawl bots not to access certain pages or directories.
• Allow pages – Explicitly permit access if blocked elsewhere.
• Crawl-delay – Slow down the crawl rate to reduce server load.
• Sitemap info – Indicate where the XML sitemap file is located.

When configured properly, robots.txt improves crawling efficiency. If missing, search engines may spider hidden or restricted areas of sites.

Common mistakes and how to correct them

Some frequent robots.txt errors include:

• Blocking important pages – Overblocking content that should be indexed.
• Allowing hidden pages – Permitting crawling of pages designed to be restricted.
• Introducing crawl delays – Slowing down crawl rate unnecessarily.
• Disallowing all access – Blocking the entire site with noallow directive.
• Failing to list sitemap – Not pointing to sitemap file location.

To optimize robots.txt files:

• Only block what needs restricting – Don’t block content without reason.
• Test access results – Validate that bots can access intended pages.
• Avoid crawl delays – Speed up bot access when possible.
• List sitemap location – Help search engines find this resource.
• Check for conflicts – Identify any contradictory instructions.

Properly structuring and testing robots.txt maximizes search engine accessibility.

12 | Incorrect Language Declaration

Specifying a web page’s language is essential for users and search engines. It ensures:

• Pages appear for the correct language searches. Pages in French rank for French queries.
• Search engines can process and index content accurately with the proper spellcheck and algorithms.
• Users and search engines understand the content’s language and localization.
• Multilingual sites direct users to the correct language version.

Without proper language attributes, pages may be indexed incorrectly, appear for the wrong regional searches, and frustrate users.

Tools and strategies for correct language declaration

Ways to declare language include:

• HTML lang attribute – Set language in HTML, e.g. <html lang=”en”>
• URL subdirectories – Use a structure like example.com/en/page for a language designation.
• hreflang tags – Specify regional URLs in the page header using hreflang annotations.
• Sitemaps – Submit separate sitemaps by language to search engines.
• Remove ambiguity – Don’t mix multilingual content without clear separation.

Auditing language involves:

• Structured data testing tools – Test pages for proper HTML lang attributes.
• Xenu Link Sleuth – Crawls and highlights pages missing language tags.
• Manual checks – Verify headers, metatags, and hreflang tags specify languages.

Fix any incorrect tags, subdirectories, or ambiguity in language declaration to avoid issues.

13 | Poor Use of Structured Data Markup

Structured data refers to code that adds contextual information to website pages in ways search engines can interpret. Marking up pages with schema provides benefits like:

• Rich results – Enable enhanced search result displays like ratings, images, reviews, etc.
• Improved indexing – Additional markup data provides more signals for crawling and ranking.
• Featured snippets – Can increase chances of gaining the top featured spot for keywords.
• Voice search – Markup helps responses stand out better in voice results.

When implemented correctly, structured data improves click-through rates and visibility.

Tools for implementing and testing structured data markup

Resources for structured data include:

• Schema markup generators – Services like Schema App that build schema code.
• Google’s Structured Data Guidelines – Best practices for markup implementation.
• Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool – Checks markup errors.
• Search Console enhancements reports – Identifies opportunities for better-enhancing pages.
• Chatbots like Google’s Dataset Search – Help research and apply the suitable schema types.

Using these tools helps implement markup that drives more prominent placement in search engines.

14 | Missing Alt Text

The alt attribute provides text descriptions for images on web pages. Alt text is crucial for:

• Visually impaired users rely on screen readers to understand pictures.
• Search engines that cannot “see” images without descriptive alt text.

Without alt text, images lack context and can negatively impact user experience and search visibility.

How to effectively use alt text

Best practices for alt text include:

• Concise but descriptive – Summarize the image purpose/content in 1-2 brief sentences.
• Keyword optimization – Include relevant keywords, but don’t over-optimize.
• Empty alt text – Use empty alt=”” attributes for decorative images, not adding contextual value.
• Title tag overlap – Avoid duplicating title tag content for alt text on the same page.
• File names – Don’t use file names like image.jpg for alt text.
• Testing – Check screen reader experience and validate search engine readiness.

Proper alt text provides additional keywords while supporting accessibility and comprehension.

15 | Poorly Optimized or Missing Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are HTML attributes that concisely summarize page content. They are vital for:

• Click-through rate – Descriptions in search results influence users to click and visit pages.
• Brand visibility – Descriptions can boost brand awareness when shown to users.
• Accessibility – Assistive technologies use descriptions to explain pages to visually impaired users.

Optimized meta descriptions improve engagement from search engines and users.

Best practices for writing compelling meta descriptions:

Elements of high-performing descriptions include:

• Accurate page representation – Accurately reflect the content of each page.
• Compelling phrasing – Use conversational language focused on encouraging clicks.
• Appropriate length – Keep between 50-160 characters. Longer may get truncated.
• Keyword optimization – Incorporate relevant keywords naturally without overstuffing.
• Unique across pages – Each description should be distinct rather than duplicative.
• Brand messaging – Include concise brand descriptions or calls to action when logical.
• Review and iterate – Continually test new description versions using analytics.

Properly optimized meta descriptions make pages more visible and engaging in search results.