1. No HTTPS Security

Having HTTPS security is more essential than ever.

If your website is secured with HTTPS, browsers like Google Chrome may display a gray warning or even a red Not Secure alert screen. This not only damages user trust but can also drive visitors away before they even explore your site.

The first step to quickly fix this is to verify if your site uses HTTPS. Simply open your website in Chrome and look for a padlock icon or a Secure label in the address bar.

2. Site Not Properly Indexed

When you search for your brand name on Google, does your website appear in the results? If it doesnot, there might be an issue with how Google is indexing your site.

To Google, pages that arenot indexed essentially donot exist and won t show up in search results..

3.XML Sitemap Not Found

XML sitemaps guide Google search bots through your website structure, helping them efficiently crawl and index your content.

4.Robots.txt Missing or Misconfigured

A missing robots.txt file is a major red flag but even worse is an incorrectly configured file that can block search engines from crawling your entire website, killing your organic visibility.

5.Meta Robots NOINDEX Tag Enabled

The NOINDEX meta tag is helpful for keeping low value pages such as category archives or admin pages out of search engine indexes.

However, if the NOINDEX tag is incorrectly set or remains on important pages after launch, it can greatly damage your site's search visibility by excluding those pages from Google's index.

Applying NOINDEX during development is common, but it crucial to remove or update it before your site goes live. Don t assume it been removed without verification leaving it in place can severely damage your organic traffic.

6. Sluggish Page Load Time

If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, users are likely to leave before interacting with your content.

Page speed affects both user experience and Google search rankings. In 2021, Google Page Experience update introduced Core Web Vitals metrics, which you can track through the Page Experience report in Search Console.

7. Duplicate Versions of the Homepage

Sometimes your homepage can be accessed through multiple URLs like yourwebsite.com and www.yourwebsite.com. While this may seem convenient, it can cause Google to index several versions of the same page.

This splits your SEO value and can confuse both users and search engines, resulting in incorrect indexing and weakened search rankings.

9. Content Duplication

Due to the rise of dynamic websites, CMS platforms, and international SEO, duplicate content has become a frequent and challenging problem for many sites.

Duplicate content can confuse search engine crawlers, weaken page authority, and stop the correct version of your content from ranking effectively in search results.

This differs from thin content (pages with insufficient content). Duplicate content can arise from:

• Product pages showing up under multiple URLs on ecommerce sites.
• Printer friendly page versions that duplicate the main content.
• The same content presented in multiple languages on international websites.

10.Missing Alt Tags

Broken images and those without alt tags represent a missed SEO opportunity. The alt attribute helps search engines understand what an image represents, boosting the SEO value of the page and improving accessibility.

Including descriptive alt tags is a simple yet effective way to boost your website search visibility and enhance the user experience, especially for visually impaired users who rely on screen readers.

11. Dead Links

Quality internal and external links improve user experience and indicate to search engines that your content is reliable and well managed. However, as content evolves, previously functional links can become broken.

Broken links disrupt the user experience, cause frustration, and can harm your page ranking by signaling outdated or low quality content.

12. Insufficient Use of Structured Data

Google defines structured data as a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying its content. It helps search engines better understand your page, which can lead to rich results in the SERPs and potentially boost your CTR.

For instance, a recipe page can utilize structured data to display ingredients, cooking time, and nutritional information. Similarly, a business can use it to highlight its name, contact details, and more as shown in this example:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "url": "http://www.example.com",
  "name": "Unlimited Ball Bearings Corp.",
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "telephone": "+1 (248)729-1188",
    "contactType": "Customer service"
  }
}
</script>
  

13. Optimization for Mobile Devices

Since December 2018, Google has focused on mobile-first indexing, which means the mobile version of your site is used for indexing and ranking.

For websites using responsive design, you re likely in good shape. But if your site uses a .m subdomain (like m.yoursite.com), additional steps are critical to avoid losing visibility in search results.

14.Absent or Poorly Optimized Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are short, up to 160 character blurbs that describe what a webpage is about. Although they don’t directly impact rankings, they play a critical role in increasing click through rates by helping users decide if they want to visit your page from search results.

Although meta descriptions are crucial, many pages either don t have them at all or use poorly crafted, unoptimized versions. Missing or weak descriptions mean missed chances to increase visibility and attract traffic.

15. Users Redirected to Pages in the Incorrect Language

In 2011, Google introduced the hreflang tag to enhance international SEO by making sure users are served content in the appropriate language or regional version. This tag uses a code such as:

<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com" hreflang="en-us" />

This is essential for global brands providing customized content for various markets. Without it, users might end up on the wrong language version, which harms both user experience and SEO results.