Technical SEO Issues: 15 Examples & Fixes

Updated: July 29, 2022.

15 examples of method SEO issues unneurotic with tips connected however to hole them and further explanations. 

In my enactment arsenic a method SEO advisor and website auditor, I travel crossed a batch of assorted method SEO issues each day. Some of these issues are intelligibly much communal and much superior than others. 

Your cognition of these method SEO issues volition not lone marque you a amended SEO but whitethorn beryllium a game-changer for the tract that you are auditing. 

How bash you cheque if a tract has these communal method SEO issues? 

To beryllium capable to observe if these issues are contiguous connected the site, you volition request the pursuing SEO tools:

• Google PageSpeed Insights
• Google Search Console
• Sitebulb and/or Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Make definite to cheque my database of SEO auditing tools to observe adjacent much tools that tin assistance you observe method SEO issues connected sites.

15 Technical SEO Issues

These examples of atrocious method SEO issues are not successful immoderate peculiar order. Some of these issues intelligibly person a higher precedence than others but it’s decidedly worthy knowing astir each of them. 

Below each example, you volition besides larn however to hole these method SEO issues.

☝️ Make definite to cheque the database of SEO champion practices from Google and my database of SEO tips.

Technical SEO contented #1: Core Web Vitals not passed successful the tract but passed successful the lab

❗If the tract passes Core Web Vitals successful the laboratory (Google Lighthouse) but inactive has orangish oregon reddish colors for the tract information (Chrome User Experience Report), past the tract is considered to beryllium failing the CWV assessment. 

It is not uncommon to spot that a tract passes Core Web Vitals successful the lab but does not bash truthful successful the field. Good Google Lighthouse scores tin springiness little experienced SEOs a mendacious content that the tract is doing OK portion successful fact, it is not. 

Note that it tin besides beryllium the different mode round, i.e. the tract has mediocre laboratory scores but bully scores successful the field.

Here is simply a speedy reminder for you:

• Core Web Vitals are 1 retired of 4 Google leafage acquisition signals (which are ranking factors). These see HTTPS, mobile-friendliness, and no intrusive interstitials successful summation to Core Web Vitals.
• Field information and laboratory information are different. Google – erstwhile assessing sites successful presumption of Core Web Vitals – lone takes into relationship the field data, i.e. the real-world information coming from existent users of the site.
• That’s wherefore erstwhile optimizing for Core Web Vitals, you should absorption connected tract information (the CrUX data) which are disposable successful Google PageSpeed Insights and the Google Search Console Core Web Vitals report (if the tract receives a meaningful magnitude of traffic).

• The PageSpeed Insights instrumentality is large for checking however 1 circumstantial leafage is doing portion the GSC Core Web Vitals study volition fto you place groups of pages with akin issues. 

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ The reasons for the contented whitethorn disagree a batch truthful it’s not imaginable to supply 1 elemental fix. However, present are a fewer things you whitethorn try:

• Analyze each contented successful the Google Search Console Core Web Vitals report and place groups of pages with akin issues. 
• Check illustration pages from each radical successful Google PageSpeed Insights to get precise tips connected what’s worthy optimizing. 
• Identify which Core Web Vital metric is problematic for a fixed leafage radical and see champion optimization practices for this circumstantial metric.
• To larn more, marque definite to cheque my guides connected Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

Technical SEO contented #2: Robots.txt disallows website resources

❗If the site’s resources, specified arsenic images, JS files, or/and CSS files are disallowed successful robots.txt, past the crawler whitethorn not beryllium capable to render the leafage correctly. 

Googlebot and different hunt motor crawlers bash not lone crawl but besides render the pages visited to beryllium capable to spot each of their contented adjacent if the tract has a batch of JavaScript.

Here is an illustration of specified incorrect implementation:

User-agent: * Disallow: /assets/ Disallow: /images/

However, by disallowing circumstantial website resources successful robots.txt, you volition marque it intolerable for bots to crawl these resources and render the leafage correctly. This tin pb to undesired consequences, specified arsenic little rankings oregon indexing problems.  

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ The solution is rather elemental here. All you request to bash is region each the disallow directives that artifact the crawling of website resources. 

• Most contented absorption systems let for modifying robots.txt oregon mounting up the rules of however this record is generated. 
• You tin besides modify the robots.txt record by simply connecting to the server via SFTP and uploading the modified file. 
• If you are utilizing WordPress, you whitethorn cheque my nonfiction connected how to entree and edit robots.txt successful WordPress. 

Technical SEO contented #3: XML sitemap contains incorrect entries

❗An XML sitemap should lone incorporate the canonical indexable URLs that you privation to beryllium indexed and ranked successful Google. Having tons of incorrect URLs successful the XML sitemap is simply a discarded of the crawl budget. 

Here are the examples of incorrect XML sitemap entries:

• URLs that instrumentality mistake codes similar 5XX oregon 4XX, 
• URLs with a noindex tag,
• canonicalized URLs, 
• redirected URLs,
• URLs disallowed successful robots.txt, 
• including the aforesaid URL aggregate times oregon successful aggregate XML sitemaps. 

Having a fewer incorrect sitemap entries present and determination is not a superior contented but if the sitemap has hundreds of thousands of incorrect URLs, past it tin person a antagonistic interaction connected the site’s crawl budget. 

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ All you request to bash is region the incorrect entries from the sitemap truthful that it lone contains canonical URLs. 

• In astir cases, the sitemap is generated automatically, truthful you lone request to set the rules that are utilized for XML sitemap generation. 
• In WordPress, it’s precise casual to set the settings of the XML sitemap with a plugin, specified arsenic Rank Math. 
• Any website crawler volition archer if the XML sitemap contains incorrect URLs. If you don’t cognize wherever the sitemap of the tract is, cheque my usher connected how to find the sitemap of the site.

Technical SEO contented #4: Incorrect, malformed, or/and conflicting canonical URLs

❗Unfortunately, determination are galore ways to instrumentality canonical URLs incorrectly. The best-case script with incorrect canonical URLs is that the hunt motor volition simply disregard them and connected its ain take the canonical nexus constituent of a fixed page.

Here are the examples of what tin spell incorrect with the implementation of canonical URLs:

• Canonical nexus constituent is specified extracurricular of the caput (e.g. successful the assemblage section)
• Canonical nexus constituent is bare oregon invalid
• Canonical URL points to the HTTP mentation of the URL
• Canonical URL points to a URL with a noindex tag
• Canonical URL points to a URL that returns mistake codification 4XX oregon 5XX
• Canonical URL points to a URL that is disallowed successful robots.txt
• Canonical URL is not recovered successful the root codification but lone successful the rendered HTML
• Canonical nexus constituent points to a canonicalized URL
• Conflicting canonical links successful the HTTP header and successful the head
• Canonical tags are not utilized astatine all

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ Fixing this is comparatively easy. All you request to bash is update the canonical links elements truthful that they constituent to existent canonical URLs. 

If you crawl the tract with Sitebulb oregon Screaming Frog, you volition beryllium capable to spot precisely what pages request optimization successful this regard.

Technical SEO contented #5: Conflicting nofollow and/or noindex directives successful HTML and/or the HTTP header

❗If the tract has aggregate and conflicting nofollow and/or noindex directives successful the HTTP header and/or HTML, past Google volition astir apt take the astir restrictive directive.

This tin beryllium a superior contented if the much restrictive directive, specified arsenic “noindex” has been added accidentally. This applies to aggregate nofollow/noindex directives successful either HTML oregon HTTP the header, oregon both.

Here is an illustration of specified incorrect implementation:

• The contented of the HTTP header says that the leafage should beryllium indexed and followed.

HTTP/... 200 OK ... X-Robots-Tag: index,follow

• The contented of the meta robots tag successful the caput says the leafage should not beryllium indexed.

<head> <title>SEO</title> <meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow"> ... </head>

The noindex/nofollow directives should beryllium stated conscionable erstwhile successful either HTML oregon the HTTP header.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ Fixing this contented is comparatively easy. All you request to bash is region the other directive and permission lone the 1 that you privation Google and different hunt engines to abide by.

• Just similar above, you request to usage a crawler to extract these problematic URLs.
• If the contented relates to a comparatively tiny fig of pages, you tin update them manually.
• If, however, it’s astir thousands oregon millions of web pages, past you request to customize the regularisation that is adding these aggregate nofollow and/or noindex tags.

Technical SEO contented #6: Nofollowed and/or disallowed interior links

❗Nofollowing or/and disallowing an interior URL whitethorn forestall it from ranking due to the fact that Google volition not beryllium capable to work the contented of the URL if it is disallowed successful robots.txt) oregon nary nexus equity volition beryllium passed to the URL (if it’s internally nofollowed). 

• If you don’t privation Google to scale a circumstantial URL, simply adhd a noindex tag to it. 
• Disallowing the URL successful robots.txt volition not forestall it from being indexed. 
• Unless you person a precise bully reason, nofollowing interior links is usually not a bully thought successful presumption of SEO. 
• SEOs utilized to nofollow interior links pointing to presumption & conditions oregon privateness argumentation pages. However, Google confirmed galore times that this is not necessary.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ All you request to bash to hole that contented is to region the disallowed URLs from the robots.txt and region the “nofollow” property from interior links. 

• Use a website crawler, specified arsenic Sitebulb to amusement you each the nofollowed interior URLs and their placement.
• You tin besides usage the NoFollow Chrome hold that volition people nofollowed links connected immoderate leafage you visit. This is particularly utile if you are doing a manual reappraisal of the site.

Technical SEO contented #7: Low-value interior followed links

❗Low-value interior links transportation nary SEO accusation astir the URLs to which they point. This is simply a immense discarded of SEO potential.

Internal links are 1 of the strongest signals providing accusation astir the URLs linked. That’s wherefore SEOs should ever strive to marque the astir of interior linking. 

Here are the examples of low-value links:

• Text links with anchor text, specified arsenic “Read more”, “Click here”, “Learn more” and truthful on.
• Graphic links with nary ALT attribute. The ALT property successful graphic links acts arsenic anchor substance successful substance links.

While it is simply a superior contented if each oregon the bulk of your interior links person the “Read more” anchor text, it is decidedly little of an contented if determination are 2 interior links pointing to a circumstantial leafage and 1 nexus has applicable anchor substance portion the different is of the “Learn more” type. 

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ In an perfect SEO world, you privation to lone person the high-value substance and graphic interior links. 

• The easiest mode to hole that is to simply region each the “Read more” links and regenerate them with substance links with applicable anchor texts. 
• If you cannot region the “Read more” links, astatine slightest marque definite to adhd different high-value substance nexus pointing to the aforesaid URL. 
• For example, successful the lawsuit of the blog title, you whitethorn person 2 links, 1 with the “Read more” substance and the different with descriptive anchor substance similar “technical SEO audit guide”.

Technical SEO contented #8: No outgoing and/or incoming interior links

❗If a fixed URL does not person immoderate outgoing and/or incoming interior links, past it is not passing/receiving immoderate nexus equity to/from different web pages.

If the URL successful question does not “aspire” to fertile successful Google and/or is conscionable a landing page, past it’s not an issue. In that case, it’s usually the champion thought to simply adhd a “noindex” tag to specified a URL.

However, if the URL is an important web leafage that you privation to bring integrated postulation and person precocious rankings, past the leafage whitethorn person trouble being indexed and/or ranked successful Google.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ In bid to hole this issue, you should adhd substance links (with applicable anchor texts) some from and to that URL. 

• The incoming links should ideally travel from different thematically-related pages. 
• The outgoing links – likewise – should constituent to different related web pages. 
• For example, my technical SEO audit leafage should nexus to and beryllium linked from a akin leafage similar my Core Web Vitals audit.

Technical SEO contented #9: Internal or/and outer redirects with issues

❗Both interior and outer redirects tin pb to a atrocious idiosyncratic acquisition and tin beryllium misleading for hunt motor robots (especially if these redirects bash not enactment correctly). 

Similar to canonical URLs, determination are a batch of things that tin spell incorrect with redirects connected the website.

Here are immoderate of the astir fashionable issues successful this regard:

• The interior URL redirect returns mistake presumption codes similar 4XX oregon 5XX.
• The outer URL redirect returns 4XX oregon 5XX.
• The URL redirects backmost to itself (a redirect loop). 

All of the supra illustration issues – if subordinate to a immense fig of URLs connected the tract – tin person a antagonistic interaction connected the site’s crawlability and idiosyncratic experience. Both users and hunt motor robots whitethorn wantonness the tract if they travel crossed a faulty redirect.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ Fortunately, immoderate crawler volition amusement you precisely what URLs person this issue. Here is however you hole it: 

• In the lawsuit of interior URLs, you simply request to update the people URLs truthful that they instrumentality presumption 200 (OK). 
• For outer redirected URLs, you simply person to region the links pointing to these redirected URLs oregon regenerate them with different URLs returning presumption codification 200 (OK).   

Technical SEO contented #10: Internal links to redirected URLs

❗If the tract has URLs that are redirected to different interior URLs, past it should not nexus to the redirected URLs but to people URLs. 

While you don’t person power implicit the outer URLs that you nexus to and whether they go redirected astatine immoderate point, you person afloat power implicit your interior URLs. 

That’s wherefore you should marque definite that your tract does not nexus to internally redirected URLs. Instead, each interior links should constituent to the people URLs. 

For example, if A is redirected to B, you should not spot interior links to the A URL but alternatively to the B URL. This is not a fatal mistake but a precise bully SEO signifier regarding the crawlability of the site.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ Both fixing and diagnosing this is precise casual if you usage a crawler similar Sitebulb oregon Screaming Frog. Once the instrumentality shows you the redirected URLs, your task is to:

• Prepare the database of these redirected URLs unneurotic with their people URLs and the URLs connected which they are placed.
• Change each the redirected URLs with people URLs.
• Depending connected the standard of this contented connected the site, you whitethorn either bash it manually oregon automate it successful immoderate way.

Technical SEO contented #11: Invalid and/or incorrect hreflang tags 

❗If an planetary website has issues with the hreflang implementation, past it whitethorn not beryllium capable to correctly pass the people connection and portion of its URLs to Google and different hunt engines.  

Hreflang tags are yet different SEO constituent that is susceptible to galore antithetic issues the astir important of which include:

• Hreflang annotations are invalid (either the connection oregon portion codes are invalid)
• Hreflang annotations constituent to noindexed, disallowed, oregon canonicalized URLs
• Hreflang tags constituent to URLs returning mistake codes similar 4XX oregon 5XX
• Hreflang tags constituent to redirected URLs
• Hreflang tags struggle with each other
• Hreflang tags are indicated utilizing aggregate methods (in the head, successful the HTTP header, and/or successful the XML sitemap)
• Hreflang tags are missing successful the lawsuit of a multilingual website
• Return tags are missing 
• The X-default connection is not indicated

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ To hole these issues, you request to edit hreflang annotations truthful that nary of the supra issues exists and hreflangs are valid, constituent to close canonical URLs that instrumentality presumption 200 (OK), incorporate instrumentality tags, and person the X-default connection specified.

• Depending connected the size of the site, it tin beryllium done manually oregon automatically.
• Fortunately, each website crawler volition archer you if determination are issues successful the hreflang implementations of the site. 
• In addition, you tin usage the International Targetting report successful Google Search Console to cheque if hreflang tags enactment correctly.

Technical SEO contented #12: The <head> conception containing invalid HTML elements

❗Putting invalid HTML elements successful the caput whitethorn interruption the <head> oregon adjacent it excessively early, which whitethorn pb to hunt motor crawlers missing immoderate important caput elements, specified arsenic meta robots oregon canonical nexus elements.

Here is what to ticker retired for:

• If the tract contains a <noscript> tag successful the head, past it tin lone incorporate elements, specified arsenic <meta>, <link>, and <style>.
• Putting different elements similar <h1> oregon <img> into the <noscrip> tag that is placed successful the <head> is invalid.
• If the <noscript> tag is placed successful the body, past you tin enactment different elements similar <img> into it.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ You request to modify the <head> conception of the tract and region each the invalid elements from it.

Depending connected the benignant of the tract and whether it uses a fashionable CMS similar WordPress, editing the <head> whitethorn differ.

Technical SEO contented #13: URLs disposable astatine some HTTP and HTTPS

❗It is simply a superior SEO and information contented if the tract is disposable some astatine HTTP and HTTPS. It tin origin some the users and hunt engines to mistrust the site. In addition, browsers volition show warnings that the tract is being loaded implicit HTTP.

It’s awesome that a tract has an SSL certificate and loads implicit HTTPS. However, it’s besides vitally important to marque definite that each of the HTTP URLs are permanently (301) redirected to the HTTPS version.  

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ If determination are, your task is to marque definite they are each permanently redirected (301) to the HTTPS version.

• Any website crawler volition amusement you if determination are URLs disposable astatine the HTTP version.
• The champion mode to instrumentality redirects is to adhd them successful the .htaccess file.

Technical SEO contented #14: Mixed contented and/or interior HTTP links

❗If the tract has mixed contented and/or interior links to HTTP URLs, past browsers whitethorn show reddish warnings notifying users that the tract is not afloat secure.

If the tract has an SSL certificate, past each of its URLs, resources, and interior links should beryllium HTTPS. If they aren’t, past the tract whitethorn beryllium distrusted by some users and hunt motor crawlers. 

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ Make definite that each site’s resources and URLs are 301-redirected to the HTTPS mentation and regenerate immoderate HTTP links with the HTTPS versions.

• In the lawsuit of WordPress, you whitethorn usage a plugin, specified arsenic SSL Insecure Content Fixer.

Technical SEO contented #15: Technical duplication of content

❗Technical duplication of the contented whitethorn effect successful the instauration of thousands oregon adjacent millions of URLs with identical content. This tin negatively power the crawl fund of the tract and Google’s quality to efficiently crawl and scale the site.

Technical contented duplication takes spot erstwhile determination are aggregate indexable and canonical URLs with identical content. These usually see URLs successful which the missive lawsuit is insignificant and which incorporate parameters that bash not power the contented of the URL

Google – astir of the clip – knows however to woody with the method duplication of contented but it’s inactive a large signifier to marque definite determination are nary technically duplicate URLs.

How bash you hole this method SEO issue?

✅ The fix, successful this case, is usually precise elemental and each you request to bash is adhd the canonical nexus constituent pointing to the canonical “main” mentation of the URL (without immoderate parameters and successful lowercase) connected each the technically duplicated URLs. 

Once it’s done, each the technically duplicate URLs volition look nether Excluded successful the GSC Coverage study unless they are not already there.