Common SEO Issues: How to Identify and Fix Them

Search engine optimization (SEO) can be hard to understand. It’s like trying to put together a crossword puzzle where the pieces are always moving around. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a newbie trying to grow your online presence, SEO issues are a normal part of your journey. They can have a significant impact on your site’s visibility, traffic, and ultimately, its success. 

Understanding how to identify and fix common search engine optimization mistakes is crucial to maintaining a healthy, search engine-friendly site. This article aims to shed some light on the most typical SEO issues facing websites today. More importantly, we’ll provide practical solutions and tips to help you diagnose, fix, and prevent them, ensuring that your site is fully optimized for both search engines and users.

SEO Challenge #1: Keyword Volume and Competition

One of the primary hurdles in SEO is navigating the complex landscape of keyword volume (the frequency of a keyword search in a month) and its competition (the challenge of achieving a high ranking for a particular keyword). These metrics are not static; they can vary widely due to factors such as seasonal shifts, cultural changes, industry trends, and economic conditions.

Additionally, the difficulty level of ranking for specific keywords can evolve over time, with some becoming more competitive and others less so. It’s essential to monitor these trends closely to adapt your strategy accordingly.

How to Identify the Issue

To pinpoint this issue, start with an SEO audit to examine your content’s performance. Thus, you’ll be able to learn about a discrepancy in expected versus actual traffic. Utilizing SEO tools to track changes in keyword volume and competition over time can provide valuable insights into why certain content may not be performing as anticipated.

Solutions for Keyword Volume and Competition Challenges

Elevate Content Quality

In the face of rising competition, ensuring your content is not just current but superior in quality is crucial. Align your content with the latest information and trends shown by top-ranking pages, enrich it with recent links, and follow best practices for on-page SEO to enhance optimization.

Diversify Keyword Strategy

While targeting high-volume keywords seems appealing for boosting site traffic, the intense competition can make it a tough goal to achieve. Incorporating a variety of keywords, especially those with lower competition and volume, into your strategy can gradually build your site’s traffic and engagement. This approach sends positive indicators to search engines, bolstering your site’s SEO performance and aiding in achieving higher rankings for more competitive keywords in the long run.

SEO Challenge #2: Google’s Algorithm Changes

Google’s algorithm, the backbone of how it ranks content, is in a state of constant evolution. With advancements in technology, the accumulation of vast data sets, and more sophisticated machine learning techniques, Google algorithms are regularly tweaked. While many of these adjustments are minor and unlikely to cause significant disruption, the search giant also rolls out major core updates that can significantly affect SEO performance and website traffic.

How to Identify the Issue

Monitoring sudden shifts in website traffic and SEO performance can indicate that a recent algorithm update has affected your site. Tools like Google Analytics can help pinpoint when these changes occur and signal that SEO is not working, aligning them with announced updates from Google.

How to Tackle Algorithm Updates

Revise and Refresh Content

In response to a drop in traffic post-update, review the affected pages for potential improvements. Updating outdated content to better match current standards and user expectations can reclaim lost ground.

Be Patient

Sometimes, initial fluctuations post-update are temporary. Google’s algorithm may temporarily favor certain pages, but as it continues to learn from user interactions, rankings can stabilize. Giving it around 30 days to settle can often see your content return to its rightful position without immediate intervention.

Stay Informed

Keeping abreast of upcoming and recent algorithm updates allows you to anticipate changes and understand their impacts. Resources like Google Search Central and historical release notes from Google offer invaluable insights into these updates and community experiences.

Emphasize Quality Content

Despite the ever-changing algorithm landscape, Google’s core mission remains the same: to deliver the highest quality content to its users. Adhering to Google’s E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) guidelines ensures that your content remains relevant and valuable, mitigating the impact of algorithmic changes.

SEO Challenge #3: Slow Page Load Times

Slow page load times represent a critical SEO issue, as Google and users alike favor websites that load quickly. Studies have shown that a delay beyond one second in page loading can decrease user satisfaction by 16% and the conversion rate by 7%. Google has underscored the importance of page speed through various updates, including the page experience update and the introduction of Core Web Vitals, further highlighting its impact on SEO rankings.

How to Identify Slow Page Speeds

Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report within Google Search Console are instrumental in pinpointing pages that suffer from slow load times. These resources offer a detailed analysis of the factors contributing to delays.

Strategies for Enhancing Page Speed

Compress Media Files

Large images and media files are common culprits behind slow page speeds. Using compression tools to reduce file sizes—aiming for around 70–100KB for images without losing quality—can significantly improve load times. For videos and GIFs, consider embedding videos rather than hosting them directly on your site, and minimize the use of GIFs due to their large file sizes.

Optimize Code

Enhancing your website’s code can lead to faster loading times. Techniques include minifying code to remove unnecessary characters, implementing asynchronous loading to allow multiple elements to load simultaneously, and employing lazy loading, which prioritizes the loading of content visible to the user first.

Enable Caching

Caching enables browsers to store copies of webpages, reducing load times for repeat visitors. This can be activated at both the browser and server levels, ensuring that users can access content more quickly upon return visits.

SEO Challenge #4: Unindexed Pages

Ensuring your pages are indexed by Google is foundational for them to appear in search results. Essentially, when a page is indexed, Google recognizes it and includes it in its vast “library” of web pages, making it eligible to be displayed in response to relevant searches. While there are scenarios where you might intentionally prevent a page from being indexed (like duplicate content or private pages), unintentional non-indexing can hinder your SEO efforts.

How to Identify the Issue

Discover if a page isn’t indexed by using the URL inspection tool in the Google Search Console. Simply enter the page’s URL to check its index status. If it’s not indexed, the tool provides details that can help identify the cause.

Solutions for Indexing Issues

Verify Page Settings

Double-check that the page isn’t inadvertently set to “noindex.” This might be a small code snippet or a checkbox within your CMS settings. Adjusting this is often the first step to resolving the issue.

Submit for Indexing

Correct any “noindex” settings and then request indexing through Google Search Console. This process involves entering the corrected URL and selecting the option to request indexing, prompting Google to reconsider the page.

Deep Dive with URL Inspection

If the problem persists, further analyze the URL using Google Search Console’s inspection tool. This feature can guide you through more detailed troubleshooting steps. After addressing any identified issues, submit the page for indexing again.

Enhance Internal Linking

Improve the page’s discoverability by ensuring it’s well-linked within your site. Internal links from and to the page can facilitate Google’s crawling process, making it easier for the search engine to find and index the page.

Consider Republishing

In rare cases where a page remains stubbornly unindexed despite all efforts, try recreating and republishing it. This involves copying the content to a new page within your CMS and publishing it anew, which can sometimes reset the indexing process.

SEO Challenge #5: Poor Mobile Optimization

In an era where mobile devices dominate internet access, having a website that isn’t optimized for mobile can severely hinder your SEO performance. Google switched to mobile-first indexing eight years ago. This means that the search engine has long been primarily using the mobile version of content for indexing and ranking. A website that still does not offer a high-quality mobile version can expect a negative impact on its visibility in search engines and user engagement.

How to Identify Poor Mobile Optimization

Utilize tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to evaluate how well your site performs on mobile devices. This tool analyzes the URL and reports if the page has mobile usability problems, detailing specific issues that need attention.

Solutions for Mobile Optimization Challenges

Enforce Responsive Design

Implement a responsive website design that automatically adjusts the layout and content based on the device’s screen size. This ensures an optimal viewing experience across all devices.

Optimize Media

Ensure images and videos are optimized for fast loading on mobile devices. This may involve compressing files and using responsive images that adjust in size based on the screen.

Simplify Navigation

Mobile users navigate with their fingers. So it’s important to have a user-friendly interface with large buttons, accessible menus, and intuitive navigation paths.

Increase Font Size

Text on mobile devices should be readable without zooming. Opt for larger font sizes and contrasting colors to improve readability.

SEO Challenge #6: Local SEO Neglect

For businesses that operate on a local level, neglecting local SEO can result in missed opportunities to capture a significant portion of their target market. Local SEO helps businesses promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they’re looking for them online.

How to Identify Local SEO Neglect

Check if your business appears in local search queries relevant to your industry, especially in Google Local Pack and Google Maps. A lack of visibility in these areas often indicates room for improvement in your local SEO efforts.

Solutions for Enhancing Local SEO

Optimize Google Business Profile (GBP)

Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile listing with accurate and up-to-date information, including business hours, addresses, and photos. Regularly update your GBP with new posts and respond to reviews.

Insert Local Keywords

Incorporate location-specific keywords into your website’s content, meta descriptions, and titles. This helps Google understand the local relevance of your website.

Build Local Backlinks

Earn backlinks from reputable local websites, such as local news outlets, community blogs, and local business directories. This strengthens your site’s local SEO profile.

Collect and Respond to Reviews

Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your GMB listing and other relevant platforms. Respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, to show that you value customer feedback.

Resolving SEO issues effectively is crucial for enhancing your website’s visibility and engagement in the constantly changing digital landscape. By focusing on the strategic improvements highlighted in this blog post, you can address common search engine optimization issues head-on. Embracing these strategies fosters a robust online presence, paving the way for your site to meet current SEO standards and deliver genuine value to your audience.