A technical site audit is essential for ensuring your website ranks higher in search engines. Many sites suffer from silent problems that prevent them from ranking, even if their copy is high-quality. One frequent issue is dead links. These can be internal links that lead to 404 pages or external links that point to dead destinations. Dead links reduce engagement and impede bot traversal. To fix this, leverage SEO crawlers like DeepCrawl or Ahrefs to locate and fix these links, or set up 301 redirects to guide users and bots correctly.

Another common pitfall is duplicate content. This occurs when multiple pages have the same or very similar content, which creates indexing conflicts over which version to prioritize. Common causes include query strings, www vs non-www versions, and printer-friendly pages. Solutions include using canonical tags, consolidating duplicate URLs, or preventing indexing of duplicates.

Slow page speed is another critical obstacle. Pages that load slowly increase bounce rates and hurt rankings. To improve speed, reduce image size, minify CSS and JavaScript, set long cache headers, and distribute assets globally. Also, consider switching to a faster hosting provider if your current one is underperforming.

Mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable since hundreds of millions of queries happen on tablets. A site must adapt seamlessly to multiple viewport widths. Use the Mobile Usability Report to check your pages. If problems are found, adjust media queries, make fonts legible, and optimize interactive elements to tap easily.

Improper use of robots.txt or indexing meta tags can unintentionally prevent search engines from indexing important pages. Audit your directives to ensure they’re not blocking content you want ranked. Also, confirm sitemap freshness and submitted to search engines. A up-to-date sitemap helps crawlers discover all your pages.

URL structure matters too. Unclean web addresses with unnecessary parameters are difficult to parse. Human-readable addresses are strongly favored. Use 301 redirects to update old URLs.

Finally, verify your SSL status. If your site uses non-secure protocol, search engines may penalize rankings. Install an SSL certificate by installing an SSL certificate and configuring server-level redirects. This not only improves trust but is also a ranking factor.

Fixing these site technical errors may not seem glamorous, but they form the backbone for better rankings and visitor 横浜市のSEO対策会社 satisfaction. Regular audits help identify issues before they escalate and ensure sustained SEO health.