How To Find and Fix Technical SEO Problems on Your Website

Technical SEO problems are the most common reason a well-written, well-optimized site fails to rank as well as it should. Your content can be excellent and your links strong, but if search engines can’t crawl, index, or render your pages correctly, none of that work delivers the results it should.

This guide covers every major category of technical SEO problem, how to find each one, and exactly how to fix it.

What are Technical SEO Problems and Why Do They Matter?

Technical SEO problems are issues at the infrastructure level of your site that affect how search engines discover, crawl, and rank your pages. Unlike content or link issues, technical problems often have no visible symptoms from the front end. Your site looks fine to visitors while search engines quietly struggle to access or correctly interpret your pages.

They matter because even the best content can’t rank if search engines can’t reach it, index it correctly, or render it efficiently. Technical problems create a ceiling on your organic performance that content improvements alone can’t break through.

Most Common Technical SEO Problems on Websites

Most technical SEO problems fall into predictable categories. Knowing what to look for makes auditing significantly faster and more systematic.

• Crawlability and Indexing Issues: Pages blocked by robots.txt, noindex tags, or missing internal links that prevent search engines from discovering and indexing your content.

• Slow Page Speed and Core Web Vitals Failures: LCP, CLS, and INP scores that fall below Google’s thresholds and directly affect rankings and user experience.

• Broken Links and Redirect Errors: Internal and external links returning 404 errors, redirect chains, redirect loops, and incorrect redirect types.

• Duplicate Content and Canonical Issues: Multiple URLs serving the same or near-identical content without canonical tags to consolidate ranking signals.

• Missing or Incorrect Structured Data: Schema markup that is absent, invalid, or incorrectly implemented, and missing out on rich result eligibility.

• XML Sitemap Errors: Sitemaps containing redirected URLs, noindexed pages, or missing important pages that should be indexed.

• Robots.txt Misconfiguration: Robots.txt rules that accidentally block search engines from crawling important pages or entire sections of your site.

• Mobile Usability Issues: Pages that fail Google’s mobile usability tests due to small tap targets, viewport configuration problems, or content wider than the screen.

• HTTPS and SSL Errors: Mixed content errors, expired SSL certificates, and misconfigured HTTP-to-HTTPS redirects that affect both security and rankings.

• Orphaned Pages and Thin Content: Pages with no internal links pointing to them or pages with insufficient content to warrant indexing.

How To Run a Technical SEO Audit on Your Website?

A systematic technical SEO audit starts with the right tools and a clear sequence. Work through each tool in order to build a complete picture of your site’s technical health before prioritizing fixes.

Use Google Search Console for Indexing and Coverage Issues

Google Search Console is the most direct source of technical SEO data because it shows you exactly what Google sees when it crawls your site. Start with the Coverage report to identify pages with indexing errors, pages excluded from the index, and pages Google has discovered but not yet indexed.

Check the Core Web Vitals report for pages failing LCP, CLS, and INP thresholds. Review the Sitemaps report to confirm that your sitemap has been submitted and processed without errors. Check the Mobile Usability report for pages failing Google’s mobile standards. Search Console data comes directly from Google’s crawlers, making it the most authoritative source for diagnosing indexing and crawl issues.

Crawl Your Site With Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog crawls your site the way a search engine does, following internal links and logging every URL, status code, title tag, meta description, heading, and on-page element it encounters. Run a full crawl before starting any fixes, so you have a complete baseline of your site’s technical state.

After the crawl, filter by response code to find all 404 errors, redirect chains, and server errors. Check the Page Titles and Meta Description tabs for missing, duplicate, or truncated metadata. Review the H1 tab for pages with missing or multiple H1 tags. Export the full crawl data as a spreadsheet to use as your working document throughout the audit.

Use Ahrefs or Semrush for a Full Technical Audit

Ahrefs Site Audit and Semrush Site Audit both categorize technical SEO issues by severity and provide actionable recommendations for each one. Both tools crawl your site and cross-reference technical issues with SEO data, such as organic traffic and backlinks, helping you prioritize fixes by their likely ranking impact.

In Ahrefs, go to Site Audit and review the Health Score and the Issues tab. Filter by issue type to systematically work through crawlability, on-page, performance, and link issues. In Semrush, go to Site Audit and review the Overview report for a prioritized list of errors, warnings, and notices across every technical category.

Test Page Speed With Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights gives you field data and lab data for your Core Web Vitals scores on both mobile and desktop. Run every important page on your site through PageSpeed Insights, not just your homepage, since performance issues often affect specific page templates rather than the entire site uniformly.

Note the specific issues flagged under Opportunities and Diagnostics for each page. These actionable recommendations tell you exactly which elements are causing performance problems and how much improvement each fix is expected to deliver. Prioritize fixes on your highest-traffic and highest-revenue pages first.

Crawlability and Indexing Problems: How To Find and Fix Them

Crawlability and indexing problems prevent search engines from discovering and ranking your pages, regardless of how good the content is. These are the highest-priority technical issues to fix because they affect every other SEO effort you make.

Pages Blocked by Robots.txt

A robots.txt misconfiguration is one of the most damaging technical SEO mistakes because it can block search engines from entire sections of your site silently. Go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt and review every disallow rule to confirm it’s intentional.

Use Google Search Console’s robots.txt tester to check specific URLs against your current robots.txt rules. If important pages are being blocked, remove or adjust the relevant disallow rules. After updating robots.txt, submit your sitemap in Search Console to prompt Google to recrawl the newly accessible pages.

Pages With Noindex Tags

Noindex tags tell search engines not to index a page. They intentionally applied noindex tags on some pages, like admin and thank-you pages, but accidentally applied them to content pages, which are a common source of mysterious ranking drops.

In Screaming Frog, filter by the Indexability tab to find all pages with noindex tags. Cross-reference these with Google Search Console’s Coverage report to identify any pages that are excluded from the index due to noindex tags that should be indexed. Remove noindex tags from any pages that should be ranking and resubmit them in Search Console for recrawling.

Orphaned Pages With No Internal Links

Orphaned pages have no internal links pointing to them from other pages on your site. Search engines can only find them through your sitemap or external backlinks. Without internal links, they receive no link equity and rarely rank competitively.

Compare your sitemap URLs against your Screaming Frog crawl results. Any URL in your sitemap that Screaming Frog can’t reach by following internal links is orphaned. Add at least two contextual internal links from relevant existing pages to every orphaned page you want to keep and rank.

XML Sitemap Errors and Missing Pages

Your XML sitemap should contain only the URLs you want indexed, all pointing to their canonical versions, and all returning 200 status codes. Sitemaps containing redirected URLs, noindexed pages, or 404 errors send conflicting signals to search engines.

In Google Search Console, go to Sitemaps and check for errors in your submitted sitemap. In Screaming Frog, crawl your sitemap directly to identify any URLs in the sitemap that return non-200 status codes. Remove redirected, noindexed, and broken URLs from your sitemap and add any important pages that are missing. Resubmit the updated sitemap in Search Console after making changes.

Page Speed and Core Web Vitals Problems: How To Fix Them

Core Web Vitals are confirmed Google ranking factors. Pages that fail LCP, CLS, or INP thresholds rank below otherwise equivalent pages that pass. Fixing Core Web Vitals issues directly improves rankings on affected pages.

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) Issues

LCP measures how long it takes for the largest visible element on the page to load. A good LCP score is under 2.5 seconds. The most common causes of poor LCP are large unoptimized images, render-blocking resources, and slow server response times.

Fix LCP issues by compressing and converting your largest above-the-fold images to WebP format. Add a preload hint for the LCP image in your page’s head section so the browser fetches it as early as possible. Eliminate render-blocking JavaScript and CSS that delay the browser from painting the page. Upgrade your hosting if slow server response time is the primary bottleneck.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) Issues

CLS measures how much the page layout shifts unexpectedly while loading. A good CLS score is under 0.1. The most common causes are images and embeds without defined dimensions, dynamically injected content above existing content, and web fonts that cause text to shift when they load.

Fix CLS by adding explicit width and height attributes to all images and video embeds. Reserve space for dynamically loaded content, such as ads or banners, by assigning them a fixed container size. Use font-display: swap in your CSS to prevent invisible text while web fonts load and reduce the layout shift caused by font swapping.

Interaction with Next Paint (INP) Issues

INP measures the responsiveness of your page to user interactions. A good INP score is under 200 milliseconds. The most common causes of poor INP are heavy JavaScript execution, long-running tasks that block the main thread, and third-party scripts that consume processing time.

Fix INP by auditing your JavaScript for long tasks using Chrome DevTools Performance panel. Break long tasks into smaller chunks using techniques such as setTimeout. Defer or lazy load third-party scripts that aren’t critical to the initial page interaction. Remove unused JavaScript from pages where it doesn’t serve a functional purpose.

Duplicate Content and Canonical Problems: How To Fix Them?

Duplicate content dilutes ranking signals across multiple URLs. When search engines encounter the same content at different URLs, they often struggle to determine which version to rank, so none rank as well as a single consolidated page would.

Identify Duplicate Content Across Your Site

Screaming Frog’s Duplicate Content report identifies pages with identical or near-identical content across different URLs. Export this report and review each group of duplicates to understand the source of the duplication.

Common causes include URL parameters creating multiple versions of the same page, HTTP and HTTPS versions both being accessible, www and non-www versions both being indexed, and paginated pages being treated as separate content.

Cross-reference your duplicate content report with Google Search Console’s Coverage report to see which versions Google has indexed. This tells you which URL Google currently treats as the canonical version and whether it matches your intended canonical URL.

Set Up Canonical Tags Correctly

A canonical tag tells search engines which version of a URL they should index and rank as the primary. Every page on your site should have a self-referencing canonical tag, and any page with known duplicates should have a canonical tag pointing to the preferred version.

In your SEO plugin, confirm canonical tags are enabled and set correctly for every page. Check that paginated pages, filtered pages, and URL parameter variations all have canonical tags pointing to the main page. Use Screaming Frog’s Canonical tab to audit canonical tag implementation across your entire site and flag any pages with missing, incorrect, or conflicting canonical tags.

Fix www vs Non-www Duplicate URLs

Having both www.yourdomain.com and yourdomain.com accessible creates duplicate versions of every page on your site. Choose one format as your canonical preference and set up a 301 redirect from the non-preferred version to the preferred one.

In WordPress, go to Settings, then General, and ensure both your WordPress Address and Site Address use the same www or non-www format. Add a server-level redirect in your .htaccess file to redirect from the non-preferred format to the preferred one. Submit your preferred URL format in Google Search Console under the Domain or URL Prefix property settings.

Broken Links and Redirect Errors: How To Find and Fix Them

Broken links waste crawl budget, frustrate visitors, and destroy the link equity that was flowing through the broken URL. Redirect errors compound the damage by creating chains and loops that further dilute authority and slow down pages.

Find and Fix Broken Internal Links

In Screaming Frog, filter by response code 404 to find all internal links pointing to non-existent pages. Export the list and, for each broken link, either update it to point to the correct live page or set up a 301 redirect from the broken URL to the most relevant live page if the original page no longer exists.

Prioritize fixing broken links on your highest-traffic pages and those with strong backlink profiles, as they have the greatest impact on user experience and on the flow of link equity. After fixing, rerun Screaming Frog on the affected pages to confirm the broken links are resolved.

Fix Redirect Chains and Redirect Loops

A redirect chain occurs when a URL is redirected through two or more intermediate URLs before reaching its final destination. A redirect loop occurs when URLs redirect to each other in a circular pattern.

Use Screaming Frog’s Redirect Chains report to identify all multi-hop chains. For each chain, update the source redirect to point directly to the final destination URL, bypassing all intermediate hops. For redirect loops, identify the circular redirect in your plugin or .htaccess and remove or correct the rule that creates the loop. Verify every fix with a redirect checker tool after applying it.

Correct Wrong Redirect Types

A 302 redirect signals a temporary move and does not pass link equity. Any redirect that is intended to be permanent must use a 301 to transfer SEO value to the destination URL.

In Screaming Frog, filter by response code 302 to find all temporary redirects on your site. Review each one and change any that are meant to be permanent to 301 in your redirect plugin or .htaccess. After updating, verify the change with a redirect checker to confirm the 301 status code is returned correctly.

Structured Data and Schema Problems: How To Fix Them

Structured data helps search engines understand your content and enables rich results in search listings. Missing or broken schema markup means your pages don’t appear with star ratings, pricing, FAQs, or other enhanced features that improve click-through rates.

Missing Schema Markup

Most pages on your site should have at least a basic schema markup type. Blog posts should have an Article schema. Product pages should have Product schema with pricing, availability, and review data. Local businesses should have the LocalBusiness schema. Pages without any schema markup are not eligible for rich results.

Use your SEO plugin to add schema markup to your most important page types. Both Rank Math and Yoast SEO automatically generate schema for common page types when configured correctly. For custom schema requirements that your plugin doesn’t handle natively, add structured data manually using JSON-LD in your page’s head section.

Invalid or Broken Structured Data

Structured data that is present but incorrectly implemented generates errors in Google Search Console and makes those pages ineligible for rich results. Common errors include missing required properties, incorrect data types, and schema referencing elements that don’t exist on the page.

Go to Google Search Console and check the Enhancements section for any schema errors or warnings. For each error, review the specific property flagged and update the schema to include the required data. Use Google’s Rich Results Test to verify the schema on individual pages before and after making fixes.

Test and Validate Your Schema Markup

After implementing or updating schema markup, validate every page using Google’s Rich Results Test at search.google.com/test/rich-results. Enter the URL and confirm that the tool correctly identifies the schema type and shows no errors or warnings.

For bulk schema validation across your entire site, use Screaming Frog’s structured data report to identify pages with schema errors at scale. Monitor the Enhancements reports in Google Search Console regularly to catch new schema errors as pages are added or updated on your site.

Mobile Usability Problems: How To Find and Fix Them?

Google uses mobile-first indexing for all websites, which means it primarily uses the mobile version of your pages for crawling, indexing, and ranking. Mobile usability problems directly affect your rankings across both mobile and desktop search results.

Check the Mobile Usability report in Google Search Console for a complete list of pages that fail Google’s mobile standards. Common issues include text that’s too small to read, clickable elements too close together, content that’s wider than the screen, and a viewport that’s not configured correctly.

Fix each issue by adjusting your theme’s responsive CSS, increasing tap target sizes to at least 48 pixels, and ensuring your viewport meta tag is set to width=device-width, initial-scale=1.

HTTPS and SSL Problems: How To Fix Them

HTTPS is a confirmed Google ranking factor and a fundamental trust signal for both search engines and visitors. SSL errors, expired certificates, and mixed content issues all affect your site’s security status and can trigger browser warnings that drive visitors away before they even see your content.

Check your SSL certificate status in your browser by clicking the padlock icon next to your URL. An expired or invalid certificate must be renewed immediately through your hosting provider. Mixed content errors occur when your HTTPS page loads resources over HTTP.

Use your browser’s developer console to identify mixed content warnings and update the affected resource URLs from http:// to https://. In WordPress, confirm that both your WordPress Address and Site Address use HTTPS under Settings> General.

How To Prioritize Technical SEO Fixes?

With a complete audit in hand, prioritize fixes in the order that delivers the most impact most quickly. Not all technical SEO problems carry equal weight, and some fixes unblock other improvements.

• Fix Crawlability and Indexing Issues First: Pages that can’t be crawled or indexed can’t rank, regardless of any other optimization. This is always the highest priority.

• Resolve HTTPS and SSL Errors. Next: Security issues affect every page on your site, triggering browser warnings that undermine trust and drive visitors away before they engage with your content.

• Address Core Web Vitals Failures: They are direct ranking factors. Fixing LCP, CLS, and INP issues on your most important pages delivers measurable ranking improvements.

• Fix Broken Links and Redirect Errors: Broken links waste crawl budget and destroy link equity. Fixing them restores the flow of authority across your site.

• Resolve Duplicate Content and Canonical Issues: Duplicate content dilutes ranking signals. Consolidating authority onto canonical URLs improves rankings for the pages that matter most.

• Add Missing Schema Markup: Schema markup enables rich results that improve click-through rates from search listings without requiring ranking improvements.

• Fix Mobile Usability Problems: Mobile usability issues affect your rankings across all devices due to mobile-first indexing.

• Clean Up Orphaned Pages and Thin Content: Orphaned pages and thin content contribute to a site-wide quality signal that affects how Google assesses every page on your domain.

Best Tools To Find and Fix Technical SEO Problems

These five tools cover every category of technical SEO problem and give you the data you need to prioritize and fix issues systematically.

Tool	Best For	Benefit
Google Search Console	Indexing and coverage	Free crawl and index data.
Screaming Frog	Full site technical crawl	Comprehensive on-page audit.
Ahrefs Site Audit	Technical SEO analysis	Issue prioritization by impact.
Semrush Site Audit	Full technical audit	Categorized error reporting.
Google PageSpeed Insights	Core Web Vitals	Free performance scoring.

How Often Should You Run a Technical SEO Audit?

A full technical SEO audit using Screaming Frog and Google Search Console should be part of your quarterly site maintenance routine. Technical issues accumulate over time as content is added, plugins are updated, and site structure changes.

A quarterly audit identifies new problems before they compound into larger issues affecting significant numbers of pages.

Outside of scheduled audits, run a focused technical check after any significant site change. Platform migrations, major plugin updates, URL restructures, and theme changes all create conditions in which new technical SEO problems can arise.

A targeted check immediately after these changes catches issues before they’re indexed by search engines or affect live traffic at scale.

Conclusion: Fix Technical SEO Problems Systematically and Keep Your Site Healthy

Technical SEO problems are fixable, and most are preventable with regular monitoring. The key is to audit systematically, prioritize by impact, and build technical checks into your regular site maintenance process.

Start with crawlability and indexing, work through page speed and Core Web Vitals, fix broken links and redirects, resolve duplicate content, add schema markup, and address mobile and HTTPS issues. Fix one category at a time, verify each fix, and monitor Search Console for new issues after every major site change.

FAQs About Technical SEO Problems