What is a Technical SEO Audit? Tips, Tools & Best Practices

Understanding common technical SEO issues helps you anticipate problems and resolve them quickly.

Slow Page Load Times – Slow websites frustrate users and get penalized by search engines. Start by compressing images without sacrificing quality—modern formats like WebP offer significant size reductions. Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML to remove unnecessary characters. Enable browser caching so returning visitors load pages faster. Consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve files from servers geographically closer to users.

Mobile Usability Problems – Many sites are designed for desktop first, creating mobile experience gaps. Implement responsive design that adapts layouts to screen sizes automatically. Ensure text is at least 16 pixels to remain readable without zooming. Space interactive elements adequately so users don’t accidentally tap the wrong button. Test forms thoroughly on mobile devices, as tiny input fields frustrate users and increase abandonment rates.

Duplicate Content – Search engines struggle when identical content appears on multiple URLs. Implement canonical tags to indicate the preferred version of duplicate pages. Use 301 redirects to consolidate multiple versions into a single authoritative URL. For legitimate reasons to have similar content, like printer-friendly versions, use appropriate meta tags to prevent indexing of duplicates.

Broken Links and 404 Errors – Dead links damage user experience and waste crawl budget. Regularly scan your site for broken internal and external links. Fix internal broken links by updating them to correct URLs or removing them if the content no longer exists. For important deleted pages, implement 301 redirects to relevant current content. Create a helpful custom 404 page that guides users back to working sections of your site.

Missing or Poor XML Sitemaps – Sitemaps guide search engines to your important content. Ensure your sitemap includes only canonical, indexable URLs. Exclude blocked, redirected, or error pages. Update your sitemap automatically when content changes. Submit your sitemap to search engines through their webmaster tools. For large sites, consider using sitemap index files that organize URLs into multiple smaller sitemaps.

Inadequate Schema Markup – Missing structured data means search engines miss context about your content. Identify which schema types are most relevant to your content—articles, products, recipes, events, or local businesses. Implement appropriate markup using JSON-LD format, which is easiest to maintain. Validate your markup regularly to ensure it remains error-free as you update content.

Insecure HTTP Connections – Sites without HTTPS security certificates receive ranking penalties and browser warnings. Obtain an SSL certificate from your hosting provider or a certificate authority. Install it properly and configure your server to redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS automatically. Update all internal links to use HTTPS. Fix mixed content warnings where secure pages load insecure resources.

Poor URL Structure – Messy URLs confuse users and search engines. Create descriptive URLs that clearly indicate page content. Use hyphens to separate words, not underscores or spaces. Keep URLs reasonably short, removing unnecessary parameters and session IDs. Establish a consistent structure that reflects your site hierarchy, making it easy to understand page relationships.

Redirect Chains and Loops – Multiple redirects slow page loading and waste crawl budget. Audit your redirect structure to identify chains where one redirect leads to another. Simplify these by redirecting directly to the final destination. Identify and break any redirect loops where pages redirect in circles. Document your redirect strategy to prevent future complications.

Inefficient Site Architecture – Poor information architecture makes crawling difficult. Design a clear hierarchy with important pages accessible within three clicks from the homepage. Create logical category structures that make sense to users. Implement breadcrumb navigation to clarify page relationships. Use internal linking strategically to pass authority to important pages and help users discover related content.