SEO Mistakes: Common SEO Problems and How to Fix Them

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is critical for improving your website’s visibility, driving organic traffic, and increasing conversions. However, SEO mistakes can sabotage your efforts, preventing your site from ranking well on search engines.

From technical SEO issues to on-page SEO problems, many businesses struggle with optimisation errors that impact their rankings. This guide covers common SEO mistakes, how they affect your website, and we will provide you with actionable steps on how to fix them.

If you’re serious about improving your site’s performance, avoiding these SEO issues is essential.

Key Takeaways:

• SEO mistakes can significantly impact your website’s visibility and rankings.
• Technical issues like slow site speed, broken links, and poor mobile optimisation hurt SEO performance.
• Keyword stuffing, duplicate content, and poor meta tags can reduce search rankings.
• Backlinks remain crucial, but low-quality links and ignoring digital PR can negatively impact your site.
• Fixing these issues requires a combination of SEO audits, proper optimisation, and strategic content planning.
• SEO trends like AI-driven search, voice optimisation, and structured data are shaping the future of rankings.

Common Technical SEO Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Slow Site Speed

Google prioritises fast-loading websites in search rankings. Slow websites lead to higher bounce rates and a poor user experience.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use Google PageSpeed Insights to identify speed issues.
✔ Compress images using TinyPNG or WebP format.
✔ Enable browser caching and minimise server response time.
✔ Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare.

Poor Mobile Optimisation

Since Google’s Mobile-First Indexing, mobile usability has become a ranking factor. A non-responsive site affects rankings and user experience.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use responsive web design for mobile-friendliness.
✔ Test your site with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
✔ Optimise fonts, images, and interactive elements for small screens.

Poor Site Structure & Navigation

A messy site structure confuses search engines and users, reducing SEO effectiveness.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use clear navigation menus and breadcrumb links.
✔ Organize content into logical categories.
✔ Implement an internal linking strategy to improve crawlability.

Broken Links & 404 Errors

Broken internal and external links hurt crawlability and user experience.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use Google Search Console to find broken links.
✔ Fix or redirect broken links using 301 redirects.
✔ Perform regular SEO audits to prevent future link issues.

JavaScript Rendering Issues

Modern websites rely heavily on JavaScript to enhance interactivity, but if not optimised correctly, it can delay or prevent search engines from properly indexing content. While Google can render and index JavaScript, it does so in a two-wave indexing process, meaning JavaScript-powered content may take longer to be crawled and ranked compared to plain HTML.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use server-side rendering (SSR) or dynamic rendering to ensure content visibility.
✔ Implement lazy loading for non-essential JavaScript elements.
✔ Test with Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to see how Googlebot renders your pages.

Schema Markup and Structured Data Errors

Many websites miss the opportunity to enhance their search result visibility with structured data (rich snippets). Google prioritizes well-structured content that provides clear, detailed information.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to validate schema implementation.
✔ Implement relevant schema types (FAQ, Product, Review, etc.).
✔ Ensure correct nesting and format to avoid structured data errors in Google Search Console.

Crawl Budget Mismanagement

Search engines have a crawl budget—the number of pages they crawl on your site within a given timeframe. Wasting it on unimportant pages impacts indexing priority for large-scale websites.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use robots.txt to block pages that don’t need indexing (e.g., admin pages, duplicate pages).
✔ Set noindex on low-value pages to prevent dilution of rankings.
✔ Regularly update your XML sitemap to guide search engines efficiently.

On-Page SEO Mistakes That Hurt Rankings

Keyword Stuffing

Overusing keywords disrupts content readability and triggers Google penalties.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use keywords naturally without forcing them.
✔ Optimise H1, H2, meta descriptions, and URLs with targeted keywords.
✔ Use semantically related keywords and natural language to enhance topic relevance and readability.

Duplicate Content

Duplicate content may cause indexing issues and keyword cannibalization, leading to lower rankings for competing pages. Using canonical tags helps consolidate ranking signals.

How to Fix It:

✔ Use canonical tags to tell Google the original content source.
✔ Avoid posting identical content across multiple pages.
✔ Rewrite content with unique value propositions.

Unoptimised Meta Tags & Headings

Title tags and meta descriptions play a huge role in click-through rates (CTR).

How to Fix It:

✔ Write unique, compelling title tags under 60 characters.
✔ Ensure meta descriptions accurately summarize the page.
✔ Use H1-H6 headings logically.

Under-Optimised Content Formatting

A common SEO issue is poor content readability due to large text blocks, lack of headings, and minimal white space. Google ranks pages higher when they provide good user experience (UX).

How to Fix It:

✔ Use short paragraphs and bullet points for easy scanning.
✔ Structure articles with H2 and H3 subheadings for logical flow.
✔ Use readable font sizes and mobile-friendly formatting.

Thin Affiliate Content

Affiliate websites often get penalized for thin content, especially when they focus more on monetization than user value.

How to Fix It:

✔ Write in-depth product reviews instead of copy-pasting manufacturer descriptions.
✔ Add original insights, real-world examples, and comparisons.
✔ Use structured data for product reviews to enhance visibility.

Content-Related SEO Mistakes

Low-Quality Content & Thin Pages

Google prioritizes E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) in rankings.

How to Fix It:

✔ Write long-form, in-depth content with real-world insights.
✔ Add images, videos, and data-driven examples to enrich articles.
✔ Use structured data (Schema Markup) for rich snippets.

Ignoring Search Intent

Creating content that doesn’t match search intent lowers engagement and rankings.

How to Fix It:

✔ Understand informational, navigational, and transactional search intent.
✔ Align blog posts and landing pages with user expectations.
✔ Research SERP intent for chosen keywords.

Lack of Internal Linking

Internal links help distribute page authority and enhance navigation.

How to Fix It:

✔ Link to relevant internal pages using descriptive anchor text.
✔ Avoid orphan pages (pages with no internal links).
✔ Use pillar-cluster models for better topic organization.

Not Using Content Hubs

Many businesses fail to create pillar-cluster models, leading to fragmented SEO problems and poor ranking potential.

How to Fix It:

✔ Build pillar pages that cover broad topics and link to detailed cluster pages.
✔ Use internal linking to create a content hierarchy that Google can easily crawl.

Overlooking Video SEO

Ignoring video optimisation is a major SEO mistake, as video-rich content ranks higher and improves user engagement.

How to Fix It:

✔ Optimise video titles and descriptions with keywords.
✔ Use video schema markup for enhanced visibility.
✔ Upload transcripts to improve accessibility and keyword indexing.

Off-Page SEO Mistakes That Hurt Rankings

While on-page SEO mistakes directly impact your website’s content and structure, off-page SEO issues affect your domain authority and backlink profile.

Building Low-Quality Backlinks

Google’s algorithm evaluates the quality of your backlinks, not just the quantity. Getting links from spammy, irrelevant, or low-authority websites can harm your rankings.

How to Fix It:

✔ Conduct a backlink audit using Google Search Console or Ahrefs.
✔ Remove toxic links using Google’s Disavow Tool.
✔ Focus on earning high-authority links from reputable websites through guest posting and digital PR.

Ignoring Local SEO

For businesses that rely on local customers, Local SEO is crucial. Many companies neglect Google My Business (GMB) optimisation, leading to poor local search visibility.

How to Fix It:

✔ Claim and optimise your Google My Business profile.
✔ Ensure NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone Number) across online directories.
✔ Encourage customer reviews to boost credibility and rankings.

Ignoring Digital PR Opportunities

Many brands miss high-quality backlink opportunities because they don’t leverage digital PR strategies.

How to Fix It:

✔ Pitch guest articles to authority sites in your niche.
✔ Build relationships with journalists for brand mentions and editorial links.
✔ Use Help A Reporter Out (HARO) to contribute expert quotes in return for backlinks.

Focusing Only on Domain Authority (DA) for Backlinks

Backlinks from high-DA sites don’t always drive valuable traffic. Relevance matters more than just DA scores.

How to Fix It:

✔ Prioritize backlinks from niche-relevant sites with engaged audiences.
✔ Focus on contextual backlinks embedded naturally within high-quality content.

SEO Automation Mistakes

Automation tools streamline SEO, but relying too much on them without human oversight can cause ranking problems.

Over-Reliance on SEO Tools

Many marketers blindly follow SEO tool recommendations without verifying.

How to Fix It:

✔ Combine automated insights with manual analysis.

Automated Link Building Risks

Automated link-building tactics rarely provide SEO value and can result in devalued or ignored backlinks. Instead, focus on organic, high-quality link acquisition through digital PR and outreach

How to Fix It:

✔ Focus on manual outreach and high-quality content strategies.

Common SEO Myths That Lead to Mistakes

There are many SEO myths that mislead businesses, causing them to focus on outdated tactics that hurt rankings.

“More Keywords Mean Higher Rankings”

• Many believe keyword density should be 5% or higher to rank better.
• Reality: Google favors natural, user-friendly content over keyword stuffing.

✔ Best Practice: Use keywords naturally in headings, meta descriptions, and body text.
✔ SEO Strategy: Incorporate LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords to improve content depth.

“Backlinks Don’t Matter Anymore”

• Some believe Google no longer values backlinks due to AI-based ranking models.
• Reality: High-quality backlinks still play a significant role in domain authority.

✔ Best Practice: Focus on quality, not quantity when building backlinks.
✔ SEO Strategy: Get backlinks from authoritative, niche-relevant sources.

“You Need to Rank #1 for SEO Success”

• Many businesses believe only the #1 ranking matters in SEO.
• Reality: Even positions #2 to #5 can generate significant traffic and conversions.

✔ Best Practice: Optimise click-through rates (CTR) with compelling meta descriptions and title tags.
✔ SEO Strategy: Improve user experience (UX) to keep visitors engaged.

Common SEO Penalties and How to Recover

Google Manual Actions & Algorithmic Penalties

Google penalizes websites for spammy behavior, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, duplicate content, and toxic backlinks, which can lower rankings or remove pages from search results. These penalties may be manual actions, where Google flags violations, or algorithmic penalties, which result from updates like Panda, Penguin, and the Helpful Content Update.

To recover, businesses should identify the issue using Google Search Console and take corrective action. Manual penalties require a reconsideration request after fixing violations, while algorithmic penalties need ongoing SEO improvements to align with Google’s best practices.

Negative SEO Attacks

Competitors or malicious actors may sabotage rankings by creating spammy backlinks, duplicating content, or posting fake reviews, damaging a site’s credibility.

Regular backlink audits help detect harmful links, which can be disavowed in Google’s Disavow Tool to prevent penalties. Monitoring brand mentions and online reviews also helps businesses respond quickly to reputation threats and maintain trust.

The Future of SEO: Trends to Watch

AI and Machine Learning in SEO

Google’s AI-powered updates (RankBrain, BERT, and MUM) emphasize search intent and contextual understanding, reducing reliance on exact keyword matching while still considering keyword relevance.

The Rise of Voice Search

With the rise of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, searches are becoming more conversational and question-based. Users now phrase queries naturally, like “What’s the best way to improve website speed?” rather than just “improve website speed”.

To stay competitive, businesses should optimise for voice search by using long-tail keywords, FAQ-style content, and structured data markup, ensuring they appear in featured snippets and voice search results.

Actionable SEO Mistakes Checklist

Use this quick reference guide to avoid common SEO mistakes and keep your website optimised for search engines.

Technical SEO Fixes

• Improve site speed using Google PageSpeed Insights and optimise images.
• Ensure mobile-friendliness with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and responsive design.
• Fix crawl errors by auditing Google Search Console for broken links and redirects.
• Optimise site structure by using clear navigation menus and internal linking.
• Update XML sitemaps and submit them to search engines regularly.

On-Page SEO Fixes

• Avoid keyword stuffing—write naturally and focus on search intent.
• Write compelling meta tags with unique title tags (under 60 characters) and engaging meta descriptions.
• Use proper heading structure (H1 to H6) for logical content flow and readability.
• Fix duplicate content issues with canonical tags and avoid publishing identical pages.
• Optimise images with alt text and compressed formats like WebP for faster loading.

Content Fixes

• Create high-quality content that aligns with E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness).
• Match content to search intent—ensure your pages answer user queries effectively.
• Use internal linking strategically to guide users and search engines through your site.
• Leverage video SEO by optimising titles, descriptions, and adding transcripts.
• Organize content into topic clusters with pillar pages linking to supporting content.

Off-Page SEO Fixes

• Avoid low-quality backlinks—audit your backlink profile and disavow toxic links.
• Earn high-authority backlinks through guest posts, digital PR, and expert contributions.
• Optimise for local SEO by claiming and enhancing your Google My Business listing.
• Encourage customer reviews to build credibility and improve local search rankings.
• Focus on relevant, niche-specific backlinks rather than just domain authority.

SEO Myths to Avoid

• Keyword density isn’t a ranking factor—focus on natural language and topic relevance.
• Backlinks still matter—quality over quantity remains key for domain authority.
• SEO success isn’t just about ranking #1—CTR, engagement, and conversions are equally important.
• AI and machine learning are shaping SEO—optimise for semantic search and user experience.
• Voice search is growing—use long-tail keywords and FAQ-style content for better visibility.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What are the most common SEO mistakes?

The biggest SEO mistakes include slow site speed, keyword stuffing, duplicate content, poor mobile optimisation, and low-quality backlinks.

How can I fix my website’s SEO mistakes?

Start with a comprehensive SEO audit, optimise technical SEO, improve content strategy, and focus on high-quality backlinks.

Can bad backlinks hurt my website’s ranking?

Yes, spammy or irrelevant backlinks can trigger Google penalties, affecting rankings negatively. Regular backlink audits help prevent this issue.

How important is mobile optimisation for SEO?

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning poor mobile optimisation can lower rankings. Responsive design and fast-loading mobile pages are crucial.

Is AI changing SEO?

Yes, AI and machine learning are shaping modern SEO by prioritizing user behavior, search intent, and content relevance rather than just keywords.

Conclusion: Fixing SEO Mistakes for Long-Term Success

Avoiding SEO mistakes is essential for maintaining a strong online presence. Whether it’s technical SEO issues, on-page SEO problems, or off-page optimisation gaps, each mistake affects your website’s rankings.

The good news? Every SEO issue can be fixed. By taking a proactive approach, conducting regular audits, and following best practices, you can improve your site’s performance and outperform competitors.

Ready to optimise your website? Get in touch with Seek Social for expert SEO solutions today!

[Free Site Audit]