How To Fix Your 3 Biggest SEO Problems
Your ultimate SEO troubleshooting guide
No website is immune to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) problems.
These problems can not only feel super frustrating, but they can also severely stunt your site growth and earnings. I’ve had sites go offline or lose 10k pageviews overnight.
It’s terrifying.
That’s why, in this blog post, I’ll go over three of the biggest SEO problems I’ve personally faced and how to fix them.
Major SEO Problem #1: Google Ghost Town
As a webmaster or content creator, it’s incredibly frustrating when Google doesn’t index your site or articles.
Not only does it mean that your content isn’t being seen by potential readers, but it can also impact your search engine ranking. In some cases, you might even be de-indexed entirely, which can be a death sentence for your online presence.
I call this the “Google Ghost Town.”
How To Fix It
If your site or blog posts are not getting indexed in Google, there are a few things you can do to try and fix the problem.
The first thing you should check is your sitemap.xml file.
This file tells Google what pages on your site are available for indexing. If your sitemap.xml file is not up to date, that could be why your site is not getting indexed.
Another thing you can check is the robots.txt file.
This file tells Google which parts of your site it should and shouldn’t index. If there’s something in your robots.txt file that’s telling Google not to index your site, that could be why it’s not showing up in search results.
Here is a short video that shows you how to fix these robots.txt errors:
To check for these kinds of errors, you can use Google Search Console. Simply go to the “Coverage” tab and look for any errors that are being reported.
Often, resubmitting your sitemap and individual article URLs to Google Search Console is enough to fix indexing errors. If not, and you’re not tech savvy, hire an affordable programmer from Fiverr to fix your site.
This is what I do and it has worked 100% of the time for me.
Major SEO Problem #2: Zombie Site Speed
In the age of the internet, speed is everything.
No one wants to wait around for a slow website to load, and businesses can’t afford to lose potential customers due to slow site speeds. The problem is that many website owners don’t realize just how important speed is.
That means that even a slight delay can have a major impact on your bottom line.
Think of it this way: a slow website is like a lumbering zombie, slowly shuffling its way across the screen while users try to escape. On the other hand, a fast website is like a sleek vampire, moving swiftly and confidently towards its goal.
How To Fix It
Slow website speed can be a real pain, both for users and for your SEO ranking.
There are a few things you can do to try and speed up your website:
- Optimize your images and video
- Minimize bulky code
- Switch to a faster hosting platform (Hostarmada works well for me)
- Use a faster website theme (I suggest Astra for WordPress.org)
- Integrate a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- My secret speed weapon: The WP Rocket Plugin
One thing you can do is optimize your images for the web. That means saving them in the correct file format and making sure they’re not too big. You can also use plugins such as Imagify for images and Lazy Load for video.
Another thing you can do is minimize your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files.
This means removing all unnecessary characters from the code, like whitespace, comments, and linebreaks . . . which can really help to speed up your website.
A CDN is a network of servers that are strategically located around the world.
When someone visits a website, the CDN helps to deliver content to them more quickly by directing them to the server that is closest to their location.
This is especially helpful for website visitors who are located far away from the site’s primary server. By using a CDN, website owners can improve their site’s performance and provide a better experience for their users.
My secret weapon for site speed is the WP Rocket Plugin.
While this is not a cheap SEO tool, it’s the easiest and best way I’ve found to instantly speed up sluggish websites.
Major SEO Problem #3: Sudden Traffic Drops
If you’re a blogger, you know the feeling all too well.
You’ve been working hard, posting regularly, and building up a steady stream of traffic. But then, one day, you check your stats and see that your traffic has suddenly dropped.
It’s a sickening feeling, especially if you rely on your blog for income.
But what causes this sudden drop in traffic? And more importantly, what can you do about it?
How To Fix It
There are a few possible explanations for a sudden drop in traffic.
One explanation could be that your website was penalized by Google. This usually happens if you have been engaged in Black Hat SEO practices such as keyword stuffing or buying links.
If you think that your website has been penalized, you can submit a reconsideration request to Google through the Google Search Console.
Another explanation for a sudden drop in traffic could be that one of your competitor’s websites has risen in rankings above yours. To combat this, make sure that you are regularly analyzing your competitor’s SEO strategies and adapting yours accordingly.
Compare your blog posts to those ranking above you in Google.
Then:
- Reformat your article to match the higher-ranking articles
- Provide more value, insight, resources, and original research
- If all the articles are longer, then write a longer article
- If all the articles are shorter, then condense your article
- If the higher ranking articles include more images, then add some relevant images to your post
Final Thoughts
I hope that this blog post was helpful in troubleshooting some of your biggest SEO problems.
Thanks for reading!
Related Posts:
- Yes, You Can Get Your Website on the First Page of Google Without Backlinks
- How I Use the SEO Avalanche Strategy To Grow New Sites
- HARO Backlink Blueprint: My 7 Best Tips for Pitching HARO
Don’t miss my next blogging article — sign up for my Medium email list
