Issues Overview
SEO Issues Overview
A comprehensive guide to understanding and fixing the SEO issues detected by Lytical's site crawler. Click any issue below to jump to detailed fix instructions.
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HTTP Status Issues
4xx Pages (Client Errors)
What it means: Pages returning 400-level errors (like 404 Not Found or 403 Forbidden) indicate broken or inaccessible content.
How to fix:
- For 404 errors: Either restore the missing page, set up a 301 redirect to a relevant page, or remove internal links pointing to it
- For 403 errors: Check server permissions and authentication settings
- Update your sitemap to remove deleted URLs
- Use Google Search Console to identify and fix crawl errors
5xx Pages (Server Errors)
What it means: Server errors indicate your web server failed to fulfill a valid request. These are critical issues that prevent users and search engines from accessing content.
How to fix:
- Check server logs for specific error details
- Review recent code deployments or configuration changes
- Verify database connections and third-party service integrations
- Ensure adequate server resources (memory, CPU, disk space)
- Contact your hosting provider if issues persist
301 Redirects (Permanent)
What it means: 301 redirects tell search engines a page has permanently moved. While necessary for site migrations, excessive redirects can slow crawling and dilute link equity.
How to fix:
- Update internal links to point directly to the final destination URL
- Avoid redirect chains (A redirects to B redirects to C)
- Update your sitemap with the new URLs
- Keep redirects in place for at least one year for SEO benefit
302 Redirects (Temporary)
What it means: 302 redirects indicate a temporary move. Search engines may continue indexing the original URL, which can cause confusion if the move is actually permanent.
How to fix:
- If the move is permanent, change to a 301 redirect
- Only use 302 for genuinely temporary situations (A/B tests, maintenance)
- Document why each 302 exists and when it should be removed
Indexing & Robots Issues
Non-indexable Pages (Noindex)
What it means: Pages with a noindex directive tell search engines not to include them in search results. This is intentional for pages like thank-you pages, but problematic if applied to important content.
How to fix:
- Review each noindexed page to confirm it should be excluded
- Remove the noindex tag from pages you want ranked
- Check for noindex in: meta robots tag, X-Robots-Tag header, and robots.txt
- Common pages to noindex: thank you pages, admin pages, search results, login pages
Nofollow Pages
What it means: Pages with nofollow directives tell search engines not to follow or pass link equity through any links on the page.
How to fix:
- Remove page-level nofollow if you want links to pass equity
- Use link-level rel="nofollow" for specific untrusted links instead
- Keep nofollow on user-generated content areas if needed
Canonical to Non-indexable Page
What it means: A page's canonical URL points to a page that has noindex. This conflicting signal confuses search engines.
How to fix:
- Update the canonical to point to an indexable page
- Or remove the noindex from the canonical target
- Ensure canonical targets are always your preferred, indexable version
Robots.txt Issues
What it means: Problems with your robots.txt file can prevent search engines from properly crawling your site or finding your sitemap.
How to fix:
- Missing robots.txt: Create a robots.txt file in your site root
- Empty robots.txt: Add at least basic directives (User-agent: * and Allow: /)
- No sitemap in robots.txt: Add a Sitemap: directive pointing to your XML sitemap
Example robots.txt:
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml
Title Issues
Missing Titles
What it means: Pages without a <title> tag give search engines no guidance on what the page is about, leading to poor or auto-generated search listings.
How to fix:
- Add a unique, descriptive <title> tag to every page
- Include your primary keyword near the beginning
- Keep titles between 50-60 characters for optimal display
- Format: Primary Keyword - Secondary Info | Brand Name
Titles Too Long
What it means: Titles over ~60 characters (or 561 pixels) may be truncated in search results, hiding important information from users.
How to fix:
- Shorten titles to under 60 characters
- Put the most important words first
- Remove filler words and redundant brand mentions
- Use a SERP preview tool to check how your title displays
Titles Too Short
What it means: Very short titles (under ~30 characters or 200 pixels) waste valuable SERP real estate and may not adequately describe the page.
How to fix:
- Expand titles with relevant keywords and descriptors
- Add your brand name if space permits
- Include secondary keywords or benefits
- Aim for 50-60 characters total
Duplicate Titles
What it means: Multiple pages sharing the same title make it difficult for search engines to differentiate your content and can lead to keyword cannibalization.
How to fix:
- Create unique titles for every page
- For similar pages, differentiate with specific details
- Consider consolidating duplicate content with canonicals or redirects
- Use dynamic titles for category/filter pages
Meta Description Issues
Missing Meta Descriptions
What it means: Without a meta description, search engines auto-generate snippets from page content, which may not be compelling or relevant.
How to fix:
- Add a unique meta description to every important page
- Write compelling copy that encourages clicks
- Include your primary keyword naturally
- Keep between 120-160 characters
- Include a call-to-action when appropriate
Meta Descriptions Too Long
What it means: Descriptions over ~160 characters (or 985 pixels) get truncated, potentially cutting off your message mid-sentence.
How to fix:
- Shorten to under 160 characters
- Front-load the most important information
- Ensure your message is complete within the limit
Meta Descriptions Too Short
What it means: Very short descriptions (under ~70 characters) don't provide enough context and waste SERP visibility.
How to fix:
- Expand with more compelling details
- Highlight unique value propositions
- Add relevant keywords naturally
- Aim for 120-160 characters
Heading Issues
Missing H1
What it means: The H1 is your page's main heading. Missing it leaves search engines without a clear topic signal and hurts accessibility.
How to fix:
- Add exactly one H1 tag to every page
- Place it prominently near the top of the content
- Include your primary keyword naturally
- Make it descriptive of the page's main topic
Multiple H1 Tags
What it means: While HTML5 technically allows multiple H1s, best practice is one per page to clearly indicate the primary topic.
How to fix:
- Keep only the most important H1
- Demote other H1s to H2 or H3
- Check your theme/template for hidden H1s in headers or widgets
Non-Sequential Headings
What it means: Headings that skip levels (H1 to H3) or have H2 before H1 create a confusing document structure for both users and search engines.
How to fix:
- Start with H1, then H2 for main sections, H3 for subsections
- Don't skip heading levels (H1 directly to H4)
- Think of headings as an outline of your content
- Use CSS for styling instead of choosing headings based on appearance
URL Hygiene Issues
Uppercase Characters in URLs
What it means: URLs with uppercase letters can cause duplicate content issues since some servers treat /Page and /page as different URLs.
How to fix:
- Use all lowercase letters in URLs
- Set up 301 redirects from uppercase to lowercase versions
- Configure your server to force lowercase URLs
Underscores in URLs
What it means: Google treats underscores as word joiners, not separators. "my_page" is seen as "mypage" rather than "my page".
How to fix:
- Use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_)
- Redirect old underscore URLs to hyphenated versions
- Update your CMS settings for future URLs
URLs with Parameters
What it means: Query parameters (?sort=price&page=2) can create duplicate content and crawl budget waste.
How to fix:
- Use canonical tags pointing to the parameter-free version
- Configure URL parameters in Google Search Console
- Consider using path-based URLs for important variations
- Block parameter URLs in robots.txt if they don't need indexing
Spaces in URLs
What it means: Spaces in URLs get encoded as %20, making URLs ugly and harder to share.
How to fix:
- Replace spaces with hyphens
- Redirect old URLs to the corrected versions
URLs Over 115 Characters
What it means: Very long URLs are harder to share, remember, and may get truncated in some contexts.
How to fix:
- Simplify URL structure by removing unnecessary folders
- Use shorter, more descriptive slugs
- Remove stop words (the, and, a) from URLs
Canonical Issues
Missing Canonical Tag
What it means: Without a canonical tag, search engines must guess which version of a page to index, potentially splitting ranking signals.
How to fix:
- Add a self-referencing canonical tag to every indexable page
- For duplicate content, point canonicals to the preferred version
- Use absolute URLs in canonical tags
Multiple Canonical Tags
What it means: Having more than one canonical tag confuses search engines. They may ignore all of them or pick unpredictably.
How to fix:
- Remove all but one canonical tag
- Check for canonicals added by plugins, themes, and your CMS
- Ensure only one source controls canonical tags
Relative Canonical URL
What it means: Canonical tags should use absolute URLs. Relative URLs may be misinterpreted, especially across subdomains.
How to fix:
- Change relative canonicals (/page) to absolute (https://example.com/page)
- Include the full protocol and domain
Page is Canonicalized
What it means: This page points its canonical to a different URL, telling search engines to index that URL instead.
How to fix:
- If intentional (duplicate content), this is correct behavior
- If not intentional, update the canonical to self-reference
- Consider redirecting to the canonical target instead
Pagination Issues
Pagination Loop
What it means: The rel="next" and rel="prev" links point to the same URL, creating a loop that confuses crawlers.
How to fix:
- Ensure next/prev point to the correct sequential pages
- First page: only rel="next", no rel="prev"
- Last page: only rel="prev", no rel="next"
Pagination Sequence Error
What it means: The pagination links don't follow a logical sequence, such as "next" pointing backward or "prev" pointing forward.
How to fix:
- Review pagination logic in your CMS or code
- Verify URLs are correctly incrementing/decrementing
- Test the full pagination sequence manually
Image Issues
Missing Alt Text
What it means: Images without alt text hurt accessibility (screen readers can't describe them) and miss SEO opportunities.
How to fix:
- Add descriptive alt text to all meaningful images
- Describe what the image shows, not just "image of..."
- Include relevant keywords naturally
- For decorative images, use alt="" (empty alt)
Missing Width/Height Attributes
What it means: Images without explicit dimensions cause Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), a Core Web Vital that affects user experience and rankings.
How to fix:
- Add width and height attributes to all <img> tags
- Use CSS aspect-ratio as an alternative
- Dimensions help browsers reserve space before images load
Alt Text Too Long
What it means: Alt text over 100 characters can be overwhelming for screen reader users and may appear spammy to search engines.
How to fix:
- Keep alt text concise (under 100 characters)
- Focus on the essential description
- Don't stuff keywords
- Use surrounding text for additional context
Images Over 100KB
What it means: Large images slow down page load times, hurting user experience and Core Web Vitals.
How to fix:
- Compress images using tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, or Squoosh
- Use modern formats (WebP, AVIF) with fallbacks
- Resize images to their display dimensions
- Implement lazy loading for below-the-fold images
- Use a CDN with automatic image optimization
Link Issues
Internal Nofollow Links
What it means: Using rel="nofollow" on internal links prevents link equity from flowing to those pages, potentially hurting their rankings.
How to fix:
- Remove nofollow from internal links to important pages
- Only nofollow internal links to login pages or user-generated content
- Check if plugins or themes are adding nofollow automatically
Links with No Anchor Text
What it means: Links without visible text (empty anchors or image-only links without alt text) provide no context to search engines or users.
How to fix:
- Add descriptive anchor text to all links
- For image links, add alt text describing the destination
- Avoid using just icons without accompanying text
Vague Anchor Text
What it means: Generic anchors like "click here," "read more," or "learn more" don't tell search engines what the linked page is about.
How to fix:
- Use descriptive anchor text that summarizes the destination
- Instead of "Click here to learn about SEO" use "learn about SEO best practices"
- Include relevant keywords naturally
- Make links understandable out of context
High External Outlinks
What it means: Pages with many external links (over 100) may be seen as low-quality or spammy, diluting your link equity.
How to fix:
- Review and remove unnecessary external links
- Consolidate link lists into resource pages
- Use nofollow for sponsored or untrusted links
- Ensure external links add value for users
Broken Links
What it means: Links pointing to pages that return errors (404, 500) hurt user experience and waste crawl budget.
How to fix:
- Update links to point to working URLs
- Remove links to permanently deleted content
- Set up redirects for moved content
- Contact external site owners about their broken pages
Security Issues
Missing Security Headers
What it means: Security headers protect your site and users from various attacks. Missing headers leave vulnerabilities.
Recommended headers to add:
- X-Frame-Options: Prevents clickjacking (DENY or SAMEORIGIN)
- Content-Security-Policy: Controls allowed content sources
- Strict-Transport-Security: Forces HTTPS connections
- X-Content-Type-Options: Prevents MIME sniffing (nosniff)
- Referrer-Policy: Controls referrer information sharing
Protocol-Relative Resources
What it means: URLs starting with // inherit the page's protocol. On HTTP pages, they load insecurely.
How to fix:
- Replace //example.com with https://example.com
- Always use explicit HTTPS for external resources
Unsafe Cross-Origin Links
What it means: HTTPS pages linking to HTTP resources create mixed content warnings and security risks.
How to fix:
- Update all resource links to use HTTPS
- If the external resource doesn't support HTTPS, consider removing or hosting it yourself
- Use Content-Security-Policy to block mixed content
Content Quality Issues
Low Content Pages
What it means: Pages with fewer than 150 words may be seen as "thin content" by search engines, offering little value to users.
How to fix:
- Expand content with valuable, relevant information
- Consolidate thin pages into comprehensive resources
- Noindex pages that can't be meaningfully expanded (utility pages)
- Consider if the page serves a valid purpose
Duplicate / Near-Duplicate Content
What it means: Pages with identical or very similar content compete against each other in search results, diluting rankings.
How to fix:
- Use canonical tags to indicate the preferred version
- 301 redirect duplicate pages to the main version
- Differentiate similar pages with unique content
- Use parameter handling in Search Console
Soft 404 Pages
What it means: Pages that return a 200 status but display "not found" content. Search engines may still try to index these unhelpful pages.
How to fix:
- Return proper 404 or 410 status codes for missing content
- Don't serve "not found" messages with 200 status
- Redirect to relevant content if appropriate
Lorem Ipsum / Placeholder Content
What it means: Placeholder text left on live pages signals incomplete or low-quality content.
How to fix:
- Replace all placeholder text with real content
- Noindex pages until content is ready
- Use staging environments for incomplete pages
Readability Issues
What it means: Content with poor readability scores (using Flesch-Kincaid) is difficult for users to understand, reducing engagement.
How to fix:
- Use shorter sentences (15-20 words average)
- Choose simpler words over complex vocabulary
- Break up long paragraphs
- Use bullet points and subheadings
- Aim for a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of 8 or lower for general audiences
Structured Data Issues
Missing Structured Data
What it means: Pages without schema markup miss opportunities for rich results in search (stars, prices, FAQs, etc.).
How to fix:
- Add JSON-LD schema markup appropriate for your content type
- Common types: Article, Product, LocalBusiness, FAQ, HowTo, BreadcrumbList
- Use Google's Structured Data Markup Helper
- Test with the Rich Results Test tool
Invalid Schema Markup
What it means: Schema with errors (missing required fields, wrong formats) won't generate rich results and may be ignored entirely.
How to fix:
- Validate schema with Google's Rich Results Test
- Check Schema.org documentation for required properties
- Ensure JSON-LD is properly formatted (valid JSON)
- Fix any errors before addressing warnings
Other Issues
Missing Favicon
What it means: A missing favicon hurts brand recognition in browser tabs, bookmarks, and search results.
How to fix:
- Create a favicon (at least 32x32 pixels)
- Add <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico"> to your <head>
- Include multiple sizes for different devices
- Use a favicon generator for all required formats
Meta Refresh Redirects
What it means: Using <meta http-equiv="refresh"> to redirect is outdated and can cause usability and SEO issues.
How to fix:
- Replace meta refresh with proper HTTP 301 or 302 redirects
- Configure redirects at the server level
- Use JavaScript redirects only as a last resort
Trackers Detected
What it means: Analytics and marketing trackers are present on your site. While often necessary, they can impact performance and privacy.
How to optimize:
- Review which trackers are actually necessary
- Remove unused or duplicate tracking codes
- Load trackers asynchronously to reduce page blocking
- Consider privacy implications and compliance (GDPR, CCPA)
- Use a tag manager to consolidate scripts
Orphan Pages
What it means: Pages that exist in your sitemap but have no internal links pointing to them. These are hard for users and search engines to discover.
How to fix:
- Add internal links to orphan pages from relevant content
- Include them in navigation or footer links if appropriate
- Create a related posts/resources section
- If pages aren't needed, remove them and their sitemap entries