SEO is not limited to keywords and content. Search engines also need to be able to crawl, understand, and index your website correctly. Problems behind the scenes can make that more difficult even when the content itself is useful. Here are seven technical SEO issues small business websites should regularly check.
1. Broken Internal Links
Internal links help visitors and search engines move between pages.
When a link points to a deleted or incorrect URL, visitors encounter a 404 error and search engines may waste time crawling pages that no longer exist.
Occasional broken links are normal as websites evolve, but they should be monitored and corrected.
Important removed pages may also require redirects to the most relevant replacement page.
2. Redirect Chains
A redirect should generally send visitors directly from an old URL to its final destination.
Problems arise when one redirect points to another redirect and then another.
For example:
Old URL → Previous URL → Current URL
These chains create unnecessary requests and can make migrations more complicated.
Updating redirects and internal links so they point directly to the final URL keeps the site cleaner.
3. Missing or Duplicate Page Titles
Each important page should have a title that accurately describes its subject.
Duplicate titles can make it harder for search engines and users to distinguish between pages, while missing or vague titles waste an important opportunity to communicate relevance.
Service pages, location pages, articles, and other important content should have descriptive and distinct titles.
4. Incorrect Canonical Tags
Canonical tags help indicate which URL should be treated as the preferred version of a page.
Incorrect canonical settings can accidentally point search engines away from the page you actually want indexed.
This is especially important on websites that have gone through redesigns, migrations, URL changes, or major SEO plugin configuration changes.
Canonical tags should be reviewed as part of a technical SEO audit.
5. Pages Accidentally Blocked From Indexing
Development and staging environments are often intentionally hidden from search engines.
Problems occur when those settings make their way to production.
A valuable page can exist, load correctly, and appear in navigation while still containing a noindex directive that tells search engines not to include it in search results.
Robots.txt rules and indexing directives should therefore be checked after major launches and migrations.
6. Poor Website Performance
Website speed is both a user experience and technical concern.
Oversized images, excessive JavaScript, inefficient third-party scripts, layout shifts, slow servers, and unnecessary resources can reduce performance.
Core Web Vitals provide useful measurements related to loading, responsiveness, and visual stability.
Performance work should focus on creating a faster and more stable experience rather than chasing a score in isolation.
7. XML Sitemap Problems
An XML sitemap helps search engines discover the URLs you want them to know about.
It should contain valid, indexable URLs rather than redirects, errors, staging URLs, or pages intentionally excluded from search.
After launching a new website or changing URLs, the sitemap should be reviewed and submitted through Google Search Console.
Technical SEO Requires Ongoing Attention
Technical SEO is not usually a one-time task.
Websites change. Plugins are updated. Pages are removed. URLs are modified. New content is published. Third-party tools are added.
Small issues can accumulate over time.
Regular crawling, Search Console monitoring, performance checks, and website maintenance help catch problems before they become larger ones.
Oladipo Labs provides technical SEO and website maintenance services designed to keep business websites healthy, accessible to search engines, and easier to maintain.
If you suspect technical problems are affecting your website, contact Oladipo Labs for an evaluation.