53% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic searches (BrightEdge), and how do you increase your organic traffic? SEO. But if you’re running a website, you already know how crucial this is. It’s the lifeblood of your online presence, driving visitors without the need for constant ad spending.
But here’s the thing: even a few small technical SEO issues can cause your traffic to drop dramatically. And it’s not always obvious what’s going wrong. At EpicDevs, we’ve seen countless sites face traffic slumps, and mostly because of overlooked SEO blunders that are surprisingly easy to fix, but not to the untrained eye. Let’s walk through the most common mistakes and, more importantly, how to avoid them.
1. Redirects Gone Wrong
If you’ve ever reorganized or moved content on your website, you’ve probably set up redirects. But did you know that using the wrong type of redirect can seriously mess up your SEO? Redirects that aren’t done properly can send both users and search engines to broken pages or irrelevant content, which tanks your rankings.
What usually goes wrong:
A classic mistake is using a 302 redirect (temporary) instead of a 301 redirect (permanent) when moving pages for good. The problem? A 302 tells search engines, “Hey, this page is just temporarily moved,” so the SEO value doesn’t transfer to the new page.
The fix:
Make sure you’re using 301 redirects for anything permanent. If you’re not sure what’s happening on your site, tools like Screaming Frog are great for spotting and fixing redirect issues before they cause more damage.
2. Ignoring Mobile Optimization
Did you know that 58% of all searches come from mobile devices? (Google) If this doesn’t make you want to optimize your site for mobile users, we don’t know what will. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re not just giving your users a poor experience, you’re also giving Google a reason to rank you lower. In simple terms, Google’s mobile-first indexing means the mobile version of your site is the primary one for ranking purposes.
What usually goes wrong:
Your site might look beautiful on a desktop, but if it loads slowly or has formatting issues on mobile (tiny buttons, hard-to-read text), your rankings will take a nosedive.
The fix:
Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your site holds up on mobile. If it’s not looking great, focus on responsive design so that it adapts smoothly to all devices. Also, optimizing your images and improving mobile speed will go a long way in keeping both users and search engines happy, but more on that later.
3. Uploading Giant Images
Unoptimized images are one of the sneakiest ways to slow down your site, and that’s a big problem for SEO. If your pages take forever to load, users will leave before they even see your content, and Google will notice the high bounce rate. The result? Your rankings start to slip. Don’t believe us? 53% of mobile users will leave a page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load, and for each additional second of load time past the first, the bounce rate increases by 32%. Talk about scary. (Google) (Envisagedigital)
What usually goes wrong:
In short, uploading huge, high-resolution images without compressing them first. These massive files drag down your site’s speed on a computer, and even more for mobile users who might be on slower connections.
The fix:
Compress your images before uploading them using tools like TinyPNG or ShortPixel. Also, choose the right format for your images – JPEG is usually better for photos, while PNG works for graphics. Another pro tip is to implement lazy loading, so images load only when someone scrolls to them. This speeds up the initial page load time a ton.
4. Duplicate Content Confusion
Duplicate content is like kryptonite for search engines. When Google “sees” multiple versions of the same content, it doesn’t know which one to prioritize. This confusion can not only hurt your rankings, but if Google thinks you’re trying to game the system, you might even get penalized. That’s a big no-no for your SEO.
What usually goes wrong:
A common issue is having multiple URLs for the same page, such as “www” and “non-www” versions of your site or pages with and without a trailing slash (e.g., /page vs /page/). This confuses search engines and splits your SEO value.
The fix:
Use canonical tags to tell search engines which version of a page is the primary one. Also, make sure all your URLs point to a single preferred version – whether that’s “www” or “non-www,” pick one and stick with it. You can manage this through your .htaccess file or a plugin if you’re using WordPress.
5. Forgetting About Your XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is like your site’s GPS for search engines, guiding them to all your important pages. Without a properly configured sitemap, search engines might miss key pages, meaning less visibility and fewer opportunities to rank.
What usually goes wrong:
Some site owners forget to submit their sitemaps to Google Search Console, or they include pages that shouldn’t be indexed, like admin pages or “thank you” pages after a form submission.
The fix:
Make sure your XML sitemap is clean and only includes pages you want indexed. Then, regularly submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to make sure your pages are being properly crawled and ranked.
6. Broken Internal Links
Broken links don’t just frustrate visitors (who likes to enter a page and see the dreaded “whoops, nothing to see here”?) – they confuse search engines too. Internal links help them understand your site structure and discover content. When those links are broken, you’re basically putting up a “Do Not Enter” sign for both users and bots.
What usually goes wrong:
Over time, as pages get updated, moved, or deleted, it’s easy to leave broken links scattered across your site. These broken links disrupt the flow of link equity (AKA, SEO value passed from one page to another) and can cause your rankings to dip.
The fix:
Run regular link audits using tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog to find and fix any broken links. You can also update them to point to the correct pages, or set up redirects if needed.
Final Thoughts: Keep Your SEO Healthy with Regular Maintenance
Building and maintaining strong organic traffic isn’t just about publishing top-notch content – it’s about keeping an eye on the technical details that can make or break your SEO. By learning about these common mistakes and actually fixing them, you’ll set your website up for better rankings and more traffic.
At EpicDevs, we know how to navigate these tricky technical SEO waters like we’re pros at it, because we are! Whether you need help auditing your site or implementing the fixes that will boost your rankings, our team has the experience to get your SEO back on track and keep your traffic flowing. Plus, our team brings together the world of WordPress SEO and web design, ensuring you get full solutions. And, with a unique understanding of WordPress development, we create personalized search marketing strategies