SEO Basics: 6 Things That Could Be Hurting Your Website on Google

This is where a lot of businesses lose rankings without understanding why. Google is constantly scanning, or “crawling,” your site. If its bots keep running into problems, Google starts to trust your site less, and your rankings slip. Here are the most common technical issues we find, and what to do about each one.

“Why isn’t Google indexing my website?”

That’s almost always a technical problem. Here are the most common technical SEO issues we find, and what to do about each one.

Pages that take more than a few seconds to load frustrate visitors and drag down your rankings. People leave before they ever see what you offer.

What to do: Compress large images, remove plugins and scripts you’re not using, and choose reliable hosting. You can check your speed for free with Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

If search engines can’t read and understand a page, that page might as well not exist. This often happens when content is buried behind scripts or blocked by accident.

What to do: Make sure your important pages aren’t blocked in your robots file, and submit an XML sitemap through Google Search Console so Google knows exactly what to look at.

When the same or very similar content shows up on several pages, Google struggles to know which one to rank, so it may rank none of them.

What to do: Give every page a clear, unique purpose. Combine pages that overlap, and use a canonical tag when you need similar versions of a page.

Large image files slow your site down, and images without descriptive file names or alt text give Google no idea what they show.

What to do: Size your images correctly before uploading, compress them, and write short, descriptive alt text.

Here’s something most people don’t know. Google now ranks your website based on the mobile version first, not the desktop version. This is called mobile-first indexing, and it means the experience someone has on their phone is what Google pays the most attention to.

So if your site looks great on a desktop but is slow or hard to use on a phone, Google sees that and can rank you lower because of it.

“How do I know if my website is mobile friendly?”

The simplest test is to open your site on your phone right now. If it isn’t a smooth, easy experience, that’s a problem worth fixing. You can also run a Mobile Usability Report on Google Search Console

Being mobile friendly comes down to a few practical things:

• A responsive layout that adjusts to any screen size
• Buttons that are easy to tap with a thumb
• Text that’s readable without pinching or zooming
• Fast load speed on a phone

If it isn’t a smooth, easy experience, that’s something worth fixing.

If you’re new to SEO, title tags and meta descriptions may seem small, but they’re often the first thing both Google and potential customers see. This is an easy SEO fix once you know it’s a problem. Every page on your site needs two things: a title tag and a meta description.

“What’s a title tag and what’s a meta description?”

Your title tag is the clickable headline that shows up in Google results. Your meta description is the short summary underneath it that tells people what the page is about. If your pages just say “Home” or “Page 1,” Google has very little to work with, and so do the people deciding whether to click.

Here is the difference:

A few guidelines that help:

• Keep title tags to about 50 to 60 characters so they don’t get cut off in search results
• Keep meta descriptions to about 150 to 160 characters
• It’s important to write for both a real person and Google bots. This is often the first impression someone has of your business.

Beyond title tags and descriptions, your headings, URL structure, and internal links all send signals about what each page is about. Most sites ignore this completely, so getting it right is an easy way to stand out.

One step you can take today: pick your five most important pages and make sure each one has a unique title tag and meta description that actually describes the page.

A lot of websites have pages with barely anything on them. Three sentences, a phone number, a contact form, and that’s it. Google needs enough context to understand what you do and who you help.

But just writing from your gut is, unfortunately, not enough. Effective content copywriting starts with keyword research and understanding search intent. Are you using the words and phrases your customers are actually typing into Google? Are you answering the questions they’re asking? That’s what keyword strategy and search intent are all about.

Search intent is simply the reason behind a search. It usually falls into a few buckets:

When your content matches the intent behind a search, Google is far more likely to show it to the right people.

“How do I do keyword research?”

A simple way to do keyword research: list the questions and phrases your customers use when they describe their problem, then type a few into Google and see what comes up. The autocomplete suggestions and the “people also ask” box are full of real phrases people search for. Free tools like Google Keyword Planner can show you roughly how often those terms get searched and if you have the budget, paid tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs can give you really deep insights into each keyword.

Here is weak content next to strong content:

The rule is simple. If your content doesn’t match what people are searching for, Google won’t show it to them.

When someone searches for something like “best coffee shop near me,” Google shows a map with local listings. That map listing is your Google Business Profile, and for local businesses it is one of the most valuable things you can optimize.

If yours isn’t set up, not updated, or has no photos and reviews, you’re close to invisible to people searching in your area.

“How do I set up a google business profile properly?”

Here’s how to do it right, step by step:

• Claim your profile at google.com/business and verify that you own the business.
• Fill out every field: name, address, phone, website, hours, and categories.
• Write a clear description of what you do and who you serve.
• Add real photos of your team, your work, and your location.
• Ask happy customers for reviews, and respond to the ones you get, good or bad.
• Regularly post updates the same way you would on social media.

Go search your business name on Google right now. No profile? Set one up. Have one you haven’t touched in months? Update it. Either way, it might be the most valuable thing you do for your business this week.

Think of a backlink as a recommendation from another website. When a credible site links to yours, Google treats it as a vote of confidence that your site is worth paying attention to.

This ties closely to domain authority, which is a general measure of how trustworthy and established your site looks to search engines. The more quality sites that link to you, the more authority you tend to build, and that authority helps you rank.

“How many backlinks do I need?”

There isn’t a magic number. A handful of relevant, trustworthy links is usually far more valuable than hundreds of low-quality ones. If no other websites link to yours, Google essentially sees you as a stranger, no matter how good your product or service is.

A few ways to earn backlinks:

• Get listed in reputable local and industry directories
• Fill out every field: name, address, phone, website, hours, and categories.
• Reach out to industry blogs or partners you already work with
• Earn press mentions through news, events, or community involvement

That was a lot, but here is the good news: You don’t have to fix every single thing overnight. The first step is simply knowing where your website actually stands.

These six areas cover the core components of search engine optimization, and working through them in order is a solid basic SEO strategy for any business. Here’s a quick checklist to take with you:

• Fix technical SEO issues
• Make sure your website is mobile friendly
• Optimize title tags and meta descriptions
• Create content around search intent
• Earn quality backlinks
• Create content around search intent

If you would rather know exactly where to focus first, that’s what we’re here for. Blue Halo Agency can audit your website and tell you exactly what’s helping you, what’s holding you back, and what to fix first. In the meantime, keep an eye on our blog, as we share more SEO resources.

Ready for a free site or SEO audit?

Get a free review of your site by messaging us today. You have worked too hard to stay invisible.