Master Your SEO Game: 7 Technical Fixes to Boost Your Search Visibility

Without strong technical optimization, your SEO efforts can fall flat. If search bots can’t crawl or index your site, your content won’t rank—no matter how compelling it is.

At Aspen Peak Agency, we go beyond basic SEO audits. Tools like Semrush and Screaming Frog are great for finding surface-level issues, but real success comes from digging deeper to uncover technical barriers that prevent your site from performing well in search engines.

Here are the top seven technical SEO issues to watch out for—and how to fix them to master your SEO and improve your rankings.

1. Blocked Crawl Path: Robots.txt File

The robots.txt file is like your website’s front gate. It tells search bots where they’re allowed to go and what they need to avoid. If this file is misconfigured, your entire site could be blocked from being crawled.

Example Error:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

This code tells search engines to block everything. Oops!

Fix It: Visit https://www.yoursite.com/robots.txt to check your file. Use a tool like Merkle’s Robots.txt Validator to spot and fix any disallowed URLs.

2. Blocked Indexation: Meta Robots Noindex Tag

Meta robots tags can prevent specific pages from being indexed by search engines. While this can be intentional, it’s often added accidentally, causing important pages to be excluded from search results.

What to Look For:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

Fix It: Use Google Search Console or Screaming Frog to identify pages with the noindex tag. Pay attention to the “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag” report in Search Console.

3. Canonical Tag Conflicts

Canonical tags help search engines understand which version of a page to index when duplicates exist. But if misused, they can send search bots away from pages you want to rank.

Check This Tag:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.yoursite.com/sample-url">

Fix It: Run a site crawl using Screaming Frog. Compare the canonical URLs with the crawled URLs and check Google Search Console reports for errors like “Alternate page with proper canonical tag.”

4. Malformed or Missing Anchor Tags

Internal links pass authority across your site. Google follows links that use anchor tags with an href attribute and a valid URL.

Correct Format:

<a href="https://www.yoursite.com/sample-url">Anchor Text</a>

Common Issues:

Missing href attributes
Unqualified URLs

Fix It: Inspect your site’s source code to ensure links are properly formatted. Fix broken or malformed links that could hurt your crawlability.

5. Orphaned Pages

Orphaned pages are pages with no internal links pointing to them. If Google can’t find a page through a link, it’s unlikely to rank well—even if it’s included in your XML sitemap.

The Risk: Pages without crawlable links are often overlooked by search engines.

Fix It: Ensure every important page is linked from at least one other page on your site. Review pagination links in your blog or ecommerce sections to make sure they’re accessible.

6. Mobile Navigation Issues

Google now uses a mobile-first index, meaning your site’s mobile version is what gets crawled. If your mobile navigation isn’t as robust as your desktop version, important pages could be missed.

Check Your Mobile Menu: Make sure your mobile navigation mirrors your desktop navigation. For example, an ecommerce site should allow users to navigate from top-level categories down to individual products on both desktop and mobile.

Fix It: Compare your mobile and desktop navigation. Ensure all links present on your desktop site are available on mobile to maintain internal linking depth.

7. Mobile Content Issues

Some designers remove content from mobile pages to streamline the user experience. However, if critical content is missing from the mobile version, Google won’t see it—and neither will your audience.

What to Check:

Headers and subheadings
Product descriptions
Calls-to-action (CTAs)

Fix It: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to ensure all essential content is visible on mobile devices. Review your site manually to spot any missing elements.

Why Technical SEO Matters

These seven technical issues can severely impact your site’s ability to rank in search results. By addressing them, you ensure that your site is fully crawlable and indexable, paving the way for better organic traffic and search visibility.

At Aspen Peak Agency, we’re here to help you tackle these technical challenges head-on. Let’s optimize your site and make sure it’s ready to rank.