How to Find and Fix Technical SEO Issues on Your Website

Your website may have useful content and valuable services, but technical problems can still prevent it from performing well in search results.

Search engines need to discover your pages, crawl them, understand their content, and decide whether to include them in the index. If something goes wrong during this process, important pages may not rank—or may not appear in Google at all.

Here is a practical process for finding and fixing the most important technical SEO issues on your website.

1. Check Whether Google Has Indexed Your Important Pages

Start with the pages that matter most to your business, such as:

• Service pages
• Product or category pages
• Important landing pages
• High-value blog posts
• Location pages

You can perform a quick Google search using:

site:yourdomain.com/page-url/

However, the more reliable method is to inspect the exact URL in Google Search Console.

The URL Inspection tool can show whether:

• The page is indexed
• Google has discovered but not indexed it
• Crawling is blocked
• The page contains a noindex directive
• Google selected a different canonical URL
• The URL redirects elsewhere

Do not assume that requesting indexing will solve the problem. You first need to identify why the page is not being indexed.

2. Check Whether Search Engines Can Crawl the Page

A page generally needs to be accessible before Google can properly process it.

Check whether important pages are being blocked by:

• robots.txt
• Website security settings
• Login requirements
• Server errors
• Incorrect CMS settings
• Unavailable JavaScript or CSS files

Important indexable pages should normally return a 200 status code .

Other status codes may indicate a problem:

• 404: Page not found
• 301: Permanently redirected
• 302: Temporarily redirected
• 500: Server error
• 503: Service temporarily unavailable

A website crawler such as Screaming Frog can help you identify these issues across multiple pages.

3. Look for Unintended Noindex and Canonical Tags

A page may be crawlable but still excluded from Google.

One common cause is an unintended noindex directive:

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

This can happen after a redesign, migration, plugin change, or when staging-site settings are accidentally transferred to the live website.

You should also check the canonical tag:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/preferred-page/">

A canonical tag tells Google which URL you consider the preferred version.

If an important page points to another URL as canonical, Google may exclude the original page and index the alternative instead.

Make sure the canonical tag, internal links, sitemap entry, and redirects all support the same preferred URL.

4. Review Your Internal Links and Site Structure

Google frequently discovers pages through links from other pages.

An important page may be difficult to find if it:

• Has no internal links
• Is buried deep within the website
• Is linked only from an XML sitemap
• Uses unclear anchor text
• Is disconnected from related service or category pages

Pages with no internal links are often called orphan pages .

Add relevant links from related pages, category hubs, navigation, breadcrumbs, or blog content. Internal links should be useful to visitors and should clearly describe the destination page.

Your website should also have a logical structure that helps users and search engines understand how pages are related.

For example:

• Homepage
• Services
  • Technical SEO Audit
  • Google Search Console Support
• Case Studies
• Blog
  • Technical SEO
  • AI SEO
• Contact

Important pages should be easy to reach without navigating through many unnecessary levels.

5. Check Your XML Sitemap

An XML sitemap helps search engines discover the URLs you consider important.

Your sitemap should generally include pages that are:

• Live
• Indexable
• Canonical
• Returning a 200 status
• Valuable enough to appear in search results

Remove URLs that are:

• Redirected
• Broken
• Marked noindex
• Blocked from crawling
• Duplicated
• Non-canonical
• Part of a staging or test environment

Remember that sitemap inclusion does not guarantee indexing. It helps Google discover URLs, but those pages must still be crawlable, indexable, useful, and supported by consistent signals.

6. Find Broken Links, Redirect Chains, and Duplicate URLs

Broken internal links can prevent users and search engines from reaching important content.

Review links pointing to:

• Deleted pages
• Old URLs
• Redirected URLs
• Incorrect HTTP versions
• Outdated domain versions

Whenever possible, update internal links so they point directly to the final destination.

You should also look for redirect chains:

Old URL → Second URL → Final URL

A cleaner setup is:

Old URL → Final URL

Duplicate URLs can also cause confusion. The same content may be available through several versions, such as:

• HTTP and HTTPS
• WWW and non-WWW
• URLs with and without trailing slashes
• Filter or tracking parameters
• Duplicate category paths

Use redirects or canonical tags to consolidate these versions and make your preferred URL clear.

How Should You Prioritize Technical SEO Issues?

Not every warning needs immediate attention.

Prioritize issues based on:

• The importance of the affected page
• Whether the problem blocks crawling or indexing
• The number of URLs affected
• The likely impact on traffic or conversions
• The effort and risk involved in fixing it

The highest-priority issues usually include:

• Important pages marked noindex
• Main website sections blocked in robots.txt
• Server errors
• Redirect loops
• Incorrect canonical tags
• Important pages with no internal links
• Live websites still using staging-site settings

Smaller metadata or image warnings can usually be handled later.

How to Confirm That a Technical SEO Fix Worked

After implementing a fix:

• Crawl the page again
• Confirm the correct status code
• Check the robots directive
• Verify the canonical tag
• Test the internal links
• Inspect the page in Google Search Console
• Monitor indexing and search performance

Some changes may be reflected within days, while others may take several weeks.

A technical fix should first be judged by whether it achieved its intended purpose. For example, confirm that the page is now crawlable and indexable before expecting an immediate increase in rankings.

Final Thoughts

Finding technical SEO issues is not about achieving a perfect audit score.

The goal is to ensure that search engines can discover, crawl, understand, and index the pages that matter to your business.

Start with your most valuable pages. Check their indexing status, crawlability, robots directives, canonical tags, internal links, sitemap inclusion, and response codes.

Then prioritize the problems that directly affect search visibility, traffic, and conversions.

A website does not need to be technically perfect. But its important pages must be accessible, indexable, logically organized, and supported by clear, consistent signals.