When your website isn’t ranking on search engines, the issue often lies in the basics. As a freelance web developer, I’ve seen firsthand how small errors can have a big impact. In this post, I’ll walk you through three of the most common website mistakes that hurt your SEO. Mistakes that could be holding your site back without you even realizing it.
1. Slow Website Speed
We’ve all experienced it: clicking on a link and waiting and waiting only to give up and close the tab. Page speed is one of the biggest factors that affect both user experience and search engine rankings.
If your site loads slowly, visitors are likely to bounce before they even see your content. Search engines like Google want to provide users with fast, relevant results. So, if your site lags, it may be pushed down in the search results.
2. Poor Heading Structure
Headings aren’t just for styling but they’re essential for SEO. Search engines use your headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to understand what each page is about.
One of the most common website mistakes that hurt your SEO is using headings inconsistently or skipping them altogether. Some sites use multiple H1 tags on a single page, while others use bold text instead of actual headings. Both approaches confuse search engine crawlers and dilute the page’s SEO strength.
A strong heading structure:
- Helps users skim and understand your content
- Signals to search engines what topics are most important
- Makes your pages more accessible
If your site is missing this structure, it might be time to revisit your content layout.
3. Missing Meta Titles and Descriptions
Every page on your site should have a clear, optimized meta title and description. These are the snippets that appear in search engine results, they influence both how your site is ranked and whether users actually click on your link.
Without meta tags, Google will try to pull text from your page automatically. The result is often confusing, irrelevant, or incomplete. Worse, your pages may all look the same in search results, which doesn’t help you stand out.
This mistake is easy to fix with an SEO plugin like Rank Math or Yoast. As part of my freelance web development services, I always ensure that every page has well-written, keyword-rich metadata to help drive more clicks and visibility.
These three website mistakes that hurt your SEO are surprisingly common, but also very fixable. If you’re unsure where to begin or need help identifying technical issues, working with a freelance web developer can save you time and help you get better results faster.
