A website isn’t a static document; it’s a dynamic digital asset that requires regular health checks. If your organic traffic is flatlining or declining, it’s often a sign of underlying issues—technical debt, security flaws, or content rot—that Google has started to penalise.
As marketing engineers, we’ve seen countless businesses spend fortunes on new campaigns while ignoring the cracks in their foundation. Before you invest another cent in content, run this essential checklist to diagnose the critical warning signs that are actively costing you search visibility and revenue.
1. The Sluggish Speed Score
The Warning Sign: Your Google PageSpeed Insights score is consistently below 50, especially on mobile. The Fix: Google prioritises speed. Slow load times hurt rankings, but more importantly, they kill conversions. This is often caused by unoptimised images, excessive JavaScript, or slow hosting. This is a non-negotiable SEO fix.
2. The Broken Link Cluster
The Warning Sign: Your Google Search Console report shows a high number of “Not Found (404)” errors, or you find internal links pointing to dead pages. The Fix: Broken links signal neglect to search engines and frustrate users. Use a tool to crawl your site and systematically update or redirect (using a 301 redirect) every single broken link.
3. The Missing or Expiring SSL Certificate
The Warning Sign: Visitors see a “Not Secure” warning in their browser (no padlock icon). The Fix: An SSL Certificate encrypts data and is mandatory for trust and basic SEO compliance (HTTPS). If it’s missing or expired, browsers actively warn users away, crushing your traffic and reputation overnight.
4. The Mobile Usability Fail
The Warning Sign: Your website loads correctly on a desktop but requires pinching and zooming on a phone, or interactive elements (like buttons) are too close together. The Fix: Google’s indexing is primarily mobile-first. If your site isn’t fully responsive and easy to use on a small screen, your rankings will suffer dramatically.
5. The Thin or Duplicate Content Bloat
The Warning Sign: You have multiple pages covering the exact same topic, or pages with fewer than 300 words that offer no real value. The Fix: This confuses Google about which page to rank (known as keyword cannibalisation). Consolidate thin content into a single, high-authority resource and add substantial value to core service pages.
6. The Missing Schema Markup
The Warning Sign: You don’t see rich snippets (like star ratings, prices, or FAQ dropdowns) in the search results for your competitors, but you don’t have them either. The Fix: Schema Markup is code that tells Google exactly what your content is (a product, a recipe, a local business). If you aren’t using it, you are missing out on high-visibility rich results that significantly boost click-through rates (CTR).
7. The Unmonitored Core Vitals
The Warning Sign: You aren’t regularly checking your Core Web Vitals scores in Search Console. The Fix: These three metrics (LCP, FID, CLS) measure loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. They are now a direct ranking factor. Failing these means your site offers a poor user experience, regardless of how good your content is.
8. The Outdated Platform/Plugin Ecosystem
The Warning Sign: You haven’t updated your CMS (like WordPress) or its plugins in six months or more. The Fix: Outdated software is a massive security vulnerability and a source of performance degradation. Hackers actively look for these known flaws. Regular updates are the foundation of good security and SEO health.
