10 Things Wrong With Your Website (And How to Fix Them)

Your website looks fine on the surface. You built it, maybe paid a designer, and traffic trickles in. But underneath, there are almost certainly problems silently costing you visitors, rankings, and revenue.

After scanning thousands of websites with Leo Scanner, we see the same issues again and again. Here are the ten most common — and what to do about each one.

1. Missing or Duplicate Title Tags

The title tag is the single most important on-page SEO element. It's what shows up in Google search results and browser tabs. Yet a surprising number of sites either leave the default "Home" title, duplicate the same title across every page, or skip it entirely.

Fix it: Every page should have a unique, descriptive title under 60 characters. Include your primary keyword near the beginning.

2. No Meta Description

Meta descriptions don't directly affect rankings, but they heavily influence click-through rates. A missing description means Google generates its own snippet — which is often a random sentence from your page that makes no sense out of context.

Fix it: Write a compelling 150–160 character description for every page. Think of it as ad copy for your search listing.

3. Broken Links

Nothing screams "neglected website" like clicking a link and landing on a 404 page. Broken links frustrate users and signal to search engines that your content is outdated. Even a handful of dead links can erode trust.

Fix it: Run a link audit at least monthly. Tools like Leo Scanner automatically crawl your pages and flag every broken internal and external link so you can fix or remove them.

4. Slow Page Load Times

Users expect a page to load in under 3 seconds. After that, bounce rates skyrocket. Slow sites also rank lower in Google, which has used page speed as a ranking factor since 2018.

Common culprits: uncompressed images, render-blocking JavaScript, no caching headers, and bloated third-party scripts.

Fix it: Compress images to WebP, defer non-critical JavaScript, enable gzip/brotli compression, and set proper cache headers. A performance scan will pinpoint exactly which resources are slowing you down.

5. Not Using HTTPS

In 2026, there's no excuse for serving a site over plain HTTP. Browsers flag non-HTTPS sites as "Not Secure," which immediately destroys visitor trust. Google also gives a ranking boost to secure sites.

Fix it: Install an SSL certificate — most hosting providers offer free ones through Let's Encrypt. Then redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS and fix any mixed content warnings.

6. Missing Alt Text on Images

Alt text serves two purposes: it makes your images accessible to screen readers, and it helps search engines understand what your images show. Pages full of images with no alt text are a missed opportunity on both fronts.

Fix it: Add descriptive alt text to every meaningful image. Be specific — "Golden retriever puppy playing in park" is far better than "dog" or "image1."

7. Poor Mobile Experience

Over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your site isn't responsive — or is technically responsive but practically unusable on a phone — you're alienating the majority of your audience. Google's mobile-first indexing means the mobile version of your site is what gets ranked.

Fix it: Test your site on actual devices, not just browser dev tools. Ensure tap targets are at least 48px, text is readable without zooming, and no content overflows the viewport.

8. Missing Security Headers

Even with HTTPS, your site can be vulnerable without proper security headers. Headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security protect against cross-site scripting, clickjacking, and protocol downgrade attacks.

Fix it: Add security headers at the server or CDN level. A security scan identifies exactly which headers you're missing and what values to set.

9. Bad Heading Structure

Headings (H1–H6) aren't just visual styling — they create a semantic outline of your content. Multiple H1 tags, skipped heading levels, or using headings purely for styling confuses both search engines and assistive technologies.

Fix it: Use exactly one H1 per page (your main title). Follow a logical hierarchy: H1 → H2 → H3. Don't skip from H2 to H4.

10. No Structured Data

Structured data (Schema.org markup) helps search engines understand your content and can unlock rich results — star ratings, FAQs, product info, and more displayed right in the search results. Most sites don't use it at all.

Fix it: Start with the basics: Organization, WebSite, and BreadcrumbList schemas. If you publish articles, add Article schema. Use Google's Rich Results Test to validate.

How to Find These Issues on Your Site

You could check each of these manually, but it's tedious and easy to miss things. That's exactly why we built Leo Scanner — enter your URL and get a comprehensive health report covering all ten of these areas (and more) in about 30 seconds.

The report breaks everything into clear categories with specific, actionable recommendations. No jargon, no fluff — just what's wrong and how to fix it.

Your website is often the first impression people have of your business. Make sure it's not silently driving them away.