Fixing Audit Issues

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What You’ll Learn

• How to prioritize fixes
• Common fixes for each category
• Tools and resources for implementation
• When to involve a developer

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Fix Priority

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Order of operations

1. Critical issues first - These may be blocking AI visibility entirely
2. Warnings next - These reduce your visibility potential
3. Info items last - Nice-to-have optimizations

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Time investment guide

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Common Fixes by Category

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Crawlability Fixes

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AI bots blocked in robots.txt

Issue: Your robots.txt blocks GPTBot, ClaudeBot, or other AI crawlers. Fix:

1. Access your robots.txt file (usually at yoursite.com/robots.txt)
2. Remove or modify lines that block AI bots
3. Add explicit Allow directives for AI bots

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Missing XML sitemap

Issue: No sitemap found at standard locations. Fix:

1. Generate a sitemap using your CMS or a plugin (e.g., Yoast SEO, Rank Math)
2. Submit to Google Search Console
3. Add sitemap reference to robots.txt

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Broken links (404s)

Issue: Links pointing to non-existent pages. Fix:

1. Review the list of broken URLs
2. Either restore the missing pages or set up 301 redirects
3. Update internal links pointing to broken pages

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Content Structure Fixes

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Missing or duplicate title tags

Issue: Pages without title tags or with the same title as other pages. Fix:

1. Add unique, descriptive title tags (50-60 characters)
2. Include primary keyword near the beginning
3. Make each page’s title unique

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Multiple H1 tags

Issue: Pages with more than one H1 heading. Fix:

1. Keep only one H1 per page (the main page title)
2. Demote extra H1s to H2 or H3 as appropriate
3. Ensure H1 includes the primary keyword

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Missing heading hierarchy

Issue: H3 used before H2, or headings skipped. Fix:

1. Restructure headings in proper order: H1 → H2 → H3
2. Don’t skip levels (no H1 → H3 without H2)
3. Use headings for structure, not styling

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Missing image alt text

Issue: Images without descriptive alt attributes. Fix:

1. Add descriptive alt text to each image
2. Include relevant keywords naturally
3. Describe what the image shows

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Schema & Structured Data Fixes

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Missing Article schema

Issue: Blog posts and articles without Article schema markup. Fix:

1. Add JSON-LD Article schema to article pages
2. Include: headline, author, datePublished, description
3. Use a WordPress plugin (Yoast, Rank Math) for automatic schema

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Invalid schema markup

Issue: Schema present but contains errors. Fix:

1. Test current schema with Google’s Rich Results Test
2. Fix validation errors (missing required fields, wrong types)
3. Re-test after fixes

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Missing Organization schema

Issue: No organizational entity defined. Fix:

1. Add Organization schema to your homepage
2. Include: name, URL, logo, contact info
3. Helps AI identify your brand entity

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Performance Fixes

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Slow page load speed

Issue: Pages taking more than 3 seconds to load. Fix:

1. Optimize images (compress, use WebP format)
2. Enable caching (browser and server)
3. Minimize JavaScript and CSS
4. Use a CDN for static assets
5. Consider upgrading hosting

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Poor mobile responsiveness

Issue: Pages not properly formatted for mobile devices. Fix:

1. Use responsive design (CSS media queries)
2. Test with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test
3. Ensure tap targets are properly sized
4. Check viewport meta tag is set

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Security Fixes

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No HTTPS

Issue: Site using HTTP instead of HTTPS. Fix:

1. Obtain an SSL certificate (free from Let’s Encrypt)
2. Install on your server
3. Redirect all HTTP to HTTPS
4. Update internal links to use HTTPS

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Mixed content

Issue: HTTP resources loaded on HTTPS pages. Fix:

1. Identify HTTP resources (images, scripts, CSS)
2. Update URLs to HTTPS versions
3. Fix hardcoded HTTP URLs in content and templates

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When to Involve a Developer

Handle yourself:

• Adding alt text to images
• Updating title tags and meta descriptions
• Basic schema markup via plugins
• Content structure (headings)

Involve a developer:

• robots.txt changes on complex sites
• Server-side performance optimization
• Custom schema implementation
• SSL certificate installation
• Redirect mapping for site migrations

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After Fixing

1. Run a new audit to verify fixes
2. Check your grade improvement
3. Address the next batch of issues
4. Monitor for new issues in future audits

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Tips

• Fix one category at a time - Focused effort is more effective than scattered fixes
• Use WordPress plugins - Yoast SEO and Rank Math handle many issues automatically
• Document what you changed - Helpful if issues recur
• Don’t break things fixing things - Test changes on a staging site first if unsure
• Celebrate grade improvements - Each point up means better AI visibility potential

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