5 Overlooked Development Mistakes That Can Ruin SEO

This article highlights hidden development errors that can severely damage a client's website SEO. Web developers and SEO specialists may seem to have separate goals, but in reality, they share the same objective: driving business growth and increasing site profits. Working together is crucial for success.

"We're Just Building Features" Isn't Enough

Developers often create flawless functionality, but minor technical mistakes can still cause significant SEO issues. When rankings suddenly drop, it's often due to errors that, while minor in development, are critical for SEO. These slip-ups can undo months of progress, hurting both traffic and revenue. The developers may have done everything right from a technical standpoint, but without SEO knowledge, some things can go wrong. Let’s look at the most common problems and how to avoid them.

1. Poor Domain Transfer

Switching domains can lead to a sudden drop in rankings, especially if the new domain has been penalized before or carries bad backlinks. Sometimes, even if the new domain is clean, incorrect redirects or improper data transfers can hurt performance.

Solution: Always verify the domain’s history for penalties and bad links. Set up redirects properly, transfer SEO elements like meta tags, and consult with an SEO specialist to avoid potential pitfalls.

2. Changing URLs During Updates

Updating a website’s design or structure is essential for business growth, but deleting old URLs in favor of new ones can hurt rankings. Old pages with good external traffic should be updated, not removed, to retain link equity and search visibility.

Solution: Keep existing URLs and refresh content to maintain traffic and rankings.

3. Multilingual Mishaps

Translating content for different regions is more than just word-for-word translation. Failing to localize content for cultural and language nuances or improperly translating SEO keywords can lead to poor search engine indexing.

Solution: Localize content properly, and research new keywords in each target language for better regional SEO performance.

4. Geo-Targeting Errors

For sites with content in multiple languages, the hreflang attribute is essential for directing users to the correct version of the site. Mistakes like missing attributes or incorrect country codes can lead to lower rankings.

Solution: Implement hreflang correctly to ensure search engines display the right version of your site to the right audience.

5. Ignoring Mobile Responsiveness and Load Speed

Focusing only on desktop design is a mistake in today's mobile-first world. Poor mobile optimization and slow page load times lead to lower rankings in mobile search, resulting in lost traffic and potential customers.

Solution: Optimize your site for mobile devices and reduce page load times by compressing images and eliminating unnecessary elements.

Conclusion

While developers may focus on functionality, keeping SEO in mind during development is crucial. With a few adjustments, you can avoid these mistakes and help the client’s site rank higher and perform better in search engines.