9 Signs Your Business Website Needs SEO

Your website is your shopfront. Without website SEO, it won’t rank or bring leads. Since 68% of online experiences begin with search engines, poor visibility means losing customers before they even reach your business.

The following signs indicate that you need strategic website SEO immediately. 

• You get low website traffic 
• You have a high bounce rate
• Your competitors rank higher
• You are sticking with outdated content
• You don’t get leads from your site
• You have mobile-SEO issues
• You have a low-authority domain
• You have a poor click-through rate, and
• Your website is not indexed. 

In this guide, we will explain the issues and provide guidance on implementing effective website SEO for your website. 

What Is Website SEO and Why Is It Required?

Website SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It’s the process of improving your site so search engines like Google can find, understand, and rank it.

Why do you need it? Because without it, your site gets lost in search results. A strong SEO setup helps with:

• Higher Google ranking and improved visibility
• More visitors and increased organic traffic
• More qualified leads
• Better user experience

If your competitors are appearing before you, they’re winning customers that could have been yours.

9 Signs Your Business Website Needs SEO 

The following are the 9 signs that indicate you should review your business website’s SEO immediately. 

1. You Are Getting Low Website Traffic

A business website without steady visitors is like a store on a hidden street—no one knows it exists. If your site shows low website traffic due to poor search presence, it usually signals weak search engine optimisation. 

Poor keyword visibility means your pages don’t match what people are typing into Google, so they end up clicking on competitors instead of you.

For example, imagine you run a plumbing service in Brisbane. If your website isn’t optimised for terms like “emergency plumber Brisbane” or “blocked drain repair,” potential customers won’t find you. 

Instead, they’ll call the competitor who appears at the top of the search results with organic and relevant keywords. 

According to a study by BACKLINKO: 

• Just 0.63% of Google searchers click results on Google’s second page. That means, 99.37% of searchers stick to page one.

So, if your site isn’t showing up in the first page results, you’re missing the majority of clicks. 

Solution:

• Start with a professional SEO audit. It will show why your site isn’t ranking—whether it’s missing keywords, weak backlinks, or technical issues. 
• Then, build a strategy around optimising keywords, creating relevant content, and fixing site performance to bring more qualified visitors to your site.

2. You Have a High Bounce Rate

Bounce rate means the visitors leave your page without taking any further action, such as clicking any other links, navigating to another page, filling out any form, or interacting with the content. 

Bounce rate is measured in percentage. 

You can have a high bounce rate when your content doesn’t match what they expected regarding your website’s goal. Or it can happen due to slow website speed. Even a slow website speed can make your website frustrating to the audience. 

Well, based on the industry types, the average bounce rate can range from 20% to 90%. But when your website page speed goes 3 seconds from 1 second, your website’s bounce rate can increase up to 32% regardless of the industry norm.

Solution:

• Improve loading speed, write content that matches user intent, and make navigation easy. 
• Regularly test your site’s speed and fix design issues that frustrate visitors.

3. Your Competitor Ranking Higher

If your competitors appear before you, they’re attracting your customers. They may have fresher content, stronger backlinks, or better local SEO strategies.

For instance, if a rival law firm shows up first for “family lawyer Brisbane” and your site is buried below, guess who gets the call? 

Even if your services are better, customers usually trust whoever ranks higher. 

The data also verifies this statement. According to BACKLINKO, based on their 4 million Google search result analysis:

• The top 5 ranked results get 69.1% of clicks alone.  
• The #1 result on the Google SERP receives 27.6% of clicks, the second result receives 15.8%, and the third result receives 11%.
• Even the #1 gets 10x more clicks than the #10 on the first page. 

So, ranking on the first page doesn’t even help you to get more CTR, even if you are not in the top 5 results. So, when you are out of the top 5 results, you need website SEO to regain your position and gain leads. 

Solution

• Research competitor websites. See what keywords, backlinks, and content they use. 
• Work with an SEO Consultant to close the gap and outperform them.

4. You Are Still on With Your Outdated Website Content

Google prefers fresh, updated content. If your blogs, service pages, or product details are old, your rankings suffer. Outdated content makes your site look neglected and less trustworthy.

For example, a financial services site still showing “Tax Tips for 2020” tells users you haven’t kept up. So, this content won’t attract audiences because they need Tax Tips for the current year (or 2025, if applicable). 

Solution:

• Refresh content regularly. 
• Update statistics, rewrite old posts, and add new insights.

Regular updates keep your organic traffic steady and show Google that your site is active, and build trust.

According to Neil Patel, updating old blog posts can increase traffic by 96%.

5. You Have No Leads from the Website

Traffic alone doesn’t pay the bills. If you’re getting visitors but no calls, inquiries, or sales, the issue isn’t just visibility— the issue is with “targeting audiences.” A weak website SEO often attracts the wrong audience.

For example, a plumbing business may rank well for “DIY plumbing tips,” which attracts people seeking free fixes. But those same people won’t hire a plumber. So, this won’t bring you any sales. 

On the other hand, terms like “emergency plumber in Brisbane” or “blocked drain repair” signal buying intent. That’s the kind of search that leads to calls and paying customers.

According to Ahrefs, commercial or buyer intent keywords convert better. If your content leans too heavily on blog-style informational keywords, you’ll generate traffic without leads.

Solution

The fix lies in aligning your SEO with conversion goals:

• Target Buyer-Intent Keywords: Optimise for phrases like “best dentist Brisbane” or “roof repair quote” instead of only answering general questions.
• Optimise Landing Pages: Add strong calls-to-action (CTAs), clear service details, and easy contact options. A button saying “Book Now” outperforms a hidden phone number.
• Use Local SEO: Add location-based keywords to capture customers searching nearby. For example, “plumber in Logan” will bring in higher quality leads than just “plumber.” You should remember that 46% of total Google searches are with local intent. 
• Run an SEO Audit: This helps you identify which pages bring in traffic but fail to convert. You can then adjust those pages for lead generation instead of raw clicks.
• Track Conversions: Use Google Analytics or similar tools to measure how many visitors actually call, submit forms, or buy. This helps refine your strategy.

With these steps, you shift from attracting random visitors to pulling in the right people—those who are ready to do business with you.

6. You Have Mobile SEO Issues

If you skipped mobile-friendliness for your website, you are in a big red zone. Because most people now search on mobile. 64% of all global traffic comes from mobile devices. 

And Google makes it its priority. How? Google implemented mobile-first indexing for all websites in 2020. 

If your site isn’t optimised for phones, you’ll lose them quickly. Poor mobile design, slow speed, and hard-to-read pages all cause problems.

For instance, a Brisbane café website with menus that don’t load well on phones will drive customers away. 

75% of mobile users prefer mobile-friendly websites, and 67% are more likely to buy from them. And ultimately, your targeted customers will go to competitors’ sites if your site isn’t mobile-friendly. 

A Brisbane café, for example, with a menu that doesn’t load properly on mobile, risks losing walk-in customers who might otherwise order. 

Solution:

• Run a mobile SEO audit using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. 
• Fix slow loading times, resize text and buttons, and make menus easy to use on smaller screens. 
• Use a responsive design so pages adjust smoothly on all devices. 
• Compress images and improve site speed. These fixes improve rankings and keep visitors engaged.

Mobile SEO ensures your site works smoothly on all devices, keeping visitors engaged.

7. You Have a Low Domain Authority and a Lack of Backlinks

Domain authority (DA) is a measure of how trustworthy and credible your site appears to search engines. If your DA is low, Google sees your website as less reliable compared to competitors.

One of the main reasons DA remains low is a lack of quality backlinks. Backlinks are links from other reputable websites pointing to your site. When trusted sites mention or link to you, Google interprets it as a “vote of confidence.” Without them, your site has less credibility.

Other reasons your DA might stay low include:

• Publishing thin or low-value content.
• Not being listed in relevant directories.
• Poor internal linking structure.
• Competing in a high-authority industry without a strong strategy.

For example, a Brisbane cleaning service with no backlinks from local directories, blogs, or industry sites will struggle to rank. Data from Ahrefs shows 96.55% of all content gets zero Google traffic, and a lack of backlinks is one of the top 3 causes.

Solution

• Start with Local Directories: List your business on platforms like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and trusted local directories.
• Create Shareable Content: Write guides, case studies, or how-to articles that others want to link to.
• Do Outreach: Connect with bloggers, local news sites, and industry partners for guest posting or link mentions.
• Earn PR Mentions: Share business updates or community involvement that local media or community members can cover and discuss. 
• Fix Internal Linking: Link related pages on your site so authority passes through your content.

With consistent backlink building and better content, your domain authority will rise, and so will your rankings.

8. You Get Poor Click-Through Rate (CTR)

If your site shows up in results but no one clicks, you have a poor click-through rate. It is the average of clicks your links get compared to how many people see them. 

The average CTR across industries falls between 4.24% and 11.43%. If the average CTr falls under this range regarding the specific industry, it indicates problems with your site. 

However, a poor CTR often occurs when your titles and meta descriptions fail to grab attention.

For example, a Brisbane dentist with the title “Home | Smile Dental” won’t attract clicks. But “Affordable Family Dentist Brisbane | Emergency Appointments Available” is more appealing.

Solution

Optimised titles and meta descriptions not only improve CTR but also signal relevance to Google, which can help rankings.

• Rewrite Page Titles: Include target keywords and highlight benefits or urgency (e.g., “24/7 Emergency Plumber Brisbane”).
• Improve Meta Descriptions: Write clear, action-oriented descriptions that answer search intent.
• Add Structured Data: Rich snippets like ratings, FAQs, or pricing make your results stand out.
• A/B Test Headlines: Experiment with different wording to see which version gets higher clicks.
• Check Keyword Match: Ensure your page titles align with what people are actually searching for.

9. Your Website Is Not Indexed or Has Technical Issues

If Google isn’t indexing your site, it won’t appear in searches at all. This could be due to technical problems, such as:

• Blocked pages
• Poor structure
• Hreflang issues
• 3XX redirect issues
• HTTP to HTTPS redirect issues
• Missing alt attributes
• Slow pages
• Page and SERP titles that do not match.
• Incoming internal link issues
• H1 tag issues, etc. 

If your e-commerce site has thousands of products but only 100 are indexed, customers won’t find the rest.

Solution:

• Run an SEO Audit: Use tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or Google Search Console to detect errors.
• Fix Indexing Issues: Ensure robots.txt and meta tags aren’t blocking important pages.
• Improve Site Speed: Compress images, enable caching, and use a fast hosting provider.
• Check Redirects: Make sure all redirects are clean and functional.
• Optimise Internal Linking: Link key pages together so Google crawlers can find them.
• Update Titles & Tags: Align page titles, meta descriptions, and H1 tags properly.
• Submit Sitemap: Upload a clear, updated XML sitemap in Google Search Console.

Regular technical maintenance keeps your website crawlable and ensures all valuable pages appear in search results.

How Can an SEO Consultant Help My Business Grow?

An SEO Consultant focuses on improving your online visibility so potential customers can find you faster. Here’s how they help your business grow:

• Identify Website Issues: They run a detailed SEO audit to uncover problems like low website speed, mobile SEO issues, poor keyword visibility, or indexing errors.
• Create a Custom Strategy: Instead of guesswork, they design a plan that fits your business goals—whether it’s local SEO for a Brisbane café or national rankings for an e-commerce store.
• Improve Google Ranking: Consultants optimise your content, backlinks, and site structure so you move higher in search results, driving more organic traffic.
• Target the Right Audience: They focus on keywords with buying intent (e.g., “emergency plumber Brisbane”), so your site attracts visitors ready to convert into leads or sales.
• Save You Time: Instead of learning complex SEO yourself, you let a consultant handle technical fixes, keyword research, and ongoing optimisation. At the same time,  you can focus on running your business.
• Track and Report Growth: They provide regular reports showing improvements in traffic, keyword visibility, and conversions, so you see clear progress.

With expert support, you don’t just get more visitors—you get the right visitors who are more likely to become customers.

FAQs

Final Thought

If you see signs like low website traffic, poor rankings, or no leads, your site needs proper website SEO. Ignoring it means losing customers to competitors. At SEO 4Business Group, we improve your website SEO with proven strategies—keyword optimisation, SEO audits, technical fixes, and backlink building. Our goal is to increase your visibility, attract the right audience, and turn clicks into real business growth. If you want your website to perform better and bring results, we are always open to consultation.