Most Croatian websites lose 30-60% of potential organic traffic to technical SEO mistakes fixable in hours. The most common: slow page load, missing H1 structure, duplicate content via www and non-www, unoptimised images, and missing schema markup. All are checkable with free Google tools - relevant whether you run a webshop or a mobile-first site.
Mistake 1: Slow page load (poor Core Web Vitals)
Google ranks by Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1. Common culprits: bloated WordPress plugins, uncompressed images (5 MB JPEGs where 200 KB would do), blocking cookie notices, and slow local hosting.
Fixes: compress every image (tinypng, Squoosh), remove inactive plugins, move to a CDN (Cloudflare, Vercel), enable lazy loading below the fold. Typical result: PageSpeed score from 30/100 to 80+/100 in 1-2 days.
Mistake 2: Missing or wrong H1 structure
Every page needs exactly one H1 containing the primary keyword. Many sites have none, several, or a generic “Welcome”. Check via “View page source” and search for <h1>.
Bad: <h1>Welcome</h1>. Good: <h1>Plumber Zagreb - emergency interventions 24/7</h1>. Define the primary keyword per page and rewrite the H1 so the keyword appears naturally.
Mistake 3: Duplicate content via www and non-www
If company.com and www.company.com both work without redirecting, Google indexes them as different pages and splits authority. Same for http vs https.
Fix: 301 redirect www → non-www (or vice versa, consistently), 301 redirect http → https, canonical tag on every page pointing to the primary version. Configure on Cloudflare via Redirect Rules, nginx config, or cPanel Redirects.
Mistake 4: Images with no alt text and oversized files
Google cannot “see” images. Alt text is the only signal - and oversized files kill load time. Anything over 200 KB is a warning, over 500 KB a problem.
Bad: <img src="image1.jpg" />. Good: <img src="plumber-zagreb-price.jpg" alt="Plumber in Zagreb fixing a faucet" />. Audit with Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs), add descriptive alt text, compress, and rename files descriptively.
Mistake 5: Missing schema markup
Schema (structured data) helps Google understand a page and produces rich snippets - bigger SERP display, more clicks. Most useful schemas: LocalBusiness (physical location), Organization (any company), Product (webshop items), Article (blog posts), BreadcrumbList.
Check at search.google.com/test/rich-results. Fix by adding JSON-LD to the <head> of each page. Typical result: 20-30% more SERP clicks because listings stand out.
Three quick checks right now
- sitemap.xml - visit
yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Must exist and be current. - robots.txt - visit
yourdomain.com/robots.txt. The dangerous line isDisallow: /(blocks the whole site). - Mobile - open on a phone. Readable? Fast? Easy to tap?
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does technical SEO affect rankings? Estimated 20-30% of total SEO success. The rest is content and backlinks - but even great content cannot rank on a broken site.
Can we fix this ourselves? For WordPress sites, plugins like Yoast or Rank Math get you a long way. Custom-built sites usually need a developer.
How fast do results show? Technical fixes appear in Google Search Console within 2-6 weeks. Content changes take 3-6 months.
Does technical SEO need ongoing maintenance? Yes. Every new plugin can slow the site; every new piece of content can introduce issues. A monthly check is the sensible minimum.
Related Articles
- How much a webshop costs in Croatia - most webshop traffic loss stems from these issues.
- Mobile app cost in Croatia - when a mobile site stops being enough.
- Digitalise a small business in 5 steps - SEO is one of the most underrated steps.
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