How To Increase SEO Score | Lillian Purge

How to increase SEO score

Increasing your SEO score is often misunderstood, and in my opinion that misunderstanding causes people to focus on the wrong things. From experience working with businesses that chase higher scores in SEO tools, the number itself rarely matters as much as what it represents. An SEO score is not a Google ranking factor. It is a proxy, a way of measuring how well your website follows technical, content, and usability best practice.

That does not mean SEO scores are useless. When used properly, they highlight weaknesses that can hold performance back. The mistake is trying to improve the score directly rather than improving the underlying quality of the site. When the fundamentals are addressed properly, the score usually improves as a side effect, and more importantly, rankings and enquiries improve too.

This article explains how to increase your SEO score in a way that actually supports real search performance, not just better looking reports.

Understand what an SEO score is actually measuring

The first step is understanding what the score represents.

Most SEO tools calculate a score based on technical health, on page optimisation, performance, mobile usability, and sometimes accessibility. They compare your site against a checklist of best practices and deduct points where issues exist.

In my opinion the key point is this, the score measures compliance with guidelines, not competitiveness. A site with a perfect score can still rank poorly if it lacks authority or relevance. A site with a lower score can still perform well if it satisfies users and intent. From experience, the goal should be to remove genuine blockers, not to chase 100 percent.

Fix critical technical issues first

The biggest gains in SEO score usually come from fixing technical problems.

These include pages that cannot be crawled, broken internal links, incorrect redirects, duplicate content, missing canonical tags, and indexing errors. These issues confuse search engines and weaken overall clarity. From experience, resolving technical blockers often produces the fastest improvement in both SEO score and real visibility because it removes friction.

Search engines like Google cannot rank content reliably if they struggle to crawl or interpret the site, so technical health should always come first.

Improve page speed and performance

Performance has a large impact on SEO scores.

Slow loading pages, heavy images, render blocking scripts, and unstable layouts are common reasons scores are dragged down. These issues also harm user experience directly. From experience, optimising images, enabling caching, reducing unnecessary scripts, and improving server response time often increases SEO scores significantly.

In my opinion performance optimisation is one of the best investments you can make because it improves scores, engagement, and conversion at the same time.

Ensure mobile usability is solid

Most SEO tools score mobile usability heavily.

If text is too small, buttons are hard to tap, or layouts break on smaller screens, your score will suffer. More importantly, so will your real world performance. From experience, many sites look fine on desktop but struggle on mobile, especially older or heavily customised sites.

In my opinion mobile usability should be treated as a baseline requirement. Fixing mobile issues often produces a noticeable jump in SEO score quickly.

Strengthen on page SEO fundamentals

On page SEO issues are another common reason for low scores.

Missing title tags, duplicate titles, poorly structured headings, thin content, or missing meta descriptions all contribute to weaker scores. From experience, improving on page structure often means clarifying what each page is about rather than stuffing in keywords. Clear titles, logical headings, and content that matches intent perform better and score better.

In my opinion on page SEO improvements should be made with users in mind first, not just tool recommendations.

Clean up duplicate and thin content

Duplicate and thin content often drags SEO scores down quietly.

This can include repeated service pages, filter generated URLs, tag pages, or copied manufacturer descriptions. SEO tools flag these because they reduce clarity and relevance. From experience, consolidating pages, removing low value URLs from indexation, and rewriting thin content improves both scores and site quality.

In my opinion fewer strong pages almost always outperform many weak ones.

Improve internal linking and structure

Internal linking influences SEO scores more than many people expect.

Pages that are orphaned, buried too deeply, or poorly linked are harder to crawl and are often flagged in audits. Improving internal links helps distribute importance and clarifies site hierarchy. From experience, adding logical contextual links between related pages often increases SEO scores while also improving engagement.

In my opinion internal linking is a quiet but powerful way to improve overall site health.

Address broken links and errors sensibly

Broken links, 404 errors, and redirect chains are common score killers.

That said, not every broken link deserves equal urgency. Focus first on errors that affect important pages, navigation, or crawl paths. From experience, fixing broken internal links and cleaning up long redirect chains often produces a noticeable improvement in audit scores.

In my opinion chasing every minor warning can waste time, but fixing structural errors is always worthwhile.

Optimise images properly

Images affect SEO scores in several ways.

Large uncompressed images slow pages down. Missing alt text reduces accessibility scores. Poor image formats increase load time. From experience, compressing images, using modern formats where possible, and adding descriptive alt text improves performance and SEO scoring together.

In my opinion image optimisation is one of the easiest wins available on most sites.

Improve accessibility signals where possible

Many SEO tools now include accessibility checks.

Issues such as missing labels, poor contrast, or improper heading structure can reduce scores. These issues also affect real users. From experience, improving accessibility often leads to clearer structure and better usability, which indirectly supports SEO.

In my opinion accessibility improvements are not just ethical, they are practical.

Ensure secure and consistent HTTPS usage

Security issues impact SEO scores.

Mixed content warnings, invalid certificates, or inconsistent HTTP and HTTPS handling often trigger audit issues. From experience, cleaning up HTTPS implementation and enforcing one consistent version of the site improves scores and trust.

In my opinion security should never be optional if SEO performance matters.

Use structured data accurately

Structured data can influence SEO scores when errors exist.

Incorrect markup, missing required fields, or misleading schema often appear in audits. Fixing these errors improves clarity. From experience, structured data should be accurate and restrained. It supports understanding but does not replace content quality.

In my opinion use schema to clarify, not to chase features.

Do not chase every warning blindly

One of the biggest mistakes is trying to fix everything an SEO tool flags.

Some warnings are low impact or context specific. Fixing them does not improve rankings and can consume significant time. From experience, the best approach is prioritisation. Fix issues that affect crawling, performance, usability, and clarity first.

In my opinion SEO scores should guide focus, not dictate every action.

Understand the difference between score and success

A higher SEO score does not guarantee better rankings.

It means your site is healthier and more compliant with best practice. Rankings still depend on relevance, authority, and competition. From experience, many sites with high scores struggle because they lack trust signals or strong content.

In my opinion SEO score is a hygiene metric, not a growth metric.

Measure real outcomes alongside score changes

As you improve your SEO score, track real outcomes.

Look at impressions, rankings, engagement, and enquiries. If the score improves but nothing else changes, reassess priorities. From experience, the best SEO work improves both score and performance, even if not perfectly in sync.

In my opinion outcomes matter more than percentages.

Use SEO scores as a maintenance tool

SEO scores are most useful for maintenance.

They help catch regressions, new issues, or technical debt as sites evolve. Regular checks prevent problems from accumulating. From experience, sites that monitor scores monthly tend to remain more stable over time.

In my opinion SEO scoring tools work best as early warning systems rather than success indicators.

Final thoughts from experience

Increasing your SEO score is about improving the quality, clarity, and usability of your website.

Fix technical blockers, improve performance, strengthen on page structure, and clean up low value content. Do not chase perfection and do not treat the score as the goal. From experience, when you focus on making the site genuinely better for users and search engines, the SEO score usually improves naturally.

A good SEO score is a sign of a healthy site. A successful SEO strategy is one that turns that health into visibility, trust, and real business results.