Audit: Issues with Meta Tags and Headings
Meta tags are the most numerous category in the audit: 18 checks out of 53. They almost never block indexing, but they directly affect how the page appears in search results and whether the search understands what it is about.
Title: four checks
| Finding | Level | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Missing Title | Error | Add: without it, the search will come up with a title on its own |
| Duplicate Title | Error | Make it unique — identical titles hinder distinguishing pages |
| Longer than 60 characters | Warning | Shorten, the main thing is to bring it to the beginning |
| Shorter than 10 characters | Warning | Expand to 40–60 characters with the key phrase |
| Multiple title tags | Warning | Keep one: usually the second is added by a plugin |
How to check the appearance in search results before publication — snippet preview.
Description
Five checks: missing, duplicate, longer than 160, shorter than 50, multiple tags. The description does not directly affect positions, but it does affect clickability — and that is traffic at the same positions. An empty description leaves the choice of snippet to the algorithm.
Headings and Structure
- Missing H1 — the page has no main heading; the search and the reader lose orientation.
- Multiple H1 — blurs the main idea of the page.
- H1 matches Title — not an error, but a missed opportunity: these are two different places where different phrasings can be covered.
- Heading hierarchy violated — H4 immediately after H2; the structure is harder to read, especially for screen reading programs.
Order of Fixing Meta Tags
- First, pages that already bring impressions: there, fixing gives measurable results.
- Then template issues: identical Title for categories, empty description for cards.
- Then the heading structure — it is fixed along with the template fix.
- Lastly, microdata and Open Graph, if time allows.
Other in the Category
Images without alt — see SEO for images. No Open Graph — a link in the messenger looks empty, see link card. No Schema.org microdata — losing the chance for a rich snippet. Lang attribute not specified — a minor detail, important for accessibility and translators.