How to Fix Semrush Site Audit Issues in WordPress

By George Nicolaou

A Semrush audit gives you a list of technical problems. The useful next step is deciding which problems affect real pages and visitors, rather than chasing the score alone. This guide accompanies my WordPress audit walkthrough.

Start with the affected URLs

Open an issue and inspect the pages it affects. Check whether each page is meant to be public, whether the reported problem still exists, and whether it comes from one shared template. Fixing a template can be more effective than editing dozens of individual pages.

Build a repair order

1. Check important pages that cannot load or be crawled. Confirm status codes, redirects and any accidental indexing restrictions.
2. Repair broken internal links. Replace the link with the correct destination; use a redirect when a useful page has genuinely moved.
3. Make page titles specific to their content. Improve unclear descriptions and headings without repeating keywords unnaturally.
4. Review canonical URLs and sitemap entries so they reflect the pages you intend readers to find.
5. Investigate slow pages using browser measurements. Large images, scripts and hosting can each contribute.

Validate the fix

Back up before editing, test a representative page, and re-run the relevant audit. Check navigation, forms and mobile layouts as well as the report. Keep a short change log so you can connect each repair to the issue it solved. A cleaner audit is useful evidence of progress; it does not guarantee a particular Google position.

Semrush documents the issue lists and severity categories in its Site Audit Issues report guide.

Related guides

• What is an XML sitemap and why do you need it?
• The need for speed is coming to the web
• Why an honest web-developer will never promise guaranteed traffic