Finding SERP Weak Spots. A Guide To Improving Your SEO Rankings

Every business dreams of appearing at the top of Google search results, but achieving a high ranking isn’t just about creating content; it’s about smartly analysing your SERP performance and identifying weak spots that could be holding you back. Many marketers focus on new content or broad keywords, overlooking the hidden opportunities already sitting within their website. These “weak spots” are the golden areas where a little optimisation can yield big results.

In this guide, we’ll dive into how to find SERP weak spots, why they matter, and actionable strategies to improve your SEO rankings. By the end, you’ll have a roadmap for boosting your visibility and attracting more organic traffic, all without reinventing the wheel.

Understanding SERP And Why Weak Spots Matter

The SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is the battlefield for visibility online. It’s where your website competes with countless others for attention, clicks, and conversions. Understanding SERP is more than just knowing your ranking; it’s about noticing where you have opportunities to outperform competitors.

Weak spots in the SERP are pages or keywords where you’re underperforming, maybe you rank on page 2 or 3 instead of the coveted top spots. These are often overlooked areas with low competition but high potential, meaning a few targeted tweaks can significantly improve rankings. Focusing on these weak spots ensures your SEO strategy isn’t just reactive, it’s proactive and precision-driven.

Analysing Your Current SERP Performance

Before you can fix anything, you need to understand how your website currently performs in search results. This starts with a thorough SERP audit, examining each page’s ranking, traffic, and click-through rate (CTR).

Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and SEMrush are indispensable. They allow you to:

• Identify which pages rank for which keywords.

• See impressions versus clicks to understand where CTR is low.

• Spot pages with declining performance or stagnant rankings.

Analysing your SERP performance highlights underperforming pages and missed opportunities, giving you a clear starting point to focus your optimisation efforts.

Identifying Low-Hanging Keywords

After completing a detailed SERP audit, one of the quickest ways to boost your rankings is by targeting low-hanging keywords. These are keywords where your website is already ranking somewhere on page 2 or 3, meaning you’re close to the first page, but a few strategic improvements can push you higher. Low-hanging keywords are a goldmine because they require less effort than highly competitive keywords and can generate meaningful organic traffic with relatively small changes.

To identify these keywords, look for:

• Moderate search volume - Enough users are searching for the term to make ranking worthwhile, but it’s not so competitive that climbing the rankings is nearly impossible.

• Low to medium keyword difficulty - These are keywords where even small optimisations like improving on-page SEO, updating content, or earning a few backlinks can have a big impact.

• Current rankings between positions 5-20 - These are prime candidates for improvement, as moving them onto the first page can significantly increase visibility and clicks.

Tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and Ubersuggest are ideal for this type of analysis. They can show you where your pages are ranking, how much traffic you’re missing out on, and which opportunities have the most potential. By prioritising these low-hanging keywords, you can quickly gain momentum in search rankings without investing massive resources and start seeing measurable SEO improvements fast.

Spotting Content Gaps

Even the best-performing websites can have content gaps, areas where competitors are ranking for valuable keywords or topics that you haven’t yet addressed. Identifying and filling these gaps is a crucial part of improving your SEO rankings because it allows you to capture traffic that’s currently going to other sites.

A content gap analysis involves:

• Comparing your keyword coverage against competitors - Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can show which keywords competitors are ranking for that you aren’t, revealing opportunities for new content.

• Finding topics and subtopics you haven’t addressed - Sometimes the gap isn’t a whole keyword but related questions, FAQs, or deeper content that would satisfy user intent.

• Looking for trending search queries or long-tail keywords - These are highly specific search phrases that attract targeted traffic, and they’re often easier to rank for than broad, competitive keywords.

Filling content gaps isn’t just about writing more content; it’s about creating valuable, relevant, and comprehensive content that meets the needs of your audience. This strengthens your authority in your niche, improves user engagement, and helps your pages perform better in the SERP. Additionally, covering missed topics and subtopics can improve internal linking opportunities, further boosting your SEO.

By systematically identifying content gaps, you’re not only addressing what you’re missing, but you’re proactively positioning your site to capture more clicks, increase traffic, and outperform competitors in areas they might currently dominate.

Optimising On-Page SEO For Weak Spots

Once you’ve identified weak spots, it’s time for on-page optimisation. This includes:

• Improving meta titles and descriptions to increase CTR.

• Structuring headings (H1, H2, H3) for readability and keyword relevance.

• Optimising images with alt text and descriptive captions.

• Internal linking to strengthen the flow of authority across pages.

Even small improvements in on-page SEO can help lift pages from the second or third page of Google results onto page one, especially for low-competition, high-potential keywords.

 Leveraging Backlinks To Strengthen Weak Spots

Backlinks remain one of the most powerful SEO ranking factors. Pages identified as weak spots often lack authority or external validation. Here’s how to fix that:

• Conduct a competitor backlink analysis to find sites linking to similar content.

• Create shareable, high-quality content to attract backlinks naturally.

• Use outreach strategies to secure guest posts, mentions, or collaborations.

Even a few targeted backlinks can significantly boost a page’s authority and improve rankings for identified weak keywords.

Technical SEO Issues Affecting Rankings

Sometimes weak spots are caused not by content, but by technical SEO issues. Common problems include:

• Slow page loading speed.

• Broken links or crawl errors.

• Poor mobile usability or unresponsive design.

• Missing structured data or schema markup.

Use tools like Screaming Frog, Google PageSpeed Insights, and Google Search Console to audit and resolve technical issues. Addressing these foundational problems ensures that your content has the best chance to rank higher.

Monitoring And Adjusting Your Strategy

SEO is not a one-time task; it’s a continuous, evolving process. Even after you’ve optimised for your identified SERP weak spots, your work isn’t done. Search engines update their algorithms, competitors adjust their strategies, and user behaviour changes over time. That’s why continuous monitoring and strategy adjustment are essential to maintain and improve your SEO rankings.

Start by tracking keyword rankings and page performance over time. Use tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to see which pages are improving, which ones are stagnating, and where new opportunities may exist. Pay attention to metrics like click-through rate (CTR), impressions, and average position; these signals reveal whether your optimisations are having the desired impact.

Next, implement A/B testing for meta titles, descriptions, headlines, and even content updates. Small tweaks in wording, formatting, or structure can sometimes result in big improvements in CTR and engagement, which in turn influence your rankings. For example, changing a meta description to better match search intent or updating a headline with a high-value keyword can draw more clicks from the SERP.

Finally, revisit your weak spots periodically. New keywords may emerge, competitors may claim positions you once held, and some pages may underperform over time. Regularly auditing your site ensures you spot these changes early and act before rankings drop. By being proactive, you’re not just reacting to the SERP; you’re anticipating opportunities and strengthening your site’s presence in search results long-term.

All in all

Finding SERP weak spots is like discovering hidden treasure on your own website. With the right analysis, optimisation, and monitoring, you can turn underperforming pages and low-ranking keywords into powerful drivers of organic traffic. By combining content gap analysis, on-page SEO, backlinks, and technical optimisation, your strategy becomes precise, targeted, and results-driven.

Ready to take control of your SEO rankings? Start by auditing your site today and uncover the weak spots that are holding you back from page one.

By Esther Namawanda