When people near us in Sarasota search online for what they need, they usually expect quick, easy answers. If your website is slow, outdated, or confusing, you might not even show up in those local search results. That can mean missed chances you do not even see. Local SEO in Sarasota depends a lot on how your site performs behind the scenes. Even small problems can add up and cost your business clicks, calls, and visits.
With the holidays winding down and the new year right around the corner, this is a smart time to do a scan of your site. Cleanups now can help you start January on stronger ground. Below, we are sharing some of the common website issues we check for when measuring how well a site supports local search.
Why Page Speed Still Matters for Local Search
People do not like to wait, especially not on their phones. A slow website can push someone away before they even see what you offer. In local searches, that is a big deal. If a visitor clicks your link and backs out quickly, search engines may take that as a sign your site is not helpful, which can make you drop lower in results over time.
Here in Florida, the winter season brings more people into town, which means more people on mobile devices looking for local options. Tourists, snowbirds, and those embracing the mild weather often search on the go. Speed matters even more then.
Some common reasons a site might be too slow include:
• Large image files that do not scale for mobile
• Extra scripts or features not being used
• Missing caching rules or compression settings
• Old plugins that no longer work well with recent browser updates
A website does not need to be bare or boring to be fast. It just needs to be trimmed and ready to serve up info quickly.
Our Sarasota web development and SEO teams at PERC use advanced optimization tools to compress images, configure caching, and streamline code so your site loads fast for every user and search engine.
Outdated or Inaccurate Business Info
You know your hours. You know where your business is. But does your website reflect that clearly and correctly?
When search engines scan your pages, they are checking for reliable signals about what you do and how to contact you. If key details like your name, phone number, address, or business hours are missing, out of sync, or inconsistent across your pages, your local performance can drop fast. Users might also get confused, or worse, go to a competitor whose hours looked more current.
For strong local SEO in Sarasota, we need to earn both trust and clarity. These are a few areas we double-check:
• Make sure the business name matches your Google Business Profile
• Keep phone numbers and addresses formatted consistently
• Update special hours, especially around the holidays or busy tourist weeks
• Remove or fix any listings or pages showing old info
These updates may seem small, but they help repeat Sarasota searches and new visitors all feel more confident in reaching out the first time.
Weak Heading Structure and Content Layout
How your page is built on the inside makes a big difference in how it shows up in search. When search engines scan your site, they rely on structure, especially the way your headers break up and explain the content. If your page skips around or misuses header tags, algorithms cannot tell what your page is really about.
It is not just about what bots see. Human visitors scan, too. A busy or messy page layout is hard on the eyes. If mobile visitors struggle to find what they need or get lost in long blocks of mismatched text, they may give up fast.
To improve both search and experience, we look for:
• Clear use of header tags (like H1, H2, H3), in the right order
• Logical page flow with topics that follow a clean structure
• Shorter paragraphs and simple headings that work well on mobile
• Good spacing between sections and callouts that are easy to tap
PERC designs Sarasota sites using a content hierarchy that makes navigation intuitive for both search engines and users, featuring optimized headers and tap-friendly layouts.
Fixes like these help visitors stay longer, read more, and take that next step once they understand what is offered.
Broken Links and Missing Pages
You have probably seen it before, click a button or link, and land on a 404 error page. Broken links are frustrating. When you are running a business that depends on local visits, they can quietly damage your online reputation.
Sometimes, links break because an old seasonal offer was removed. Other times, a website redesign left some older links pointing to non-existent pages. These are easy mistakes, but they can leave visitors confused. If search crawlers find too many of these, it could even lower your ranking over time.
A few ways to spot and clean these up:
• Do a regular scan of clickable items on your site
• Check if past blog posts or event pages still load fully
• Update or remove expired promos or partner links that no longer work
• Make sure your menus and footers still lead to live, relevant pages
It is not just about fixing what is broken. Missing or out-of-date pages give the impression your business is not active. Keeping a few key areas up to date shows search engines and your customers that you are still here, still local, and still paying attention.
Website support from PERC includes routine checks for broken links, 404s, and out-of-date pages, allowing Sarasota businesses to keep a clean, effective web presence with minimal downtime.
Better Sarasota Search Starts With a Cleaner Site
There are a lot of things that play into showing up in local search results, but your website is where it all starts. If it is bumpy, broken, or slow, the best SEO strategy in the world will not help as much as it could.
Fixing obvious problems like layout trouble, broken links, or old info does not have to take a long time. With a bit of end-of-year cleanup, you set yourself up for a stronger season when new and returning customers start searching again in January. Sarasota stays busy in winter, and if your website is in good shape, you are more likely to catch that bump in local searches the right way.
Struggling to get your business noticed in Sarasota searches? At PERC, we help identify and resolve issues that impact your website’s visibility, speed, and credibility. From slow load times and confusing information to site structure that prevents search engines from ranking you higher, we address it all. To discover how your website can better support local SEO in Sarasota, reach out to PERC today.
