Site Lifecycle issues we check — and how to fix them
SSL expires. Plugin versions fall behind. GTM containers go unverified. These aren't hypothetical risks — they're the operational failures that cause outages, ranking drops, and security incidents. We catch them before they happen.
14 catalogued Site Lifecycle issues, each with step-by-step, platform-specific fixes.
- Cms versionModerate effortUpdate your CMS and ecommerce platform to the latest stable version immediately to close known security vulnerabilities and maintain vendor support.
- Domain expiryQuick winLog in to your domain registrar, confirm your domain's expiry date, and enable auto-renew so your store never goes offline due to an expired domain.
- Gtm auditModerate effortInstall Google Tag Manager on your store and configure it to fire GA4 with full ecommerce event tracking (view_item, add_to_cart, purchase, and more).
- Html langQuick winAdd a lang attribute to your site's <html> tag that matches the primary language of your store's content.
- Lifecycle dead urls in sitemapQuick winSome URLs in the XML sitemap return 404.
- Lifecycle oos returning 404Moderate effortSome out-of-stock products return 404.
- Lifecycle oos schema not updatedModerate effortUpdate the `offers.availability` value in your Product structured data from `InStock` to `OutOfStock` (or `PreOrder`) whenever a product sells out, so Google's records always match your actual inventory.
- Lifecycle orphaned productsModerate effortAdd internal links pointing to every orphaned product page from relevant category pages, collection pages, or other on-site content so search crawlers and shoppers can discover them.
- Lifecycle products missing from sitemapQuick winAdd all canonical product URLs to your XML sitemap so search engines discover and index every product page quickly.
- Lifecycle products too deepModerate effortMove deeply buried product pages closer to the homepage by flattening your site's navigation structure so every product is reachable within 4 clicks (ideally 3) from the homepage.
- Mixed contentModerate effortEnsure every resource (images, scripts, stylesheets, fonts, iframes) on your store is loaded over HTTPS, never HTTP, so browsers never block or warn about mixed content.
- Mobile viewportQuick winAdd a responsive viewport meta tag to every page so mobile browsers render your site at the correct width and scale.
- Server versionQuick winRemove or suppress HTTP response headers that advertise your server software name and version to the public internet.
- Ssl expiryQuick winRenew your TLS/SSL certificate before it expires and enable automatic renewal so your store never goes offline or shows security warnings.
Site Lifecycle — common questions
What does ecommerce operational health cover?+−
Ecommerce operational health covers: SSL and domain expiry monitoring (with alerts ahead of the deadline), catalog health (empty categories, out-of-stock handling, orphaned pages, dead URLs), platform and tech stack detection, GTM container audits, and page crawl health (redirect chains, crawl depth issues).
What should I do with out-of-stock product pages for SEO?+−
It depends on whether the product is temporarily or permanently out of stock. Temporarily OOS products should stay indexed with updated schema signaling out-of-stock status — this preserves ranking for when the product returns. Permanently discontinued products should redirect to the most relevant category or equivalent product. Noindex should be used sparingly as it loses ranking that can't be recovered.
How does SEOLZ monitor SSL and domain expiry?+−
SEOLZ monitors SSL certificate expiry and domain registration expiry for every connected store and sends email alerts ahead of the deadline. The alert includes the expiry date, the registrar or certificate authority, and renewal steps.
What is catalog health in SEOLZ?+−
Catalog health covers the structural problems that develop as inventory changes: empty and near-empty categories losing ranking, out-of-stock products handled incorrectly, orphaned pages no longer reachable through internal linking, dead URLs still receiving internal links, and sitemap gaps where products or categories are missing from the XML sitemap.