When you’re building campaigns, publishing pages, or refreshing content in HubSpot, it’s easy to focus on new assets and overlook what might be holding your pages back from ranking. Even well-written content can underperform if technical issues go unnoticed.
Missing meta descriptions, duplicate headings, broken links, or slow page load times can silently drag down your SEO performance and reduce traffic.
HubSpot flags these issues for you, but only if you know where to look. Many marketing teams underuse HubSpot’s SEO recommendations, unsure how to find them or apply fixes effectively.
Instead of waiting for external audits or juggling multiple tools, you can use HubSpot’s built-in insights to identify, resolve, and track SEO issues quickly.
This guide walks through accessing SEO recommendations, avoiding common mistakes, applying fixes, and measuring impact.
Boost Organic Traffic with HubSpot SEO Recommendations
HubSpot’s SEO recommendations are automated insights that flag on-page and technical issues that could limit search visibility. The system scans your website’s structure, metadata, headings, internal links, and mobile responsiveness, highlighting actionable edits.
Access the tool via Marketing > Website > SEO, where two tabs are key:
- Topics Tab: Helps map your content strategy.
- Recommendations Tab: Focuses on diagnostic and repair actions.
HubSpot scans any connected domain regularly and flags issues with direct links to the edit screen, allowing quick fixes. If you’ve connected Google Search Console, you also get keyword impressions and click data, which help you prioritize issues that have the greatest impact on organic traffic.
How It Works Behind the Scenes
The SEO recommendations engine simulates how a search engine crawls your site, evaluating both HTML code and visual content against SEO best practices.
- Inputs: Scans all content from HubSpot-managed domains and pages, including custom subdomains.
- Analysis: Evaluates title tags, meta descriptions, headings, internal links, and mobile friendliness.
- Output: Recommendations are grouped by severity, from critical issues to minor improvements.
- Resolution: Each flagged item links to HubSpot help articles or directly into the page editor, giving clear next steps.
You can filter by domain, traffic segment, or issue type. Connecting Google Search Console overlays keyword data on the recommendations, allowing prioritization by real ranking impact. Changes are logged, and results are reflected in subsequent scans, so you can track before-and-after improvements.
Main Uses Inside HubSpot
Checking Content Optimization Across Pages
Managing a large website can be overwhelming. HubSpot’s SEO recommendations act as a rolling audit, automatically showing which pages need optimization before your next publication push.
For instance, launching a content cluster? HubSpot may flag missing internal links from pillar pages to supporting posts. Adding those links before indexing strengthens your SEO structure.
Prioritizing Technical Fixes for Developers or Admins
Technical SEO issues such as duplicate H1s, missing canonical tags, or broken links are often invisible without an audit. HubSpot surfaces these items and lets teams triage by severity.
A practical workflow is to export issues to a spreadsheet, tag them by severity, fix critical problems first, and work down to cosmetic improvements. This ensures issues affecting rankings are resolved immediately.
Evaluating Campaign Performance Using Organic Potential
SEO professionals and marketing leads can cross-check HubSpot SEO recommendations with traffic analytics. A page may have decent impressions but still underperform due to missing optimizations.
For example, a services page ranking on page two might lack image alt text. Fixing this improves accessibility and can boost rankings. Within weeks, the page may reach page one with increased clicks, connecting your technical fixes directly to measurable results.
Common Setup Errors and Wrong Assumptions
Even experienced teams make mistakes that reduce the impact of HubSpot’s SEO recommendations:
- Assuming HubSpot scans external pages: HubSpot only analyzes pages hosted within connected domains. Content on platforms like WordPress requires external audits.
- Not connecting Google Search Console: Without it, key metrics like impressions, clicks, and SERP positions are missing, limiting your ability to assess impact.
- Skipping pages with “low-error” counts: Even a single flagged issue, like a duplicate meta title, can block ranking potential. Every flagged item deserves attention.
- Trusting outdated scans: Fixes aren’t immediately reflected. Run a manual scan or wait for the next automated crawl to confirm resolution.
Step-by-Step Setup and Use Guide
- Confirm your HubSpot user profile has access to SEO tools, and domains are verified.
- Go to Marketing > Website > SEO in your HubSpot dashboard.
- Select the Recommendations tab to view diagnostic insights.
- Choose a connected domain or page group, especially in multi-domain accounts.
- Run a manual scan if HubSpot hasn’t scanned recently.
- Review issues categorized as:
- Performance: Page speed, mobile usability.
- Accessibility: Missing alt text, heading structure.
- Content: Meta titles, H1s, thin content.
- Security: HTTPS issues, mixed content warnings.
- Click a recommendation for details on affected pages and corrective actions.
- Use Edit page to resolve issues directly in the CMS.
- Re-scan to confirm fixes and monitor new recommendations over time.
Following these steps ensures that all pages remain optimized and compliant with SEO best practices.
Measuring Results in HubSpot
Tracking improvements is essential to confirm that your optimizations produce real impact. Key metrics include:
- Organic traffic per page: Compare visits before and after fixes using Website Analytics.
- Ranking changes: Monitor SERP positions via Google Search Console data in HubSpot.
- Issue volume trends: Track remaining issues to evaluate ongoing site health.
- Click-through rate (CTR): Updated meta titles and descriptions can boost CTR, which is measurable in Search Console.
- Page speed and performance: Core Web Vitals-style metrics show technical improvement.
Schedule a monthly review of these metrics to maintain SEO health and demonstrate value across teams.
Example That Ties It Together
You manage a B2B services site in HubSpot. Marketing > Website > SEO > Recommendations flags three issues on your main services page: duplicate H1s, missing meta description, and two images lacking alt tags.
You fix the issues directly in the editor: add a clean meta description, adjust headings, and upload descriptive alt text. Two days later, the scan reports no active issues.
Within a month, the page ranks higher for target keywords, impressions rise by 25%, and clicks increase significantly. This links technical fixes directly to measurable SEO success.
How INSIDEA Helps
HubSpot SEO recommendations are valuable, but managing dozens or hundreds of pages can be overwhelming. INSIDEA helps configure, manage, and act on these recommendations efficiently:
- Custom HubSpot onboarding focused on SEO.
- Ongoing CMS management and issue resolution.
- Automation for alerts and task creation related to SEO.
- Integrated reporting to show traffic and lead impact.
- Routine optimization audits with measurable gains.
Visit INSIDEA to connect with a HubSpot expert and start maximizing the performance of every published page.
Regularly reviewing and acting on HubSpot SEO recommendations is how you maintain rankings, uncover missed opportunities, and ensure that every page contributes to overall site performance. The sooner you begin, the faster you’ll see results.
