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The Divi Builder is one of the most popular WordPress tools for small business owners who want to create their own websites without touching code. It promises easy drag-and-drop design, a library of pre-made templates, and beautiful visual effects. But while Divi makes it simple to build a great-looking site, it often hides a dangerous trade-off: SEO performance.
For many Geelong business owners, the first website is a DIY project using Divi. Unfortunately, without professional knowledge, that good-looking design could be costing you visibility on Google. Let’s look at the most common SEO mistakes made with Divi websites and how to avoid them.
Divi is powerful, but it comes with a price: bloated code and unnecessary scripts. Each module and layout adds layers of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. DIY users often stack modules or nest rows inside rows, unknowingly increasing load times. Search engines consider speed a major ranking factor.
Sites built without performance considerations can suffer from poor mobile scores on tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. If your Divi site scores under 80 on mobile, you could be losing ranking ground to faster competitors.
Headings (H1, H2, H3...) are essential for both accessibility and SEO. Divi lets you visually format any text, but that doesn’t mean it’s being marked up correctly under the hood. Many DIY sites have multiple H1 tags, or use H3s where an H2 should go, confusing Google about what the page is actually about.
A clean heading hierarchy helps Google understand your content. Poor heading structure can dilute your keyword relevance and lower your rankings.
Divi’s Global modules save time, but when overused, they create duplicate content across pages. If the same testimonials or content blocks appear on 10 different URLs, Google might treat it as thin or duplicated content. This can reduce crawl efficiency and lower your domain authority.
Use global sections strategically and ensure each page has enough unique, keyword-rich content.
Visual appeal is where Divi shines, but many users upload massive image files straight from their phones or stock libraries. This causes slow load times and damages SEO. Worse, Divi doesn’t automatically generate WebP images or compress them without plugins.
Ensure all images are resized appropriately and compressed using tools like TinyPNG or plugins like ShortPixel or Imagify. Use alt tags that include location keywords like "web design Geelong" or "Geelong cafe interior".
Many DIY users forget to install SEO tools like Rank Math or Yoast, or worse, leave them with default settings. Meta titles and descriptions often go missing, and important pages are sometimes left noindexed.
Always set a custom meta title and meta description per page. Use your local keywords (e.g., “Geelong florist website design”) naturally and aim to keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 155.
Divi is mobile-friendly out of the box, but that doesn’t mean your custom layout is. Common issues include text overlapping, elements stacking incorrectly, or font sizes too small. Google’s mobile-first index means if your site doesn’t perform well on mobile, it won’t rank well overall.
Use Divi’s responsive view modes and test on real devices. Adjust paddings, margins, and font sizes manually if needed.
Pitfall #7: Lack of Schema Markup and Structured DataSchema markup helps Google understand your site better — reviews, services, business info, FAQs. Divi doesn’t add this by default, and DIY users often skip it. That’s a missed opportunity to earn rich results in search.
Use an SEO plugin that supports schema, or custom code it in. This is particularly valuable for local SEO: add LocalBusiness schema with your address, opening hours, and service area in the Geelong region.
The good news? You don’t have to abandon Divi. With professional help, a site audit, and some tweaks, you can dramatically improve your SEO performance while keeping your Divi design intact.
We offer SEO audits specifically for Divi and WordPress sites. We review code output, heading structure, image weight, plugin conflicts and more. Then we clean it up without disrupting your visual design or layout.
If you run a small business in Geelong, you can’t afford to be buried in search results. Whether you’re a local gym, café, tradie or creative studio, your website needs to be found.
As a Geelong-based web design company, we understand the local market and we know how to optimise WordPress and Divi for both speed and search. You get the best of both worlds — a beautiful site and visibility where it matters.
If your Divi site isn’t bringing in leads, it’s time to get help. Book a free website SEO health check with our local team. We’ll walk you through your current performance and show you quick wins to help your site climb the rankings.
We’re here to help. Get in touch today.
