This isn’t just an SEO problem

this is where energy leaks in digital systems, like your website.

I was on my phone, looking at a post in the Substack app. The post was about a class being offered and I wanted to check it out, but on my laptop, not my phone.

So I typed the domain and went ... visibly nowhere.

I’m not naming the site because the point isn’t who — it’s what. Because it’s a clean illustration of how invisible configuration issues can quietly break the user journey.

What actually happened: nowhere wasn’t technically any where.

It was to a godaddy parked domain lander that doesn’t load if you use an ad blocker. We’re talking empty white page of nothing.

if you don’t have an ad blocker, you’ll see this page:

https://www.searchhounds.com/articles/hidden-gem-eateries-underrated-chef-collaborations.html?psystem=PW&domain=not-telling-lol

Which is a “blog” (using that term very loosely) by SearchHounds, advertising Godaddy, with a button “to get this domain” and a spammy attempt at sort of, kind of content. Just ugh.

Not where the creator of this class intended to send me, is it?

I realized what happened and added the www to the URL to eventually arrive at the page with the information on the class.

So what to do?

Best practice has me setting up redirects so that all the permutations point to my intended destination. What’s that mean, practically?

The simplest example:

• domain.com

• www.domain.com

• http://domain.com

• http://www.domain.com

• https://domain.com

• https://www.domain.com

These are 6 different ways to get to a website. In this case, the version I wanted was the https://www

but a request for just the domain name is the one that went off the rails into spam land.

the http://www version redirects properly to the https://www

This is what happens when domain hosting isn’t fully configured and the system sends people somewhere else, and neither you nor they realize it.

The SEO part of the problem comes in when other sites link to yours with a link that doesn’t actually follow all the way through to your site. Then search engine bots follow that link to somewhere other than your site. Not what we want, is it?

But it’s more than just an SEO problem, it’s a people aren’t getting to your website problem.

I’m noticing the same pattern across different sites. If you’re curious where paths might be breaking in your own system, feel free to reach out.

This kind of issue is easy to miss — especially if you’re focused on metrics that say everything is “fine.”

I’m interested in the moments where things technically work, but experientially don’t. Where people try to arrive — and can’t.

If you’re someone who cares about that distinction, we’ll probably have a good conversation.

Helping people arrive — not just rank.

Lisa