All 17 weakness signals
SERPTool evaluates every top-10 result against 17 specific weakness signals. A signal "firing" on a result is a reason that result is vulnerable to being displaced. More signals firing across more of the top 10 = a more beatable SERP = a higher Opportunity Score.
This page is the canonical reference. Each entry links to its category page for deeper treatment.
Authority weaknesses (3)
Deep-dive: authority weaknesses explained.
| Code | Meaning | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| LOW_DS | Low Domain Score | Domain score ≤ 10 on a 0–100 scale |
| LOW_PS | Low Page Score | Page-level authority at or below baseline |
| NO_BL | No Backlinks | Zero referring domains detected to the page |
Technical weaknesses (5)
Deep-dive: technical weaknesses explained.
| Code | Meaning | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| SLOW_PS | Slow Page Speed | Largest Contentful Paint > 3,000 ms |
| HIGH_SS | High Spam Score | Domain spam score ≥ 50 on a 0–100 scale |
| NO_HTTPS | Non-HTTPS | Served over plain HTTP |
| BROKEN | Broken Page | 4xx or 5xx HTTP status |
| OUTDATED_TECH | Outdated Tech | Flash, HTML frames, or other legacy stack markers |
Content weaknesses (7)
Deep-dive: content weaknesses explained.
| Code | Meaning | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| OLD_CONTENT | Old Content | Page not updated in >2 years |
| TITLE_MISMATCH | Title Mismatch | Page title does not contain the target keyword's head term |
| NO_KW_HEADING | No Keyword in Headings | Target keyword missing from H1/H2 |
| NO_H_TAGS | Missing Heading Tags | No H1 or structured headings |
| WEAK_TITLE | Weak Title | Title length under 30 or over 65 characters |
| THIN_CONTENT | Thin Content | Word count under 500 |
| NO_META_DESC | No Meta Description | Missing or empty meta description |
SERP-composition weaknesses (1)
Deep-dive: UGC-heavy SERPs explained.
| Code | Meaning | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| UGC_HEAVY | UGC-Heavy SERP | 3+ user-generated-content sites in the top 10 (Reddit, Quora, Medium, Wikipedia, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Product Hunt) |
Authority-context weakness (1)
Deep-dive: low-authority TLDs explained.
| Code | Meaning | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| LOW_AUTH_TLD | Low-Authority TLD | Domain ends in .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq, .xyz, .top, .click, or .work |
How to use the reference
A single weakness code rarely tells you much. Look at density:
- 2+ weaknesses per result on average across the top 10 → high Opportunity Score likely.
- At least 5 of the top 10 flagged with any content weakness → content gap opportunity.
- Both
UGC_HEAVYand low average DS → often an excellent opportunity, because the authority sites haven't bothered with the keyword. - High
HIGH_SScount → the SERP is unstable and about to rotate; treat current positions as temporary.
On the analysis table, the Weaknesses column shows aggregate counts + icons per keyword. Expand a row to see per-result weakness dots in the SERP Breakdown.
Where weaknesses show up
- Row-level icons on the analysis table — a quick "this SERP has X weakness types"
- Per-result dots in the SERP Breakdown — 17 columns, filled dots mark detected weaknesses
- CSV export (Full SERP format) — 17 boolean columns per row for pivot-table analysis
- Keyword detail page — the full layout with tooltip descriptions on hover