Even the best websites are capable of containing SEO mistakes that can drag down their ranking. Sometimes, those mistakes are caused by not understanding how Google works.
Other times, those mistakes come from trying to hack Google’s algorithm or using outdated strategies that no longer work. Below are 11 SEO mistakes even the best websites make:
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Even experienced websites can fall victim to SEO mistakes. |
| 2. Identify and rectify common errors to boost SEO effectiveness. |
| 3. Mobile optimization is crucial to avoid ranking penalties. |
| 4. Quality content is key; avoid thin or duplicate content. |
| 5. Proper keyword research helps target the right audience. |
| 6. Avoid neglecting technical SEO aspects for optimal performance. |
| 7. Regularly audit your site to catch and correct any issues. |
| 8. User experience plays a significant role in search rankings. |
| 9. High-quality backlinks are essential for SEO success. |
| 10. Stay updated with algorithm changes for best practices. |
| 11. Focusing on user intent helps tailor your content effectively. |
Non-Standard URL Strings
A non-standard URL string can be confusing, annoying and frustrating for users. It may also hurt your rankings in search engines.
Use keywords in the URL. Using keywords in a URL is one of the most important aspects of SEO, so don’t leave it out!
Don’t use hyphens or underscores. They’re invisible to search engines and look unprofessional on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook because they break up the words in your post title into multiple lines.
Instead, use dashes or periods to separate words within a phrase (e.g., “this-is-a-good-title”).
Don’t use question marks or slashes after blogs/pages/posts etc.. If you do end up using them there are plenty of ways around this issue as well that we’ll get into later on but avoid using these types of separators if possible.
Because they’re just another thing that could potentially cause confusion down the road when someone else needs access through their own device (iPad vs iPhone vs Android tablet etc…).
Sometimes, the pursuit of perfection in SEO can lead to unexpected outcomes. In my article on Why I Gave Up on SEO, I share how relinquishing this pursuit can open up new opportunities for growth and success in the digital landscape.
Broken Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible text that appears in a blue link on your website. It’s what people see when they hover over a link, and it’s important because it tells them what you want them to click on.
For example, if you have a blog post about how to make money online in which you mentioned that there are some sites that pay well, include links to those sites with anchor text like “Earn more money online.”
If instead you wrote “Earn more money fast,” then people would likely click through on your site expecting something else (like an article about earning fast cash).
If you’ve ever wondered why Google penalizes websites that use spammy keywords or keywords unrelated to their content (like affiliate products), it’s because they don’t want people clicking through only because of the anchor text used by the site owner.
Using generic terms like “learn how” or “click here” can also lead users astray if they’re expecting something specific from the page they end up on after clicking through from another site’s link;
These types of words should be reserved for internal links within an article rather than being placed in external links pointing back toward other websites’ pages as well as ones leading directly outside of your own domain name structure
Poor Use Of Click Bait
Click bait is a problem in SEO and general marketing. In SEO, it’s a problem because it can lead to an unnatural link profile and being penalized by search engines.
In general, it’s a problem because people are more likely to click on something that they find interesting or entertaining than they are on something that is useful or informative.
To keep things simple, we’re going to talk about what click bait is and how you can avoid using it as much as possible on your site.
Small websites often face unique challenges in the world of SEO. If you’re managing a smaller site, consider diving into The 18-Month SEO Strategy to discover a comprehensive guide that’s tailor-made for your situation.
Forgetting About Internal Links
We’ve already covered links to other websites and blogs, but some SEOs forget about internal links. These are links to pages on your own site.
Internal linking is an important part of SEO, because it helps search engines understand the structure of your website and how users move through it. It’s also a good way for you to remind yourself of all the content you have on your site.
Internal links can bring traffic back to old pages or improve the ranking of new ones. They’re also helpful for users, who can browse through all the different parts of your site more easily with them.
Using The Wrong Keywords
The most important advice we can give you is to use keywords in the title and body of your content. This will help search engines like Google understand what your page is about, so they can return it as a result for relevant searches.
The second most important thing you need to do is use keywords in the other places that search engines look for them:
URLs – this should be obvious by now! You want the URL of your page to contain some variation on whatever keyword you’re targeting, but don’t go overboard or else you’ll end up with something unreadable like https://www.examplewebsite.com/keyword1+keyword2+keyword3+keyword4+etc+. Keep things simple and memorable by including just one or two words from each group at most (i.e., https://www.examplewebsitecom/productname).
Meta Descriptions – this isn’t just helpful for SEO purposes; it’s also critical if someone else links back to your site from their own content (which happens all the time).
If another website links back using meta descriptions instead of regular text, then their visitors will see those descriptions instead of yours! Make sure yours are enticing enough so people will click through rather than clicking away when they see what seems like gibberish at first glance.”
Crafting compelling and effective copy for SEO requires a keen understanding of the nuances. Explore my article about Top 15 Tips for SEO Copywriting to uncover strategies that can enhance your content’s impact on search engine rankings.
Not Optimizing For Mobile Devices
Mobile devices are now more popular than computers. As of December 2018, 73% of Americans own smartphones and 53% own tablets.
This means that if your business doesn’t have optimized mobile versions of its website, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of traffic.
You also risk having customers leave your site without making a purchase because they didn’t find the information they needed or couldn’t navigate around easily.
To help ensure that your site content is optimized for both mobile users and search engines like Google (which can penalize websites that aren’t), follow these best practices:
- Meet user expectations by offering an intuitive experience on all devices with minimal scrolling or clicking to get where they want to go
- Avoid using Flash when developing a website as it often renders poorly on many mobile browsers
Not Doing Keyword Research
Before you do any keyword research, you should take the time to understand your audience and what they’re looking for.
If you run an online retail store selling shoes, it makes sense that your target audience is women between the ages of 25-55 who are interested in buying new heels (but don’t want to spend too much money on them).
Once you know who your target audience is and what they’re looking for, it’s time to figure out what keywords they might use when searching for those products.
It may be helpful to look at other sites that sell similar items or similar companies in the same industry as yours by analyzing their content, you’ll be able to see which words they use most often when targeting these potential customers.
This step is really important because there’s no point in using keywords if nobody can find them! As such, any website created with SEO purposes must be optimized so that search engines can easily crawl through every page on the site.
This includes making sure all titles are descriptive enough while also being concise; this will help ensure Google knows exactly what kind of content lives inside each page without having any trouble indexing them properly into their database system.”
Rapid organic growth in website traffic can seem like a distant goal, but with the right approach, it’s achievable. In my experience outlined in How I Went from 0 to 1k Organic Visitors in 15 Days, I share practical steps that can help you replicate such success.
Not Writing For Your Audience
Write for your audience, not for search engines.
As a rule of thumb, your content should be written with the end-user in mind first and foremost. The search engine will follow when you’ve done your job well.
This means that if you want to write about how much you love dogs, then write about dogs not how much you love them or how cute they are, or why people like them so much.
Writing only for yourself is boring and insincere; it’s also not going to help anyone (including yourself) find what they’re looking for on Google or any other search engine.
Poorly Optimized Product Pages
You may think that your product pages are optimized for search, but you’re probably wrong. The most important pages on your website are the ones that sell products and services the product pages.
Every business needs to have well-optimized product pages to rank in search engines, and they should be focused on the keywords related to the products or services they offer.
That way, when potential customer searches for those keywords, they can find your site right away!
Here are some tips for optimizing your product page:
Make sure it’s mobile-friendly! Mobile traffic is growing every day and if a user can’t see what they want on their mobile device then they’ll go somewhere else faster than you can say “Google.”
Make sure that all of your content is visible on all devices so users don’t have any problems accessing it.
Use unique content! Instead of just duplicating information from other pages on your site (a very common mistake), make sure each page has its unique information so users aren’t confused when trying to navigate through them all at once.
Use an H1 tag with relevant keywords. Include social media buttons that link directly back up into Facebook or Twitter feeds automatically! This helps give credibility because people know these sites exist before reading anything else about them online.
Lack Of Keyword Consistency
It’s a big mistake to not take keyword consistency into account. It’s important for your SEO, it’s important for your user experience and usability, it’s important for branding, and it’s super-useful for internal linking.
If you want to rank high in the search engines and keep those rankings over time (which you do), you need to make sure that your site has a proper structure that is designed for people looking for information about specific topics or products.
And this means more than just making sure that there are keywords in your content; it also means ensuring that those words are used throughout the site consistently so that Google can easily find them and understand what they’re all about.
Local search optimization is a crucial aspect of SEO, especially for businesses targeting specific geographic areas. For an insightful guide on How to Optimize Your Website for Local Search, delve into strategies that can help your website thrive in local search results.
Neglecting To Post Original Content
If you want your website to rank high on the SERPs, you need to make sure that it has original content. This means not only avoiding duplicate content from other websites but also creating new articles that are unique and relevant.
Content created by a website’s team is more likely to rank well on search engines than copied or scraped material (even if the site uses proper “no-index” tags).
That’s because Google prefers sites with more original content, which is typically longer and covers more diverse topics than those that just scrape information from other sites.
On top of this, original content tends to be shared more often on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter making it easier for users to discover your site when they share links with their friends or followers.
Finally, influencers in your industry may be willing to link back to high-quality pieces of writing (especially if they relate directly back to their work).
Conclusion
We hope this list of common SEO mistakes has helped you identify what’s going wrong with your site and how to fix it.
We’ve covered the best practices for everything from keyword targeting and internal linking, to optimizing your product pages and creating original content. Once you’ve fixed these issues, you should see an increase in traffic, leads, conversions, and most importantly, revenue!
Further Reading
Here Are 11 of the Worst Mobile SEO Mistakes Even the Best Marketers Make: Learn about the common mobile SEO mistakes that even experienced marketers sometimes fall prey to.
Avoid These SEO Mistakes to Improve Your Online Presence: Enhance your SEO strategy by steering clear of these detrimental mistakes that can hinder your online visibility.
11 Common SEO Mistakes You’re Probably Making: Dive into this resource to discover prevalent SEO errors and how to rectify them for better search engine rankings.
FAQs
What are some common mobile SEO mistakes to avoid?
Mobile SEO mistakes can harm your website’s performance on mobile devices. These errors include improper mobile design, slow loading times, and unoptimized images.
How can I improve my online presence by avoiding SEO mistakes?
To enhance your online presence, focus on avoiding SEO mistakes such as keyword stuffing, ignoring meta tags, neglecting mobile optimization, and overlooking quality content creation.
What are some common SEO errors that websites tend to make?
Websites often commit SEO mistakes such as poor keyword research, lack of high-quality backlinks, neglecting user experience, and not optimizing for featured snippets.
How can I prevent common SEO blunders from affecting my site’s search rankings?
Prevent SEO blunders by regularly auditing your website, staying updated with algorithm changes, optimizing for user intent, and ensuring your website’s technical aspects are in order.
What steps should I take to rectify SEO mistakes and improve my search engine rankings?
To rectify SEO mistakes, focus on optimizing on-page elements, improving site speed, building quality backlinks, crafting engaging content, and aligning with best practices to enhance your website’s search engine rankings.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.
