Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is multifaceted and complex to grasp. Even, SEO experts find it challenging to keep up with new and upcoming SEO trends. If you are new to the whole thing, it is obvious that you will make several SEO mistakes while setting up and sailing your company’s website.
As a brand or a business owner, you must understand that SEO errors cost you deeply, in terms of time and traffic. This blog post will help you learn from your mistakes and rectify your SEO errors as soon as possible.
In this post, we will talk about 16 common SEO mistakes that even experts make (and you may be making them too), which is holding back your website. So, let’s get started.
Oh! And, just one more thing before we begin. For easy reading, this post has been split into two parts. Part 1 contains the first 8 SEO mistakes. To continue reading, click on SEO Mistakes That’s Holding Your Website Back – Part 2.
- Targeting the wrong keywords: Keywords are an important aspect of optimizing a website for search engines. The idea behind using keywords (the most relevant search terms) in website content is to let the search engines know that your product or services adhere to these search terms. That way, more people can find your business online and browse through your products/services, and eventually make a purchase.
- Targeting too many or too few keywords: Now, targeting the right set of keywords to boost online traffic for your business is crucial. To begin with, avoid anything extreme: do not optimize any web page around just one keyword. Look for variations and related search terms. Also, don’t spread yourself thin, and stuff too many keywords on one page. You can choose one primary keyword per page that is relevant to your business, and back it up with latent semantic keywords to optimize further.
- Not having unique content: It is true, content is the king; it is the reason search began in the first place. There is no such thing as SEO without content. Believing that you can rank on the 1st page of Google without creating authentic content, is the biggest SEO mistake that one can make. So, replace all duplicate and thin content on your website with original and long-format content that will create value for the user.
- Neglecting dated content: By not updating old content, you may be leaving out an opportunity on the table. Do not neglect your existing content. At the same time, always look for a scope to update content on your webpage by making use of Google Analytics.
- Forgetting about image optimization: The images on your website or blog add to the visual appeal, and can positively impact the user experience. By optimizing images, you can improve page load speed and boost SEO ranking for your website. You can use alt attributes to tell the search engine what the image is about. Also, alt attributes help improve results in image search, so make sure you do not forget about them.
- Not optimizing the URL structure: This is one SEO mistake that you want to avoid. Long and un-optimized URLs are a turn-off for both users and search engines. Instead, you’d want to embrace a URL structure that immediately makes to the person viewing it, and tells them what the page is all about. Thus, after choosing a domain name, optimizing the URL structure becomes the next SEO step. Insert keywords in the URL as it is an important ranking factor, and have a short yet descriptive URL that can help with visitor interaction.
- Not mapping out your site architecture: Site-architecture refers to how you structure your website. It takes into account the usability of your website, the user interface, the information structure, the web design, and the graphics on your website and your content strategy. Mapping out your site architecture helps Google to effectively crawl and index your website. Also, it can up the conversation rate because you direct users to the most important pages on your website with minimum clicks.
- Neglecting broken links: A broken link is a web-page that can’t be found or accessed by the user. This may happen for several reasons. Maybe the URL structure of your site has changed without a redirect, and that’s causing 404 errors. Or maybe there are spelling mistakes in your URL. Conduct regular SEO audit to identify all broken links and update with links that directly connect to the target page.
Out of these 8, which SEO mistakes are you making right now? The idea is to rectify one mistake at a time. For the full list of top 16 SEO mistakes, continue to SEO Mistakes That’s Holding Your Website Back – Part 2.
Are we getting too technical for you? Take a pause. Pick up your phone, and reach out to our SEO experts at +91 22 23682245 / 8998 or write to us at info@imzmediasolutions.com.
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