10 Common SEO Mistakes That Can Dent Your Rankings
SEO is a common ground for every business to survive and excel in 2021. However, there are a few common SEO mistakes that get missed out in the hustle.
Ignoring these mistakes is perhaps the number one reason why your rankings and SEO score are not improving despite efforts.
In this article, we’re going to explore some SEO mistakes that can miss your eye and cause a lot of harm to your rankings.
Not following a plan for SEO
No digital marketing strategy can survive without an action plan and roadmap.
To see SEO success and improve your rankings, you need to do some research, draft goals, and create a roadmap that helps you achieve them. Having a proper structure allows you to plan for things well in advance by staying organized. Here’s an example of an SEO roadmap
Without a plan, you may end up investing your time and resources towards things of lesser importance, which don’t get results. SEO is a game of data and research, not assumptions. So, take some time to understand what your audience wants and how you can position yourself in front of them and the search engine.
Creating aimless and poorly written content
Every word that goes on your website needs to have a purpose- to serve and help its users.
If you want to build authority in a subject, drive traffic to your website and improve your rankings, you need to pay more attention to content. This means creating a content strategy for SEO and following it to create original and high-value content.
Creating aimless content that unnecessarily piles on to the online content is a waste of time and space. Spend time creating unique content which deserves the attention of your users.
Ignoring the importance of search intent
Writing content is only one part of the SEO framework. You need to ensure you’re writing for the end-user based on your research about them.
When your audience searches for a particular problem, Google crawls and presents them with the most suitable answer. So, the search engine and the user’s intent are what you need to keep in mind while creating content.
For example, if you search for ‘Conmigo Media in Texas,’ the search engine will tell you about what Conmigo Media is, but if you search for ‘Conmigo Media services,’ it will tell you the services they provide.
The result that a user sees in response to a particular search phrase depends on the intent. So, optimize your content as per the user’s search intent. This way, Google will understand which problem you’re solving, helping you rank better.
Prioritizing quantity over quality of links
Many people swear that the more number of links you have, the higher your rankings will be- that’s not true. If you have one link from an authority website, it’s much better than having hundreds of links from low-quality websites.
Today, Google is more advanced than ever and relies on some high-authority websites for quality content. Getting a link from them can substantially improve your rankings. So, more than quantity, focus on the quality a particular website holds and how it can benefit you.
Yes, getting a link from a quality website takes a lot of time, but it’s worth it because it significantly contributes to your SEO score.
Lack of unique title tags and meta descriptions
It’s not wise to have one title tag for all your website pages because it can confuse the user and the search engine.
When users share your webpage or blog as a tweet or text message, your title tag will show up. Wouldn’t you want it to be related to what the page is about than your company’s name? The former is much better for SEO.
The title tag should be 50-60 characters long and include your main target keywords. Using generic titles like ‘Home’ and ‘About’ are common to every website on Google, so be original with your tags for better comprehension and crawling.
Similarly, your meta descriptions should be 120-160 characters long and descriptive about the page’s content. It’s like a mini sales pitch that persuades the user to click on your website over the others; making it original is a need more than a choice. Here, you can talk about the essence of the topic or an important point that can lure them into clicking on the link.
Not focusing on the right keywords
Keywords are an essential part of SEO services, avoiding which can cause all your efforts to go to waste. If you want to rank high, you need to avoid optimizing your website for generic keywords. The more specific you are, the higher your chances are for ranking for that keyword.
For example, a new digital marketing firm has a higher chance of ranking on ‘digital marketing firm in Texas’ than just ‘digital marketing firm.’
Focus your efforts on researching the right keywords and optimizing your content for them. Start with specific keywords, and as you move forward, you can begin working with competitive ones.
Overlooking the importance of mobile optimization
SEO is much more than content and keywords. In 2021, one of the most critical factors for SEO is its fast functioning on mobile.
As per Google, mobile devices account for 58% of all searches. Also, it takes mobile indexing as a factor for ranking as well.
Ensure your website has a fast loading speed and works perfectly well on mobile.
Some factors that show your website is not optimized for mobile are:
● Lack of clarity in images
● Slow loading time
● Non-responsive web design
So, don’t ignore this, and put device optimization as a priority on your SEO checklist.
not focusing on call-to-actions (CTA)
When users visit your website, give them some reasons to stay than bouncing back to Google. Here, a CTA comes in handy to push your audience down your sales funnel.
This CTA should be placed along the user’s natural reading path and navigate the user to a valuable resource. This can be a free resource, a free discovery call, or another page on your website. The idea is to include only one CTA on a page and use persuasive language to compel them to click on it.
Ignoring SEO analytics
Don’t follow your strategy blindly. Create a plan for measuring and analyzing your SEO metrics and use that to guide your future strategy by making tweaks wherever needed.
There are various tools available online that you can use to study your analytics and see which of your systems are working and where you need to focus more.
Prioritizing search engines over users
Search engines are essential for ranking, but if you’re drafting your strategy solely to rank higher, you may end up ignoring the users bringing you business. It’s the visitors who will visit your website and take action, thus benefiting you, so don’t overlook them.
Chasing the search engine more than serving the users is not wise because Google can die out, but your customers will always stay loyal. So, focus your attention on them while working for the search engine as well.
Conclusion
SEO is not a one-size-fits-all strategy that you can achieve in a couple of months. You need to work on it consistently, but these mistakes can be a roadblock to achieving SEO success.
These can cost you good rankings and a significant SEO score, so include these in your ‘must not checklist and watch out for them. You must stay updated with the SEO world’s changes and frame your strategy based on them and your brand goals.
Good luck!
