7 Common SEO Mistakes that Could be Hurting your Business

If you're looking to improve your website's search engine rankings, it's important to pay attention to technical SEO. Technical SEO refers to the optimization of on-page elements that affect how search engines crawl and index your website. While it may not be as glamorous as creating new content or building backlinks, technical SEO is essential for improving your website's visibility in search results.

In this post, we'll cover 10 common technical SEO mistakes that could be hurting your website's rankings, and provide examples of how to fix them. By avoiding these mistakes and implementing best practices, you can ensure that your website is optimized for search engines and ready to attract potential customers.

Missing or poorly optimized meta descriptions

Your website's meta descriptions provide a brief summary of what each page is about. If these are missing or not optimized properly, search engines may not display them in search results or may display irrelevant information. To avoid this mistake, make sure to:

• Include a meta description for each page on your website.

• Keep your meta descriptions under 155 characters to ensure they're displayed properly in search results.

• Use descriptive and compelling language that encourages users to click through to your website.

• Include your target keyword in your meta description to help search engines understand the topic of your page.

Example: Let's say you run a farmers market in Chicago, and you want to attract more visitors to your website. One of the pages on your website is about your upcoming pumpkin festival. A good meta description for this page might be: "Join us for our annual pumpkin festival! Enjoy fresh pumpkin treats and activities for the whole family at the Chicago Farmers Market. Learn more and plan your visit today."

Ignoring H1 tags Harms your SEO

H1 tags are an important on-page element that tell search engines what the main topic of a page is. By using descriptive and keyword-rich H1 tags, you can help search engines understand what your page is about and improve your chances of ranking for relevant search terms. To avoid this mistake, make sure to:

• Include an H1 tag on each page of your website.

• Use descriptive and keyword-rich language in your H1 tags.

• Make sure your H1 tags accurately reflect the content of your page.

Example: Suppose you have a page about "How to Train Your Dog." Your H1 tag should be something like "Tips for Dog Training" or "How to Train Your Dog." If you ignore the H1 tag and use a different heading tag, such as H2 or H3, it can confuse search engines and make it harder for users to understand the main topic of the page.

Keyword stuffing

While it's important to use keywords in your content and on-page elements, overusing them can be harmful. Keyword stuffing can make your content look spammy and can result in search engines penalizing your website. To avoid this mistake, make sure to:

• Use keywords naturally and sparingly in your content and on-page elements.

• Focus on creating high-quality, useful content that provides value to your users.

• Use synonyms and related terms to provide context and variety to your content.

Example: Suppose you have a page about "best pizza in New York City." A page with keyword stuffing might include something like "Looking for the best pizza in New York City? Our New York City pizza restaurant offers the best pizza in New York City. Come try our New York City pizza today." This type of content is not only unnatural and unreadable, but it's also likely to get penalized by search engines.

Broken links

Broken links not only frustrate visitors to your website, but they also signal to search engines that your website is not properly maintained. Make sure to regularly check for and fix broken links on your website. To avoid this mistake, make sure to:

• Use a tool like Google Search Console or a broken link checker to identify broken links on your website.

• Fix broken links by updating the URL or removing the link if necessary.

Example: Suppose you have a page about "best hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest" that includes links to other websites with more information. If one of those links is broken, it can frustrate users who are trying to access that information and negatively impact your search engine rankings.

Missing alt tags on images

Alt tags provide a description of images on your website and help search engines understand what the image is about. If your website has images without alt tags, you may be missing out on valuable traffic from image search results. To avoid this mistake, make sure to:

• Include an alt tag for each image on your website.

• Use descriptive language that accurately describes the image.

• Include your target keyword in your alt tag if appropriate.

Example: Suppose you have a page about "best hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest" that includes images of some of the trails. If those images don't have alt text, users with visual impairments won't know what the images are and search engines won't be able to understand the context of the images.

Slow page speed

Slow page speed can have a negative impact on user experience and search engine rankings. To avoid this mistake, make sure to:

• Optimize images and other page elements to reduce file size.

• Use a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up page load times.

• Minimize the use of large or resource-intensive page elements

Example: If your website takes more than three seconds to load, it's likely that many visitors will simply leave the site and look for information elsewhere. This can result in lost leads, sales, and revenue. To improve page speed, consider optimizing images, reducing the number of HTTP requests, and enabling browser caching. These small changes can make a significant difference in your website's performance and ultimately, your bottom line.

Missing or Poorly Written Title Tags:

Title tags are one of the most important on-page SEO elements. They provide both users and search engines with an idea of what the page is about. Missing or poorly written title tags can negatively impact search engine rankings and make it harder for users to find and understand your content.

Example: If you have a blog post about "10 Ways to Improve Your SEO," your title tag should reflect this topic and include relevant keywords, such as "SEO Tips" or "Improve Your SEO Today." If you use a vague or unrelated title tag, such as "My Blog Post," it can confuse both search engines and users and make it less likely that your content will be discovered. To optimize your title tags, make sure they accurately reflect the content of your page, include relevant keywords, and are no longer than 60 characters.

By avoiding these common technical SEO mistakes and implementing best practices, you can improve your website's search engine rankings and attract more potential customers to your business. If you need help with technical SEO, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'd be happy to help you optimize your website for search engines and improve your online visibility.