Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an essential tool for marketers. When done well, it can have excellent results. When done wrong, it can be difficult to recover. Read on to find out more about SEO mistakes to avoid.
1. Neglecting Page Speed
One of the biggest SEO mistakes people make is forgetting to improve page speed. SEO isn’t just about keywords and blog content – the faster your page loads, the better Google will rank it. If you are unsure how fast your pages are, use Google PageSpeed Insights. It also breaks down what you can do to boost your page speed and see better SEO results.
A quick way to improve your page speed is to optimise your images correctly. Large images take a long time to load and slow your site down, so resize your images to make them smaller.
You can also check your core web vitals, especially your largest contentful paint (LCP), to see where you can optimise your site. Another fix to invest in is lazy loading, where your images only load when your audience scrolls down rather than loading all at once, which can vastly improve your page speed.
2. Not Investing in Content
No matter the speed of your page, if your content is not up to scratch, your SEO results will suffer. Whether it’s a blog or a webpage, your content needs to have at least 300 words for Google to find out what your page is about and what keywords it contains.
A fatal SEO mistake that many people fall for initially is creating low-quality work just for the sake of including keywords they want to rank for. This may then fall into the trap of keyword stuffing, a spammy tactic condemned by search engines that can negatively affect your rankings.
Keywords need to be incorporated naturally into the copy on your web pages. If they are stuffed or if they are neglected completely, it will hurt your rankings. Investing in your content by hiring a good copywriter can have great results for your company. Doing so will enable you to create high-quality content that your audience will engage with and that Google will notice and rank highly. Although it may be expensive, it will pay off highly in the long run.
3. Forgetting About Title Tags and Metadata
Title tags and metadata are some more technical elements of SEO that can be a huge missed potential if you neglect them. They are considered by search engines and can improve the performance of your content when done correctly.
The metadata is what your audience sees on search engine results pages (SERPs) when they Google keywords. To improve it, and therefore improve your rankings, include your primary keyword within your title and write a compelling meta description.
The meta description is not a ranking factor, but it vastly improves your site’s click-through rate (CTR). It needs to give a short description of what your audience can find on your page to demonstrate that the answers they are looking for are on your page.
4. Trying To Rank for the Wrong Keywords
A major SEO mistake that some people make at the beginning is trying to rank for the wrong keywords. For example, they may target high volume keywords with a lot of competition, obscure keywords with a low search volume, or keywords unrelated to their industry.
When incorporating keywords into your content, a good tactic is to target medium and long-tail keywords. These keywords may be less popular and less searched for, but the key benefit is that not as many people are trying to tank for them. Therefore, with quality content, you will be able to rank for them easier and increase traffic to your website.
Once your traffic grows, you can then begin to optimise for shorter keywords as you gain authority.
5. Writing Before Researching
An unfortunate SEO mistake that people often make is only considering SEO after the content has already been written. They may go back to insert keywords or adapt what they already have to a new, more relevant topic that they want to take advantage of.
Although it goes without being said, research must always come before writing. Make sure you, or your copywriter, have researched the keywords that will be included and have identified an area that your audience is searching for currently. Your content will be more relevant and appear in more searches than before.
6. Buying Backlinks
Buying backlinks is also amongst the SEO mistakes that thousands of websites have made in the past. Backlinks are hugely important for SEO purposes, as people linking back to your content proves that it is relevant and accurate and builds trust between your website and Google.
However, buying backlinks is not the easy way to boost rankings that many think it is, and it incurs many penalties and does not boost rankings as much as people hope. The sellers that provide these links often use the same list for all their buyers, which Google can therefore pick up on and devalue.
Instead, focus on building backlinks organically with high quality, well-researched content that authority sites such as news outlets and other bloggers will link back to.
7. Ignoring EAT
SEO is not all about ranking highly on Google – it is also about creating expertise, authority, and trust (EAT). Google likes trustworthy sites that are an authority within their niche, so avoid the mistake of ignoring EAT and focusing purely on the rankings. You can create content that is full of EAT by:
- Finding what your audience is searching for and then exceeding their needs
- Having a secure domain
- Citing external sources
- Providing high-quality, well-written content
Increasing your EAT within your industry can boost your rankings by establishing your brand as an authority.
Conclusion
There are many more SEO mistakes that people commonly make when creating content, but these seven are some of the most common ones out there. Be on the lookout for these pitfalls and focus on creating quality content that your audience is searching for to see the results!
