7 common mistakes that could be ruining your SEO effortsÂ
Mistakes in search engine optimization (SEO) are so widespread that many marketers and business owners don’t even realise they’re making them. But if you can help it, you should steer clear of doing this whenever you can, as it can make it far more challenging for your website to rank well for relevant search searches.
In this post, we are going to discuss some of the most typical errors that people make, as well as the solutions to those problems. This should make it easier for you to avoid them and provide support while you work to undo any harm you may have already caused by accident. Continue reading if you want to learn more.
You’re targeting the same keywords on different web pagesÂ
It’s possible that you’re under the impression that in order to effectively target particular keywords on your website, you need to do it across a number of different pages. Wrong. This practise is known as “cannibalising” keywords. If you have many pages or blog posts that are attempting to rank for the same queries, Google may become confused and only rank one of them, at best; if you’re extremely unfortunate, it may rank none of them at all. Therefore, it is in your best interest to target each significant term on a single page of your website.
Beginning with a string of words and phrases connected to your company is a good place to start. After that, you should input them into a tool such as Google’s Keyword Planner. After doing so, you will be provided with a list of pertinent keywords along with the monthly search volumes and degrees of competition associated with each one. You need to locate the sweet spot because there is no purpose in targeting keywords that receive no searches, but you also don’t want to simply stick to the most competitive phrases because it will be difficult for you to outrank the competition if you do so.
Consider downloading and utilising the keyword research template that is provided by Loganix for more assistance. It can assist you in optimising your pages for new keywords, coming up with new content ideas, and gaining an understanding of the search trends in your specialised field.
You’re publishing content that isn’t relevant enoughÂ
Marketers and business owners may occasionally have the feeling of being under pressure to create new content on an ongoing basis. Because of this, there are occasions when they wind up producing material that isn’t as pertinent to their company or their products as it should be. The quantity of articles that you produce is not nearly as crucial as the quality and relevance of the content that you provide to your readers.
Because Google strives to direct its customers to the websites that are the most relevant to their needs, the search engine may start to pay less attention to you if you deviate too far from the path you were originally on. Let’s have a look at some examples of companies who are very good at communicating their mission through the publication of material that is directly related to their line of work.
Relevant content
For example, Best Nursing Programs is able to maintain their material current by regularly providing roundups of other relevant courses on their website. One notable illustration of this is the article that they wrote about the most reputable BSN programmes in the state of Texas.
They talk about the length of the programme, the cost, their ranking, and more. This is information that is particularly relevant to their target, which is comprised of people who are considering enrolling in nursing school; in addition, the fact that they specified the state in which these programmes are located allows them to attract a specific segment of their audience. Simply by focusing on the states in which they operate, they now have a total of fifty different article topics to choose from.
In addition to being a contact list builder and marketing tool, Bookyourdata ensures that their content is current. For example, their article on determining your target market is very relevant to both the website and the population that it caters to, which consists of people who own small businesses and eCommerce enterprises; this helps increase their SEO.
In their essay, they highlight the best ways to ensure that the people on your email lists are the most relevant and qualified candidates imaginable. It’s possible that when you think of email marketing, the first things that come to mind are design and copy, rather than the data that goes on behind the scenes. They can maintain the relevance of their content by discussing something that is slightly off-topic in this post, but it should still be within the scope of their expertise.
content
In a similar manner, Ping Identity, a provider of software security programmes, maintains the freshness and relevance of their information by employing a complete guide that is tailored to the needs of their audience. Their article on SAML and SAML 2.0 explains how these open standards function and how they make it possible to use a single sign-on, as well as the advantages of utilising them and how they operate. In addition to that, they demonstrate a useful video instructional in order to provide them with some further assistance. They could have simply written an article explaining what SAML and SAML 2.0 are; however, by framing it as an all-encompassing guide, they ensure that the information they provide is pertinent to their target audience, which consists of individuals who are interested in improving the software security measures they have in place but who are not necessarily experts in the field. Because of this, it is incredibly beneficial to them in terms of enhancing their SEO, since it demonstrates to Google that they are experts in their sector.
Your website does not provide a satisfying experience for visitors.
Midway through the year 2021, Google plans to roll out a new component of its algorithm that will be known as Google Page Experience. If Google believes that people will have a below-average experience when viewing your website, then it is highly improbable that they will rank your website highly on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Therefore, if you want to improve your search engine optimization (SEO), it is very vital to make sure that people who visit your website will have a good time while they are there.
When working to improve your user experience (UX), here are a few distinct things to think about.
To get things rolling, you should check to see if the page loads quickly on your website. In general, Google advises that the loading time of your page be less than two seconds. Your URL will need to be entered into the Google PageSpeed Insights tool, so navigate to that page now. Google will present you with a number of recommendations regarding the many ways in which the speed of your website can be improved.
The second thing you need to do is make sure that your website can be accessed and read on mobile devices. With the introduction of Google’s Mobile-First Index at the beginning of 2021, websites that are inaccessible when visited on mobile devices will no longer be included in the search engine giant’s index of results. Make sure that your website is accessible on all different kinds of electronic gadgets, including desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
If you keep these items in mind, you’ll get a boost in search engine optimization.
The feedback provided by your clients is not made public.
It is in the best interest of search engines like Google to lead its consumers to websites that are of a high quality, are authoritative, and are trustworthy. One way that you may demonstrate this is by publishing reviews written by your customers and clients.
It’s likely that various kinds of businesses will wish to showcase various kinds of customer feedback. Firms that focus on products, for example, might make use of star ratings, whereas businesses that focus on services might gain something from longer evaluations or video testimonials.
Let’s take a look at a few instances of companies that have done an excellent job of integrating customer feedback into their own websites.
reviews
The reviews may be found on all of Bay Property Management Group’s location pages, including this one for the Manassas, Virginia office. Bay Property Management Group is a real estate management company that has offices all over the East Coast.
Consider how essential reviews are for a real estate management firm: prospective customers and clients want to know that their property will be in excellent hands when they choose a management company. These more in-depth reviews, which are displayed in a carousel that rotates continuously on each location page, demonstrate that Bay Property Management Group is a reputable company that is easy to collaborate with.
Include the feedback from reviews.
On the other hand, Miracle, which is a retailer that sells bath and bedding products, takes customer feedback in a fairly unique manner. Due to the fact that Miracle sells things, there is no requirement for them to initially provide lengthy reviews. Naturally, if you click the Shop Now button, you will be able to view what other customers have said about the product. However, right from the bat, a prospective consumer may see that their products have received hundreds of reviews and all have received five stars. This not only makes comparisons between them easy, but it also sends a message to search engines that this company is really good at what it does.
You are not successfully capturing the interest of the people that visit your website.
Your website needs to be able to immediately capture the interest of your visitors; if it is unable to do so, this may have an adverse effect on your bounce rate. Your bounce rate is the percentage of individuals that visit your website, click on anything, and then instantly depart; when this occurs, Google considers that you are not delivering value for your users and lowers your ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Let’s have a look at a few different ways that you might get the attention of your visitors:
With powerful images that brings a sense of humanity to your company
With an attention-grabbing call to action (CTA) that instructs the viewer on what they should do next.
With a tool that assists individuals in finding information or finding a solution to a problem Here are a few examples.
Bring more people to your website.
AKD Law, a personal injury law practise located in New Orleans, attracts the attention of website visitors by humanising the legal area by posting photographs of the attorneys that work for the firm. Legal matters can be unpleasant, scary, and laborious; however, Alvendia, Kelly, and Demarest catch the attention of potential customers by presenting photographs of their team that indicate that they are genuine people and approachable by demonstrating that they are actual people.
Website visitors Best Value Schools gets the attention of its website visitors in another way by posting a degree finder in a prominent location on the homepage of the website. This tool assists potential students in finding a school based on the degree and subject they are interested in pursuing; it is likely to be the first thing that website visitors view after reaching the website. This will improve the possibility of them connecting with the tool and the website further. The fact that users spend more time on the website indicates Google that Best Value Schools is a helpful website, which is beneficial for enhancing the company’s search engine optimization (SEO). The website Best Value Schools is able to attract the attention of its viewers since it offers such a helpful feature and draws particular attention to it.
Your article is not shared on any social media platforms.
It’s possible that your material will gain a boost on the search engine results pages (SERPs) if it’s been shared a lot on social media. According to the findings of a study conducted by Optinmonster, there is a significant link between the number of shares and a website’s position in the search engine results page (SERP). Even though social media participation might not be a direct ranking criteria. To put it succinctly, this indicates that you need to make sure that you are actively sharing the content of your website on social media.
Facebook is a fantastic starting point because it has by far the largest user base, which makes it a good choice for a variety of businesses even though they may prefer to use other platforms. Be sure to promote whatever you put on your website, whether it’s a blog post, a how-to guide, or a video, by writing a post on Facebook. This will allow your fans and followers to view the content on their feed and share it with their friends.
If you need assistance, you might want to think about using a Facebook publishing tool. You can find out what the optimum times are to post on social media with the assistance of these helpful software packages, as well as learn more about your audience and bulk schedule social media posts in advance.
You aren’t updating your content
If your information gets old and irrelevant, it will likely be passed up on the search engine results pages (SERPs). But you certainly don’t want all of that effort to go to waste, do you? Consider refreshing some of your older content, as this will enable it to move up the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Have a look at the information you’ve already published to determine whether or not there is anything that jumps out and may be included. Consider the possibility that there have been recent advancements in your field, new approaches to research, or other developments of a similar nature. Not only is this beneficial for your search engine optimization, but making adjustments to stay current with the times in this manner helps to ensure that your material is of the highest possible quality.
Another option open to you is to repurpose your existing material in a variety of various ways. Think about adapting your popular blog post into a video if, for example, it has garnered a lot of positive feedback from readers. This will provide a boost to your SEO and assist you in reaching out to a new audience without requiring you to perform all of the work from the ground up.
