Every webmaster wants their site to rank highly in search results as the higher the ranking the more sales you will enjoy and the faster your business will grow.
However, there are also many mistakes that you can make when optimizing your site that will negatively affect your ranking—and fixing them may be more complicated than you think. Many of the top search results on Google and other search engines are filled with websites that have optimization mistakes that cause their rankings to suffer. Some of these mistakes can be corrected quickly, while others may take weeks or months to change. If you want to rank as high as possible in search engine results, avoid these common optimization mistakes at all costs.
This blog post addresses the most common mistakes webmasters make with their site optimization, including problems like using too many keywords in the anchor text, duplicate content, and keyword stuffing. We’ll also give you tips on how to fix these mistakes quickly so you can get back on track with ranking highly in search results.
Site Speed
Site speed is one of Google’s top-ranking factors and slow websites can negatively impact your rankings. The good news is that many issues that slow down a website are easy to fix: minify your code, compress images, optimize CSS and JavaScript, reduce redirects and keep track of where time is being spent in code.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to all of your website’s on-site elements—including its design, structure, and content. What makes optimizing for on-page SEO different from off-page optimization is that you have more control over it; whereas off-page optimizations like link building require time and investment to pay off, most on-page optimizations can be implemented fairly quickly. It is also easier to understand which SEO techniques are used in on-page optimization compared to backlink analysis.
Keyword Research
If you’re stuck for inspiration, research your target keywords. This will also help you better understand your target market so that you can write content to suit them. Knowing what people are searching for gives you an idea of how to best approach certain topics and will make it easier to create high-quality content. If you have a lot on your plate, then you should consider outsourcing to content writing services. They have access to the latest tools for keyword research and will help you rank faster on those keywords. They also know the ins and outs of the business and know some common optimization mistakes that hurt your chances of ranking high in the search engines.
Copywriting Errors
There are many copywriting errors that, when fixed, can result in rankings boosts. However, most SEO marketers focus on keyword research and content creation rather than grammar and spelling. When you’re trying to optimize your content for rankings, make sure it is free of grammar and spelling errors. If you’re having trouble with these aspects of writing—or if you just don’t have time to fix all of them, then consider hiring a professional content writing services who specializes in technical writing or online marketing writing.
Technical Issues
Common technical issues that might be affecting your site’s search visibility include duplicate content, thin content, bad code, or improper markup. There are various ways to go about addressing these problems. Use tools to save time and increase efficiency. To fix duplicate content issues, there are several free and paid tools for identifying and resolving similar content on your website. With it, you can compare pages with matching text and make changes as needed.
Over Optimizing Headings
Heading tags and meta-descriptions are not very important in SEO. They don’t carry much weight, so don’t worry about them too much. If you find that your site is spammy for certain keywords, take a look at your title tags. Google has stated that over-optimized heading tags can be a spam signal to Google, meaning it may cause lower rankings for those specific keywords. Use heading tag stuffing as a sign of low-quality content.
Broken Links and Missing Images
Broken links and missing images are two of the most common things hurting your rankings. If there’s a broken link on your site, search engines will flag you as having lower-quality content. If a page doesn’t have any images associated with it, that page will be flagged as well. There are plenty of other optimization mistakes that can hinder your website ranking, including duplicate content and improper use of keywords. Here are quick fixes for all ten mistakes.
Not Including Target Keywords in Alt Tags
You’ve probably heard a thousand times to include your target keywords in alt tags on images. This is important because Google algorithms make use of these in image search results and because Google gives you some basic SEO value if you do it right. But don’t forget that alt tags also play an important role in optimizing your website for screen readers, which are used by people who can’t see.
Generic Titles and Meta Descriptions
Keywords in title tags and meta descriptions can affect ranking, but stuffing your titles with keywords or including search terms in your descriptions just for SEO reasons will hurt rankings. Use relevant keywords, but write naturally so you don’t lose sight of why users click through to your site in the first place. Use click-worthy language that describes why users would be interested in visiting your page — not only what they’ll find when they get there. It is highly advisable to hire SEO experts to optimize on-page elements and draft compelling search engine optimized content.
