10 common SEO mistakes and how to avoid them
9 common SEO Mistakes in 2024
SEO services are of great importance when it comes to content marketing and the introduction of a product. SEO-based content reaches the right audiences at the right time and builds a strong connection with them. However, SEO can also lower a website’s rank if it is done incorrectly. Repeating the keyword too much, using non-original or poor content, ignoring mobile optimization, using broken links, etc. are some of the many SEO mistakes to avoid. Read this article to know what SEO pitfalls are and how to prevent them.
9 Most Common SEO Mistakes
Some of the SEO mistakes are repeated by the content and SEO specialists. Although some of them are negligible, most of them can have devastating results on your website and social media. In the following paragraphs, we have outlined the top SEO writing mistakes to avoid.
1. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is at the top of the common SEO mistakes list. This issue happens when the writer uses too many keywords in the text, resulting in an unnatural, repetitive, and spammy passage that no one likes to read. In addition, Google will penalize your website for overuse of keywords and resist showing your site in the search results. Based on the Hummingbird update in 2013, Google will ignore content written for search engines and rate the ones written for people. Therefore unnatural use of keywords to manipulate the search engines will NOT help your SEO.
2. Using Poor Quality Content
Quality content is key for engaging users and ranking well. Using content that is not relevant to the theme and topic of the website is a common SEO mistake in digital content production. Also, inserting non-original texts in blogs and social media confuses Google crawlers and decreases your ranking. In other words, duplicate (plagiarized) content will be de-indexed from Google and cause SEO and legal penalties. Copyright is made to ensure that creative digital content is valued and safe; so make sure that your content is original and valuable before you hurt your SEO practices, destroy your backlinks, and face legal fines.
3. Overlooking Mobile Optimization
Mobile optimization enhances user experience, increases conversion rates, accelerates loading speed, drives more traffic to the website, increases mobile traffic, and ultimately boosts your sales. Therefore, overlooking the importance of mobile optimization is a huge mistake. To implement mobile optimization, compress images and files, increase page loading time, avoid using pop-ups, use hamburger menus to simplify the navigation, etc.
4. Slow Page Load
Websites that load slowly lose their users after a few clicks. Low uploading and downloading speed adversely affects a website’s bounce rate, user experience, organic search results, and conversions.
5. Using Broken Links
The most common technical SEO issue is using broken links all over the website. Links that lead to 404 or 410 errors can frustrate users and signal to search engines that the website is not developed well. Plus, the broken links prevent search engine crawlers from reading the website and indexing it.
6. Not Using Alt Tags
An alt tag is a short text that describes an image in HTML. If the website users cannot see the image (for reasons like slow internet speed, image corruption, or permission issues), they can read about it. Not using alt tags that contain the keyword affects users' experience and SEO practices. Plus, alt tags help screen readers read out the content to visually-impaired users. Even if the image is decorative and does not convey important information, you should add (alt="") to signal the screen readers to skip this image. This factor alone will improve your UX to a great extent.
7. Having Poor UX
Having a great user experience is what makes a website stand out from others. Adding too many pop-ups and ads, complex in-site navigation, poor readability, messy design, and lack of a search bar are the examples of poor UX. Companies with SEO services pay special attention to UX design as it can be game-changing.
8. Using Black Hat SEO
Black hat SEO is a collection of tactics that is against the search engines’ terms of service. Techniques like cloaking, using invisible text, page swapping, or link schemes may result in higher ranking for a short time, but the search engine crawlers will finally find them. The penalties for such techniques are harsh and are NOT worth the risk. The search engine has the right to completely delete the website or decrease its ranking drastically.
9. Over-Optimization of the Website
When a website is over-optimized, even a simple reader will notice that. Inserting too many links with one anchor word, keyword stuffing, and using non-relevant keywords just to be seen by the search engine are good examples of over-optimization.
How to Fix SEO Issues
Preventing and fixing SEO issues helps get higher ranks in SERP. Consider the following tips the next time you want to use SEO services.
Do a vast keyword research and choose only one of them as your main keyword. If you’d like to have a supporting keyword, make sure it is related to the main one and your text’s subject. It is suggested to only use the main keyword once every 200 words, not more than that.
Fix all the on-page SEO issues. Create original content to represent your brand’s voice, build trust with your audience, and most importantly, show the search engines that your content is not duplicated. Moreover, write unique meta descriptions and compelling headlines to keep the audience interested.
Make your website mobile-friendly by using responsive designs and improving mobile load times. Long texts, large buttons, and big images are not suitable for small screens. Therefore, go for small images, short paragraphs, and shorter titles to give your audience a better experience.
To increase your website’s loading page, compress the files, optimize the images and videos, delete unused codes, remove render-blocking JavaScript, and reduce redirects.
Fix off-page SEO issues by using HTTPS, resolving errors reported in Google Search Console, and increasing load speed. Also, identify broken links and fix or redirect them to relevant pages. This will help the search engines understand that your website is valid and important.
Do not forget to add an alt text to your images. Alt texts allow crawlers to figure out the images better, helping them to index and rank the website in a shorter time.
Monitor and improve your EX regularly. Search engines validate websites that have a people-first design and are easy to use. Avoid complicated navigation, minimize the intrusive ads and pop-ups, and keep your theme friendly and enjoyable.
Avoid using black hat SEO strategies; instead, stay updated with white hat SEO trends. Google algorithms are constantly changing, as are SEO techniques. The best ways to keep up with the latest SEO trends are participating in SEO webinars, using reliable sources like Google’s SEO starter, and reading related blogs regularly.
Avoid over-optimization. Search engine bots and crawlers are super smart and notice unnecessary attempts to appear at the top of search results. Keep your content authentic to avoid search engines penalties.
Importance of Avoiding SEO Mistakes
As mentioned above, SEO mistakes can drastically affect your website’s ranking and even lead to search engine penalties. Search engines, especially Google, have a complicated algorithm that detects and penalizes websites that use improper SEO strategies. Moreover, SEO pitfalls can lower bounce rates, damage your credibility and reputation, decrease organic traffic and visibility, legal and ethical problems, and finally, loss of marketing budget. Therefore, avoiding SEO mistakes is essential for high search rankings, having a positive user experience, and ensuring long-term success and digital credibility.
Conclusion
The main common SEO mistakes in 2024 are overusing keywords, ignoring mobile optimization, using non-original content, and not paying enough attention to meta tags and headlines. If you are running a website from scratch, be careful of these pitfalls; and if you already have a website which is not SEO-based, analyze and improve it ASAP. Spending time and resources on SEO might seem unnecessary (especially at the onset of running a business); but remember that SEO practices lead to definite success in the long run. An increase in sales and conversion rates depends on how and when customers see your website; therefore, focusing on SEO strategies and avoiding mistakes will eventually pay off.
Are you thinking that SEO is a challenging and time-consuming job? You are right! That’s why you need a specialist in this field who can handle all the mentioned tasks without any mistakes and in the shortest time possible. Contact 1st Class Agency now to avail of our SEO services. We make sure that your website stands head and shoulders above. Click here to learn more about our comprehensive SEO services or schedule a free SEO audit with our experts.
FAQs
What is the biggest SEO mistake in 2024?
Using wrong keywords, slow page loading, and non-mobile-friendliness are the biggest SEO mistakes in 2024.
Is long text bad for SEO?
The recommended number of words for a blog post is between 400 and 2000. Long texts are hard to read from the small screens and may bore the readers, forcing them to leave the website. If you have to write long texts, make sure to organize them correctly and use proper images between the paragraphs.
Do empty links hurt SEO?
Definitely. Empty and broken links are harmful to SEO as they frustrate the users.
How many links are good for SEO?
Concerning external links, one or two links per 500 words are enough for ranking.
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