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Most Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid and How to Fix Them

February 27, 2023
Talk Agency
Is your SEO not delivering the results you expected? Find out why and learn how to fix it with our expert tips and actionable insights.

When it comes to marketing and growing your business, Search Engine Optimisation can be a powerful tool. Unfortunately, many people overlook the benefits of SEO and don’t take full advantage of its potential.

In today’s digital world where competition is fierce, having a strong online presence is essential for any business looking to succeed. So investing in a winning SEO strategy will help ensure that your website stands out from the crowd and gives you an edge over other companies looking to entice your customers away.

If your SEO is missing the mark, you’re likely missing out on potential customers and revenue – ouch! To help you stay on top of your website ranking and reach efforts, here are a few of the most common mistakes people make.

Problem: Not Optimising Page Titles & Meta Descriptions

It’s a rookie mistake, but when businesses don’t take the time to optimise their page titles and meta descriptions, it can have a real impact on their visibility in search engine results. Without optimising your page titles and meta descriptions, you’re missing out on an opportunity to stand out from the competition.

When someone searches for something related to your business, they’re likely to come across other websites that have taken the time to craft compelling page titles and meta descriptions. If yours isn’t as engaging or informative as those of your competitors, then you may miss out on potential customers.

When people see search results with vague or irrelevant page titles and meta descriptions, they won’t be enticed enough to click through – so even if they were interested in what you had to offer initially, they may end up going elsewhere instead.

The Fix: How To Slay Your SEO Meta Description & Title

Titles should be no longer than 60 characters, while meta descriptions should be no more than 160 characters. This is to ensure that the text will fit within the search engine results page (SERP) without being truncated. Researching relevant keywords for your website’s content and using them in both your title and meta description to boost Search Engine Optimisation rankings also helps.

Make an impression with action words: Using power words such as “learn” or “discover” can help encourage visitors to take action – click through from SERPs onto your site for more information about what you offer. Lastly, to avoid duplicate content issues, make sure each page on your website has its own distinct title tag and meta description that accurately reflects the content of the page itself.

Problem: Failing To Use Keywords in Your Content

Not including keywords in your content means you’re missing out on the opportunity to get found by search engines. Keywords help search engines determine what your page is about and if it’s a good match for someone searching for a specific topic.

Another downside to not using keywords is that it can make it difficult for readers to find the information they’re looking for on your page. When people are searching online, they use specific words that describe what they’re looking for—and without those same words in your content, you won’t be able to capture their attention or meet their needs with accuracy.

Annnnddddd lastly, not using keywords makes it hard to measure how successful your content is at achieving its goals – whether that’s driving more website visits or generating leads from potential customers. By tracking which keywords are used most often when people engage with your content (e.g., click-through rates), you’ll gain valuable insights into what topics resonate most with readers and how effective each piece of content is at meeting its objectives.

The Fix: Optimise Your Content With Researched Keywords

The frequency you should use keywords depends on the length of your content. Generally, you should aim to include a keyword or phrase every 100-150 words. However, if your article or blog post is longer than 1,000 words, you can reduce this rate slightly as long as you are still including relevant keywords throughout the piece. Keyword stuffing is a big no-no.

Try putting keywords at the beginning of a sentence or headline whenever possible. This will help draw attention and make sure that readers don’t miss out on key information about what your article covers. Additionally, adding a keyword towards the end of each paragraph can help emphasise its importance and keep readers engaged throughout their reading experience. Lastly, remember to Write. For. Humans above all else. If the keywords don’t read naturally, find a new set.

Problem: Not Optimising Images on Your Website

If you’re not optimising images on your website, you could be missing out on a lot of potential benefits. Poorly optimised images can slow down the loading speed of your site, which can lead to visitors leaving before they’ve had a chance to explore what you have to offer.

Slow-loading pages also negatively affect your search engine rankings, meaning fewer people will find your website in the first place. Yep. Google and other search providers are more than happy to penalise slow and buggy sites in the name of user satisfaction.

Another issue is that large image files take up more storage space and bandwidth than necessary – this means that hosting costs for your website can increase significantly if you don’t optimise your images properly. And finally, unoptimised images are likely to appear blurry or pixelated when viewed on different devices – an issue that is easily solved with proper image compression techniques.

The Fix: Compress Website Images With SEO Tools

Optimising images doesn’t need to be complicated or time-consuming – there are plenty of tools available online that make it easy for anyone to quickly and efficiently compress their web graphics without sacrificing quality.

So if you want a fast-loading website with clear visuals that won’t break the bank when it comes to hosting fees, make sure image optimisation is part of your strategy. We won’t divulge all of our winning image optimisers, but we have a soft spot for TinyPNG.

Problem: Not Generating Quality Backlinks

Backlinks help build trust with search engines, as they show that your content is valuable and relevant. A lack of quality backlinks means that your website won’t have the authority it needs to stand out from the competition (which you absolutely need to do).

Without quality backlinks pointing to your site, you won’t benefit from referral traffic or increased brand awareness. Quality links are also essential for improving visibility in organic search results and driving more visitors to your website – both of which are necessary for increasing conversions and sales.

Basically, a lack of backlinks can seriously hurt the growth of any online business or blog by limiting its reach and visibility on the web. To ensure success in today’s digital world, it’s important to invest time into building high-quality links (not rank-harming paid-for links) that will drive more traffic and boost rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).

The Fix: Take Control of Linking Opportunities

Writing guest posts for other websites is one of the best ways to get high-quality links pointing back to your own website. When choosing which sites you want to guest post on, make sure that they have a good reputation and relevant content related to your niche. Also, look for resource pages related to your industry or niche and see if there’s an opportunity for you to submit a link from their page pointing back at yours. .

Searching through Google or online directories for broken links related to topics within your industry or niche and contacting the webmaster about replacing it with a link from your site can be a great way of getting high-quality links from authoritative websites. And reach out to influencers within your niche who have large followings on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram etc., and offer them something such as free products in exchange for mentioning/linking back to your website during their videos/posts.

Problem: Duplicating content on multiple pages

Duplicate content can be a huuuuggggeeee problem for any website. It not only hurts your search engine rankings, but it also makes it difficult for visitors to find the information they’re looking for.

When search engines discover duplicate content on two different web pages, they have difficulty deciding which one to show in the results. As a result, neither page may appear in the search engine rankings at all – and if they do, they will likely be ranked lower than pages with unique content.

Duplicate content can also make it harder for visitors to navigate your site because there are multiple versions of similar pages competing against each other. This can lead to confusion and frustration as visitors struggle to find what they need quickly and easily.

The Fix: Keep Every Page Unique

To avoid ruining your website (and your site visitors’ day) with duplicate content, make sure that all of your web pages contain unique information that is relevant to the topic at hand.

Start by doing some research on the topic you’re writing about, then use that knowledge to come up with an original angle or perspective. Think beyond the obvious and look for ways to add value. Ask yourself questions like “What can I offer my readers that they won’t find elsewhere?” or “How can I make this information stand out?”.

If you need help creating original content or need to optimise your existing pages, why not consider working with experienced Search Engine Optimisation professionals who can help you create high-quality web pages that will benefit both users and search engines alike? (We mean us!)

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Problem: Neglecting Mobile Optimisation

Neglecting mobile optimisation can spell trouble for any business. With more and more people using their phones to access the internet, it’s essential that your website is optimised for mobile devices. If your website isn’t properly optimised, you could be missing out on potential customers.

Not only does having an unoptimised site make it difficult for users to navigate and find what they’re looking for, but Google also takes into account how well a site is optimised when ranking pages in its search results. This means if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing out on valuable organic traffic from searches.

Neglecting mobile optimisation can also lead to increased bounce rates as visitors become frustrated with slow loading times or difficulty navigating the page due to a lack of responsiveness (bouncing sounds fun, but it really isn’t. This can have a negative impact on conversions as users are likely to take their business elsewhere if they don’t get the experience they were expecting.

The Fix: Keep Every Page Unique

Make sure your content is responsive – Responsive design means that the content on your site will adjust automatically depending on what device it’s being viewed on. Mobile users expect websites to load quickly and if they don’t, they’re likely to abandon the page before they get what they need from it. To keep page load times low, try compressing images and minifying code wherever possible.

Navigation should be intuitive so that visitors can easily find what they need without getting lost or frustrated by complicated menus or drop-down menus. Stick with simple navigation options like tabs at the top of the screen or hamburger icons that reveal a menu when clicked upon. Finally, always test how your website looks across different devices before launching it live; this way you can ensure there won’t be any unexpected surprises when people visit from their phones or tablets.

Accelerate Your SEO Efforts

At TALK Agency, we know the importance of SEO and how it can make or break a business’s online presence. Our team of experienced Search Engine Optimisation experts will analyse your current website and identify areas where improvements need to be made in order to get better results from search engines. We will also work closely with you on keyword research and content creation, ensuring that all of your web pages are optimised for maximum impact.

We believe that SEO is an ongoing process and not something that should be done once and forgotten about – this means regular monitoring of analytics data so we can adjust our strategies accordingly when necessary. With our help, you’ll have access to detailed reports which will provide valuable insights into how users interact with your site so you can further refine the user experience for maximum conversion rates.

Talk with us to take your Site SEO to the next level.

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