Being in the top ranking of search pages is the dream of every individual and organization that runs a business online. There are many things that need to be considered so that the results of website optimization are maximized.
This optimization is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Unfortunately, not a few people actually destroy their efforts even by making SEO (Search Engine Optimization) mistakes that seem trivial.
No matter how big the effort is to be in Google's top search results, it will all be in vain if you make unintentional SEO mistakes or mistakes that are made continuously. To be able to avoid these mistakes, let's find out together what are the mistakes in SEO that must be avoided.
What is SEO?
Before talking too far about SEO optimization mistakes, it's a good idea to first discuss a little about Search Engine Optimization and its goals. Some people may still not be familiar with the terms that often appear in the digital marketing world.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a way of optimizing a website or webpage to improve the quality and quantity of website traffic from search engine organic results. The search engine that is widely used, especially in Indonesia, is Google.
When implementing SEO techniques, this means you are trying to get Google not only to index and crawl your website but also to display it in search results. Learn more about web crawlers to understand how search engines will crawl a website.
It would be better if the website could appear on the first page. However, no one can say for sure which websites can be on that page because Google has an algorithm to decide which websites are most relevant to the search keywords typed in by internet users.
The main goal of SEO is to improve website usability so you can bring the right people from search engines to your website. Finally, you can turn them (visitors) into potential buyers or customers.
This will happen if visitors see that your website can meet expectations or expectations. Therefore, you must ensure that your SEO efforts run smoothly without blemishes or defects. To support maximum results, there are many things that you should pay close attention to, one of which is how to avoid SEO mistakes even for a novice blogger.
What are common mistakes in SEO?
SEO demand is always growing every day, as well as the opportunities that exist. When you make mistakes during the website optimization process, you will be increasingly left behind by your competitors.
Today, almost all types of businesses are on the internet, be it small businesses or large businesses. So you shouldn't underestimate the importance of optimization efforts so that your website appears and is always in the top search results.
SEO is a never-ending job that requires tracking and developing over time. Because SEO is so competitive, when you make even a small mistake, it's like giving your competitors a chance to outperform you.
To maximize SEO results, you can choose the best SEO services. The following are mistakes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that should not be made either intentionally or unintentionally.
1. Does not Have a Clear Purpose
How can you measure results if you don't have clear goals? There are still many marketers and business owners who run SEO campaigns without having a goal. They believe that doing SEO well can increase traffic, which will affect increased sales.
Everything is certainly not that simple because you have to understand what goals you want to achieve. Whether that goal is better traffic, more organic leads, or more sales.
2. Website Without SSL or HTTPS
The next SEO mistake is not using SSL or HTTPS. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer which is the main requirement for SEO and digital marketing. Google as a search engine will prioritize websites with SSL or HTTPS compared to websites that still feel comfortable using HTTP.
Now, try to check whether your website is secured with SSL or not. One of the signs is HTTPS at the beginning of the website URL. You can also find a padlock icon in the URL. Find complete information on understanding SSL in the following article.
Apart from Secure Socket Layer (SSL), a website must also have a sitemap which also plays an important role in website optimization. What should a good sitemap look like? Start by figuring out what a sitemap is and how it works.
3. Website Running Slow
Nobody likes the term slow, even in terms of website optimization in search engines. Website page loading speed is one of the determinants as well as a requirement in website optimization. Google will prioritize websites that load fast and also have an attractive design.
For your information, this one search engine does not only take into account the number of visitors but also the user experience of a website. To measure user experience performance, Google will look at how long website visitors spend their time and how many pages they access.
4. Not Using the Right Keywords
Because you want Google to give the best ranking for the website you manage, make sure you only use the right keywords. The use of general keywords is the choice of many website owners. It's unfortunate because this is one of several SEO mistakes that are rarely known.
To avoid this one mistake, try starting to learn WordPress SEO for beginners through this article.
5. Forgot to Do Keyword Research
The most common SEO mistake is forgetting to do your research first. Those who use inappropriate keywords may forget to do keyword research, even though keywords have an important role in SEO.
Because keywords are the most basic part that must be optimized, keywords that are not on target will not give the expected results. Sometimes, people don't forget to do keyword research but are too lazy because the job is too time consuming.
6. Buying Backlinks
Even though backlinks are an important factor in Google ranking, that doesn't mean you buy backlinks to speed up SEO results. Instead of getting a place in the top ranking, you get a penalty from Google. This means you are not only wasting money but also spending time on useless things. It even harms the website.
Most websites that sell backlinks don't really increase rankings. In fact, link builders or link sellers have the same list of websites where they sell links. Therefore, avoid the following SEO mistakes.
7. Ignore Interesting Content
This is another SEO mistake to avoid. Out there, a lot of people are struggling with their content. Each website page must have decent content with a minimum of 300 words. Search engines need enough copy to know what the page of the website is about and whether you can provide answers to questions from internet users.
If you only write two sentences on a topic don't expect Google to consider you as an expert. As a result, Google feels that your website page is not the best result that matches the search.
8. More Focus on Quantity Over Quality
Search engines (search engines) are more focused on quality compared to quantity. Make sure every article content you write helps readers get what they are looking for. Even one piece of good quality is far more valuable than ten that are poorly written, disorganized, and of poor quality.
9. Keyword Stuffing
Repeating keyword phrases over and over on a blog is a great SEO tactic. However, that was then and now is different because this method is actually dangerous for websites. Use about 1-2% keyword density and use synonyms for the rest.
10. Duplicate Content
Creating website and blog content is not as easy as duplicating existing content and then reusing it. Duplicate content is content that appears in multiple places on the internet either on the same or different domains. If you still don't have a domain name, you must first check the domain to see if it is available or already in use.
Many websites still make this SEO mistake, where websites have many similar product pages. Duplicate content or plagiarism can also be due to the use of less credible article writing services.
If you make this one mistake, congratulations, you used the right way to bury a website in Google search results. Why is there no duplicate content? Search robots can't pick and choose which pages to index. In the end, none of the content appears in search results.
11. Website Not Mobile-Friendly
The more searches via smartphone or cellphone, the more important it is for a mobile-friendly website. There are many ways to view and monitor the behavior of each visitor, how and where they come from. Even when running Google Ads, you can see the percentage of device usage from internet users who search using certain keywords.
Apart from that, you can also see the click through rate or the number of visitors who see the ad that you posted.
Search engines are starting to give priority to websites that are mobile-friendly. In short, before carrying out on-page and off-page SEO techniques, check again whether your website is designed to be mobile-friendly. Don't let this negligence become one of the mistakes that will have a bad effect on the SEO that you will run.
12. Less Optimal Meta Tags
Meta tags help search engines identify the subject matter of a web page and then associate it with the keywords searchers are using. Creating the right title tag means choosing relevant keywords to form click-worthy and unique links for users on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
The meta description provides an additional opportunity to include related keywords and phrases. So make sure that your meta tags are unique and optimized. Suboptimal meta tags are one of the on-page SEO mistakes that you should avoid.
13. Not Optimizing Internal and External Links
Links in content that will guide visitors in and out of the customer journey can damage the user experience as well as your search performance. As a result, Google will not rank websites that provide a bad user experience.
Make sure the link you use is not a broken link or nofollow link. Also find out if the link is still using HTTP or has switched to HTTPS. To find broken links, there are many tools specifically for website auditing.
14. Not Using Heading Tags Properly
Another SEO mistake that is often forgotten when creating content is forgetting to use heading tags. Content writers must have the ability and knowledge about how to write content that is not only liked by readers (humans) but also search engines. In 2021, Heading tags are not an optional extra but an essential part of good SEO.
Use H1 for the article title and H2 for the main subheading and so on. Subheading is also important because people don't want to waste their time reading messy text. Subheadings and similar tools including pictures, bullets, and shorter sentences will help readers find what they're looking for easily and quickly.
15. Poor Website Maintenance
Poor website maintenance is another thing that will have a negative effect on SEO 2023. Google values well-maintained websites. Ignoring website maintenance can reduce the ranking of a blog or website.
16. Absolutely No Focus on SEO
This seems to be the biggest mistake in SEO 2023 if you don't spend any time on SEO. If you haven't started SEO at all, then how can you ensure that the goals of website optimization can be achieved?
17. Not Monitoring SEO
The last SEO mistake is not monitoring or monitoring SEO developments. You have tried your best to make SEO run well, but forgot that monitoring SEO is no less important.
If you don't monitor SEO, how can you make improvements by fixing mistakes that might be made while carrying out SEO? This actually adds to the list of errors that can further worsen the quality of the website.
Conclusion
Whenever you start website optimization through SEO, make sure that you always try to avoid SEO mistakes. Some people who do SEO optimization don't realize that they are making SEO mistakes. That's why you have to know what SEO mistakes often occur so you can avoid them.