Warning: These 9 Mistakes Will Destroy Your SEO

In a world where improving SEO is the biggest priority for 61% of companies, poor execution of SEO strategies can land you in trouble.

To cite an example, Mozilla, in an effort to create user-generated content (UGC), ended up infesting it with spam. The comment section of the UGC page was filled with too many spammed content. As a result, the web page was subjected to penalty, imposed by the search engine giant Google.

Wondering what went wrong with Mozilla? Even though the company focused on producing User-generated content, they failed to analyze and acknowledge the fact that content spamming could be a major SEO glitch.

There are ample examples and case studies that highlight SEO fails among the luxury brands, for example, BMW was once held guilty of creating doorway pages. According to an investigation, it was found that the German website influenced search results to secure top ranks, even when the users searched for “used cars”. This appeared to be misleading down the road. As part of a black hat SEO practice, the move went against the Google guidelines.

If you don’t want such loopholes to disrupt your SEO endeavors in business, take note of the following pain points and critical mistakes one must avoid generating the coveted Return on Investment (ROI).

Excessively short or long titles

Here are a few examples of overly lengthy page titles.

Take a look closely, and you can observe that the search engine didn’t allow the companies to accommodate the entire page title. Consequence? The consumers might miss out on the entire message or purpose of the title.

Here is an example of a page title that is excessively short.

The words “Three Percent” don’t justify what follows next “Literature across Frontiers”. As a result, your prospective consumers won’t get the hang of it. Nobody can be sure if they will find something useful on the page.

Actionable Points:

• Be descriptive of what’s on the page, but don’t overdo it.
• Pay attention to the length (maximum 70 characters and a minimum of 50 characters.)
• Target shorter keywords to be used in the page title.

2- Keyword Stuffing

Stuffing SEO content with too many keywords is a big no-no when it comes to saving your SEO from experiencing a major downward graph. Even though one cannot deny the role and significance of keywords in SEO, the experts are of the opinion that one must not overuse or stuff keywords in the content. If you think inserting maximum keywords in a particular blog or article will help you rank higher in SEO, then you are wrong.

Actionable Points:

• Make a list of important and topic-based keywords.
• Look for the most-searched keywords belonging to your industry niche.
• Find a combination of long-tail keywords and head term keywords.
• Remember, in an article of 500 words, if you are using keywords ten times, then you are overstuffing the write-up. Instead, keep the density of your primary and secondary keywords at 1.4% – 2% (include the primary keyword in the introductory and concluding sentences once, followed by the secondary keywords used in the alternate paragraphs.).  

3- Focusing too much on the quantity of external link then it’s quality

There’s no harm in acknowledging the fact that pages with lots of external links rank well in Google. However, overlooking the aspect of acquiring good quality external links is definitely a problem.

For example, when you buy external links in bulk, you are exposed to the risk of multiple distrusted websites linking to your store. As a result, your site rank would eventually decrease.

Actionable Points:

• Keep producing quality content on a regular basis.
• In addition to the practice of buying bulk links, invest in guest blogging and contribute to collaborative blog posts for backlinks.

4- Solely investing in high volume keywords

Focusing on high volume keywords is good, but, that doesn’t mean you will ignore the significance of low volume keywords. According to a case study, SEO strategist Chris Castillo was able to attract more than 1,000 visitors per month to a single article. Wondering how? He targeted a collective volume of keywords belonging to both high and low volume searches.

Eventually, the wide variety of keyword usage helped him attract x2 the amount of traffic.

Actionable Points:

• Explore the market to acquire and implement industry-exclusive keywords.
• Leverage the perfect combination of high and low volume keywords in your content.
  For example, if the keyword “garage door” generates high search volume, and “garage repair” generates low search volume, try combining both. Use “garage door repair” as the perfect combination of high and low volume keywords. This way, you are keeping a window open for both high and low volume keyword searchers to land on your page.
• Use keyword research tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, and Google Keyword Planner to help your organic traffic grow.

5- Missing out on the aspect of “Product Descriptions”

Try to perceive things from a consumer’s point of view. What will consumers do if they want to buy something? They will look for product descriptions for a broader overview. Imagine what will happen if they find product descriptions missing on your website? They would move on to the next option, thus, leaving your website with a low SEO rank.

Actionable Tips:

• Focus on product benefits while writing a description.
• Implement the use of simple words and phrases.
• Use good product images.
• Harness the potential of power words to boost sale.

6- Too many links to your homepage

If you want high SEO rankings, then do not use too many links on your homepage. According to the experts, good internal linking is most useful for higher Click-Through-Rates.

Actionable Points:

• Prioritize the use of relevant anchor texts in the links. These texts are nothing but the ones that appear in the hyperlink.
• Use internal links that are relevant to the source content.
• Use the consumer-focused linking approach to add more value and information to the page.

7- Poor aesthetics resulting in higher bounce rates

The bounce rate of a website is one of the critical metrics that can ruin your SEO efforts. In general, a bounce rate refers to the number of visitors to any website who leave the website page without viewing other pages within the same website. Thus, the higher the bounce rate, the lower the ranking. If your SEO page lacks proper design, relevancy and readability rate, visitors are likely to leave the site in seconds.

Actionable Points:

• Improve your content’s readability. Use tools and applications like Readability Analyzer and Readability Calculator to gauge readability score.
• Don’t disrupt the UX – avoid Pop-ups.
• Update your page at regular intervals with fresh content.

8- Writing Weak  Meta descriptions

Not creating powerful Meta descriptions can have a negative impact on your SEO efforts. Meta description serves the purpose of drawing readers to the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Click To Tweet This makes it a visible and vital part of search marketing. If you come up with a weak, irrelevant or lengthy Meta Description, then you can only imagine the negative consequences on click-through-rates.

Actionable Points:

• Restrict the description within 155 to 165 characters.
• Stick to producing user-generated content.
• Highlight all key aspects in the Meta description, for example, USPs, deals, limited offers, and the likes.

Here’s an example, “Are you looking for online paper help? Count on our expertise for 50% off on all orders, exciting referral bonus and free samples. Order your copy now.”

9- A slow loading site

79% of customers are of the opinion that they won’t return to a site with poor performance. To have a site that loads slowly is a liability. According to another report, even a one-second delay in site’s load time leads to lower traffic and revenue.

Actionable Points:

• Prevent JavaScript files from loading until other elements have loaded.
• Focus on reducing server response time.
• Enable browser caching functionalities for your website.

In Conclusion

Now that you are aware of the critical areas and SEO loopholes that can ruin your online endeavors, brush up your skills with these key takeaway points, and watch the tables turn this year.

• Say no to keyword stuffing.
• Avoid using page titles that are too long or too short.
• Focus on the quality of external links, rather than the quantity.
• Do not miss out on including product descriptions.
• Refrain from roping in too many links to your homepage.
• Keep the bounce rate of your site at the minimum.
• Maintain a good combination of low and high volume keywords in your content.
• Come up with a perfectly drafted Meta Description in no more than 165 characters.
• Do not hold on to a site that loads slowly.

Cheers!

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