How to Avoid Common SEO Mistakes

Common SEO mistakes when it comes to keyword research includes:

• Not taking search volume and competition level into consideration
• Targeting keywords that are too broad
• Not adding long-tail keywords
• Not matching search intent

In order to avoid this SEO mistake, you will want to identify your target audience. Use a keyword research tool that identifies keywords with high search volumes, but low competition. Make use of long-tail keywords, which are less competitive with lower search volumes.

Headings and Tags

Headings and titles are essential to your SEO success, helping search engines understand the context of your website pages. They are also a first impression you make on your audience in search engine results pages (SERPs). The common SEO mistakes when it comes to headings and tags include:

• Not incorporating your targeted keywords in headings and tags
• Using the same heading across numerous pages on your website
• Headings that are too short or too long
• Using the same heading and tag on the same page

Optimise your headings and tags by naturally incorporating your targeted keywords. Headings and tags should be short, yet descriptive. They must be unique. Every page must have a different heading and tags.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are summaries of what your page is about, they are found under the title in search results. They provide your viewers with a preview of what they can expect when they visit your web page. They do not directly impact your ranking, but they do impact your click-through-rate (CTR). Common SEO mistakes when it comes to meta descriptions include:

• Not adding a meta description for each of your web pages
• Meta descriptions that are too short or too long
• Not including your targeted keyword in your description 
• Using the same meta description across numerous pages
• Not including search intent when writing the meta descriptions

Meta descriptions need to be unique for each of your web pages. Create a concise sentence about the page focusing on your targeted keyword and user intent. Aim for a length of approximately 150 characters or less. 

Search Intent

When you conduct your keyword research, you learn what your audiences re searching for. Failing to identify user intent for your targeted keywords can result in content that isn't relevant or helpful to your audience, reducing engagement and increasing bounce rates. Common SEO mistakes relating to search intent include:

Creating content that doesn't offer value

With your keyword research out of the way, you can search for your keyword to understand the search intent, helping you create content that ranks well in SERPs. Your audience may be looking for a “how to” guide, which means focusing your content on something else isn't going to benefit them in any way.

Other Common SEO Mistakes Worth Mentioning

In addition to the above, other common SEO mistakes to avoid include:

• Keyword stuffing – overusing the same keyword in your content. Rather focus on providing quality content and add your keywords naturally. 
• Poor quality content – quality content is essential to SEO. Your content must be unique, engaging, informative and valuable to your reader
• Image optimisation – not optimising your images is a common SEO mistake that can be avoided. 
• Algorithm updates – not staying updated with the latest algorithm updates to ensure your content doesn't drop in ranking
• Not monitoring your website regularly to identify what is working and what needs adjusting

Conclusion

Now that you know what the common SEO mistakes are, you have the opportunity to avoid them. SEO is not an overnight success story, it takes a lot of time and effort, producing sustainable and long-term results. Contact the Genie Crawl team today if you need help optimising your website for success.