When users look for a business to purchase products or services from, they would usually search online. On the results page, users would choose the websites on the uppermost part of the page rather than going through various pages (because nobody has the time to browse through several pages, right?).
The higher your rankings are, the easier it is for users to think that your business is trustworthy. And if your business website is in the top search results, you’ll have better chances of directing users to your website and eventually, make them your loyal customers. This is mainly how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your business, and it’s why you have to avoid those SEO mistakes. However, your website has been up and running for months, but the number of users you’re getting online is not increasing at all. Your profit is not increasing even if you already have your professionally-made website.
If this is your first time to use a website for your business, you might be committing SEO mistakes that may be ruining your website ranking with Google. You might be implementing approaches for your website thinking it will help your rankings with Google but it only does the complete opposite. You don’t want to waste your time and resources in this endeavor that’s why it’s important to know if what you’re doing is correct. Listed below are some SEO mistakes that can ruin your ranking on Google. Take your time to look at your website and determine if you’ve been committing any or all of these:
1. Your content not being original is one of the first SEO mistakes
Relevant and high-quality content can send trust signals to Google which can then translate to increased SEO rankings. The more educational your content is, the higher your SEO rankings.
- Even if there are several businesses within the same niche, Google picks the best by checking the distinctiveness each website. Your website can still stay on top of the results page if you continually produce unique and well-researched content.
- While it’s better to use outbound links in your content as reliable sources, adding too many might ruin your SEO rankings, too. When using outbound links, make sure that you do it adequately but avoid overdoing it as it will make your website too distracting and it’ll be difficult for you to get your point across to users.
- Recycled content won’t do you any good both for your business and for your Google rankings. No matter how you rephrase content from another website, Google can detect that and can have adverse effects to your rankings.
2. You’re using the wrong keywords
Back when you were still starting up your website, you were informed of how important keywords are with your Google rankings. You made sure that you were using keywords in your website but clearly, this wasn’t enough to boost your rankings. Have you ever thought that you’re doing this all wrong?
- It’s not enough that you have keywords in your website. If you’re using too generic keywords, your attempt to increase your website rankings will be useless.
- Don’t be afraid to use long tail keywords. This idea might seem new to you but it can be helpful to make your website stand out from the rest.
- Put yourself in the shoes of the users and think what could be the possible keywords they’ll use. Think out of the box and be creative with your keywords.
- There are a lot of keyword picking websites which you can use. All of these will help you come up with better keywords so online users are easily directed to your website and for your Google rankings to improve, too. These websites can basically do a lot for you so take the time to go through each of these to determine which works best for your website.
3. Your website is not mobile-friendly
Sure, you’ve spent a lot of money just to ensure that your website is up and running but are you exerting the same effort for your website to be mobile-friendly? Yes, this is important because aside from it affecting your Google rankings, you should also consider that more and more users are doing transactions through their phone or tablets.
- Google also understands the fact that users are now accessing your website through their handheld devices. Websites which allows users to have a smooth mobile experience are ranked higher compared to websites which don’t.
- If your website can only be accessed through a desktop or laptop, sorry to break it to you, but this is terrible news for your Google rankings. Your website should be able to adapt to the needs of users, and this includes creating a mobile-friendly experience for them.
- If you’re unsure of whether your website is optimized for mobile use, you can use speed tools such as GT Metrix and Pingdom. These tools can help you analyze your website’s performance if accessed through mobile or desktop. Once you have this information, it’ll be easier for you to know which to improve on.
If you know the SEO mistakes your website makes, it’ll be easier for you to understand how and what type of help you should get for your business. Because of course, your website entails your time and effort, and you don’t want that to be useless in the long run. For your website to aid your business, you should be very careful with your SEO rankings because how your website is listed on any results page greatly matters. All your competition might have a website, but your SEO rankings with Google can make a huge difference.