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Most Common SEO Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make In 2022

SEO
On June 24, 2022

As an SEO consultant, one of the most frequent questions is, “What are the common SEO mistakes you see people making?”. And while there are a lot of different things that can impact your website’s search engine optimization, in this blog post, we’ll share with you the top 27 mistakes people make time and time again.

Not Knowing Your Audience

One of the most common mistakes is not knowing their audience. And while this may seem like a no-brainer, you’d be surprised how many businesses make decisions about their website and online presence without first understanding their target market.

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Get to know your target market by creating buyer personas.
  2. Think about the keywords they will likely use when searching for businesses like yours.
  3. Ensure your website and online presence are optimized for those keywords.

Not Having An SEO Plan And Roadmap

 

You must prepare a plan and roadmap to success. If you want your website to rank higher in SERPs, trying to wing it or going with the flow will not cut it. You need to be strategic in your approach and have a plan that considers your overall business goals and SEO goals. You should avoid this most common SEO mistake

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Define your overall business goals and objectives and ensure your SEO plan aligns with them.
  2. Develop an SEO roadmap detailing the steps you need to take to reach your goals.
  3. Be flexible and willing to adapt your plan as the SEO landscape changes.
  4. Regularly review your progress and make changes where necessary.

Creating The Wrong Type Of Content

When it comes to content, quality is always better than quantity. But what many don’t realize is that not all content is created equal. To rank well and drive organic traffic to your site, you need to be making the correct type of content. A common SEO mistake businesses make is creating either too general or too specific content. 

 

If your content is too general, it won’t be relevant to the keywords you are trying to rank for, and people will quickly click away from your site. On the other hand, if your content is too specific, it may only appeal to a small group of people, and you won’t be able to rank for various keywords. How to avoid this most common SEO mistake?

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Do your research: Use keyword research tools to find the right balance of keywords that you can rank for, and that will be relevant to your target audience.
  2. Consider your audience: When creating content, always consider whom you are writing for. What type of information are they looking for? What questions do they have?
  3. Create evergreen content: Evergreen content is timeless and relevant no matter when someone reads it. It is the type of content you want to be creating, as it will drive traffic to your site after it’s been published.

Publishing Unoriginal Content

One of the most common SEO mistakes website owners and content marketers make publishing duplicate or non-original content. The search engine considers this plagiarism can result in a severe Google penalty. Not only will your website be penalized, but your ranking will also suffer.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Always create original content, or if you’re using someone else’s content, properly cite it.
  2. Use a plagiarism checker to ensure that your content is unique.
  3. If you use someone else’s content, rewrite it in your own words to avoid content mistakes that harm SEO.

Trying To Rank For The Wrong Keywords

One of the most common SEO mistakes is ranking for the wrong keywords. The problem with this is that you’re not going to get the traffic you want, and you’re also not going to be able to convert that traffic into customers.

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Do your keyword research
  2. Target long-tail keywords
  3. Focus on generating quality traffic
  4. Convert that traffic into customers
  5. Monitor your progress and adjust accordingly 

Skipping Title Tags, Meta Descriptions And Context With Schema

Many SEOs still don’t put enough importance on title tags and meta descriptions or completely forget about them. It is a mistake you should avoid in 2022. Title tags and meta descriptions are still among the most crucial ranking factors. 

Schema markup is code that can give search engines more information about your content. It will help your pages rank higher and can also help improve click-through rates.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Make sure to optimize your title tags and meta descriptions
  2. Add schema markup to your pages
  3. Provide context for your pages with schema markup

Missing Quality Links

 

If you’re serious about ranking in Google, you need to be serious about link building which is getting other websites to link back to yours. The more high-quality links you point to your site, the higher your site will rank on Google. Not doing so is among the most common SEO mistakes.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Research your link building targets
  2. Create great content that people will want to link to
  3. Reach out to potential linking partners
  4. Monitor your link building progress
  5. disavow any low-quality links pointing to your site to avoid the top SEO mistakes

Going Astray With Internal Links

 

Internal linking is an essential part of on-page SEO. By strategically placing links to other pages on your website, you can guide users to the content you want them to see and improve your website’s overall structure. However, internal linking can do more harm than good if not done correctly. 

 

Here is what you should avoid:

1- Not Linking Enough

A faulty approach when it comes to internal linking is not doing it enough. If you don’t have enough links on your page, it will be difficult for users to find the content they’re looking for. It will lead to a high bounce rate, which will hurt your SEO.

2- Linking to the Wrong Pages

A flawed practice is linking to the wrong pages. If you link to a page that’s not relevant to the user, they’ll click back to the search results and find a different result. It will again lead to a high bounce rate and hurt your SEO.

3- Using the Wrong Anchor Text

It is among the most common SEO mistakes. Anchor text is the text that’s used for the link. It’s essential to use descriptive anchor text, so users know where the link will take them. If you use the wrong anchor text, users will be confused and may not click on the link. It can again lead to a high bounce rate and hurt your SEO.

4- Not Optimizing Your Links


It’s crucial to optimize your links for both users and search engines. Ensure your anchor text is descriptive and relevant to the page you’re linking to. Also, use keyword-rich phrases in your links to help improve your SEO.

5- Linking to Dead Pages

Linking to dead pages is a wasted opportunity. If a page on your website is no longer active, don’t link to it. Instead, link to a relevant page that is active. It will help improve the user experience and keep people on your site longer.

6- Linking too Much

While having enough links on your page is essential, you don’t want to go overboard. If you have too many links, it will look spammy and will turn users away. Stick to a few quality links that are relevant and helpful to users to avoid one of the most common SEO mistakes.

7- Not Updating Old Links

If you have old links on your website, update them. If a page has moved or been deleted, update the link to the new page. It will help ensure that users always end up on the right page and don’t run into any 404 errors.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Make sure to link enough so users can easily find the content they’re looking for.
  2. Link to relevant pages that are actively updated.
  3. Use keyword-rich anchor text to help improve your SEO.
  4. Don’t go overboard with the links; only include a few quality links.
  5. Update old links, so they point to the new page.

Not Making A Fast And Mobile-Friendly Experience

 

Investing in a fast and mobile-friendly website is no longer optional. It’s become an absolute necessity for businesses that want to rank well on search engine results pages (SERPs). Google has clarified that speed and mobile friendliness are the most crucial ranking factors. 

 

They’re so important that Google included them in its “page experience” update. It judges websites based on several critical factors, including whether or not they offer a fast and seamless experience on mobile devices. Failing to meet these standards causes a major drop in SERP rankings, making it among the most common SEO mistakes.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Make sure your website loads quickly on both desktop and mobile devices. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to test your site speed and get recommendations for improvement. 
  2. Optimize your images, so they don’t slow down your page loading times. 
  3. Use responsive design to ensure your website looks great and functions correctly on all devices. 
  4. Implement AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) to improve your website’s speed and mobile experience to avoid mobile SEO mistakes.

No Understanding Of SEO Across Digital Channels

 

As the world of digital marketing has become more complex, so has SEO. In the early days of SEO, it was all about optimizing your website for Google’s search engine. But now, a whole host of other digital channels can impact your SEO. You need to understand how SEO works across all digital channels to rank well.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Understand how SEO works across all digital channels
  2. Optimize your website for Google’s search engine
  3. Use social media to boost your SEO
  4. Monitor your SEO performance regularly

Not Utilizing Analytics And Using Wrong Tools 

Tools and technology are essential for understanding your website’s performance and which actions you should take to improve its ranking. Among the most common SEO mistakes is not utilizing analytics or using the wrong tools. 

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Educate yourself on which tools and technology are available to help you track your website’s performance 
  2. Use Google Analytics to track your website’s traffic and user engagement 
  3. Use other tools, such as Ahrefs and SEMrush, to track your website’s keywords and backlinks 
  4. Make sure you are using the most up-to-date version of these tools so that you have accurate data to work with

Not Focusing On User Intent

As the world of SEO has become more complex, so has the way users search for information. In the past, users typed in a keyword and hoped for the best. But now, users are savvier and understand what they’re looking for. They’re much more likely to use specific keywords that reflect their intent. Thus, you need to focus on user intent.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use keyword research tools to understand what users are searching for.
  2. Create content that matches the user’s intent.
  3. Use structured data to help search engines understand your content.

Not Optimizing For Voice Search

It is among the most common SEO mistakes. Voice search is one of the hottest trends in SEO right now. And it’s only going to become more prevalent in the coming years. With the emergence of smart speakers and virtual assistants, more and more people are using voice search to find information online. Thus, optimize your content for voice search.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use natural language in your content.
  2. Use long-tail keywords that are more likely to be spoken than typed.
  3. Use schema markup to help search engines understand your content.

Not Incorporating Video Into Your SEO Strategy

 

Video is a powerful form of content for engaging audiences and boosting SEO efforts. In fact, including it on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%. Unfortunately, many businesses still don’t include video in their SEO strategy. This big mistake can cost you valuable traffic and poor search engine rankings. 

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Include video in your content marketing strategy
  2. Create videos that are keyword-optimized and informative
  3. Embed videos on your website and share them on social media
  4. Optimize your videos for search engines to avoid ecommerce SEO mistakes.

Not Keeping Your Site Updated

It is among the most common SEO mistakes. Your site needs to be updated regularly in terms of content and design. Outdated information will turn away potential customers and make your business appear unprofessional. A dated design will make your business look behind the times and could prevent you from attracting new customers. 

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Regularly check your site for outdated information and update it as needed.
  2. Review your design periodically and update it as needed to keep it looking fresh.
  3. Use a content management system (CMS) or website builder that makes it easy to make updates to your site.

Not Optimizing Images

 

Images are vital for any website, but they’re often overlooked regarding SEO. You should help search engines understand the image and how it relates to your content.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use descriptive file names for your images (e.g., instead of “IMG12345.jpg”, use “SEO-mistake-15-not-optimizing-images.jpg”)
  2. Include keywords in your image file names
  3. Use ALT tags to describe your images
  4. Optimize your images for speed (see our guide on how to optimize images for SEO) to avoid SAAS SEO mistakes.

Not Creating Enough Content

It is among the most common SEO mistakes. A website with only a few pages is unlikely to rank high in search results because there’s simply not enough information for search engines to index.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Plan your content strategy in advance
  2. Set a schedule for creating and publishing new content
  3. Make sure your website has enough pages to be indexed by search engines

Not Optimizing For Rankings In Zero-Click Search Era

 

With the rise of voice search and other zero-click searches, optimizing your website for rankings in these new search types is becoming more critical. In the past, optimizing for rankings was all about getting clicks to your website from the SERPs. However, with the advent of rich results and featured snippets, this is no longer the only way. 

 

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use natural language in your content to make it more voice search-friendly
  2. Optimize your website for featured snippets by using clear and concise questions and answers
  3. Target long-tail keywords that are more likely to be used in zero-click searches

Not Optimizing Content For Search Engines

If you’re not optimizing your content for search engines, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to attract organic traffic. It is among the most common SEO mistakes.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use keyword-rich titles and meta descriptions
  2. Use keyword-rich headlines and subheadlines
  3. Use keyword-rich anchors (text you hyperlink to other related content on your site)
  4. Optimize your images with alt tags 
  5. Use internal links to promote other related content on your site to avoid technical SEO mistakes.

Not Promoting Your Content Enough

If you’re not promoting your content, you’re not doing SEO right. Promoting your content is one of the most important aspects of SEO, which you should be doing regularly. There are many ways, and you should use them to ensure that maximum people see your content.

 

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use social media to promote your content
  2. Use email marketing to promote your content
  3. Use paid advertising to promote your content
  4. Use forums and blogs to promote your content 

Not Prioritizing Webpages With High Search Volume

 

Just because a webpage has a high search volume doesn’t mean that it’s automatically a great source of traffic for your website. If not careful, you may waste a lot of time and effort optimizing pages that will never generate much traffic. It is among the most common SEO mistakes

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Use keyword research tools to find pages with high search volume that are also relevant to your website.
  2. Make sure you clearly understand your target audience and what they’re looking for before you start optimization.
  3. Focus on creating high-quality content that will be valuable to your target audience.

Not Optimizing For Local Search

To attract local customers, ensure your website is optimized for local search. It means including your city and state in your titles and meta descriptions and ensuring your name, address, and phone number information is up-to-date and consistent across the web. 

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Include your city and state in your titles and meta descriptions
  2. Make sure your NAP (name, address, and phone number) information is up-to-date and consistent across the web to avoid local SEO mistakes.

Failing To Keep People On Your Website

One of your SEO goals is to keep people on your website for as long as possible. You want them to find what they’re looking for quickly and then stay there to explore other pages on your site so that you avoid this most common SEO mistake.

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Make sure your website is fast and easy to navigate
  2. Write clear and concise content that answers people’s questions
  3. Use engaging visuals (images, videos, etc.) to break up text and keep people interested
  4. Include calls to action (CTAs) throughout your site to encourage people to take further action to avoid on-page SEO mistakes.

Not Optimizing For Rankings, Traffic, Or Conversions

When you create content, you should have a clear purpose in mind. That could be anything from driving traffic to your website to increase conversion rates. But whatever your goals are, you need to ensure that your content is optimized for them. 

Tips To Avoid It 

  1. Define your goals before you start creating content.
  2. Make sure your content is relevant to your target audience and aligned with your marketing goals.
  3. Use the right keywords and phrases to help search engines understand your content.
  4. Optimize your headlines and meta descriptions to improve click-through rates.
  5. Structure your content in an easy-to-read format with clear headers and bullet points.
  6. Include calls to action throughout your content to encourage people to take the desired action.

Creating Too Many 301 Redirects

It is among the most common SEO mistakes. Redirect chains are common and can often be avoided by taking a few precautions.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Use as few redirects as possible
  2. Test your redirects before implementing them- Use server-side redirects whenever possible
  3. Avoid chaining together multiple redirects. If you must use multiple redirects, make sure they all point to the final destination URL. It will help avoid potential issues with search engines indexing the intermediate URLs. 

Not Using Canonical Tags

 

Canonical tags are essential to technical SEO, but they’re often overlooked. It is an HTML element that tells search engines which version of a page is the original. It’s used to combat duplicate content, a common problem on the web.

If you have multiple versions of the same page (for example, if you have both www and non-www versions of your domain), it’s important to use canonical tags to tell Google which one is the original. Otherwise, you may end up with two versions of the same page competing for the exact keywords in the search results.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. To add a canonical tag to your pages, simply add the following line of code to the <head> section of your HTML:

              <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://example.com/”>

  1. Replace “http://example.com/” with the URL of the original page.
  2. Use Google Webmaster Tools to configure your canonical URLs.
  3. If you’re using WordPress, you can install the Yoast SEO plugin, which automatically adds canonical tags to your pages.

Not Using Google Search Console

It is among the most common SEO mistakes. This free service from Google allows you to monitor and troubleshoot your website’s presence in the search results. It’s crucial for any serious website owner or SEO.

 

If you’re not using Search Console, you’re missing out on valuable data about how your site is performing in Google searches. You won’t be able to track your keywords, see how much traffic you’re getting from searches, or troubleshoot any issues that might be holding your site back from ranking higher.

Tips To Avoid It

  1. Set up Google Search Console and verify your website.
  2. Use Search Console to track your keywords, click-through rates, and other vital data about your site’s performance in search.
  3. Use Search Console to troubleshoot any issues that might be holding your site back from ranking higher.

Conclusion 

SEO is a long-term strategy, and it’s important to avoid common mistakes that could hurt your website’s ranking. Today, keep an eye out for the pitfalls discussed above. By avoiding these 27 most common SEO mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to improving your website’s ranking in 2022!

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